JPH02168290A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the unnecessary power consumption, to reduce power consumption and to prevent a temperature rise by stopping energization to a fixing means when a current mode switches to an agency receiving mode during a receiving action. CONSTITUTION:The recorder is provided with a recording means which forms a visual picture on recording material in response to a receiving signal, a fixing means heating and fixing the visual picture, and a control means which stops energization to the fixing means when a current mode switches to the agency receiving mode during the receiving action. After the reception of a picture signal starts, the picture signal is stored in a memory 6, and simultaneously energization to a heating element 8 starts. At the end of the reception of the picture signal, a recording action starts based on the received picture signal. After the recording action is completed, the energization to the heating element 8 is turned off. On the other hand, when a current mode switches to the agency receiving mode during reception, that is, when recording paper, toner, etc., run out, picture information is merely accumulated in the memory 6; therefore the energization to the heating element 8 is turned off, so that heating is stopped although the picture signal is received. Thus, power consumption is reduced, and moreover a temperature rise is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that forms a visible image on a recording material according to a received image and then heat-fixes the image.

[Conventional technology] Conventionally, a recording output method using heat fixing (ppcLBP)
In facsimile machines, the temperature rise characteristic of the fuser heater is slow, so it is necessary to keep the heater in the ON state at all times, and because the temperature of the fuser heater was not controlled from the facsimile machine itself, the facsimile machine was on standby or when receiving data. , the heater is turned off in any condition such as during transmission.
It was designed to maintain a constant temperature under N conditions.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional example described above has the following drawbacks because the fixing heater is always kept in the ON state.

(1) Power consumption increases and running costs increase.

(2) Unlike copiers or printers, facsimile machines require recording only when receiving (copying), but the fusing heater is turned on both when sending and during standby, so when the ratio of sending is high. It was extremely uneconomical.

(3) Since the temperature inside the machine increases, it becomes necessary to use a fan or the like to cool the machine, which results in an increase in the size of the machine.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to provide a recording device that can reduce the power consumption of the device and prevent temperature rise. Our goal is to provide the following.

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording means for forming a visible image on a recording material in accordance with a received signal, a fixing means for heating and fixing the visible image formed by the recording means, and an agent amount fX,000 during a receiving operation. By providing a control means that stops energizing the fixing means by switching, it is possible to reduce power consumption and prevent temperature increase when the substitute reception mode is entered during reception.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a reading section;
This is the part that reads the original when sending, and the operation part 2 is the part that reads the original when sending.
This is the part that performs operations to set the operation of the . 3
is an NCU (network control unit), which sends and receives data through a communication line. The modem 4 is a part that demodulates the analog signal sent from the NCU into a digital signal, or modulates the digital signal into an analog signal and sends it to the NCU. Memory 6 stores the data demodulated by modem 4,
This is a part that processes data and stores the data using the control circuit 7. The recording unit 5 is a part that receives and records data stored in the 6q) memory from the control circuit.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a facsimile machine to which the present invention is applied. A charger 3 uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 5 coated with, for example, a zinc oxide photosensitive layer or an organic semiconductor photosensitive layer. The photosensitive drum 5 uniformly charged by the charger 23 is subjected to image exposure with laser light emitted from an optical box 24 including a semiconductor laser, a polygon mirror, etc., and an electrostatic latent image is formed. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by a developing device 6 using toner made of a resin or the like that softens and melts when heated. On the other hand, the sheet P is sent from the cassette 15 to the position of the transport roller (registration roller) 12 by the paper feed roller 16. Here, next Sea 1
- P is sent to the transfer position by a pair of registration rollers 12 that are rotated while being pressed against each other in the vertical direction in synchronization with the image on the photosensitive drum 5. Then, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred onto the sheet P by the transfer discharger 11. after that,
The sheet P separated from the photosensitive drum 5 by a known separation means is guided to a fixing device 14 by a conveyance guide 13, subjected to heat fixing processing, and then discharged onto a tray 15.

Note that after the toner image is transferred, residual toner on the photosensitive drum 5 is removed by a cleaner 17. Note that 20 is a sensor that detects the presence or absence of sheets in the cassette 15.

The fixing device 14 includes a heating member 8 that generates heat when energized, a pressure roller I8, a heat-resistant sheet (fixing film) 19, and the like. The heating element 8 is a low heat capacity powder heating element which is fixedly supported on the device and has a thickness of, for example, 1.5 mm. Omm.

An alumina substrate with a width of 6 mm and a longitudinal length of 240 mm is coated with a resistive material in a width of 1.5 mm, and electricity is applied from both ends in the longitudinal direction. The current is applied in a pulse-like waveform of, for example, DClooV with a period of 20 msec, and pulses are given by varying the duration of the pulses in accordance with the desired temperature and energy release (2) controlled by a temperature measuring element (not shown).

Approximate pulse width is 0,5 msec~5 msec
It becomes e c.

The fixing film 19 moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure while coming into contact with the heating body 8 whose energy and temperature are controlled in this manner. An example of this fixing film is a heat-resistant film with a thickness of 20 μm, such as polyimide, polyetherimide, PE5S.
This is a film in which PFA is coated with a release layer of 10 μm, which is made of a fluororesin such as PTFESPAF and a conductive material added thereto, on at least the image contacting surface side.

Generally the total thickness is less than 100 μm, preferably less than 40 μm. A pressure roller 18 having a rubber elastic layer with good release properties such as silicone rubber presses the heating body 8 through the film with a total pressure of 4 to 7 kg, and rotates in pressure contact with the film. The unfixed toner on the sheet is guided to a fixing section by a guide 9 and a fixed image is obtained by the above-mentioned heating.

Although the case where the fixing film is an edged film has been described above, it may be an endless film.

FIGS. 3A to 3C show timing charts of the facsimile machine during reception. Before explaining each timing chart, Table 1 shows the abbreviations and functions of each signal.

FIG. 3(A) is a timing chart showing the heating timing of the heating element 8 in the case of single page reception. In other words, after the receiving side sends CFR119, PIX (image) 1
Heating of the heating element 8 is started at the time when the heating of the heating element 20 is started. Since the heating element 8 has a small heat capacity, the temperature rises to a constant constant temperature after a few seconds. Normally, it takes several tens of seconds to several minutes to communicate an image, which is enough time to start recording the image after receiving it. After the recording is finished, the reception is 1
Check the EOP signal to see if it is only a page and turn off the heating.

FIG. 3(B) shows the heating timing of the heating element 8 in the case of multi-page reception. The heating start is the same as in the single case, but even after the image is received and the recording is finished, the MPS121
(Multi-page signal) is being received, turn off the heating.
Continue heating without turning it to FF. After that, M.P.
If S121 is received continuously, the same process is continued. Finally, EOP 121 is received after PIX 120, and when recording is completed, heating is turned off, and reception is completed.

FIG. 3(C) shows the heating timing of the heating element 8 when there is a mode change of the transmitted image during multi-page reception.

If EOM125 is being received after recording the first page, the heating is temporarily turned off because the next page procedure signal takes time.

Thereafter, the procedure (DXS, DC3-CFR) is completed, and heating is started again when the image signal of the next page is started. Thereafter, when EOM125 is received, similar processing is performed. If you received EOP121 last, turn the heating to O
FF U reception ends.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for performing this control.

When a call signal is received, a CED is sent (step 1), and a DIS is sent to inform the other party of the facsimile function (step 2). Then, DC3 for instructing the receiving mode is received from the other party (step 3), and TCP for checking whether there is a transmission error is further received (step 4). If there is no error, notify the other party that the reception is ready (send CFR (step 5). Then wait until the image signal PIX is received (step 6), and when reception starts, the image signal is stored in the memory 6, and energization to the heating element 8 is started (step 7).When the reception of the image signal PIX is completed (step 8), a recording operation is started based on the received image signal. (Step 9). Data is thereby read from the memory 6, the laser beam is turned on and off based on this data, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5, and this electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 6. Further, the sheet fed from the cassette 15 and conveyed to the registration roller position is conveyed to the transfer position by the registration roller 12 at a timing that synchronizes the image on the photosensitive drum 5, and a toner image is formed on the sheet. After the image is transferred, it is conveyed to the fixing device 14 and heat-fixed.Then, it is determined whether or not an EOP indicating the end of the procedure has been received (step 10). If an EOP is received, the image cannot be received normally. In addition, a message confirmation signal MCF indicating this is sent to the other party (step 11), the process waits until the recording operation is completed (step 12), and the power to the heating element 8 is turned off (step 13). The process is then terminated by receiving DCN, which is a line disconnection command.

If EOP is not received in step 10, it is determined whether a multi-page signal MPS has been received indicating that one page has been transmitted and the next document is available (step 15).
. If MPS is received, a message confirmation signal MCF is sent to the other party (step 16).

And image signal P related to the next page! x is received and stored in the memory 6. Then wait for it to finish (step) 7
．． '1'J3) Return to step 9.

If the multi-page signal MPS is not received in step 15, the message confirmation signal MCF is sent to the other party (step 19), and the process waits for the end of recording (step 20).
) After turning off the power to the heating element 8 (step 21), the process returns to step 2.

In the case of Figure 3 (A), go to the flow of -a, in the case of (B) →
In the case of (C), proceed to the flow of →C.

Further, FIG. 5 shows the heating timing of the heating element 8 when the mode of the transmitted image is different. That is, if in the STD mode the heating element is heated X seconds after the start of reception of the PIX 20, in the FINE mode the communication time is twice as long, so heating may be started 2X seconds later. Also, ULT
Since communication time is 4 times longer in R mode, heating can be started after 4x seconds.

1--1] In the previous embodiment, after the heating of the heating element starts, it takes the order of several seconds to raise the temperature to the constant volume, but the temperature characteristics are further improved, and the temperature rises to the constant volume temperature in the order of tens or even several milliseconds. If we use a 3D controller, it becomes possible to perform control not only on a page-by-page basis, but also on a line-by-line basis, making it possible to further reduce power consumption.

In addition, when line-by-line control becomes possible, the content of the image information is judged. In other words, when all the data is white, the image information is simply stored in the memory, so even if PIX is started, the heating is turned on. You can avoid wasteful consumption by avoiding this.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for performing this control.

Note that steps 1-14 are the same as in the case of FIG. 4, so their explanation will be omitted. In this case, steps 5 and 6 in Figure 4
The presence or absence of recording paper between the two is determined based on the output of the sensor 20 (step 30). If there is no recording paper, the process advances to step 31. Then, wait until receiving image No. 18 PIX (step 3). When reception starts, store the received image signal in memory 6 (step 32). Then wait until reception of image signal PIX is completed (step 3). 33)
Once completed, the process waits until it receives the procedure end signal EOP (step 34), sends the message confirmation signal MCF to the other party (step 35), and then receives the disconnection command signal DCN (step 36), ending the process. do.

Furthermore, if there is no recording paper or toner during the recording operation, a pillar configuration may be adopted in which power is turned off to the inventive unit and reception is performed on behalf of the inventive unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for performing this control. In FIG. 7, steps with the same numbers as in FIGS. 4 and 6 perform similar processing. In this example, in the case of multi-page reception - 8 heating elements are generated for each page of image recording.
The energization is turned on and off, and the process returns to step 30 to determine the presence or absence of recording paper. Then, when the recording paper runs out, the process goes to step 31 and subsequent steps in the proxy reception mode, and stores the received image signal in the memory 6 as in the case of FIG. 6 (
Step 32.33). If the procedure end signal EOP is received in step 34, steps 35 and 36
The process proceeds to , and the same processing as in the case of FIG. 6 is performed. If the procedure end signal EOP is not received in step 34, the process proceeds to step 37 to confirm whether or not the multi-page signal MPS has been received.

If received, the MCF is selected (step 38), and the process returns to step 30. If the multi-page signal MPS is not received, the MCF is sent (step 39), and the process returns to step 2. By controlling in this manner, even in the proxy reception mode, the presence or absence of recording paper is checked every time image signals for a page are stored, and when recording paper is replenished, the recording operation is restarted again.

It should be noted that control may be provided such that once the - substitute reception mode is entered, all subsequent image signals related to that communication are stored in the memory.

In this embodiment, the configuration is such that the mode is switched to the proxy reception mode depending on the presence or absence of recording paper, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the mode may be switched to the proxy reception mode depending on the presence or absence of consumable materials such as toner.

Furthermore, this embodiment is applicable to the case where the recording material is heated through the heat-resistant film by the heating element.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when switching to substitute reception mode during reception operation, power supply to the fixing means is stopped, thereby preventing unnecessary power consumption and reducing power consumption. It becomes possible to prevent temperature rise.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a facsimile machine that is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the facsimile machine, and Figs. 3 (A) to (C) show the heating timing of the heating element. Timing chart, Figure 4 is a flowchart for controlling the heating element, Figure 5 is a timing chart showing the heating timing when the mote of the transmitted image is different, Figures 6 and 7 are heating during proxy reception. It is a flowchart for controlling the body.・Reading unit 2...Operation unit 3...NCU 4...Modem 5...Recording unit 6...Memory 7...Control circuit
8... Heating element IO... Photosensitive drum 14...
Fixing device

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A recording device that forms a visual image on a recording material in response to a received signal, a fixing device that heats and fixes the visual image formed by the recording device, and fixes the visual image by switching to a proxy reception mode during a reception operation. A recording device comprising: control means for stopping energization to the means. (2) In claim 1, the fixing means includes a heating body that generates heat when energized, a heat-resistant sheet, and a recording material that is in pressure contact with the heating body and passes through the heat-resistant sheet to the heating body. A recording device characterized by having a pressurizing means for bringing the recording device into close contact with the recording device. (3) In claim 2, the control means turns on/off energization to the heating element for each predetermined communication unit, and further switches to the proxy reception mode to energize the heating element. A recording device characterized by turning off electricity.