JPH09101702A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of accelerating the heating up of the outer peripheral surface of a fixing roller by utilizing heat energy generated at the time of phase transition from an amorphous phase to crystalline phase when a panel is closed again even if a fixing power source is turned off by opening this panel. SOLUTION: This image forming device is provided with an image forming mechanism including a fixing device 6 within a housing 1 having the openable and closable panel. This fixing device 6 is provided with a phase transition layer which allows the phase transition between the amorphous phase and the crystalline phase on the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller 9. The heating up of the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller 9 is accelerated by the heat energy generated at the time of the phase transition from the amorphous phase to the crystalline phase by heating. The image forming device described above has a panel opening/closing detecting means for detecting the opening and closing of the panel 2 and an amorphatization means for causing the phase transfer of the material constituting the phase transition layer from the crystalline phase to the amorphous phase. This amorphatization means causes the phase transition of the phase transition layer from the crystalline phase to the amorphous phase when this panel opening/closing detecting means detects the opening of the panel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer and a facsimile, and in particular, an image forming mechanism including a fixing device is provided in a housing having a panel that can be opened and closed. Is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller with a phase transition layer made of a substance capable of phase transition between crystalline and amorphous. The fixing roller is heated at the time of the phase transition from amorphous to crystalline by heating. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a temperature rise of an outer peripheral surface of the image forming apparatus is promoted by heat energy generated in

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus, toner is attached to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor to make it visible as a toner image, and the visualized toner image is transferred to a recording sheet.
It is known that the toner adhering to the recording sheet (conveying paper) is then softened by heating and the toner is fused to the recording sheet by pressurization to fix the toner image. The fixing device incorporated in the image forming apparatus includes a pressure roller and a fixing roller that face each other and have a conveyance path for a recording sheet between them. In the fixing roller, a release layer for preventing toner adhesion is formed on the outer circumference of a hollow cylindrical cored bar made of, for example, aluminum or iron. A heater composed of, for example, a halogen lamp is provided inside the fixing roller, and the fixing roller is configured to heat from the inside.

In a fixing device of this type of structure, the temperature of the outer surface of the fixing roller is warmed up in advance until the temperature required for fixing is reached. Conventionally, this warm-up requires a long time, and in general, a structure has been adopted in which the fixing roller is preheated when the main power supply is turned on, but the power is wasted.

[0004]

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has found that a substance capable of phase transition between amorphous and crystalline (for example, JP-A-7-140823) is provided on the outer periphery of a hollow cylindrical core metal.
The present invention has proposed a fixing roller having a structure in which a phase-transition layer composed of the above-mentioned publication) is provided and the phase-transition layer is covered with a protective layer. According to this fixing roller, thermal energy is generated by the phase transition from the amorphous phase to the crystalline phase of the phase transition layer due to heating, so that the temperature rise of the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller is promoted and the warming-up time is shortened. To be

On the other hand, in the fixing roller of this type, in order to reuse the thermal energy generated by the phase transition layer, the crystallized phase transition layer must undergo a phase transition from crystalline to amorphous. I have to. There is a method by ion implantation for the phase transition of this phase transition layer from crystalline to amorphous. Usually, this crystallized phase transition layer is heated and once melted, and then rapidly cooled to a supercooled state. Need to do. When the cooling rate of the substance forming the phase transition layer is equal to or lower than a certain cooling rate determined by the substance, crystallization starts again near the melting point of the substance, and the substance forming the phase transition layer is separated from the crystalline substance. This is because the crystal phase cannot be changed.

By the way, in the image forming apparatus, the image forming mechanism including the fixing device is built in the housing, but jam (paper jam), toner exchange (also called toner replenishment), full discharge toner bottle, P sensor, and the like. When dirt or the like is generated, a command to open the panel in response to the inspection work request command is presented to the operator, and the fact is displayed on the liquid crystal panel. Operators such as copy workers and servicemen open the panel to perform a predetermined work based on the inspection work request command displayed on the liquid crystal panel. When this panel is opened, the power supply of the fixing device is safe. It is designed to be cut off.

However, a phase transition layer made of a substance capable of phase transition between crystalline and amorphous is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller, and when the phase transition from amorphous to crystalline is caused by heating. In an image forming apparatus having a fixing device that accelerates the temperature rise of its outer peripheral surface by the heat energy generated at the time of opening the panel, when the panel is opened, the temperature of the phase transition layer remains crystalline, so that the temperature of the phase transition layer decreases. Therefore, it is not possible to accelerate the temperature rise of the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller by utilizing the thermal energy generated during the phase transition to.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. An object of the present invention is to change from amorphous to crystalline when the fixing power source is turned off by opening the panel and when the panel is closed again. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can accelerate the temperature rise of the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller by utilizing the thermal energy generated at the time of the phase transition.

[0009]

An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image forming mechanism including a fixing device is provided in a housing having an openable / closable panel, and the fixing device has an outer peripheral surface of a fixing roller. Is provided with a phase transition layer made of a substance capable of phase transition between crystalline and amorphous, and the fixing roller is provided with a thermal energy generated during the phase transition from amorphous to crystalline by heating. In an image forming apparatus in which the temperature rise of the outer peripheral surface is promoted, a panel open / close detection means for detecting the open / close of the panel and an amorphous material for phase-changing a substance constituting the phase transition layer from crystalline to amorphous. A quality change means, and the amorphization means changes the phase transition layer from crystalline to amorphous when the panel open / close detection means detects the opening of the panel.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when the panel opening / closing detection means detects the closing of the panel, the phase transition layer changes from amorphous to crystalline. It is characterized by being transferred.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the amorphizing means causes the substance forming the phase transition layer to undergo a phase transition from crystalline to amorphous. A heating means for heating and melting, and a cooling means for cooling the heated and melted material so that the material becomes amorphous, and the heating means is crystalline of the material forming the phase transition layer. It is used in both the phase transition process from amorphous to amorphous and the phase transition process from amorphous to crystalline.

[0012]

According to the invention described in claim 1, toner replacement,
When an inspection work request command such as device repair / inspection processing is issued and the panel is opened, the panel opening / closing detection means detects the opening of the panel. The amorphizing means causes the phase transition layer to undergo a phase transition from crystalline to amorphous when this panel is opened. According to the inventions of claims 2 and 3, when the panel open / close detection means detects the closing of the panel, the phase transition layer undergoes a phase transition from amorphous to crystalline.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a copying machine as an image forming apparatus. In FIG. 1, 1 is a device body, 2 is a panel for opening and closing the device body 1, 3 is a paper feed cassette, and 4 is a contact glass. 5, a toner bottle, 6 a fixing device,
Reference numeral 7 is an operation / display control unit, and 8 is a copy receiver. A main switch SW shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the copy receiver 8 side of the apparatus body 1. An image forming mechanism including a fixing device 6 is built in the apparatus main body 1. The recording sheet 3a set in the paper feed cassette 3 is sent to the fixing device 6 via the photoconductor and the transfer device, and the toner image formed on the photoconductor at that time is transferred to the recording sheet 3a by the transfer device. .

The fixing device 6 is a pressure roller (not shown).
And a fixing roller 9. The fixing roller 9 is brought into contact with the pressure roller and is rotated by the rotation of the pressure roller.
The pressure roller has a well-known structure, and an elastic body such as rubber is attached to the outer circumference of a cored bar made of aluminum, iron or the like. The fixing roller 9 is a hollow cylindrical core metal 9 as shown in FIG.
a. As the material of the core metal 9a, a material having a good thermal conductivity, for example, an aluminum alloy is used. Core metal 9a
A phase transition layer 9b made of a substance capable of phase transition between crystalline and amorphous is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the. This substance is selected from elements belonging to groups IIIB to VIB of the periodic table (long period type), for example, chalcogen, chalcogenide compound, selenium, selenium-tellurium alloy, germanium-tellurium alloy, indium-selenium alloy, indium. -Selected from tellurium alloys, antimony-selenium alloys, antimony-tellurium alloys, etc. with a crystallization temperature of 8
Considering that a material in the range of 0 ° C. to 200 ° C. is preferable, the fixing temperature T is about 180 ° C., and it is preferable that heat is concentratedly generated during crystallization, selenium is particularly preferable. It is preferably a selenium-tellurium alloy. A protective layer 9c is formed on the outer periphery of the phase transition layer 9b. The protective layer 9c plays a role of preventing the substance constituting the phase change layer 9b from flowing out when the phase change layer 9b is in a molten state. The protective layer 9c may be made of a material that prevents the adhesion of the toner, or a release layer made of a fluororesin may be formed on the surface of the protective layer 9c to prevent the adhesion of the toner. Is also good. A cylindrical Peltier effect element 9d is arranged on the inner circumference of the cored bar 9a. Code 9
e and 9e are conductive wires for passing a current through the Peltier effect element 9d. The Peltier effect element 9d has a function of raising the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller 9 to the fixing temperature T, a function of heating and melting the crystallized phase transition layer 9b, and then cooling the phase transition layer 9b. Also, it functions as an amorphization means for changing the phase from crystalline to amorphous again. Although the temperature of the fixing roller 9 is increased by using the Peltier effect element 9d here, the fixing roller 9
It is also possible to insert a halogen lamp in the hollow and heat the fixing roller 9 by utilizing the emitted radiant heat of the halogen lamp.

As shown in FIG. 2, a microprocessor CPU is provided in the apparatus main body 1. A ROM memory is connected to the microprocessor CPU, and an operation / display controller 7, a main switch SW, and a panel open / close detection switch S are connected via an input / output interface I / O.
W, heating means, amorphization means, jam detection sensor, toner remaining amount detection sensor, waste toner full detection sensor, cleaning blade dirt detection sensor and the like are connected. In this embodiment, the Peltier effect element 9d has heating means for causing the phase transition layer 9b to undergo a phase transition from amorphous to crystalline and amorphization for causing the phase transition layer 9b to undergo a phase transition from crystalline to amorphous. Since it functions as a means, the connection line to the input / output interface I / O is shared. The microprocessor CPU has a function of controlling various controls necessary for copying work, and a program for performing the control is written in the ROM memory. Peltier effect element 9d
When it functions as a heating means from crystalline to amorphous, the phase change layer 9b in the crystalline state is once heated from the fixing temperature to a temperature above the melting point temperature and in the vicinity thereof, After the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b is made to be in a molten state, the direction of energization to the Peltier effect element 9d is reversed, and the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b is rapidly cooled from the molten state to become amorphous. Let The temperature control data is written in advance in the ROM memory.

The panel 2 has an iron plate 1 as shown in FIG.
1, 11 'are provided, and the iron plate 11,
Permanent magnets 10 and 10 ′ are provided corresponding to 11 ′, and a pressure sensor 12 as a panel open / close detection switch SW is provided near the permanent magnet 10. The microprocessor CPU detects whether or not the panel 2 is opened based on the change in the signal of the pressure sensor 12.

The operation / display controller 7 is a liquid crystal display panel 7a.
Having. Operators such as copy workers and service people
Based on the display of the inspection request work of the liquid crystal display panel 7a, the work corresponding to the display contents is performed.
When toner needs to be replenished (toner bottle replacement), etc., a message to that effect is displayed, and when the waste toner is full, the cleaning blade is dirty, etc., a message (for example, a tool mark) indicating that a repair worker has been contacted is displayed. To be done.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described according to a flow chart.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of Embodiment 1 of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

In this image forming apparatus, the main switch S
When W is turned on, heating is started by the Peltier effect element 9d, the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b undergoes a phase transition from amorphous to crystalline, and the phase transition from amorphous to crystalline is performed. It is assumed that the fixing roller 9 is quickly heated to the fixing temperature by the heat energy generated at this time, and the image forming apparatus is warmed up. When the warm-up is completed, the microprocessor CPU outputs a display command to the liquid crystal display panel 7a to the effect that "copying is possible". The worker usually performs the copying work in this state. Next, when there is a request for inspection work such as occurrence of jam or replacement of toner bottle, the microprocessor CPU displays the specific contents of the inspection request work on the liquid crystal display panel 7a.
The operator opens the panel 2 and works according to the contents of the inspection request work displayed on the display panel 7a according to the contents. The microprocessor CPU determines whether or not the panel 2 is opened. (S.1) and the panel 2 is opened, the output of the pressure sensor 12 is switched from on to off. When the pressure sensor 12 is switched from on to off, the microprocessor CPU heats and melts the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b by the Peltier effect element 9d (S.
2) Determine whether or not the melting is completed based on the melting point Tm (S.3), and then reverse the energization direction to the Peltier effect element 9d to cool the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b. (S.4), it is judged whether or not the cooling is completed based on the crystallization start temperature (S.5), and after the phase transition step of the phase transition layer from crystalline to amorphous is completed, the fixing power source is turned on. Turn off (S.6).

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of Embodiment 2 of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

When the panel 2 is closed after the work based on the work request command is completed, the pressure sensor 12 is switched from off to on.
The microprocessor CPU detects whether the pressure sensor 12 is turned on (S.7). When the pressure sensor 12 is turned on (when the panel 2 is closed), the fixing power source is turned on (S.8), the substance forming the phase transition layer 9b is heated (S.9), and the amorphous state is changed. The thermal energy generated during the phase transition to crystalline rapidly raises the fixing roller 9 to the fixing temperature, and it is detected whether or not the fixing temperature is reached, so that the amorphous to crystalline phase is detected. It is determined whether the transfer is completed (S.10).

[0024]

Since the invention described in claims 1 to 3 is configured as described above, even when the panel is opened and the fixing power is turned off, when the panel is closed again, the amorphous state is obtained. It is possible to accelerate the temperature rise of the outer peripheral surface of the fixing roller by utilizing the thermal energy generated during the phase transition from the to the crystalline.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a fixing roller according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the first embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the second embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing 2 ... Panel 6 ... Fixing device 9 ... Fixing roller 9b ... Phase transition layer 12 ... Pressure sensor (panel open / close detection means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming mechanism including a fixing device is provided in a housing having an openable / closable panel, and the fixing device is capable of phase transition between a crystalline state and an amorphous state on an outer peripheral surface of a fixing roller. In an image forming apparatus in which a phase transition layer made of a different substance is provided, and the fixing roller accelerates the temperature rise of its outer peripheral surface by thermal energy generated at the time of phase transition from amorphous to crystalline by heating, Panel opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the panel, and amorphization means for making a phase transition of a substance forming the phase transition layer from crystalline to amorphous, the amorphization means is An image forming apparatus, wherein when the panel opening / closing detecting means detects the opening of the panel, the phase transition layer is changed from crystalline to amorphous. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the panel open / close detection means detects the closing of the panel, the phase transition layer undergoes a phase transition from amorphous to crystalline. 3. The heating means for heating and melting the amorphizing means so as to cause a phase change of a substance constituting the phase change layer to a crystalline state, and the substance is amorphized. And a cooling means for cooling the molten material so that the heating means melts the material forming the phase transition layer from a crystalline phase to an amorphous phase and an amorphous phase to a crystalline phase. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is also used for the phase transition step.