JPH048059A - Picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save power consumption of a picture forming device by not heating a fixer till an incoming call does not comes from a caller facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:The arrival of a CNG signal (calling tone) from a caller facsimile equipment is detected, then a main CPU turns on a heater lamp in the OFF or in the standby state via a printer section control CPU. Then a GI signal (group identification signal) is sent to the caller to await the arrival of a GC signal (group instruction signal) from the caller. When the GC signal is detected, whether or not reception information by one page is written (fetched) in a picture memory is discriminated and when it is confirmed, whether or not the heater lamp is heated up next, that is, a filing device 200 reaches a fitting temperature is discriminated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Cliff! The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that is equipped with a fixing device having a heater lamp and performs an electrophotographic recording operation.

An example of this type of image forming apparatus is a facsimile machine that uses a printer section equipped with a photosensitive drum or the like to print out received information on plain paper.

By the way, in a facsimile machine, since it is not known when reception information will arrive from the calling party, the heater lamp of the fuser is always on (B (heating state)) in order to prepare for reception operation. It is necessary to set it to .

However, such a configuration has disadvantages in that power consumption increases, running costs are high, and the life of the printer unit is likely to be shortened.

The present invention has been made in view of the current situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can significantly reduce running costs and that does not impair the life of the printer unit.

According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that is equipped with a fixing device having a heater lamp and performs an electrophotographic recording operation, when an incoming call from a calling facsimile device is detected, the facsimile device is turned off or the fixing temperature is lowered. The present invention is characterized in that the printer is heated in a standby state at a sufficiently low temperature, and the received information is recorded when the received information arrives and the fixing device reaches the fixing temperature.

According to the above configuration, the fixing unit 6 is not heated and is maintained in the off state or standby state until a call is received from the calling party, so that power consumption during that time can be saved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the structure around the fixing device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system of the fixing device.

This image forming apparatus has both a function as a facsimile machine and a function as a printer, and uses plain paper (not shown) stored in a paper feed cassette 1 and fed out to the left in the figure.
The received information is transferred and printed out by a printer section 2 comprising a photoreceptor drum or the like.

The details will be explained below. The printer section 2 is provided with a drum unit 21 consisting of a photosensitive drum 20 that rotates in the direction of arrow a and a charger (not shown). A developing device 22, a transfer charger 23, and a cleaner 24 are provided around the photosensitive drum 20 from the upstream side in the rotation direction thereof.

An exposure unit 30 consisting of an LED array is provided above the photoreceptor drum 20. The exposure unit 30 is for writing received information onto the photosensitive drum 20, and is connected to the main CPLI (main control unit) 4 shown in FIG.
The drive is controlled by 0.

That is, when received information is received from the calling side's facsimile machine via the telephone line 41, NCU 42 and modem 43, the main CPU 40 stores one page of the received information in the image memory 4.
4, the exposure unit 30 is driven according to the received information read out, and a latent image corresponding to the received information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 20. Note that before the exposure unit 30 is driven, the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20 is uniformly charged by a charger.

Next, a developer 22 is applied to the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum 2o.
supplies toner, thereby forming a toner image on the corresponding area. Meanwhile, during this time, the printer unit control CPU (sub-control unit) 25 shown in FIG. 3 drives the paper feed roller 26 to feed the plain paper in the paper feed cassette 1. A separation roller 27 is provided on the output side of the paper feed roller 26 to prevent the plain paper from being fed in multiple layers. The plain paper separated one by one by the separation roller 27 is supplied to the registration rollers 28. The registration roller 28 is connected to the photosensitive drum 200
Plain paper is fed between the photosensitive drum 20 and the transfer charging medium 23 in synchronization with the rotation. As a result, the toner image on the photoreceptor drum 20 is transferred to plain paper. The plain paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing device 200, where a fixing process is performed, and then the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 201.

The fixing device 200 includes an upper roller 200a and a lower roller 200.
It consists of a pair of upper and lower rollers b. A heater lamp 202 for heating the surface of the upper roller 200a to a fixing temperature is provided inside the upper roller 200a. A thermistor T for detecting the surface temperature of the upper roller 200a is provided near the surface of the upper roller 200a. The thermistor T is supported by the illustrated spring W2O3.

The thermistor T outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the surface temperature of the upper roller 200a to the CPU 25 for controlling the printer section.

Then, the printer unit control CPtJ25 turns on the heater ON/OF drive circuit 204 to set the surface temperature of the upper roller 2°Oa to the fixing temperature based on the detection signal from the thermistor T and the preset reference voltage value. A predetermined drive signal is generated. The heater 0N-OF drive circuit 204 is equipped with a triac or the like using a zero cross, and heats the heater lamp 202 in response to a drive signal from the printer control CPU 25, thereby increasing the temperature of the upper roller 200a,
That is, the fixing device 200 is set to the fixing temperature. Note that the setting of the fixing temperature is performed after receiving a call from the calling side facsimile machine, and the fixing device 200 is in an off state or a standby state until then.

Next, details of the receiving operation will be explained according to FIG.

However, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the main CPU in the reception operation.

In step S1, when it is detected that a CNG signal (calling tone) has arrived from the facsimile machine on the calling side, the main CPU 40
25, the heater lamp 202 that was in the off state or standby state is turned on (S2), and then, in step S3, a GI double signal group identification signal) is sent to the calling party.S3), the calling party Waits for the arrival of a GC signal (group command signal) from (S4). The detection of this GC signal does not wait for T1 time determined based on the CCITT recommendation (S5). If it cannot be detected even after waiting for T1 time, the process proceeds to step S13 and the line is disconnected.

In step S4, when the GC signal is detected, it is then determined whether a handshake has been performed (S6), and when it is confirmed that the handshake has been performed, one page of reception information is written in the image memory 44 in step S7. After confirming this, it is then determined whether the heater lamp 202 has heated up, that is, whether the fixing device 2CIO has reached the fixing temperature (S8).

Note that the heater lamp 202 is operated from step 83 to step S.
It is heated while performing the process in step 7, and the time required for heating up is preferably set so that it heats up immediately after one page of received information has been captured. That is, if this is done, the memory capacity of the image memory 44 will be sufficient for one page, which is convenient for reducing costs.

Now, in step S8, when it is confirmed that the heat has increased, one page of received information captured in the image memory 44 is read out, and the printer unit 2 is sent to the printer unit 2 via the printer unit control C, PU 25 according to the read received information. is driven to print out one page of received information on plain paper (S9).

Then, in step SIO, it is determined whether or not an MPS signal (multi-page signal) sent from the calling side is detected. If an MPS signal is detected, there is the next page of received information, so this In this case, the process from step S7 onwards is repeated, and when there is no received information for the next page and an EOP signal (procedure end signal) from the calling side is detected (
S11), the heater lamp 202 is turned off (312).

Thereafter, in step S13, the line is disconnected and the receiving operation is ended.

In the above embodiment, the received information is printed out when it is detected that one page of received information has arrived, but an image memory having a memory capacity that can store multiple pages of received information is used. , a configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of pages of received information are printed out when they arrive.

In the case of the present invention described above, the fuser is heated only when a call is received from the calling side's facsimile machine, so the heater lamp is not heated unnecessarily in the reception standby state. There is no. Therefore, there are advantages in that the power consumption of the image forming apparatus can be significantly reduced and running costs can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, since the fixing device is not constantly heated to the fixing temperature, there is an advantage that its lifespan can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration around the fixing device, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system of the fixing device, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the main CPU in the receiving operation. 2... Printer section, 20... Photosensitive drum, 23.
...Transfer charger, 25...CP for printer control
U, 30... Exposure unit, 40... Main CPU
, 44... Image memory, 200... Fixing device, 202
a... Upper roller, 202... Heater lamp, 204
...Heater 0N-0F drive circuit,

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus that is equipped with a fixing unit that has a heater lamp and performs electrophotographic recording operation, when an incoming call from a calling facsimile machine is detected, the image forming apparatus is turned off or on standby at a temperature sufficiently lower than the fixing temperature. The heater lamp in the state is heated, and the received information is received.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the received information is recorded when the fixing device reaches a fixing temperature.