KR20060018305A - The fuser controller with the sensing means of the paper size and the image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a fuser controller and an image forming apparatus having a size sensing means for printing paper. An image forming apparatus having a size sensing means of a printing paper according to the present invention comprises a plurality of sensing stages, and inputs a paper size sensing unit and a paper size sensing signal for sensing a size of the printing paper and outputting a paper size sensing signal. And a fuser controller including a plurality of fuser control circuits for driving the photo coupler and the photo triac, thereby controlling power to be applied to the heating lamp of the fuser, wherein each of the plurality of fuser control circuits includes a plurality of sensing stages. It is characterized in that it is installed to react in response to. According to the present invention, when the size of the printing paper is small, it is not necessary to heat the entire band of the fixing unit, which not only prevents unnecessary waste of energy, but also reduces the initial preheating time so that the first page is output faster. There is an advantage to this.

Local heating, printing paper, image forming apparatus, fixing unit, heating lamp

Description

The fuser controller with the sensing means of the paper size and the image forming device}

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fuser controller in a conventional image forming apparatus;

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fixing apparatus control device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a view showing a plurality of detection stages present in the paper size detection unit; and

FIG. 4 is a detailed circuit diagram of the fuser controller shown in FIG. 2.

Brief description of the main parts of the drawing

110: SMPS 120: power input unit

130: paper size detection unit 140: CPU

150: fuser control unit 150a to 150c: fuser control circuit unit

160: fuser 200: fuser controller

PC: Photocoupler P-TRIAC: Phototriac

TRIAC: Triacs Q1-Q3: Transistors

L1 ~ L3: Heating lamp

The present invention relates to a fuser controller and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, a fuser controller having a printing paper size sensing means capable of reducing heat loss and saving energy by heating only the fuser portion corresponding to the printing paper size; An image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus for printing an image corresponding to input original image data onto a recording medium such as printing paper. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a printer, a copier, or a facsimile.

Such an image forming apparatus needs an apparatus for maintaining heat generation at a predetermined temperature in order to enable normal printing. In particular, in the case of the fixing unit, in order to fix the toner image on the paper, the heat generation must be maintained such that its surface is kept at a target temperature suitable for fixing the toner image.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fixing apparatus control apparatus in a conventional image forming apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional fuser controller 70 includes a power input unit 20, a fuser control circuit unit 30, and a CPU 40.

The switching mode power supply (hereinafter, referred to as “SMPS”) 10 of FIG. 1 is a voltage having a predetermined magnitude required for an AC voltage input from the outside through the power input unit 20 in the image forming apparatus. To.

The temperature sensor not shown in the figure detects the temperature of the heating lamp 60 installed in the fixing unit 50, and then outputs it to the CPU 40 to detect the temperature of the heating lamp 60 in the CPU 40. It is configured to be.

The CPU 40 generally controls the entire system such as the warm-up time, the temperature at the time of warming up and the temperature at the time of printing. In addition, the output signal of the temperature sensor is input to control the temperature by outputting a high / low signal to the transistor TR1 to raise or maintain the heating lamp 60 at a predetermined temperature.

The transistor TR1 is connected to the output terminal of the CPU 40 so as to be switched according to the high / low signal output from the CPU 40.

The fixing unit control circuit unit 30 includes an optical coupler 35 therein, and the optical coupler 35 is composed of a phototriac P-TRIAC1 and a triac TriAC1. The photo triac P-TRIAC1 interlocks with the switching of the transistor TR1 to emit light from the light emitting element 33b so that one end of the light emitting element 33 is turned on so that the light receiving element 33a is turned on. It is connected to one end of TR1, and the light receiving element 33a is provided at a corresponding position of the light emitting element 33b.

On the other hand, when the light receiving element 33a is turned on, a current is applied to the gate of the triac TRIAC1, whereby the triac TRIAC1 is triggered so that AC power flows in the triac TRIAC1. As a result, AC power is applied to the heating lamp 60 inside the fixing unit 50, and the heating lamp 60, which is a resistor, generates heat by the applied AC power. This heat fixes the toner and paper printed through the OPC (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus including the fuser controller, there is a problem in that the sensing unit and the circuit unit for detecting the size of the printing paper do not exist, and thus, the entire band of the fixing unit needs to be heated regardless of the size of the printing paper.                         

That is, even though the size of the printing paper is small, there is a problem in that the full width of the fixing unit is unnecessarily heated. In addition, when the initial image forming apparatus is operated, there is a problem in that the output of the first page is delayed due to an increase in preheating time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to detect the size of the printing paper, the heating of only the portion corresponding to the size of the printing paper of the entire band of the fixing unit to reduce the initial preheating time, to detect the size of the printing paper to save energy It is to provide a fuser controller and an image forming apparatus having means.

The fuser control device having a size sensing means of the printing paper according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a paper size sensing unit and a paper size sensing unit for detecting the size of the printing paper and outputting a paper size detection signal It is preferable to include a fixing unit control unit for controlling to heat only a predetermined region of the fixing unit corresponding to the size detection signal.

Here, the paper size detection unit. It is preferable to consist of a plurality of sensing stages.

Here, the fixing unit control unit is composed of a plurality of fixing unit control circuit unit, it is preferable that the plurality of fixing unit control circuit unit is installed so as to respond to each of the plurality of sensing stages.

Here, the plurality of fuser control circuit unit receives the paper size detection signal. It is preferable to drive the photo coupler and the photo triac, thereby controlling power to be applied to the heating lamp of the fixing unit.

On the other hand, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is composed of a plurality of detection stages, and receives a paper size detection unit and a paper size detection signal for outputting a paper size detection signal by detecting the size of the printing paper, photo coupler and photo tri And a fixing unit controller having a plurality of fixing unit control circuit units for driving the liquid, thereby controlling power to be applied to the heating lamp of the fixing unit, wherein the plurality of fixing unit control circuit units are installed to react in response to each of the plurality of sensing stages. It is preferable.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fixing apparatus control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, the fuser controller 200 includes a power input unit 120, a paper size detector 130, a CPU 140, and a fuser controller 150. The SMPS 110 shown in FIG. 2 converts AC power input from the outside through the power input unit 120 to a voltage having a predetermined magnitude required in the image forming apparatus.

The paper size detector 130 is mechanically installed at a paper feed end on which printing paper is fed, and there are a plurality of detection ends. 3 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of sensing stages present in the paper size sensing unit.

Referring to FIG. 3, the sensing end installed at a predetermined position is pressed according to the size of the printing paper. For example, in the case of A4 paper, all three sensing stages shown in FIG. 3 are pressed, and in the case of a smaller paper such as B5, only two sensing stages are pressed. In this way, the number of sensing stages that operate depends on the size of the printed paper.

The CPU 140 controls the entire system as a whole, such as a warm up time, a temperature during warm up, and a temperature during printing.

4 is a detailed circuit diagram of the fixing unit controller shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4, the fixing unit controller 150 includes a plurality of fixing unit control circuit units 150a to 150c.

Each fuser control circuit unit 150a to 150c includes a plurality of resistors and capacitors, at least one photo coupler, and an optocoupler. The light emitting part of the photo coupler is made of a photodiode, and the light receiving part is made of a photo transistor. In addition, the photocoupler is composed of a photo triac (P-TRIAC 1-3) and triac (TRIAC 1-3).

Each photo coupler PC1 to PC3 in each fuser control circuit unit 150a to 150c is connected to the sensing terminals 135a to 135c of the paper size detection unit 130 shown in FIG. 3, respectively. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a case in which all of the sensing stages 135a to 135c are pressed by printing paper will be described as an example.

When the sensing stages 135a to 135c of the paper size sensing unit 130 are pressed by the printing paper, the photodiodes PC1 to PC3, which are light emitting units of the photo couplers connected to the respective sensing stages 135a to 135c, emit light. The phototransistors PC1-1, PC2-1, and PC3-1, which are light receiving units, are turned on by emitting radiation.

As a result, the PNP transistors Q1 to Q3 are turned on, and the conduction current of each transistor Q1 to Q3 is applied to the light emitting portions P-TRIACs 1 to 3 of the phototriac, so that Light is emitted to the light receiving units (P-TRIAC 1-1, P-TRIAC 2-1, P-TRIAC 3-1).

The light-receiving parts (P-TRIAC 1-1, P-TRIAC 2-1, and P-TRIAC 3-1) of the photo triac are turned on by the light emitted from the light emitting parts (P-TRIAC 1 to 3) of the pot triac. When turned on, a current is applied to the gates of the triacs TRIACs 1 to 3, so that the triacs TRIACs 1 to 3 are triggered so that AC power flows to the triacs 1 to 3. Accordingly, the heating lamps L1 to L3 connected to the fixing unit control circuit units 150a to 150c are turned on.

In the above, the size of the printing paper is the largest, and all of the plurality of sensing stages 135a to 135c of the paper size detecting unit 130 are pressed by the printing paper, and thus the first to third heating lamps L1 to L3. The case where all are turned on was demonstrated.

On the other hand, when the size of the printing paper is so small that only one sensing end ex 135a of the plurality of sensing ends 135a to 135c of the paper size sensing unit is pressed by the printing paper, only the first heating lamp L1 is turned on. In addition, when two sensing stages ex: 135a and 135b of the plurality of sensing stages 135a to 135c are pressed by printing paper, only the first heating lamp L1 and the second heating lamp L2 are turned on.

In this manner, it becomes possible to locally heat only a portion of the full band of the fixing unit corresponding to the paper size. Therefore, it is possible to prevent waste of energy caused by heating the full width of the fixing unit irrespective of the paper size as in the prior art, and to prevent an increase in the initial preheating time.

As described above, according to the present invention, after sensing the size of the printing paper, it is possible to locally heat only the portion corresponding to the paper size of the entire band of the fixing unit. Therefore, when the size of the printing paper is small, it is not necessary to heat the entire band of the fixing unit, which not only prevents unnecessary waste of energy, but also reduces the initial preheating time so that the first page can be output faster. There is an advantage.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention as claimed in the claims. Anyone skilled in the art can make various modifications, as well as such modifications that fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

A paper size detecting unit for detecting a size of the printing paper and outputting a paper size detecting signal; And And a fuser control unit controlling to heat only a predetermined region of the fuser corresponding to the paper size detection signal received from the paper size detection unit. The paper size detecting unit of claim 1, wherein the paper size detection unit is configured. A fixing apparatus control device comprising a plurality of sensing stages. According to claim 1, wherein the fuser control unit, And a plurality of fuser control circuit parts, wherein the plurality of fuser control circuit parts are installed to react in response to each of the plurality of sensing stages. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of fuser control circuit unit, Receive the paper size detection signal. A fuser controller, comprising: driving a photo coupler and a photo triac, thereby controlling power to be applied to a heating lamp of the fuser. A paper size detecting unit comprising a plurality of detecting stages and configured to detect a size of the printing paper and output a paper size detecting signal; And Receive the paper size detection signal. And a fuser controller for driving the photo coupler and the photo triac, thereby having a plurality of fuser control circuits for controlling power to be applied to a heating lamp of the fuser. And the plurality of fixing unit control circuits are installed to react in response to each of the plurality of sensing stages.

Images