JPS60245578A - Cooling fan controller for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stop a cooling fan and thereby eliminate noise when printing is not conducted and calmness is desired, by rotating the cooling fan in accordance with the printing condition. CONSTITUTION:A controlling part 6 detects printing frequency, and outputs a controlling signal to a transistor TR in accordance with predetermined stages of printing frequency. Namely, the controlling part 6 provides a voltage for turning OFF the transistor when printing is not conducted. Once printing is started, the controlling part 6 detects the printing frequency, and controls so that an electric current passed to the transistor is larger as the printing frequency is higher. Accordingly, rotation of the cooling fan 7 is stopped when printing is not conducted, and the rotating speed is set to be higher as the printing frequency is higher, namely, the power consumption by the printer as a whole is more, thereby cooling the printer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a control device for a cooling fan that cools the heat generating part of a printing device, and particularly relates to a control device for controlling a cooling fan that cools the heat generating part of a printing device, and in particular, to reduce the noise of the cooling fan when printing is not performed or when the printing speed is slow. The present invention relates to a cooling fan control device for a printing device that can reduce power consumption and power consumption.

2. Description of the Related Art Cooling fans are used in printing devices used in various information processing systems to lower the temperature of heat generating parts within the device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a printing device. When the commercial power is turned on from terminal B and the switch SW is closed, the cooling fan 1 rotates and blows air to the electric heating section 2, the control section 3, and the mechanism section 4, thereby cooling the respective sections. The power supply section 2 generates and supplies DC power required by the control section 3 and the mechanism section 4.

A control signal is given to the control section 3 from the host device via the terminal A, and the control section 3 controls the mechanical section 4 to perform a printing operation based on the control signal. When the mechanical unit 4 performs a printing operation, it involves mechanical operations such as selecting type, feeding paper, and moving the printing unit.
Power consumption increases due to the operation of a motor etc. that supplies this power. Therefore, the temperature of each heat generating part of the printing device rises when printing is required, but the temperature rise is small when printing is not being performed.

[Conventional technology]

Due to its nature, printing devices rarely print all the time.

However, in the conventional printing apparatus, the cooling fan is constantly operated, as shown in FIG. Therefore, since the cooling fan continues to rotate even when printing operations are not being performed where the temperature rise is small, noise from the cooling fan is constantly generated and power is wasted.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Since printing devices are installed in offices and the like, there is a strong demand for noise reduction. In particular, the noise caused by the cooling fan when the printing device is not performing a printing operation is a problem.

The present invention aims to solve these conventional problems.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a control device for a cooling fan that cools a heat generating part of a printing device, and is provided with means for controlling the rotation of the cooling fan according to the printing frequency of the printing device, and when no printing operation is performed, the cooling fan is The rotation of the cooling fan is stopped, and during the printing operation, the rotation of the cooling fan is controlled to increase as the printing frequency increases.

[Operation] That is, when the printing device does not perform printing operation, the temperature rise of the device is small, so the rotation of the cooling fan is stopped, and during printing, the higher the printing frequency, the more power is consumed, and therefore the temperature rise is also large. Therefore, noise caused by the rotation of the cooling fan can be prevented by increasing the rotational speed of the cooling fan for cooling.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention. Parts with the same functions as those in FIG. 2 are represented by the same symbols.

When commercial power is turned on from terminal B and switch SW is closed, power supply unit 5 generates and supplies the power required by control unit 6 and mechanism unit 4, respectively. Further, the power supply unit 5 supplies DC power to the cooling fan 7 via the transistor TR. The control unit 6 is connected to terminal A
Based on the control signal given from the host device through the above, the mechanism section 4 is controlled to perform a printing operation. At this time, the control section 6 detects the printing frequency and sends a control signal to the transistor TR according to predetermined printing frequency stages.

That is, the -fil+ control unit 6 applies a voltage that turns off the transistor TR when no printing operation is performed. Then, when printing is started, the printing frequency is checked, and control is performed so that the higher the printing frequency is, the more the current flowing through the transistor TR is increased. Therefore, the cooling fan 7 stops rotating when printing is not performed, and increases the rotation speed as the printing frequency increases, that is, as the power consumption of the entire printing device increases, to cool the printing device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a circuit showing another embodiment of the present invention. Parts with the same functions as those in FIG. 2 are represented by the same symbols.

When commercial power is turned on from terminal B and switch SW is closed, power supply section 8 generates and supplies the power required by control section 9 and mechanism section 4. The control section 9 controls the mechanism section 4 based on a control signal from the host device supplied from the terminal A to perform a printing operation. At this time, the control device 9 determines from the control state of the mechanism section 4 whether or not a printing operation is in progress. When the printing operation is started and it is determined that printing is in progress, the control section 9 sends a signal to drive the relay RL. When the relay RL operates, the contact rl closes and the cooling fan 1 rotates.

When the control unit 9 determines that the printing operation has stopped, it turns on the relay RL.
In order to send out a signal to turn off the cooling fan 1, the contact rl is opened and the rotation of the cooling fan 1 is stopped.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention rotates the cooling fan according to the printing condition, so the cooling capacity is not reduced, and the cooling fan is stopped when printing is not performed and it is considered to be quiet, thereby eliminating noise. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a printing device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a circuit showing another embodiment of the present invention. . In the figure, 1.7 is a cooling fan, 2, 5.8 is a power supply section, 3.6.9 is a control section, and 4 is a mechanism section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a control device for a cooling fan that cools a heat generating part of a printing device, a means is provided for controlling the rotation of the cooling fan according to the printing frequency of the printing device, and the rotation of the cooling fan is stopped when no printing operation is performed. A cooling fan control device for a printing device, characterized in that during a printing operation, the higher the printing frequency, the higher the rotation of the cooling fan.