JPS5887574A - Copying operation controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a quiescent time, to reduce power consumption, and to efficiently operate a copying machine when copying a continuous number of sheets, by controlling a start time of a copying operation after the copying machine has stopped. CONSTITUTION:When copying continuously, a drop of a temperature T of a fixing roller 2 is monitored by a CPU7, and at a lower limit temperature Td, a command is sent to a machine controller 8, and the copying operation is stopped temporarily. By heating efficiency of a heater 1, storage efficiency of the fixing roller 2, size of transfer paper, a passing speed, an interval, etc., the temperature T of the fixing roller 2 and the number sheets P of fixable paper 4 are decided unequivocally. The CPU stores them, immediately derives a temperature of the fixing roller for fixing the remaining number of copying sheets from its portion by said data at the quiescent time, and starts copying immediately when a temperature of the fixing roller 2 has reached this temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to Hino's copying operation control method that performs fixing using a heat roller, and the remaining paper after stopping the copying operation due to the decrease in ffi of the heat roller during continuous copying. The present invention relates to a copying operation control method suitable for making multiple copies.

2. Description of the Related Art As a fixing device in a copying machine, a fixing device using a heat roller has been known. This fixing device, for example,
As shown in the figure, a fixing roller 2 with a heater 1 installed therein,
It is composed of a pressure roller 3 that is pressed against the fixing roller 2 from the back side. The toner image 4A on the transfer paper 4 is heated and pressed while passing between the rollers 2 and 3, and is fixed on the transfer paper 4.

When a copying machine equipped with such a heat roller continuously copies a plurality of sheets, the temperature T of the fixing roller 2 decreases as shown in FIG. 2, and eventually fixing becomes impossible.

To prevent this, the power applied to the heater 1 can be increased. If this happens, the power consumption of the entire photographing device will increase, making it impossible to use a general household power supply.

Therefore, conventionally, an mk detector 5 is provided on the fixing roller 2, and as shown in FIG. When the temperature T of the fixing roller 2 again rose above the upper limit temperature Tu, the copying operation was restarted.

However, in the above conventional method, the number of remaining transfer sheets is 1.
Even in the case of a single copy, the copying operation cannot be restarted until the temperature at the armpit of the fixing roller 2 reaches the upper limit temperature Tu, which has the disadvantage of unnecessarily prolonging the downtime and wasting power.

The present invention aims to shorten downtime and reduce power consumption,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a copying operation control method that can efficiently operate a copying machine when making continuous copies.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is characterized in that the copying operation is automatically restarted after the copying operation is stopped when the temperature of the heat roller reaches a temperature that can fix the remaining number of sheets. shall be.

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

FIG. 3 shows a main part configuration diagram of a copying machine for explaining a copying operation control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same or corresponding parts. 6 is 0
Converter, 7 is a CPU (microcontroller), and 8 is a machine control device (MC).

With the above configuration, when the power is turned on to the copying machine via the main switch (not shown), the machine control device 8 operates under the control of the CPU 7, the heater 1 generates heat, and the temperature of the fixing roller 2 rises to T.
rises. Temperature detector 5 detects temperature T of fixing roller 2 and inputs it to A/D converter 6 . The L1 converter 6 converts the detected value into a digital value and inputs it to the CPU 7. Based on this dizotal value, the CPU 7 monitors the temperature T of the fixing roller 2, and when the temperature T exceeds the upper limit temperature Tu as shown in FIG. 4, it sends a command to the machine control device 8 to permit the copying operation. do. Therefore, if the glint button (not shown) is pressed at this time, the fine copying operation will be started.

As described above, when several copies are made in succession, ii[T of the fixing roller 2 gradually decreases with the copying operation. The CPU 7 monitors the temperature T, and eventually reaches the lower limit temperature T.
When the number reaches d, a command is sent to the machine control device 8 to temporarily stop the copying operation. At the same time, the CPU 7 calculates the number of remaining sheets and adjusts the temperature T of the fixing roller 2 necessary for fixing that amount.
Find α.

That is, between 1lfT of the fixing roller 2 and the number P of transfer paper 4 that can be fixed, there are differences between the heat generation efficiency of the heater 1 and the fixing roller 22.
A certain relationship determined by the heat storage efficiency, the size of the transfer paper 4, the passing speed, the gap, etc. is established. Therefore, in this embodiment, based on this relationship, the number of remaining transfer sheets P
A comparison table of the number of transfer paper sheets P and the roller temperature Ta for each transfer paper size obtained from a calculation formula or experimental results to determine the roller temperature Tα necessary for fixing that amount from the above is stored in a predetermined memory in advance. I'll keep it. This allows the CPU
When the copying operation enters a pause state, 7' can immediately derive the temperature Tα of the fixing roller 2 required to fix the remaining number of copies by referring to the memory.

On the other hand, since heater 1 continues to generate heat even during the rest period,
The temperature T of the fixing roller 2 increases. Eventually, the temperature T
When the temperature reaches the above-determined temperature [Tα], the CPU 7 sends a command to the machine control unit [8 to automatically restart the copying operation.

In this way, by controlling the start time of the copying operation after the copying machine has stopped, the rest time and the heating time of the fixing roller 2 are reduced to the time necessary to fix the number of remaining copies, and the number of remaining copies is reduced. When the number of sheets is small, the waiting time is shortened and power is not wasted. Since the restart of the copying operation is performed automatically, the oscillator can concentrate on other tasks, and office efficiency is greatly improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, the downtime during continuous copying is shortened, unnecessary power consumption is eliminated, and the copying machine can be operated efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the heat roller fixing device, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the relationship between roller temperature and number of transfer sheets and time during continuous copying.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the main parts of a copying machine to explain an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between roller temperature, number of sheets of transferred paper, and time to explain its operation. 1... Heater, 2... Fixing roller, 3... Pressure roller, 4... Transfer paper, 4A... Toner me, 5...
Temperature detector, 6... l converter, 7... CPU, 8-
... Machine control device. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 4 Number of rafts □

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a copying operation control method during continuous copying in a copying machine that performs fixing using a heat roller, when the heat roller al& reaches a predetermined n travel lower limit temperature, the copying operation is stopped, and the heat roller temperature is The heat roller temperature necessary for fixing the remaining number of sheets is determined from the relationship between the number of sheets and the number of sheets that can be fixed, and when the temperature of the heat roller recovers to that temperature, the copying operation after the pause is automatically restarted. Operation control method.