JPH09160448A - Power consumption controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the power consumption more synthetically by providing a power consumption control means controlling the power consumption of a load being as an object to be controlled so that the total amount of the respective power consumption obtained based on the output of an output means and the power consumption of the load previously decided as the object to be controlled does not exceed a prescribed control target value. SOLUTION: By an output means 1, the respective energizing states of the plural kinds of electric loads incorporated in a copying machine main body are inspected and the inspected result is outputted. By an arithmetic means 2, the OFF-time of a fixing heater 4 is calculated by substituting the output from the output means 1 and a value set by a control target power consumption set part 5 in a prescribed operation expression. By a fixing heater control means 3, the energizing of the heater 4 is controlled based on the OFF-time of the heater 4 obtained by the arithmetic means 2. Then, the specified value is previously set as control target power consumption from the set part 5 by operator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power consumption management apparatus that can be used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus is provided with a fixing unit for heating a toner image transferred on a copy sheet to a high temperature and fixing the toner image on the copy sheet. The fixing unit has a fixing heater built therein. During the copy operation or during the so-called standby mode in which the copy operation can be started anytime by pressing the print key, the temperature of the fixing heater is controlled so that the above-mentioned fixing section always maintains a predetermined set temperature. .

On the other hand, a so-called preheat mode (also called a preheat mode) in which the power supply is in the ON state but the copying operation is not started immediately when the print key is pressed is known as a mode for realizing power saving. .

In the preheating mode, the temperature of the fixing heater is controlled not at the predetermined set temperature described above but at a temperature lower than that, in order to realize power saving. As a concrete control method of the fixing heater in the preheat mode, for example, a fixed ratio ON / OFF control or a temperature control in which a set value is lower than that in a normal time is generally used.

When the copying machine is not used for a long time, the operator switches to the preheating mode in order to realize power saving. When actually performing copying, the copying machine is switched from the preheating mode to the normal mode. Then, after a so-called recovery time elapses before the copying machine becomes ready for the copy operation, a display indicating that the copy operation is ready is displayed. The operator sees the display and presses the print key to perform copying.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional copying machine, the power consumption of the fixing heater and the like is managed as a method of realizing the power saving in the above-mentioned preheating mode. Therefore, there is no idea of comprehensively managing the power consumption of the entire copying machine in consideration of the fluctuation of the power consumption of other power loads built in the copying machine.

On the other hand, in recent years, the Energy Star regulation for the realization of further energy saving has been proposed, and if only the fixing heater is focused on as in the past, it is necessary to satisfy the new standard value for energy saving. It was difficult to do so. That is, in order to satisfy this new regulation value, a method capable of more comprehensively managing power consumption has been required.

The present invention takes the above-mentioned conventional problems into consideration,
An object of the present invention is to provide a power consumption management device capable of more comprehensively managing the power consumption of the image forming apparatus as compared with the related art.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an output means for checking and outputting the state of each of a plurality of types of loads incorporated in an image forming apparatus, and an output means for obtaining the output based on the output of the output means are provided. A control means for controlling the power consumption of the load as the control target so that the total of the power consumption of each of the control targets and the power consumption of the load predetermined as the control target does not exceed a predetermined management target value. It is a power consumption management device provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control is performed in a preheating mode of the image forming apparatus, and the predetermined load is a power consumption management apparatus that is a fixing heater.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the output means examines and outputs the state of each of a plurality of types of loads incorporated in the image forming apparatus, and the control means is obtained based on the output of the output means. The power consumption of the load as the control target is controlled so that the total of the power consumption of each and the power consumption of the load predetermined as the control target does not exceed a predetermined management target value.

In the present invention of claim 2, the control is performed in a preheating mode of the image forming apparatus. This allows
Power consumption can be managed comprehensively.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a power consumption management device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a power consumption management apparatus according to the present invention, and the configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the figure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the output means 1 is means for checking the energization state of each of a plurality of types of power loads built in the main body of the copying machine and outputting the result. In the present embodiment, as a power load, fluctuations in power consumption during a preheating mode such as a dehumidifying heater used for dehumidifying the exposure unit and the paper feeding unit and a drum heater for keeping the temperature of the drum of the recording unit constant. With a large value (hereinafter referred to as A type power load) and one with little fluctuation such as a control circuit (hereinafter,
B type power load)). Further, the fixing heater 4 as a predetermined electric power load to be controlled according to the present invention is a large-capacity heater provided in the fixing unit of the copying machine main body.

Here, the rated power consumption of various power loads will be specifically shown. That is, the dehumidifying heater is 20 [W], the drum heater is 60 [W], the control circuit is 50 [W], and the fixing heater 4 is 8 [W].
It is 00 [W]. The management target power consumption setting unit 5 is for setting the management target power consumption that comprehensively manages the power consumption of the various power loads described above. This setting is performed by the operator.

The calculation means 2 includes an output from the output means 1 and
It is a means for calculating the OFF time of the fixing heater 4 by substituting a set value or the like set by the management target power consumption setting unit 5 into a predetermined arithmetic expression. Here, the OFF time of the fixing heater 4 is
It is the OFF time in one cycle during ON / OFF change, and the ON time is the ON time in the same cycle. The ON time of the fixing heater 4 is experimentally determined in advance as described later.

The fixing heater control means 3 determines the fixing heater 4 based on the OFF time of the fixing heater 4 obtained by the calculating means 2.
It is a means for controlling the energization of. The control means of the present invention includes a computing means 2 and a fixing heater control means 3.

Next, a basic equation (Equation 1) for deriving an arithmetic expression used in the arithmetic means 2 will be shown.

X [Whr] = H [W] × (T _on + t / 2) [sec] / (T _on + t + T _off ) [sec] × 1 [hr] + A [W] × 1 [hr] + B [W ] × 1 [hr] (Equation 1) Here, T _on is the ON state of the fixing heater 4 in the above one cycle.
The unit of time is [sec].

T _off is the OFF time of the fixing heater 4 in the same cycle, and the unit is [sec].

H is the rated power consumption of the fixing heater 4, and the unit is [W].

A is the total rated power consumption of the A type power load, and the unit is [W].

B is the total rated power consumption of the B type power load, and the unit is [W].

X is the management target power consumption, and the unit is [Wh
r].

T is an ON time of the fixing heater as a countermeasure against flicker, and its unit is [sec]. The flicker countermeasure means a countermeasure for suppressing the flicker phenomenon of the illumination system due to ON / OFF of the power system such as the fixing heater.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2B, the rising time and the falling time during ON / OFF are intentionally lengthened. FIG. 2A shows a voltage waveform applied to both ends of the fixing heater 4 without the flicker countermeasure, and FIG. 2B shows the waveform diagram shown in FIG. 3 is a diagram in which voltage waveforms applied to both ends of the fixing heater 4 at the time of rising and at the time of falling are represented by broken lines and overlapped with each other when flicker countermeasures are taken. As shown in FIG. 2A, no flicker countermeasure may be taken.

First, the physical meaning of the basic equation (Equation 1) will be described.

That is, H, which is the first term on the right side of (Equation 1),
[W] × (T _on + t / 2) [sec] / (T _on + t +
T _off ) [sec] × 1 [hr] approximately corresponds to the power consumption of the fixing heater 4 per hour. Also, the second term, A [W] × 1 [hr], corresponds to the power consumption per hour of the A type power load, and the third term, B [W] × 1.
[hr] corresponds to the power consumption per hour of the B type power load.

Therefore, in (Equation 1), the total value of these first to third terms becomes the total power consumption of the copying machine, and the total value becomes X [Whr] as the management target power consumption. Is meant to be.

It should be noted that in (Equation 1), 1 / times that is multiplied by t as the above-mentioned ON time for flicker countermeasures.
The coefficient of 2 is a value derived as an empirical value so that the effective power corresponding to t can be obtained approximately.
In addition, T _on has an allowable level of temperature ripple that differs depending on the system configuration of the copying machine, so it is set experimentally in advance. Specifically, the fixing heater is repeatedly turned ON / OFF during the temperature control in the standby mode described above, and the ON time during one cycle is measured when the change state stabilizes within a certain allowable range. To decide.

From the above, the equation (2) can be obtained by transforming (Equation 1) to obtain an arithmetic expression for obtaining the OFF time of the fixing heater 4.

T _off = (T _on + t / 2) × H / (X−A−B) −T _on −t (Equation 2) With the above configuration, the operation of the present embodiment will be described below. Three
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the power consumption management device of the present embodiment.

Here, as a typical operation example, when both the dehumidifying heater, which is an A type power load, and the drum heater are in the ON state (concrete example 1), the drum heater is OF.
The case of the F state (specific example 2) will be described. In any case, the control circuit is naturally in the power consumption state.

On the other hand, T _on = 0.5 [sec], t = 0.6
[sec]. As other conditions, as described above, H = 800 [W], A = 80 [W] (specifically, the dehumidifying heater is 20 [W], the drum heater is 60 [W]).
[W]) and B = 50 [W] (control circuit).

In advance, the operator sets X = 17 as the management target power consumption from the management target power consumption setting unit 5.
A case where 0 [Whr] is set will be described.

(Specific Example 1) When both the dehumidifying heater and the drum heater are in the ON state (1) The output means 1 checks the energizing states of the dehumidifying heater, the drum heater, and the control circuit, and they are all in the ON state. Is detected (steps S301 to S303), and the detection result is output to the calculation means 2. Then, A is required. (Step S304). (2) The computing means 2 substitutes the set value of the management target power consumption and the detection result into the computing equation (Equation 2) to calculate the OFF time of the fixing heater as follows (step S30).
5).

T _off = (0.5 + 0.6 / 2) × 800 / (170-80-50) −0.5 −0.6 = 14.9 [sec] ... (Equation 3) Based on the OFF time obtained by (3) (Equation 3) and the predetermined ON time, the fixing heater control unit 3 turns ON / OFF the fixing heater 4. Control (step S305).

(Specific Example 2) When the drum heater is in the OFF state (1) Since the output means 1 constantly checks the energization state of the electric power load, when the drum heater changes from the ON state to the OFF state, the state change Is detected (steps S301 to S301
303).

Therefore, it differs from the detection result by the output means 1 in (1) of the specific example 1. That is, it is detected that only the drum heater is in the OFF state and the dehumidifying heater and the control circuit are in the ON state, and the detection result is output to the computing means 2. Then, A is required. (Step S30
6). (2) The calculation unit 2 calculates the OFF time of the fixing heater in the same manner as the above (step S305).

T _off = (0.5 + 0.6 / 2) × 800 / (170−20−50) −0.5 −0.6 = 5.3 [sec] ... (Equation 4) (3) Based on the OFF time obtained by (Equation 4) and the predetermined ON time, the fixing heater control unit 3 turns ON / OFF the fixing heater 4. Is controlled (step S305).

Incidentally, in FIG. 3, steps S307 to S307 are performed.
308 corresponds to the operation when only the drum heater is in the ON state, and steps S307 and S309 correspond to the case where both the dehumidifying heater and the drum heater are in the OFF state. The operations in steps S308 and S309 are similar to those in steps S304 and S306.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the gap of the sequence is aimed at, that is, the various power loads are turned off.
By effectively using the timing of the state, the fixing heater 4 can be efficiently energized, and the power saving management of the entire copying machine can be performed from a comprehensive viewpoint so that the management target power consumption is not exceeded. In other words, by using (Equation 2) above, comprehensive power consumption management including the fixing heater 4 can be performed in real time, and more accurate power saving management can be performed. Furthermore, by comprehensively considering a plurality of power loads and managing power consumption, there is an effect that it is possible to comply with the energy star regulation.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram when a microcomputer is used as another embodiment of the power consumption management apparatus according to the present invention, and the configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the figure. . In the above-described embodiment, the same components as those described with reference to FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, the operation unit 31 has a management target value input key 31-1 for inputting a management target value and a preheating mode ON / OF for setting or canceling the preheating mode.
It is composed of an F key and a print key for instructing execution of copying. The display unit 32 is means for displaying various setting modes of the copying machine. RA with backup power supply
M33 is a memory that stores a value input from the management target value input key 31-1. Further, the ROM 3 which is a storage unit
5 is a microcomputer control program 35-1
Alternatively, it is a means for storing the arithmetic expression (Equation 2) 35-2 described above. The image forming unit 37 is an image forming unit of the main body of the copying machine, which includes an exposure unit, a paper feeding unit, a recording unit, and the like. The A type power load 38 is a power load including a dehumidifying heater and a drum heater. The B type power load 39 is a power load including a control circuit. As shown in FIG. 4, a main control unit 36 including a CPU and the like is electrically connected to each of the above components and the fixing heater 7, and a control program 35-1 and an arithmetic expression 35- are used. It is a central control processing unit of a microcomputer for controlling each constituent element, controlling the fixing heater 4, etc. on the basis of 2. The main control unit 36 also includes the functions of the output unit and the control unit of the present invention.

In the above structure, the operation of this embodiment is performed based on the command from the main control section 36, and the contents thereof are the same as the operation contents of the above-described embodiment described with reference to FIG. Are the same.

In the above embodiment, if the OFF time of the fixing heater 4 has an extremely large value, the temperature ripple of the fixing heater 4 becomes too large. For this reason, for example, when the OFF time exceeds 25 [sec], the fixing unit is provided with a sub-heater provided so as to cope with a difference in the length of the sheet in the sheet feeding direction, and the sub-heater is set to the above-mentioned sub-heater. It may be a target of ON / OFF control. Further, during the preheating mode, only the sub heater may be the control target. In this case, the rated power consumption value of the sub heater is smaller than that of the case where the fixing heater is ON / OFF controlled.
It is also suitable as a flicker countermeasure.

Further, in the above embodiment, as a method for setting the value of the management target power consumption, the case where the operator sets the value from the management target power consumption setting section 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a copying machine. The recovery time instructing unit that can instruct to shorten or lengthen the recovery time may be provided and used.
In this case, the operator can
When an instruction to shorten or lengthen the recovery time is issued, a predetermined value of the management target power consumption corresponding to each instruction content is extracted and output to the arithmetic means.

Further, the output means of the present invention has been described in the above embodiment as a case of checking the energization state of other electric power loads except the fixing heater as the electric power load which is predetermined as the control target. Not limited to this, for example, a configuration may be used in which the energization state is checked including the power load determined in advance as the control target. In this case, the control unit controls the electric power that is predetermined as the control target among the plural types of electric power loads so that the total of the respective power consumptions obtained based on the output of the output unit does not exceed the predetermined management target value. It controls the power consumption of the load.

Further, as the method of controlling the power consumption of the predetermined power load as the control object of the present invention, the case where the ON / OFF control is used has been described in the above embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this. The control method of controlling the value itself of the applied voltage may be used. In short, as long as it is a method in which the total power consumption does not exceed a predetermined management target value,
The control method does not matter.

The power consumption management device of the present invention has been described in the above embodiment in the case of the preheating mode.
Not limited to this, for example, it can be applied during the standby mode.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the value of the power consumption is managed by paying attention to the power consumption itself of each power load has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, other than the power consumption itself, it is equivalent thereto. You may manage using a value.

Further, although the image forming apparatus of the present invention has been described in the above embodiment as the case of the copying machine, the image forming apparatus is not limited to this and may be another image forming apparatus such as a facsimile or a printer.

[0054]

As described above, the present invention has an advantage that the power consumption can be managed more comprehensively than the conventional one.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power consumption management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a waveform diagram of a voltage applied to both ends of a fixing heater when no flicker countermeasure is provided. FIG. 2B is a waveform diagram showing a waveform shown in FIG. The voltage waveforms at the rising edge and the falling edge in the case of

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the power consumption management device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a power consumption management device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Output Means 2 Computing Means 3 Fixing Heater Control Means 4 Fixing Heaters 5 Management Target Power Consumption Setting Unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An output unit for checking and outputting each state of a plurality of types of loads incorporated in an image forming apparatus, each power consumption obtained based on the output of the output unit, and a predetermined control target. And a control means for controlling the power consumption of the load to be controlled so that the total with the power consumption of the load does not exceed a predetermined management target value. . 2. The power consumption management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed in a preheating mode of the image forming apparatus, and the predetermined load is a fixing heater.