JPS6388584A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce unnecessary power consumption by controlling temperature so that a prescribed high temperature is target temperature in a period from the start of a paper feeding to the end of fixation and a stand-by temperature with which a fixation part rises up to the prescribed high temperature is the target temperature in other periods. CONSTITUTION:When the temperature of a room is high, the temperature of the fixation part before power-on time t0 is high room temperature Tb and a temperature rise after power-on operation is fast, so if temperature is controlled performed by setting the fixation temperature Tt as the target temperature, the fixation temperature Tt is reached at time t5 earlier than time t1. For the purpose, when the temperature over the fixation part 8 is controlled by setting the stand-bt temperature Tc as the target temperature, the fixation part is held at the stand-by temperature Tc after time t1. Thus, the room temperature is detected and the stand-by temperature is set to the best temperature automatically. Consequently, the fixation part is prevented from being held at high temperature unnecessarily and unnecessary power consumption is suppressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, particularly a recording apparatus such as a copying machine equipped with a heat fixing section, and relates to an improvement in temperature control of the heat fixing section.

To explain a copying machine equipped with a conventional heat fixing section,
The temperature control of the heat fixing section is performed as indicated by the curve IJjjl indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG.

That is, the time τ when the copier is powered on. Previously, the fixing unit temperature was room temperature.

When the power is turned on at time r0, the temperature of the fixing section is controlled using a predetermined high temperature (fixing temperature) required for fixing as the target value, so it rises at a predetermined gradient, and when the fixing temperature is reached at time τ, the temperature is controlled. Maintained at fusing temperature.

If the copying machine is equipped with a power saving switch, when the power saving switch is turned on at time τ7, temperature control is performed using a power saving temperature lower than the fixing temperature as the target temperature, so that the fixing unit temperature is lowered to the power saving temperature. Then, when the power saving switch is turned off at time τ, temperature control is performed using the ear fusing temperature as the target temperature, so that the fusing unit temperature is raised and maintained at a constant f temperature.

By the way, since it takes a certain amount of time for copy paper to reach the fixing section after paper feeding starts, the temperature of the fixing section at the time of starting paper feeding is determined by raising the fixing section to a predetermined high temperature in the required time. It is sufficient that the temperature is as long as it can be obtained (standby temperature).

Therefore, a device that accepts an instruction to start copying from the time τ when the temperature of the fixing section reaches the standby temperature after powering on the copying machine is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-1710.
It is disclosed in Publications No. 1, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-54970, etc.

Problems with conventional technology In conventional devices, except when the power saving switch is turned on,
The temperature of the fixing section is controlled using the fixing temperature as a target temperature.

However, the fixing temperature is high (e.g. 160°C to 180°C).
Therefore, there is a problem in that maintaining the temperature at such a high temperature even during standby time results in a large amount of wasted power consumption.

Purpose of the Invention An object of the present invention is to raise the temperature of the fixing section to the fixing temperature only during the period when the recording paper is being subjected to the fixing process, but keep it lower than the fixing temperature during other periods, thereby reducing wasteful power consumption. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that does the following.

Composition of the Invention The recording apparatus of the present invention includes a paper feeding unit that feeds recording paper, and a paper feeding unit that feeds recording paper, and In a recording device having an image forming section that forms an i-image and a fixing section that fixes the formed image at a predetermined high temperature, a predetermined high temperature is set as a target temperature during a period from the start of paper feeding to the end of fixing, During other periods, the temperature control means for the fixing section is used to control the temperature of the fixing section using a standby temperature that allows the fixing section to rise to a predetermined high temperature while the recording paper is being transferred from the paper feed section to the fixing section. This feature is a structural feature.

Function: In the recording apparatus of the present invention, the temperature of the fixing section during the standby time is maintained at a standby temperature lower than the fixing temperature. Therefore, the consumed R power is reduced accordingly.

When an instruction to start copying is received and feeding of recording paper is started, the temperature of the fixing section is controlled using the fixing temperature as a target temperature. Therefore, the temperature of the fusing unit increases, but the standby temperature is such that the fusing unit can rise to a predetermined high temperature while the recording paper is being transferred from the paper feed unit to the fusing unit. When this happens, the temperature of the fixing section has risen to a predetermined high temperature. Therefore, fixing can be performed without any trouble.

When the fixing is completed, the temperature is controlled again using the standby temperature as the target temperature, so power consumption is immediately reduced.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail based on examples shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the embodiment apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram of the change in temperature of the fixing section.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the figures.

In the copying machine 1 shown in FIG. 1, when a copy button (not shown) is pressed, copy paper P is taken in by paper feed rollers 2 and 3, and the next paper feed is started. This next paper feed is
When the leading edge of the copy paper P reaches the registration roller 4, it is stopped.

- When the next sheet feeding is finished, scanning of the optical system 5 and rotation of the photosensitive drum 6 are started, and a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6.

The registration rollers 4 adjust the orientation of the copy paper P, and
Secondary feeding of the copy paper P is performed in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 6.

An image is formed on the secondarily fed copy paper P by the transfer section 7.

The copy paper P on which the image has been formed is transferred to the fixing section 8 and is heated and fixed at a predetermined high temperature (fixing temperature).

The temperature of the fixing unit 8 is controlled by adjusting the power supplied to the heater 9.

Next, temperature control of the fixing section 8 of the copying machine 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

When the power switch (not shown) of the copying machine 1 is turned on, the temperature of the fixing section 8 is controlled using the standby temperature as the target temperature (Sl). Here, the standby temperature is defined as the temperature at which the temperature of the fixing section 8 can rise to the fixing temperature during the time from the start of feeding the copy paper P by the paper feed rollers 2 and 3 until the copy paper P reaches the fixing section 8. The temperature is, for example, about 10° C. lower than the fixing temperature.

Until the temperature of the fixing unit 8 reaches the standby temperature (32), the ready lamp (not shown) is lit in red.
3) Display that warm-up is in progress.

When the temperature of the fixing unit 8 reaches the standby temperature (S2),
The ready lamp turns blue (34) to indicate that it is OK to press the copy button.

If the copy button is not pressed (S5), it is checked whether continuous copying is in progress (S6).

If continuous copying is not in progress (36), it is checked whether the power saving switch (not shown) is on or not (S7), and if it is not on, the process returns to step S1.

In this way, steps 31 to S7 are looped,
The temperature of the fixing section 8 will be maintained at the standby temperature.

By the way, FIG. 3 shows the temperature rise of the fixing unit 8 when the power is turned on at time t0, and shows the case where the room temperature is low T7 and the case where the room temperature T is high.

When the room temperature is low, the fixing unit temperature T is a low room temperature T7 before the power-on time t0, and increases after the power-on time T according to a predetermined characteristic curve l.

Assume that when the eye PII temperature is set as the fixing temperature Tt and the temperature is increased, the fixing temperature T is reached at time ts, and the time from the start of paper feeding until the copy paper P reaches the fixing unit 8 is δ. , time t.

The temperature T1 of the fixing unit 8 at time t7, which is δ1 hours earlier than the standby temperature, is the standby temperature.

Therefore, the fixing unit 8 is set to the standby temperature T as the target temperature.
When temperature control is performed, the standby temperature is maintained at T after time t7, as shown by the solid line.

On the other hand, when the room temperature is high, the temperature of the fixing unit 8 before power-on time t0 is high room temperature Tt, and the temperature rises rapidly after power-on, so as shown in the characteristic curve, When the temperature is controlled using the fixing temperature Tt as the eye temperature, the time t.

The fixing temperature T is reached at a time t5 earlier than that.

5 Therefore, the standby temperature in this case is at time t.

61 hours earlier than time 1. The temperature Te is at . Therefore, when the temperature of the fixing unit 8 is controlled using the standby temperature Tc as the target temperature, as shown by the broken line, at time t1
Thereafter, the standby temperature Tc will be maintained.

In this way, it is preferable to detect the room temperature and automatically set the standby temperature optimally accordingly.

By the way, as described above, the transportation of copy paper P is divided into primary paper feeding up to the registration rollers 4 and secondary paper feeding after the registration rollers 4. If the time required for the copy IEP to be transferred from the registration rollers 4 to the fixing unit 8 by secondary paper feeding is δ, then the temperature of the fixing unit 8 when paper feeding starts from the registration rollers 4 is , for example, in the case of characteristic curve l, at time 1. which is 62 hours before time t9.
The temperature TI must be at Similarly, in the case of a characteristic curve, the temperature TJ must be the temperature TJ at time t3, which is δ time before time t.These temperatures T, , TJ are the temperatures of the fixing unit 8, as will be described later. Used for checking.

Now, returning to Figure 2, the state is maintained at standby temperature! ! When the copy button is pressed in (loop from St to S7) (35), the temperature of the fixing unit 8 is controlled using the fixing temperature as the target temperature (S8).

Next, the paper feeding roller 2.3 is driven to perform the primary feeding of the copy paper P (39), and when the copy paper P reaches the registration roller 4, it is checked whether the temperature rise in the fixing unit 8 is normal or not. (S10) This check is performed if the temperature of the fixing unit 8 is
It is determined whether the temperature has reached a check temperature such as the temperature TI or the temperature TJ in FIG. 3 described above.

If the temperature of the fixing unit 8 has not reached the check temperature, the system waits until it reaches the check temperature, and when it reaches the check temperature, the optical system 5 starts scanning, the drum 6 rotates, etc., and the copy paper P is fed from the registration roller 4 at a predetermined timing. The image is printed on the copy paper P, and the image is fixed in the fixing section 8 (311). When the copy paper P reaches the fixing section 8, the fixing section 8 has reached the fixing temperature, so the fixing is not completed. done normally.

When the fixing is completed (Sll), the process returns to step s1, and the temperature of the fixing section 8 is again controlled using the standby temperature as the target temperature.

When continuously copying two or more sheets, the process moves from step S6 to step S8, so temperature control is performed using the fixing temperature as the target temperature only when necessary, and otherwise temperature control is performed using the standby temperature as the target temperature. . Therefore, wasteful power consumption is reduced.

In order to further save power consumption, when the power saving switch is turned on, the process moves from step S7 to step S12, the ready lamp is lit yellow to indicate that the power saving mode is in effect, and the temperature is lower than the standby temperature and lower than room temperature. The temperature of the fixing unit 8 is controlled using a high power saving temperature as the target temperature (
S13).

The temperature change shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 is an example of the temperature change in the fixing section 8 of the copying machine I.

That is, the power-on time τ. Before that, the temperature was at room temperature, and when the power was turned on, the temperature rose, and when it reached the standby temperature at time τ, it was maintained at the standby temperature.

When the copy button is pressed at time τ3, the temperature rises to the fixing temperature and reaches the fixing temperature at time τ.

At this timing, the copy paper P on which the image has been formed reaches the fixing section 8 and is heated and fixed.

At time τ5, when fixing is completed, temperature control is performed using the standby temperature as the target temperature, so the temperature decreases toward the standby temperature.

When the standby temperature is reached at time τ6, the fixing unit 8
is maintained at standby temperature.

When the power saving switch is turned on at time τ7, the fixing unit 8 sets the power saving temperature to fi! Since the temperature is controlled based on the temperature, the temperature is lowered to the power saving temperature, and when the power saving temperature is reached at one time, the power saving temperature is maintained.

At time τ, when the power saving switch is turned off, temperature control is performed again using the standby temperature as the target temperature.

Now, FIG. 4 shows a simple embodiment in which the standby temperature and check temperature are constant values regardless of the room temperature.

First, the check temperature is determined to be the check temperature T& based on characteristic curve 2 when the room temperature is low.

Next, the standby temperature is determined based on a characteristic curve in which the room temperature is high, and is 1 degree (δ dormitory - δ ri) from the time when the fixing unit temperature reaches the check temperature T on that characteristic curve.
It is determined to be the temperature Te at time t2, which is just an hour earlier.

(δ1-62) means the time required for -next sheet feeding.

When the standby temperature and check temperature are set in this way, if the room temperature is low, the temperature of the fixing unit 8 has not reached the check temperature T in the time required for the next paper feed, so copying is continued until it reaches the check temperature T. The paper is stopped by the registration roller 4, and after reaching the check temperature T%, secondary paper feeding is started at a timely manner.

On the other hand, if the room temperature is high, the fixing unit 8 will have reached the check temperature TI at the end of the second sheet feeding, so that the registration roller 4 will immediately start feeding the sheet at a predetermined timing.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, a paper feeding section that feeds recording paper, an image forming section that forms an image on the fed recording paper, and a fixing section that fixes the formed image at a predetermined high temperature. In a recording device with Provided is a recording device characterized by comprising a temperature control means for a fixing section that controls the temperature of the fixing section using a standby temperature that can rise to a high temperature as a target temperature, thereby preventing the fixing section from being unnecessarily maintained at a high temperature. This prevents unnecessary power consumption from occurring.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the fruit of the present invention, 3f! A schematic cross-sectional view of the copying machine according to the example, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the embodiment apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIGS. 3 and 4 are temperature rise characteristic charts of the fixing section, and FIG. It is a temperature change characteristic diagram (explanation of symbols) 1... Copying machine 2.3... Paper feed roller 4...
・Registration roller 5...Optical system 6...Photosensitive drum 7...Transfer section 8...Fixing section 9...Heater T
t...Fixing temperature δ1...Time from the start of paper feeding until the copy paper reaches the fixing unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding section that feeds recording paper, an image forming section that forms an image on the fed recording paper, and a fixing section that fixes the formed image at a predetermined high temperature. In a recording device that has a printer, the target temperature is a predetermined high temperature during the period from the start of paper feeding to the end of fixing, and the fixing section is kept at a predetermined high temperature during the other period while the recording paper is being transferred from the paper feeding section to the fixing section. 1. A recording apparatus comprising a fixing unit temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the fixing unit using a standby temperature that can rise to a target temperature.