JPH07230233A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing device capable of reducing the power consumption when recording medium or coloring developing particle (toner) is used up. CONSTITUTION:The printing device is provided with a thermal fixing means 119 using an electronic photographing process, heating the coloring developing particle transferred on the recording medium and permanently fixing it on the recording medium. Then, the device is provided with a detection means 16 detecting the presence of the recording medium or the detection means 23 detecting the presence of the coloring developing particle, a fuser control means 3 controlling the temp. of the thermal fixing means, a temp. control stopping means stopping temp. control by the fuser control means when the recording medium or the coloring developing particle is insufficient and a temp. control starting means starting the temp. control by the fuser control means when the recording medium is supplied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to temperature control of a fixing heater of a printing apparatus using an electrophotographic process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a laser beam printer as an example of this type of printing apparatus.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 100 denotes a controller unit which converts an electric signal, which is code data input from a host computer (not shown), into a video controller 103.
Then, after being developed into a dot image and stored in a memory inside the video controller, it is returned to the engine unit 102 as a video signal. Each element of the engine unit 102 is controlled by the engine controller 105, and video signals are also exchanged with the controller unit 100 via the engine controller 105. Engine controller 10
The video signal input to the video interface 5 (not shown) is sent to the laser driver 106, where the ON / OFF of the semiconductor laser 107 is controlled.

Laser light 110 emitted from the semiconductor laser 107 is deflected by the polygon mirror 108 to become scanning light in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 112, and the mirror 10
The image is projected onto the photosensitive drum 112 via the image forming unit 9. The photosensitive drum 112 rotates in the direction of the arrow, is temporarily charged by the primary charger 111, and is then exposed according to ON / OFF of the laser beam, so that an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum.
Color developing particles (hereinafter referred to as toner) are applied by the developing device 113 to obtain a visible image, and then the transfer charger 114 moves the paper from the paper feeding cassette 120 to the paper feeding roller 12.
The visible images are transferred to the recording medium taken out one by one by 1. The transfer residual toner is wiped off the surface of the photosensitive drum 112 by the cleaning device 115, and the photosensitive drum 112 is prepared for the next image forming step.

On the other hand, the recording medium on which the unfixed toner image is placed is inserted into the fixing device 116, and after the permanent fixed image is obtained, the recording medium is discharged as a final print in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The arrow in the figure indicates the feeding locus of the recording medium taken out from the paper feed cassette 120 and conveyed. The fixing device 116 has a heater (fixing heater) 119 on a hollow fixing roller 117.
A sensor (not shown) that detects the surface temperature of the fixing roller 117 by heating the fixing roller 117 by energizing the fixing roller 117.
Output is input to a temperature controller (not shown),
The heater 119 is turned on / off to maintain a predetermined surface temperature. The pressure roller 118 is pressed against the fixing roller 117 by an urging unit (not shown), and the unfixed toner on the recording medium is heated and applied together with the recording medium in the nip formed by the fixing roller 117 and the pressure roller 118. It is pressed and fixed permanently.

The engine controller is a temperature sensor 5 mounted in contact with the fixing roller 117 of the fixing device 116.
Determines the temperature of the fixing device 116, and the fuser control unit 3
Is used to control the temperature of the fixing device 116 by controlling ON / OFF of the fixing heater 119.

The temperature control of the engine controller is controlled at different temperatures depending on each mode such as startup, standby, printing and the like. Since it takes a long time for the fixing device to warm up, the temperature is controlled so as to reach a certain temperature during standby in order to shorten the time from the print request until printing becomes possible. The engine controller raises the temperature of the fixing device from the standby temperature to the temperature at the time of printing at the time when a print request is made, and makes the temperature of the fixing device a temperature at which thermal fixing required at the time of printing is possible.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the temperature of the fixing device is controlled at a certain standby temperature during standby. That is, even when the storage medium is exhausted and print information cannot be printed, the temperature control is performed, so that power is wasted. Further, even when the colored developing particles are used up and the print information cannot be printed, the temperature control is performed, so that the power is wasted. Therefore, the present invention relates to a recording medium or colored developing particles (toner).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that can reduce the power consumption when there is no charge.

[0009]

In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 heats colored developing particles transferred to a recording medium by using an electrophotographic process to form the recording medium on the recording medium. In a printing apparatus having a heat fixing means (119) for permanent fixing, a detecting means (16) for detecting the presence or absence of the recording medium, a fuser control means (3) for controlling the temperature of the heat fixing means, and a recording medium are A first temperature control stop means for stopping the temperature control by the fuser control means when there is a shortage, and a first temperature control start means for starting the temperature control by the fuser control means when the recording medium is replenished. It is characterized by having.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the power supply control means for stopping the power supply to the components that are not used except during printing control, and when the recording medium is insufficient. A first power supply stopping means for stopping the power supply to the component by the power supply control means; and a first power supply control means for starting the power supply to the component when the recording medium is replenished. A power supply starting means is further provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, print information storage means for receiving print information from a host computer and storing it in a memory, and print data stored by the print information storage means. Output means for outputting information to a recording medium, and instead of the temperature control stopping means, when the memory does not store print information that has not been output by the output means, the recording medium It is characterized by comprising a second temperature control stopping means for stopping the temperature control when the temperature is insufficient.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, the power supply control means for stopping the power supply to the components not used except during printing control, and the output to the memory. Power supply stop means for stopping the supply of power to the component by the power supply control means when the recording medium is insufficient when print information that has not been output by the means is not stored, It further comprises a first power supply starting means for starting the power supply to the component by the power supply control means when the recording medium is replenished.

The invention according to claim 5 is the same as claims 1 to 4.
The non-volatile storage medium for storing print information, and the print information stored in the memory is stored in the non-volatile storage medium when the print medium is insufficient, Memory power supply stopping means for stopping power supply to the memory, and when the storage medium is replenished, starts supplying power to the memory and stores the print information stored in the non-volatile storage medium in the memory. And a memory power supply starting means for performing the same.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, when the memory power supply starting means stores the print information in the memory, the print information is stored in the recording medium. It is characterized by further comprising output means for printing and outputting.

The invention described in claim 7 is from claim 1 to claim 6.
In the printing apparatus according to any one of 1, a stop setting unit that sets whether or not to stop the temperature control when the recording medium is not present, and the stop setting unit sets the temperature when the recording medium is not present. When it is set to stop the control, a stop time setting means for setting a time from when the recording medium is exhausted to when the temperature control is stopped is further provided.

The invention described in claim 8 is from claim 1 to claim 7.
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein instead of the first temperature control stop means, it is detected that the holding portion of the storage medium is operated, and the fuser control means starts the temperature control. It is characterized in that it is provided with the temperature control stopping means.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the holding unit of the storage medium is operated instead of the first power supply starting means. It is characterized by further comprising a second power supply starting means for detecting that the power supply control means starts the power supply to the constituent element.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the fifth to ninth aspects, the holding unit of the storage medium is operated instead of the first memory power supply starting means. And a second memory power supply start means for detecting the fact that the power supply to the memory is started and the print information stored in the nonvolatile storage medium is stored in the memory.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in a printing apparatus having a heat fixing means (119) for heating the colored developing particles transferred to the recording medium by using an electrophotographic process to permanently fix the colored developing particles on the recording medium. A detection means (23) for detecting the presence or absence of colored developing particles, a fuser control means (3) for controlling the temperature of the heat fixing means, and a temperature control by the fuser control means when the colored development particles are insufficient. A first temperature control stop means and a first temperature control start means for starting the temperature control by the fuser control means when the colored developing particles are replenished are provided.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the eleventh aspect, the power supply control means for stopping the power supply to the components not used except during the printing control and the color developing particles are insufficient. In this case, a power supply stopping means for stopping the power supply to the component by the power supply control means, and a power supply control means for starting the power supply to the component when the colored developing particles are replenished. 1 is further provided.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the eleventh aspect, print information storage means for receiving print information from a host computer and storing the print information in a memory,
Output means for outputting the print information stored by the print information storage means to a recording medium is further provided, and instead of the temperature control stopping means, print information that has not been output by the output means is stored in the memory. When not being
A second temperature control stop means for stopping the temperature control when the colored developing particles are insufficient is provided.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the power supply control means for stopping the power supply to the components not used except during the printing control, and the output to the memory. A power supply stop means for stopping the supply of power to the component by the power supply control means when the colored developing particles are insufficient when print information that has not been output by the means is not stored. First power supply starting means for starting power supply to the component by the power supply control means when the colored developing particles are replenished.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the eleventh to fourteenth aspects, the nonvolatile memory medium for storing print information and the memory when the colored developing particles are insufficient. Memory power supply stopping means for storing the print information stored in the non-volatile storage medium in the nonvolatile storage medium and stopping the supply of power to the memory, and starting the supply of power to the memory when the storage medium is replenished. However, a memory power supply starting means for storing the print information stored in the non-volatile storage medium in the memory is further provided.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the fifteenth aspect, when the memory power supply starting means stores the print information in the memory,
It is characterized by further comprising output means for printing the print information on the recording medium and outputting the print information.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the eleventh to sixteenth aspects, a stop setting for setting whether or not to stop the temperature control when the colored developing particles are absent. By means and the stop setting means,
When it is set to stop the temperature control when the colored developing particles are absent, a stop time setting means for setting a time from when the colored developing particles are exhausted to when the temperature control is stopped is further provided. It is characterized by that.

The invention according to claim 18 is the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein
In place of the temperature control stopping means, the second temperature control stopping means for detecting the operation of the holding portion of the storage medium and starting the temperature control by the fuser control means is provided. .

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the twelfth and fourteenth to eighteenth aspects, the holding unit of the storage medium is operated instead of the first power supply starting means. It is characterized by further comprising a second power supply starting means for detecting that the power supply control means starts the power supply to the constituent element.

According to a twentieth aspect of the invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the fifteenth to nineteenth aspects,
In place of the memory power supply starting means, the operation of holding the storage medium is detected, power supply to the memory is started, and the print information stored in the nonvolatile storage medium is stored in the memory. And a second memory power supply starting means for storing the data in the memory.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when the storage medium runs out in the printing apparatus and the output becomes impossible, the temperature control of the fixing device is stopped until the storage medium is inserted, and the power consumption is reduced.
Further, when the colored developing particles are used up and the output becomes impossible, the temperature control of the fixing device is stopped until the amount of the colored developing particles is increased to reduce the power consumption.

[0030]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the electrical construction of a laser beam printer as an example of an image forming apparatus. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 1 denotes a power source SW, which is used to turn on / off the power source of the printing apparatus.
2 is noise filter A
Noise is reduced so that it does not propagate to the C line. 3 is
The fuser control unit detects the temperature of the fixing heater 119, which serves as a heat source for thermal fixing, by the temperature sensor 5, and the engine controller 105 turns on / off so that the temperature becomes constant.
Used to perform OFF control.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the peripheral circuit of the fuser control unit 3. The AC voltage is guided to the fuser control unit through the noise filter 2 connected to the AC line to perform ON / OFF control of the fuser control unit 3. . The software of the CPU 105a of the engine controller 105 determines the temperature of the heater by the temperature sensor 5 provided close to the heater 119, and turns ON / OFF the SSR by the control line to control the current flowing through the heater 119.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 is a low-voltage power supply unit, which generates a voltage necessary for operating the printing apparatus. Reference numeral 21 denotes a host I / F circuit, which controls reception of code data from the host computer and inputs the code data to the video controller 103. The video controller 103 includes a CPU 103a, a RAM 103b, and an R
OM103c, buffer 103d, and video I / F
The circuit controller 21 is used to develop the code data from the host computer into a dot image and store it in the buffer 103d through the video I / F circuit to the engine controller 1
The dot image transfer control is performed at 05 to perform display control and input control of the display / operation panel 104.

103f is a non-volatile storage medium (NVRA
M, EEPROM, etc.) and stores initial information necessary for controlling the printing apparatus. Various information set by the user using the display / operation panel 104 and information set by the control program of the printing apparatus are stored even after the power is turned off so that the setting state is restored at the time of restarting. It is for.

Reference numeral 102 denotes an engine unit, which is composed of each element necessary for the printing apparatus to output an image on a recording medium by an electrophotographic process. Reference numeral 13 denotes a main motor, and the engine controller 105 controls ON / OFF of a signal from the main motor driver 14 to control the photosensitive drum 11
2, developing device 113, transfer roller 114, fixing roller 11
7, the rollers such as the pressure roller 118 and the conveying roller (not shown) are rotationally controlled to control the conveyance of the recording medium. 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a scanner motor, which reflects the laser light generated by the laser diode 107 in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction),
The polygon mirror 108 is rotated in order to hit the photosensitive drum 112 in the longitudinal direction to form a latent image. Scanner motor driver 1 for controlling rotation of polygon mirror 108
2 controls so that the rotation of the scanner motor 11 is constant. The dot image created by the video controller 103 is converted into a video signal, which is transferred to the engine controller 105 through the video I / F circuit 21, and the laser driver 106 controls the laser diode 107 to adjust the intensity of the laser light and adjust the video signal. Modulation by.

The light receiving element 8 receives the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror 108, converts it into an electric signal, and transmits it to the BD circuit 9. The BD circuit 9 shapes this signal and sends it to the video controller 103 as a horizontal synchronizing signal. Therefore, the light receiving element 8 is arranged in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction).
It is placed outside the photosensitive drum of and generates a signal for each horizontal scanning.

The temperature sensor 5 detects the temperature of the fixing device 116 in order to perform heat fixing, and the engine controller 105
Output a signal to. The engine controller 105 controls the fuser controller 3 based on this temperature signal to turn ON / OFF the fixing heater 119.

The high voltage power source 10 is a primary charging voltage for primary charging the photosensitive drum 112, a developing voltage for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum with toner, and a transfer for transferring from the photosensitive drum to a recording medium. A voltage, a separation voltage for separating the recording medium from the photosensitive drum, and the like are generated. These voltages are applied to the primary charger 111 and the developing device 113 (developing cylinder, etc.). In addition, transfer and separation
It is applied to the transfer device 114 (transfer roller) and the separator (not shown). The engine controller 105 controls the timing of generating these voltages. The pickup solenoid 22 is controlled by the engine controller 105 to feed the recording medium one by one.

The paper presence / absence sensor 16 is used by the engine controller 105 to detect whether or not there is a recording medium that can be fed. Cartridge sensor 20
Is used to detect the presence or absence of a toner cartridge. The paper feed sensor 18 and the paper discharge sensor 19 are sensors provided on the conveyance path to monitor the conveyance state of the recording medium when the recording medium is conveyed and the electrophotographic process is performed. , Installed near the paper feed port,
The paper discharge sensor 19 is installed near the paper discharge port.

The fan motor 6 is used for lowering the temperature of the fixing device after printing and suppressing the temperature rise of each element forming the printing apparatus, and the fan motor driver 7 controls the rotation.

The engine controller 105 includes the CPU 1
05a, RAM 105b, ROM 105c, and video I / F circuit 21, a series of control sequences for feeding a recording medium and performing print control using an electrophotographic process, communication control with a video controller, and an engine unit. Each component control and the exception processing control of the electrophotographic process sequence are performed.

Next, a basic printing operation that can be performed by the printing apparatus will be described.

First, the video controller 10 of the printing apparatus.
The program (which is built in the ROM 103c) for controlling the No. 3 inputs the code data created by the host computer through the host I / F circuit 101 of the printing apparatus.

The input code data is sequentially stored in the RAM 103b or the buffer 103 of the video controller 103.
In addition to being stored in d, the video controller program decodes the code data, develops it into a dot image, and stores the image data in the buffer 103d. After the code data for one page is developed into a dot image, a print request is issued to the engine controller 105 through the video I / F circuit 21.

After receiving the print request, the engine controller 105 detects the state of the paper presence sensor 16 and activates each element constituting the engine unit 102 when there is a recording paper. The control of the fixing heater 119 is started so that the temperature of the fixing device becomes the fixing possible temperature. The rotation control of the main motor 28 and the scanner motor 11 is started. The laser light amount is controlled to control and adjust the laser driver so that the predetermined light amount is obtained. After the adjustment of the scanner motor 11 and the laser light amount is completed, the BD signal obtained by shaping the signal detected by the light receiving element 8 by the BD circuit 9 is monitored to determine that there is no abnormality. It is judged that there is no abnormality in the control of each of these elements, and it is judged from the signal of the paper presence sensor 16 that there is a recording medium in the paper feeding cassette and the paper can be fed, and the pickup solenoid 22 is turned on to feed the recording medium. To do. The timing at which the fed recording medium passes through the paper feed sensor 18 is detected, and a leading edge synchronizing signal (vertical synchronizing signal) and a horizontal synchronizing signal (BD signal) of the recording medium are sent to the video controller 103. Occur.

The video controller 103 sends the dot image as a video signal for each row in the horizontal direction to the engine section 102 in synchronization with the synchronizing signals in the vertical and horizontal directions. The engine controller 105, except for the region where an image can be formed on the recording medium (image printable region) and the timing at which the light receiving element 8 detects the laser light, outputs the laser diode 107.
Masks the video signal so that does not emit light. The masked video signal modulates the laser light by the laser driver 106 and the laser diode 107, and the laser light is reflected by the polygon mirror 108 to expose the photosensitive drum.

On the other hand, the engine controller 105 controls the high voltage power source 10 to generate a primary charging voltage for primary charging the photosensitive drum so that an image can be formed from the front end of the recording medium. Next, a developing voltage is generated to develop with toner on the exposed photosensitive drum, a transfer voltage is generated to transfer a visible image to the recording medium, and a separation is performed to separate the drum surface and the recording medium. Generate voltage.

The transferred recording medium is guided to a fixing device and fixed by thermal pressure fixing. The recording medium after fixing is discharged from the discharge port. An image is formed on the recording medium through such a process. The printing apparatus warms the fixing device at a low temperature during standby in order to shorten the print start time from standby. Therefore, the engine controller determines the input value from the temperature sensor and turns on / off the fixing heater so that the temperature of the fixing device becomes a certain temperature or higher.

FIG. 3 shows a first printing apparatus embodying the present invention.
3 is a flowchart showing the sleep control method of FIG. After the start processing (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 321), the engine controller of the printing apparatus detects the paper presence sensor 16
If the paper presence sensor 16 indicates that there is paper (S322), standby processing is performed (S32).
3). The engine controller performs the standby process (S32
In 3), the fixing heater is energized to warm the fixing device to a printable temperature. When it detects that it is in the printable state, it notifies the video controller to that effect. The video controller then issues print information to the engine controller if it has a print request. When the engine controller receives the print information (S324), the engine controller
It is judged whether or not there is a recording sheet (S325), and if there is a recording sheet, it is canceled if the sheet is already displayed (S326), and the recording sheet is fed to perform the printing process (S326). S327). The video controller sequentially receives the code data from the host computer and outputs the video data to the engine controller. When the engine controller receives the print information (S328), as long as there is a recording sheet (S325), the engine controller sequentially performs the print processing. If the recording paper runs out during printing (S32
5), no paper is displayed (S330), and after the recording paper is ejected, post-processing such as cleaning of the photosensitive drum (S33)
3) is performed, and the process returns to S322.

If there is no recording paper in S322, the engine controller notifies the video controller that there is no recording paper (S333), and wait processing is performed for a fixed time until the user inserts the recording paper (S334, S3).
35). Upon receiving the notification that there is no recording paper, the video controller displays information indicating that there is no recording paper on the display panel, notifies the host computer that there is no recording paper, and stops receiving the code data. During the wait process, the engine controller (S334,
If the recording paper is not replenished in S335), the standby temperature adjustment control is stopped and the process shifts to the sleep state. In the sleep state, the power supply to the fixing heater is stopped,
The video controller is notified of the transition from the standby state to the sleep state (S336). When the recording paper is replenished in the sleep state (S337), the engine controller instructs the video controller to cancel the paperless display and shifts to the standby processing (S322, S3).
23).

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, when the recording paper runs out, the process shifts to the sleep process, but when the recording paper runs out when the print information remains in the video controller, the recording paper is about to disappear. Is likely to be replenished. In such a case, it is not appropriate to shift to the sleep process because a standby control process is required thereafter and the waiting time of the user increases. Therefore, a method may be considered in which, if the recording paper runs out while print information remains in the controller, the sleep process is not performed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a second sleep control method of the engine controller in the printing apparatus which implements such a method. 4, operations that are the same as those in FIG. 3 are given the same step numbers as in FIG. Description of the same operation as that of FIG. 3 is omitted.

In this embodiment, steps S410 to S430 are performed instead of step S330 of the first embodiment. That is, after displaying that there is no paper (S410), it is determined whether post-printing processing is necessary (S420). Standby processing (S
After 323), if no sheet is printed, post-print processing is not necessary, and if one or more sheets are printed, post-print processing is necessary. When the post-printing process is necessary, the post-printing process is performed (S430), and the process returns to S323. In this embodiment, since the process does not return to S322 after S430, if the recording paper runs out when the print information remains in the video controller, the sleep process (S33) is performed.
Do not branch to 6).

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the second electrical construction of a laser beam printer. The basic configuration is the same as the electrical configuration of the laser beam printer described in the first embodiment except that the toner presence / absence sensor 23 is added. The toner presence / absence sensor 23 is used by the engine controller 105 to detect whether or not there is a printable amount of toner (colored developing particles) in the toner cartridge.

The basic printing operation of this printing apparatus is as follows.
This is the same as the printing operation described in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the toner presence / absence sensor 2 in the first embodiment is used.
Instead of detecting the state of No. 3, the state of the toner presence / absence sensor 23 is detected. That is, the engine controller 105 detects the state of the toner presence / absence sensor 23 after receiving the print request, and if there is toner, starts up each element that constitutes the engine unit 102 and sets the temperature of the fixing device to the fixing possible temperature. Control of the fixing heater 119 to start the main motor 2
8 and the rotation control of the scanner motor 11 are started.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a sleep control method of the printing apparatus in this embodiment. The engine controller 105 of the printing apparatus starts the process (S621).
After that, the state of the toner presence / absence sensor 23 is detected, and if the toner presence / absence sensor 23 indicates the state with toner (S62).
2) The standby process is performed (S623). In the standby process (S623), the engine controller energizes the fixing heater to warm the fixing device to a printable temperature. When it detects that the printable state is set, it notifies the video controller 103 of the fact. Then, the video controller issues print information to the engine controller 105 when it has a print request.

When the engine controller receives the print information (S624), it determines again whether there is toner (S625), and if there is toner, cancels it if it is already indicating that no toner is present. (S626), the recording paper is fed and print processing is performed (S627). The video controller sequentially receives the code data from the host computer and outputs the video data to the engine controller. When the engine controller receives the print information (S628), as long as there is toner (S625),
Print processing is performed sequentially. If the toner runs out during printing (S625), no toner is displayed (S6).
30), after the recording paper is discharged, post-processing such as cleaning of the photosensitive drum (S633) is performed, and the process returns to S622.

If there is no toner in S622, the engine controller notifies the video controller that there is no toner (S633), and wait processing is performed for a fixed time until the user replenishes toner (S634, S63).
5). The video controller, which has been notified of the lack of toner, displays the information indicating that there is no toner on the display panel, notifies the host computer that there is no toner, and stops receiving the code data. During the wait process, the engine controller (S634, S63
When the toner is not replenished in 5), the standby temperature adjustment control is stopped and the state shifts to the sleep state. In the sleep state, the power supply to the fixing heater is stopped and the video controller is notified of the transition from the standby state to the sleep state (S636). When toner is supplied in the sleep state (S637), the engine controller instructs the video controller to cancel the toner-free display and shifts to the standby process (S622, S62).
3).

(Embodiment 4) In the embodiment 3, when the toner runs out, the process shifts to the sleep process, but when the toner runs out when the print information remains in the video controller, the toner is replenished soon. There is a high probability that In such a case, shifting to sleep processing is
This is not appropriate because it requires a standby control process after that, which increases the waiting time of the user. Therefore, if the toner runs out while the print information remains in the controller, a method of not shifting to the sleep process may be considered.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a sleep control method of the engine controller 105 in a printing apparatus which executes such a method. In FIG.
The same operations as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same step numbers as those in FIG. The description of the same operation as that of FIG. 6 is omitted.

In this embodiment, steps S710 to S730 are performed instead of step S630 of the third embodiment. That is, after displaying that there is no toner (S710), it is determined whether post-printing processing is necessary (S720). After the standby process (S623), the post-print process is not required when no sheet is printed, and the post-print process is required when one or more sheets are printed. If post-printing processing is necessary, post-printing processing is performed (S730) and S623.
Return to. In the present exemplary embodiment, the process does not return to S622 after S730. Therefore, if the toner runs out while the print information remains in the video controller, the sleep process (S6) is performed.
Do not branch to 36).

(Embodiment 5) As shown in FIG. 8, a switch which can be opened and closed by a signal from an engine controller is provided.
The power supply line that supplies the components of the printing apparatus used only during printing may be disconnectable. The components capable of cutting off the power supply include a fan motor driver 7, a fan motor 6, a BD circuit 9, a light receiving element 8, a high voltage power supply 10, a pickup solenoid 22, a laser driver 106, a laser diode 107, a scanner motor driver 12, a scanner motor. 11, the main motor driver 14, the main motor 13, and a part of the video controller 103. In the first to fourth embodiments, the power saving control is performed by operating the SW to stop the power supply during the sleep processing. When the sleep processing is released, the SW is operated to supply power and enable printing.

(Embodiment 6) In Embodiments 1 to 5, when the storage medium or the toner is insufficient before all the print information received from the host is output, this non-output information is stored in the non-volatile storage medium. After that, the power may be saved by shifting to the sleep process and stopping the power supply of the video controller. When a storage medium or toner is inserted, the non-output information is read from the non-volatile storage medium and printed out.

(Embodiment 7) The user uses the operation panel of the printing apparatus to determine whether or not to perform sleep processing, wait processing time, and sleep processing while holding unprinted information from the host. Various settings such as whether or not to perform the setting may be performed, the setting information may be stored in a non-volatile storage medium, and the setting may be read and controlled at the time of startup.

(Embodiment 8) In the above embodiment, the sensor detects that the user has removed the paper feed cassette in order to supply the paper while the sleep process is being performed without the paper, and the fixing device In order to warm the temperature of 1 to the standby temperature, power supply to the fixing heater may be started, power may be supplied to the components that have been cut off, and standby control may be performed. When the user loads the paper into the paper feed cassette and inserts it in the predetermined position of the printing device, the printing device determines that there is paper,
If there is print information, print control processing may be performed, and if there is no print information, standby control processing may be performed.

(Embodiment 9) In the above embodiment, the door sensor 17 indicates that the user has opened the door to increase the amount of toner in the state where the sleep process is performed without the toner.
Then, the fixing heater may be energized to raise the temperature of the fixing device to the standby temperature. In addition, power is supplied to the components that have been cut off, and standby control is performed. When the user increases the amount of toner, print control processing is performed if print information is present, and standby control processing is performed if print information is not present.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiments, the recording paper is used as an example of the recording medium, but the present invention is also applicable to the case where other recording media such as OHP are used.

The present invention is also applicable to the case where other coloring elements such as dry toner and liquid toner which require heating are used as the colored developing particles.

The case where the holding unit of the recording medium is operated corresponds to the case where the cassette of the recording medium is pulled out and the case where the opening / closing unit of the recording medium holding unit is opened.

The case where the storage section for the colored developing particles is operated includes the case where the opening / closing section for storing the toner cartridge is opened, the case where the toner cartridge is removed, and the case where the toner supply port is opened. You can

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

(1) When the printing apparatus cannot print due to the absence of paper, it is possible to reduce unnecessary power consumption during standby control to less power consumption during sleep control.

(2) Since the user waits for a certain period of time after detecting the absence of paper, if the user inserts the paper promptly, it is not necessary to enter the sleep process and it is not necessary to worry about the rising time of the printing apparatus. .

(3) When sleep control is performed by detecting the absence of paper in the paper feed cassette, the user detects that the paper feed cassette has been removed in order to supply paper, and the sleep control is performed. If the control is entered, the user heats the fixing heater while the paper is being loaded in the paper feed cassette, so the temperature is close to the printable temperature before the paper feed cassette is inserted into the printing device. , The waiting time until output is reduced.

(4) When the printing apparatus cannot print due to the absence of toner, it is possible to reduce unnecessary power consumption during standby control to less power consumption during sleep control.

(5) Since the user waits for a certain period of time after detecting the absence of toner, if the user quickly increases the amount of toner, he / she does not enter the sleep process and does not need to worry about the rising time of the printing apparatus. .

(6) When the absence of toner is detected and the sleep control is performed, the user needs to increase the amount of toner.
If it detects that the door is opened and shifts from sleep control to standby control, the fixing heater is warmed while the user is increasing the amount of toner, so that the printer is at a printable temperature before toner is replenished. Since it is warmed to a close temperature, the waiting time until output is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electrical configuration diagram of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electric circuit of a fuser control unit of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of sleep control of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of sleep control of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an electrical configuration diagram of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of sleep control of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of sleep control of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an electrical configuration diagram of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 power supply SW 2 noise filter 3 fuser control unit 4 low voltage power supply unit 5 temperature sensor 6 fan 7 fan motor driver 8 light receiving element 9 BD circuit 10 high voltage power supply 11 scanner motor 12 scanner motor driver 13 main motor 14 main motor driver 15 paper Size sensor 16 Paper presence sensor 17 Door sensor 18 Paper feed sensor 19 Paper discharge sensor 20 Cartridge sensor 21 Video I / F circuit 22 Pickup solenoid 23 Toner presence / absence sensor 100 Controller 101 Host I / F circuit 103 Video controller 103a CPU 103b RAM 103c ROM 103d Buffer 103f Non-volatile storage medium 104 Operation panel 105 Engine controller 105a CPU 105b RAM 105c ROM 1 6 Laser driver 107 Laser diode 108 Polygon mirror 109 Mirror 110 Laser light 111 Primary charger 112 Photosensitive drum 113 Developer 114 Transfer charger 115 Cleaning device 116 Fixer 117 Fixing roller 118 Pressure roller 119 Fixing heater 120 Paper feeding cassette 121 Supply Paper roller

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G03G 15/08 112 112 114 15/20 101 109 21/20 G06F 1/32

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having a heat fixing unit (119) for heating and permanently fixing colored developing particles transferred to a recording medium by using an electrophotographic process, the presence / absence of the recording medium is detected. A detection means (16), a fuser control means (3) for controlling the temperature of the heat fixing means, and a first temperature control stop means for stopping the temperature control by the fuser control means when the recording medium is insufficient. A printing apparatus comprising: a first temperature control starting unit that starts temperature control by the fuser control unit when the recording medium is replenished. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the recording medium is insufficient, a power supply stopping unit that stops supplying power to a component that is not used except during printing control, and the recording medium is A printing apparatus, further comprising: first power supply starting means for starting the supply of power to the components when the power is replenished. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print information storage unit receives print information from a host computer and stores the print information in a memory, and the print information stored by the print information storage unit is output to a recording medium. If the recording medium runs short, when the print information that has not been output by the output unit is not stored in the memory instead of the temperature control stop unit, the temperature control unit further includes an output unit. A printing apparatus comprising a second temperature control stopping means for stopping control. 4. The printing device according to claim 3, wherein when the memory does not store print information that has not been output by the output unit, and the recording medium runs short, printing is performed. Power supply stop means for stopping the supply of power to the components not used except during control, and first power supply start means for starting the supply of power to the components when the recording medium is replenished. A printing apparatus further comprising: 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a nonvolatile storage medium for storing print information, the print information stored in the memory when the recording medium runs short. A memory power supply stopping means for storing the data in the nonvolatile storage medium and stopping the power supply to the memory; and, when the storage medium is replenished, starts the power supply to the memory to A printing apparatus, further comprising: a memory power supply starting unit that stores the stored print information in the memory. 6. The printing device according to claim 5, wherein when the memory power supply starting means stores the print information in the memory, the output means prints the print information on the recording medium and outputs the print information. A printing apparatus further comprising: 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a temperature control stop permission setting unit that sets whether or not to stop the temperature control when the recording medium is not present, and the temperature. And a temperature control stop time setting means for setting a time from when the recording medium is exhausted to when the temperature control is stopped by the control stop permission setting means. A printing device characterized by the above. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a recording medium holding unit that detects that the holding unit of the recording medium is operated instead of the first temperature control stopping unit. Operation detecting means, and second temperature control stopping means for starting temperature control by the fuser control means when the recording medium holding section operation detecting means detects that the holding section of the recording medium is operated. A printing apparatus comprising: 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a recording medium that detects that the holding unit of the recording medium has been operated instead of the first power supply starting unit. When the holding unit operation detecting unit and the recording medium holding unit operation detecting unit detect that the holding unit of the recording medium is operated, the power supply control unit starts supplying power to the constituent element. A printing apparatus comprising a second power supply starting means. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein instead of the first memory power supply starting means, a recording medium holding unit that detects that the holding unit of the recording medium is operated When the holding unit for the recording medium is detected to be operated by the unit operation detecting unit and the recording medium holding unit operation detecting unit, supply of power to the memory is started and stored in the nonvolatile storage medium. And a second memory power supply starting means for storing the print information in the memory. 11. A printer having a heat fixing means (119) for heating and permanently fixing the colored developing particles transferred to the recording medium by using an electrophotographic process, and detecting the presence or absence of the colored developing particles. Detection means (23)
A fuser control means (3) for controlling the temperature of the heat fixing means; a first temperature control stopping means for stopping the temperature control by the fuser control means when the colored developing particles are insufficient; A printing apparatus, comprising: first temperature control starting means for starting temperature control by the fuser control means when particles are replenished. 12. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when the colored developing particles are insufficient, a power supply stopping unit that stops the supply of power to a component that is not used except during printing control, and the color developing device. A printing apparatus, further comprising: first power supply starting means for starting the supply of power to the component when the particles are replenished. 13. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the print information is received from a host computer and stored in a memory, and the print information stored by the print information storage means is output to a recording medium. When the color developing particles are insufficient, the memory further includes output means, and instead of the temperature control stopping means, the memory does not store print information that has not been output by the output means. A printing apparatus comprising a second temperature control stopping means for stopping the temperature control. 14. The printing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when the memory does not store print information that has not been output by the output unit, the colored developing particles run short, Power supply stop means for stopping the supply of power to the constituents not used except during printing control, and first power supply starting means for starting the supply of power to the constituents when the colored developing particles are replenished. A printing apparatus further comprising: 15. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the non-volatile storage medium for storing print information and the print information stored in the memory when the colored developing particles are insufficient. A memory power supply stop means for storing in the non-volatile storage medium and stopping supply of power to the memory; and a non-volatile storage medium for starting power supply to the memory when the storage medium is replenished. And a memory power supply starting means for storing the print information stored in the memory in the memory. 16. The printing device according to claim 15, wherein when the memory power supply starting means stores the print information in the memory, the output means prints the print information on the recording medium and outputs the print information. A printing apparatus further comprising: 17. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a temperature control stop possibility setting unit that sets whether to stop the temperature control when the colored developing particles are absent. When the temperature control stop possibility setting means is set to stop the temperature control, a temperature control stop time setting means for setting a time from when the colored developing particles are exhausted to when the temperature control is stopped. A printing apparatus further comprising: 18. A printing device according to claim 11, wherein the colored developing particles are detected in place of the first temperature control stopping means to detect that the storing portion for the colored developing particles is operated. When the storage section operation detecting means and the colored development particle storage section operation detecting means detect that the storage section for the colored developing particles is operated,
A printing apparatus, comprising: a second temperature control stop means for starting the temperature control by the fuser control means. 19. The printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein instead of the first power supply starting means, a coloring that detects that the storage portion for the colored developing particles has been operated. When it is detected by the developing particle storage operation detecting means and the colored development particle storage operation detecting means that the storage of the colored development particles is operated,
A printing apparatus, comprising: second power supply starting means for starting the supply of power to the constituent elements by the power supply control means. 20. The printing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the colored developing particle is detected in place of the first memory power supply starting unit to detect that the storage unit for the colored developing particles is operated. When it is detected by the particle storage operation detection means and the colored development particle storage operation detection means that the storage of the colored development particles is operated,
A printing apparatus comprising: a second memory power supply starting unit that starts supplying power to the memory and stores the print information stored in the nonvolatile storage medium in the memory.