JP6891483B2 - Power Predictor, Image Former, and Power Predictor Program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a power prediction device, an image forming device, and a power prediction program.

Patent Document 1 proposes a fixing device that quickly and stably controls the electric power output to the electromagnetic induction coil. Specifically, while the recording sheet passes through the fixing nip provided with the heating roller having the electromagnetic induction heating layer, the fixing device excites the electromagnetic induction coil by the high frequency power output from the electromagnetic induction heating power source, and electromagnetically. The induction heating layer is heated to fix the unfixed toner image on the recording sheet. The electromagnetic induction heating power supply detects the zero cross timing at which the power obtained by rectifying the AC power becomes the ground level, detects the instantaneous value at a predetermined elapsed time set in advance from the zero cross timing, and is based on the instantaneous value. The effective power value of the AC power is calculated, and the output power is controlled to be the target power value based on the calculated effective power value and the target power value determined by the temperature of the surface of the heating roller.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-181633

When there are multiple power supply destinations including a functional unit that uses an AC power supply and a conversion unit that converts AC from an AC power supply to DC, the current supplied to the functional unit in addition to the current supplied to the entire device. In order to detect the above, it was necessary to provide a dedicated detection unit for each.

The present invention provides a power prediction device, an image forming device, and a power prediction program that can detect the value of the current supplied to the functional unit using the AC power supply from the detection result of the current supplied to the entire device. The purpose.

The power prediction device according to claim 1 includes a functional unit that uses an AC power supply, a conversion unit that branches from the AC power supply and the functional unit, and converts AC from the AC power supply into DC, and the above. The current of the conversion unit rises at least one before and after the zero cross of the total value detected by the detection unit and the detection unit that detects the total value of the currents supplied to each of the function unit and the conversion unit. It is provided with a prediction unit that predicts the current value used by the functional unit during operation based on the total value in a predetermined period.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit includes a smoothing capacitor, and the predetermined period is a charging / discharging period of the smoothing capacitor.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predictor has a current half cycle corresponding to a section of one pulse of voltage zero cross detection supplied from the AC power supply. The current value supplied to the conversion unit is obtained by subtracting the current value supplied to the functional unit from the total value or the total value for one cycle of the current corresponding to the section of two pulses of voltage zero cross detection. Further predict as.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the conversion units are provided, and the prediction unit includes the detection unit during a charge / discharge period in which the smoothing capacitors of the plurality of conversion units overlap. The total value detected by is used to predict the current value used by the functional unit during operation.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 uses an AC power source to branch from a drive unit for driving a fuser for fixing the formed image and between the AC power source and the drive unit, and the AC power source is used. A conversion unit that converts alternating current from a power source into direct current, a detection unit that detects the total value of the current supplied to each of the drive unit and the conversion unit, and a zero cross of the total value detected by the detection unit. It is provided with a prediction unit that predicts the current value used by the drive unit during operation based on the total value in a predetermined period during which the current of the conversion unit does not rise at least one of the front and the rear.

The power prediction program according to claim 6 causes the computer to function as a prediction unit of the power prediction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

According to the power prediction device according to claim 1, it is possible to provide a power prediction device capable of detecting the value of the current supplied to the functional unit using the AC power supply from the detection result of the current supplied to the entire device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the current supplied to the functional unit can be detected by using the detection result of the current supplied to the entire apparatus.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the value of the current supplied to the functional unit, the value of the current supplied from the power source to another supply destination can be detected.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even when a plurality of conversion units are provided, the value of the current supplied to the functional unit using the AC power supply is detected from the detection result of the current supplied to the entire apparatus. can do.

According to the image forming apparatus according to claim 5, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of detecting the value of the current supplied to the drive part using an AC power source from the detection result of the current supplied to the whole apparatus.

According to the power prediction program according to claim 6, it is possible to provide a power prediction program capable of detecting the value of the current supplied to the functional unit using the AC power supply from the detection result of the current supplied to the entire apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the power-source part of the image forming apparatus including the electric power prediction apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The voltage of the AC power supply supplied to the entire device The device voltage representing the instantaneous waveform, the device current supplied to the entire device, the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit, and the low-voltage power supply current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device. It is a waveform diagram which shows an example of each waveform. It is an example of the enlarged view near the zero cross of the device voltage in each of the device current, the fixing current, and the low-voltage power supply device current. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the process performed in each part of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of detecting the fixing current and the apparatus current from the detection time and the detection current value. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the power-source part of the image forming apparatus which includes the electric power prediction apparatus which concerns on the modification of embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a power supply portion of an image forming apparatus 10 including a power prediction apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes a fuser control circuit 12 that supplies AC power to the fuser, and a low-voltage power supply device 14 that supplies DC power to each part of the image forming apparatus, and is referred to as an AC power supply (denoted as an AC power supply in FIG. 1). ) Supply power to each of the fuser control circuit 12 and the low-voltage power supply device 14.

The fuser control circuit 12 corresponds to an example of a functional unit, and uses the supplied AC power supply to drive the fuser of the image forming apparatus 10.

The low-voltage power supply device 14 corresponds to an example of a conversion unit, branches from between the supplied AC power supply and the fuser control circuit 12, and converts the AC power supply into a DC power supply including a smoothing capacitor. Then, the electric power of the DC power source obtained by the conversion is supplied to each part of the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the low-voltage power supply device 14 converts the DC voltage to 5 (V) to supply electric power to the substrate, the sensor, and the like, and converts the DC voltage to 24 (V) to supply the electric power to the motor, the fan, and the like.

Further, the image forming apparatus 10 further includes a current detection unit 16, a voltage detection unit 20, a fixing current prediction unit 30, an active power calculation unit 32, and a display unit 34. The fixing current prediction unit 30 corresponds to an example of a prediction unit and a specific unit.

The current detection unit 16 is provided between the AC power supply and the fuser control circuit 12, and the voltage detection unit 20 is branched and connected between the AC power supply and the fuser control circuit 12.

The current detection unit 16 corresponds to an example of the detection unit, and includes, for example, a resistor or a Hall element, detects an instantaneous current waveform for detecting the current value of an AC power supply, and outputs the detection result to A / D (analog). / Digital) Output to the converter 18. The A / D converter 18 converts the detected analog instantaneous current waveform into a digital signal and outputs it to the active power calculation unit 32 as the current value of the AC power supply.

The voltage detection unit 20 includes a rectifier 22, a smoother 24, an A / D converter 26, and a voltage zero cross detection unit 28 corresponding to an example of the voltage zero cross detection unit.

The rectifier 22 converts alternating current into direct current by rectifying the voltage instantaneous waveform of the alternating current power supply and outputs it to the smoother 24.

The smoother 24 is configured to include a smoothing capacitor, smoothes the voltage instantaneous waveform rectified by the rectifier 22, and outputs the effective voltage waveform obtained by smoothing to the A / D converter 26.

The A / D converter 26 converts an analog voltage effective waveform into a digital signal and outputs it to the active power calculation unit 32.

Further, the voltage zero cross detection unit 28 detects the zero cross in which the positive and negative of the voltage of the voltage instantaneous waveform supplied from the AC power supply is reversed, and notifies the fixing current prediction unit 30 of the detection of the zero cross.

The fixing current prediction unit 30 is a fuser control circuit based on the current value detected by the current detection unit 16 for a predetermined period Td (see FIG. 2) from the time when the zero cross is detected based on the detection result of the zero cross. The current value consumed by 12 is predicted, and the prediction result is output to the active power calculation unit 32.

The active power calculation unit 32 determines the active power of the entire device, the power consumption of the fuser control circuit 12, and the low-voltage power supply device based on the detection result by the current detection unit 16, the prediction result by the fixing current prediction unit 30, and the instantaneous voltage waveform. The power consumption of 14 is calculated, and each calculated power is displayed on the display unit 34. The fixing current prediction unit 30 and the active power calculation unit 32 correspond to an example of the prediction unit.

By the way, the electric power supplied from the AC power supply is supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 and the low-voltage power supply device 14, but in order to detect the current supplied to each of the fuser control circuit 12 and the low-voltage power supply device 14. , It is necessary to provide a current detection unit 16 for each. However, this not only increases the cost but also hinders the miniaturization of the device.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, by predicting the current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 by the fixing current prediction unit 30, one current detection unit 16 supplies the current to each of the fuser control circuit 12 and the low-voltage power supply device 14. Identify the current to be applied.

Here, the fixing current, which is the current supplied to the fixing device control circuit 12 by the fixing current prediction unit 30, which is required to specify the current supplied to each of the fixing device control circuit 12 and the low-voltage power supply device 14. The prediction method will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the device voltage representing the voltage instantaneous waveform of the AC power supply supplied to the entire device, the device current supplied to the entire device, the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12, and the low voltage power supply device 14. An example of each waveform of the low-voltage power supply current is shown. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of each of the device current, the fixing current, and the low-voltage power supply device current near the zero cross of the device voltage.

In the present embodiment, the fixing current is predicted by utilizing the fact that the current of the low-voltage power supply device 14 (the low-voltage power supply device current in FIG. 3) does not rise even if the device voltage rises or falls beyond the zero cross. That is, since the low-voltage power supply current includes the smoothing capacitor, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rise of the low-voltage power supply current is delayed at the timing of charging / discharging the smoothing capacitor. Therefore, a predetermined period Td is set from when the device voltage starts to rise beyond the zero cross until the current rises due to charging / discharging of the smoothing capacitor. The period Td is determined according to the circuit configuration including the smoothing capacitor. During the set period Td, the current detected by the current detection unit 16 does not flow to the low-voltage power supply device 14, but becomes the current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12. Further, the current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 after the elapse of the period Td has the same slope as during the period Td. Therefore, the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 is specified from the detection result of the current detecting unit 16 during the period Td. As a result, the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 is predicted from the detection result of the current detecting unit 16 during the period Td.

Further, in the present embodiment, the active power calculation unit 32 calculates the value of the device current supplied to the entire device from the detection value of the current detection unit 16 for one cycle of the device voltage. Then, the value of the current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device 14 is specified by subtracting the value of the fixing current predicted by the fixing current prediction unit 30 from the calculated value of the device current. In this embodiment, the detection value for one cycle of the device voltage will be described as an example, but the value of the device current supplied to the entire device may be calculated based on the detection value for half a cycle.

As a result, the active power calculation unit 32 calculates the active power of the entire device from the detection result by the current detection unit 16 and the detection result by the voltage detection unit 20. Further, since the value of the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 and the value of the current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device 14 are specified, the active power calculation unit 32 determines the power consumption of the fuser control circuit 12. And the power consumption of the low voltage power supply device 14 can also be calculated.

Subsequently, specific processing performed in each part of the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed in each part of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The process of FIG. 4 is started when, for example, an instruction to display the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 10 is given.

In step 100, the voltage detection unit 20 starts detecting the voltage, and the current detecting unit 16 starts detecting the current to move to step 102. That is, the voltage instantaneous waveform of the AC power supply is rectified by the rectifier 22, smoothed by the smoother 24, and converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 26. Further, the instantaneous current waveform detected by the current detection unit 16 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 18. The current detection unit 16 obtains a detected value of the current detected for each time, for example, as shown in FIG.

In step 102, it is determined whether or not the voltage zero cross detection unit 28 has detected zero cross of the voltage instantaneous waveform, and the process proceeds to step 104 after waiting until the determination is affirmed.

In step 104, the fixing current prediction unit 30 calculates the fixing current value using the current value detected during the predetermined period Td, and proceeds to step 106. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the period Td is a time of t1 to t5, the slope of the fixing current shown in FIG. 3 of the voltage zero cross portion is calculated based on the current detection values i1 to i5 at each time. By calculating, the value of the fixing current is calculated.

In step 106, the voltage zero cross detection unit 28 determines whether or not one cycle (or half cycle) of the voltage supplied from the AC power supply has been detected, waits until the determination is affirmed, and proceeds to step 108. To do.

In step 108, the fixing current prediction unit 30 calculates the value of the current supplied to the entire apparatus using the value of the current detected in the period corresponding to one cycle of the voltage supplied from the AC power supply, and proceeds to step 110. Transition.

In step 110, the active power calculation unit 32 calculates the value of the current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device 14, and proceeds to step 112. That is, the value of the current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device 14 is calculated by subtracting the value of the fixing current calculated in step 104 from the value of the current of the entire device calculated in step 108.

In step 112, the active power calculation unit 32 calculates the power consumption of the entire device, the fuser control circuit 12, and the low-voltage power supply device 14, and proceeds to step 114. That is, the active power calculation unit 32 calculates the active power of the entire device from the detection result by the current detection unit 16 and the detection result by the voltage detection unit 20. Further, since the value of the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12 and the value of the current supplied to the low-voltage power supply device 14 are calculated, the active power calculation unit 32 determines the power consumption of the fuser control circuit 12. , And the power consumption of the low voltage power supply device 14.

In step 114, the active power calculation unit 32 displays the calculation results of steps 108, 110, and 112 on the display unit 34, and proceeds to step 116. That is, the value of the current supplied to each of the entire device, the fuser control circuit 12, and the low-voltage power supply device 14 and the power consumption are displayed on the display unit 34.

In step 116, the active power calculation unit 32 determines whether or not to end the display of the power consumption and the like on the display unit 34. The determination determines, for example, whether or not an instruction to end the display of the power consumption of the image forming apparatus 10 has been given, and if the determination is denied, the process returns to step 100 and the above processing is repeated. If the determination is affirmed, the series of processes is terminated.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the voltage detection unit 20 is provided separately from the low-voltage power supply device 14, but the present invention is not limited to this. Since the low-voltage power supply device 14 has the same configuration as the voltage detection unit 20, the voltage detection unit in the low-voltage power supply device 14 may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the image forming apparatus 10 is provided with only one low-voltage power supply device 14 has been described, but the low-voltage power supply device 14 is not limited to one, and is shown in FIG. 6 as an example. As described above, a plurality of low-voltage power supply devices 14A, 14B ... May be provided. In this case, since the current values and power consumption of the low-voltage power supply devices 14A, 14B ... Cannot be calculated, the total current values and power consumption of the low-voltage power supply devices 14A, 14B ... Are calculated. To display. Further, when predicting the fixing current supplied to the fuser control circuit 12, the current detecting unit 16 detects the fixing currents of the plurality of low-voltage power supply devices 14A, 14B, ... During the overlapping charge / discharge period. The value of the fixing current is predicted using the value of the current. That is, the fixed current value is specified by setting the period Td during which each smoothing capacitor of all the low-voltage power supply devices 14A, 14B, ... Is charging / discharging, and detecting the current detection unit 16 of the period Td. To do.

Further, in the above embodiment, a predetermined period after the detection of the zero cross of the voltage is applied as the period Td, but the period is not limited to this. For example, a predetermined period before the zero cross of the voltage is detected may be applied, or a predetermined period before and after the zero cross of the voltage is detected may be applied.

Further, the processing performed by each part of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the above embodiment may be a processing performed by software, a processing performed by hardware, or a combination of both. .. Further, the processing performed by each part of the image forming apparatus 10 may be stored in a storage medium as a program and distributed.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented within a range not deviating from the gist thereof.

10 Image forming device 12 Fuser control device 14 Low voltage power supply device 16 Current detection unit 20 Voltage detection unit 24 Smoother 28 Voltage zero cross detection unit 32 Active power calculation unit 34 Display unit

Claims (6)

Functional parts that use AC power and
A conversion unit that branches from between the AC power supply and the functional unit and converts AC from the AC power supply into direct current.
A detection unit that detects the total value of the current supplied to each of the functional unit and the conversion unit, and
Based on the total value in a predetermined period during which the current of the conversion unit does not rise at least one before and after the zero cross of the total value detected by the detection unit, the current value used by the functional unit during operation is determined. Forecasting unit and
Power prediction device equipped with. The power prediction device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit includes a smoothing capacitor, and the predetermined period is a charging / discharging period of the smoothing capacitor. The prediction unit is the total value of the current half cycle corresponding to the section of one pulse of voltage zero cross detection supplied from the AC power supply, or the total value of one cycle of current corresponding to the section of two pulses of voltage zero cross detection. The power prediction device according to claim 1 or 2, further predicting the value obtained by subtracting the current value supplied to the functional unit from the value as the current value supplied to the conversion unit. A plurality of the conversion units are provided.
Claim that the prediction unit predicts the current value used by the functional unit during operation by using the total value detected by the detection unit during the overlapping charge / discharge period of the smoothing capacitors of the plurality of conversion units. 2. The power prediction device according to 2. A drive unit that drives a fuser that fixes the formed image using an AC power supply,
A conversion unit that branches from between the AC power supply and the drive unit and converts AC from the AC power supply into direct current.
A detection unit that detects the total value of the current supplied to each of the drive unit and the conversion unit, and
Based on the total value in a predetermined period during which the current of the conversion unit does not rise at least one before and after the zero cross of the total value detected by the detection unit, the current value used by the drive unit during operation is determined. Forecasting unit and
An image forming apparatus equipped with. A power prediction program for causing a computer to function as a prediction unit of the power prediction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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