Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080205924 | FIXING DEVICE - A fixing device has a heating rotor, a pressure belt, a sheet member, first and second pressurizing members, a motor and a control unit. The control unit controls the motor to rotate the heating rotor and the pressure belt in a direction opposite to a conveyance direction of a recording material at startup time after jam treatment of the recording material. Contact positions of the sheet member with respect to the first and second pressurizing members are changed, so that the sheet member is prevented from obstructing independent actions of each of the first and second pressurizing members, which allows the nip portion N to maintain proper nip width and proper nip pressure. Thus, the fixing device has excellent stability at the nip portion to improve fixability and conveyability of the recording material with a simple construction. | 08-28-2008 |
20080212991 | Image forming apparatus - An image forming apparatus which causes a long recording medium carrying a toner image thereon to pass between a fixing roller and a pressure roller to fix the toner image onto the long recording medium by means of the action of heat and pressure. The temperature of the fixing roller is prevented from being significantly reduced during operation of fixing the toner image, and thereby the occurrence of a toner image fixation failure is prevented. When the temperature of the fixing roller is reduced, in addition to a main heating member of heating means, electric power is also supplied from an auxiliary power source to an auxiliary heating member to cause the auxiliary heating member to generate heat. Furthermore, before print operation is started, it is determined, from the temperature of the fixing roller and the pressure roller and the remaining amount of electric power supplied from the auxiliary power source, whether the toner image can be fixed or not over the entire length of the long recording medium, and the print operation is started only when the toner image can be fixed. | 09-04-2008 |
20080232839 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE APPARATUS - When a main switch | 09-25-2008 |
20080253790 | ROLLER DRIVE CONTROL METHOD OF FIXING APPARATUS AND FIXING APPARATUS - In one embodiment, a predetermined period different from a fixing process period in which fixing of toner to recording paper is carried out is set as a toner removal period, and during the toner removal period a hot roller and a pressure roller are intermittently rotated, and separation claws in contact with the rollers are caused to vibrate by the intermittent rotation of the rollers such that toner adhered to the separation claws is caused to drop due to this and is removed. Also, faces of the separation claws that oppose the surfaces of the hot roller and the pressure roller are set in a convex shape. | 10-16-2008 |
20080253791 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND HEATING CONTROL METHOD - A heating unit is heated by supply of an alternate-current power. A heating control unit executes a phase control to supply the alternate-current power to the heating unit for an ON-width in at least a half-wave period of the alternate-current power. A storing unit stores therein parameters for calculating the ON width. The heating control unit calculates the ON width based on the parameters stored in the storing unit and executes the phase control using a calculated ON width. | 10-16-2008 |
20080279578 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus, for which a heated roller fixing device is employed but for which a savings in power can still be obtained, is provided. The image forming apparatus includes: a fixing device | 11-13-2008 |
20080317491 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH FIRST AND SECOND MOTORS - The image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a first motor for driving said image bearing member, a fixing unit which fixes an image transferred from said image bearing member to a recording material onto the recording material and a second motor for driving said fixing unit, wherein said fixing unit is started up by said first motor and then driven by said second motor. Thereby, costs on the second motor for driving the fixing apparatus, which is disposed separately from the first motor for driving the image forming apparatus, can be restrained. | 12-25-2008 |
20090052928 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A PRINTER TO PRINT - A method for operating a printer to print with the operation having a pre-determined period of time between the start of a printing process and the completion of a fuser module heating process is provided. The method includes performing the heating process by heating the fuser module towards a target temperature. Next, compare the rest of the expected period of time for the fuser to arrive at the target temperature with the pre-determined period of time. If the expected period of time is no more than the predetermined period of time, start the printing processes. Lastly fuse the printing medium after the completion of the printing processes. The present invention also includes a method for operating a printer to print with the operation having an adjustable period of time between the start of the printing processes and the completion of a fuser module heating process. | 02-26-2009 |
20090060551 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image forming apparatus is provided with: a fusing unit which fuses an image transferred to a printing medium; a power supply which supplies power to the fusing unit; a switching unit which switches the power supplied to the fusing unit; and a controller which controls the switching unit to prevent the power from being supplied to the fusing unit in at least a section during initialization of the image forming apparatus. | 03-05-2009 |
20090060552 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A warm-up operation control section performs warm-up operation of a fixing-side rotation unit and a pressure-side rotation unit from start-up until the temperature of the fixing-side rotation unit exceeds a first specified value based on an output of a heating-side thermistor in forming a monochrome image. In forming a color image, the warm-up operation control section performs warm-up operation of the fixing-side rotation unit and the pressure-side rotation unit from start-up until the temperature of the pressure-side rotation unit exceeds a second specified value based on an output of a pressure-side thermistor. Time required for the temperature of the fixing-side rotation unit to exceed the first specified value is set shorter than time required for temperature of the pressure-side rotation unit to exceed the second specified value. | 03-05-2009 |
20090060553 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A warm-up operation control section performs warm-up operation of a fixing-side rotation unit and a pressure-side rotation unit for a first period of time from start-up in the case of a monochrome mode set by a setting section. In the case of a color mode, the warm-up operation control section performs warm-up operation of the fixing-side rotation unit and the pressure-side rotation unit for a second period of time which is longer than the first period of time from start-up. | 03-05-2009 |
20090169232 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING WARMING-UP TIME OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit and a fixing process managing system. The fixing process managing system, including a mode switchover unit, controls a time mode and a temperature mode for heating a fixing member. In the time mode, the fixing unit is determined to be ready for a fixing process when a given time elapses after activation of the image forming apparatus. In the temperature mode, the fixing unit is determined to be ready for a fixing process when a temperature of the fixing member attains a given reference temperature after activation of the image forming apparatus. The mode switchover unit selects between the temperature mode and the time mode. The fixing process managing system selects the temperature mode instead of the time mode when a supply amount of electrical power to the fixing unit is determined to be below a required electrical power supply level. | 07-02-2009 |
20090175646 | FIXING DEVICE OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing apparatus of an image forming apparatus of the present invention, in arrival timing of a temperature falling area of a heat roller passing a nip at opposite position γ of an induction heating coil from temperature detection position β by an infrared temperature sensor around the heat roller, according to detection results by the infrared temperature sensor, controls an output value of the induction heating coil under control of an inverter circuit, heats and returns the heat roller in real time to a fixable temperature, and realizes energy conversation. At the time of arrival at the nip, the heat controller is always set to a fixed fixable temperature, thus in a fixed image, a high image quality free of ripple marks can be obtained. | 07-09-2009 |
20090196645 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMIC POWER MANAGEMENT IN MARKING DEVICES - A method and apparatus for operating a fuser in a marking device is disclosed. The method may include determining a total power available for warm-up of fuser elements in a fuser, determining power constraints of the fuser elements, selecting a power allocation to be applied to the fuser elements, calculating a fuser warm-up time based on the determined total power available, the determined power constraints, and the selected power allocation, determining whether the fuser warm-up time is reduced, wherein if the fuser warm-up time is reduced, applying the selected power allocation. | 08-06-2009 |
20090238597 | COLOR BELT FUSER WARM-UP TIME MINIMIZATION - A belt fuser assembly for a color EP printer that quickly warms up the fusing belt before allowing a first sheet of print media to run through the printing stations at the fuser assembly. The warm-up cycle includes: (1) a preheat mode, (2) a first portion of a belt temperature warm-up mode, (3) a second portion of the belt temperature warm-up mode, and (4) a tight belt temperature control mode. The preheat mode operates the fuser's heater at less than full power, and prevents the fuser belt from rotating. The first portion of the belt temperature warm-up mode operates the heater at full power, and the fuser belt begins rotating, but not at its full speed. The second portion of the belt temperature warm-up mode operates the heater at less than full power, and the fuser belt begins rotating at its full speed. | 09-24-2009 |
20090238598 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO CONTROL COOLING FAN TO COOL FUSING UNIT OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - To control a cooling fan to cool a fusing unit of an image forming apparatus, it is determined whether the fusing unit is turned on or off. If the fusing unit is determined to be turned on or off, it is determined whether a condition to turn the cooling fan on or off is satisfied. If the cooling fan on/off condition is satisfied, the cooling fan is turned on or off. Thus, the driving of the cooling fan is minimized when the driving of the cooling fan is unnecessary so that the cooling fan is driven at a high efficiency. | 09-24-2009 |
20090245846 | Heater Controller and Image Forming Apparatus - A heater controller is provided. The heater controller includes a switching unit which switches a conduction state of a heater with an AC power source between ON and OFF at a timing at which an AC power voltage becomes zero; and a control unit which controls the switching unit at each unit interval corresponding to a half wave period of the AC power voltage. The control unit outputs a switch signal for switching the conduction state based on a pattern in a control time period set as an integral multiple of the half wave period. In the pattern, ON intervals in which the conduction state is to be ON, and OFF intervals in which the conduction state is to be OFF are arranged so that one of the ON intervals and the OFF intervals, a number of which is smaller are not successive within the control time period. | 10-01-2009 |
20090263151 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, PRINTING METHOD APPLICABLE TO IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR IMPLEMENTING A PRINTING PROCESS CARRIED OUT BY IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of setting plural printing modes including a normal mode for printing on a recording medium having a normal thickness other than recording media having specific thicknesses including a thick recording medium and a thin recording medium, the image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing section configured to fix a developing agent image carried on a recording medium onto the recording medium by heat supplied from a heat source, the fixing section having not less than two printing speeds and not less than two preset fixing temperatures; and a temperature control section configured to control a fixing temperature of the fixing section so as to adjust the fixing temperature to a preset fixing temperature. | 10-22-2009 |
20090285592 | FIXING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In an embodiment, in a fixing apparatus provided with a plurality of fixing heaters having heat distribution characteristics that are different from each other inside a fixing roller, and an image forming apparatus provided with the fixing apparatus, an auxiliary heater is provided, the auxiliary heater being provided inside the fixing roller and to which power is distributed only during the warm-up period until the fixing roller in a lower temperature state reaches a predetermined fixing temperature. | 11-19-2009 |
20090297199 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an imaging section and a thermal fixing device. The fixing device fuses a toner image formed by the imaging section onto the recording sheet passing through a fixing nip. The fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure member, a heater, a temperature sensor, and a temperature controller. The fixing member is rotatable, and the pressure member is pressed against the fixing member to form the fixing nip therebetween. The heater heats at least a portion of the fixing member. The temperature sensor senses a temperature of the fixing member. The temperature controller controls the temperature of the fixing member in at least one of an on-off mode and a PID mode. The temperature controller initially operates in the on-off mode upon entering recovery, and switches to the PID mode when a threshold time has elapsed after entering recovery. | 12-03-2009 |
20090310997 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WHICH PRESENTS PATTERN AND METHOD THEREOF - An image forming apparatus which displays a preset pattern is provided, including a fixing unit, and a cover unit which is mounted on a main body in which the fixing unit is installed, and displays the preset pattern if the cover unit is heated by the fixing unit. Accordingly, the heating state of the image forming apparatus can be visually shown to users. In addition, diverse type of patterns can be applied so that an effective design can be provided. | 12-17-2009 |
20090310998 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - To control a temperature of a rotating member for fixing an image during standby, an image forming device can suppress overshoot of the temperature of the rotating member occurred when a fixing state is switched to a standby state. Determining the standby temperature is higher than the fixing temperature (Step S | 12-17-2009 |
20090317117 | IMAGE FORMATION APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMATION METHOD - A standby state is a state in which a pair of rotating bodies stops rotating, and temperature control is performed so that at least one of the rotating bodies reaches a standby temperature. A fixing state is a state in which the rotating bodies are rotating and temperature control is performed so that at least one of the rotating bodies reaches a fixing temperature that changes in accordance with a setting. An image formation apparatus includes a judgment part for judging whether to transition from the fixing state to the standby state, and a fixing controller for, upon a judgment by the judgment part to transition to the standby state, prior to performing temperature control to reach the standby temperature, causing the pair of rotating bodies to rotate, and performing temperature control so that the temperature of at least one of the rotating bodies reaches a predetermined transition temperature range including temperatures higher than a lowest temperature that can be set as the fixing temperature, and lower than a highest temperature that can be set as the fixing temperature. | 12-24-2009 |
20090324274 | Method And System For Selecting Total Job Time Print - A system and a method in which the engine dynamically decides which process speed to warm up to based on the number & size of pages currently submitted to the engine, and thus deliver the best job time dynamically. | 12-31-2009 |
20100021195 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FIXING AN IMAGE - An apparatus and method for image fixing are disclosed. A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure member, a heater, and a pressure controller. The fixing member and the pressure member face with each other to form a nip. The heater heats a surface of the fixing member when the fixing member rotates. The pressure controller changes a pressure generated at the nip, according to an operation of the fixing device. | 01-28-2010 |
20100028037 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING A FUSING UNIT THEREOF - An image forming apparatus and a method of controlling a fusing unit thereof are provided. The method includes: detecting a present mode of the image forming apparatus; selecting a waveform number control to control an electric power source which is supplied to the fusing unit when the present mode is a standby mode; and supplying the electric power source to one of a plurality of heat generating members depending on the waveform number control to prevent the plurality of heat generating members from being simultaneously supplied with the electric power. | 02-04-2010 |
20100028038 | FIXING DEVICE FOR IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A fixing device of this invention enables variable control of power to be supplied to a heat roller side or a press roller side in accordance with the temperature of the heat roller and the press roller while each mode is carried out. In a copy mode, the temperature of the heat roller and the press roller is finely controlled. In a copy standby mode, only the power required for maintaining a set temperature is supplied. | 02-04-2010 |
20100054788 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS EQUIPPED THEREWITH, AND RECORDING MEDIUM ON WHICH TEMPERATURE CONTROL PROGRAM IS RECORDED - A fixing device which can reduce an overshoot of the surface temperature of a main heating section without lengthening a warming-up period of time, an image forming apparatus equipped therewith, and a recording medium on which is recorded the temperature control program are provided. In a standby mode, control is performed to stop an operation of a halogen lamp which is an internal heat source, when a surface temperature of a heating roller reaches a certain temperature lower than a target temperature, or when the operating period of time of the halogen lamp reaches a certain period of time. By so doing, as the heating roller ceases to be heated at a point at which it reaches a temperature lower than the target temperature, it is possible to reduce the overshoot of the surface temperature of the heating roller. | 03-04-2010 |
20100061754 | Fixing control device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus - A fixing control device includes a power distribution controller that adjusts a power distribution time period when the power is distributed to plural heater elements per control cycle, a turn on time determining member that determines a time when each of the plural heater elements is turned on based on a duty ratio between the power distribution time period and the control cycle, and a soft operation controller that either gradually starts or stops heating each of the plural heater elements during a soft start or stop period, respectively. One of the soft start and stop periods for one of the plural heater elements is decreased not to overlap with another one of the plural heater elements. | 03-11-2010 |
20100104309 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR STEPPED ENERGY SAVING MODES FOR A PRINTING DEVICE - A method for stepped energy savings for a printing device is described. A temperature of a fuser of a printing device is reduced to a first reduced temperature after a first idle interval has passed in which there is no printing activity at the printing device. The first reduced temperature is calculated to be a temperature from which the fuser can be raised to an operating temperature in a first specified percentage of the full power up time. The full power up time being the time required to change the fuser from an ambient temperature to the operating temperature. If there is no printing activity during the first idle interval and a second idle interval, the fuser of the printing device is reduced to a second reduced temperature. | 04-29-2010 |
20100119249 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM - An image forming apparatus comprises a connection unit, a display unit, a detector unit detecting the connection of the vendor to the connection unit and detecting the receipt of at least either one of card insertion and coin insertion by the vendor, a fixing unit, a power supply unit distributing power to the display unit and the fixing unit, and a control unit causing the power supply unit to distribute power to the fixing unit so that the fixing unit maintains a second standby temperature lower than a first standby temperature being lower than a toner image heating temperature while causing the power supply unit to maintain the power distribution to the display unit when the detector unit does not detect the receipt of at least either one of the card insertion and the coin insertion by the vendor while detecting the connection of the vendor to the connection unit. | 05-13-2010 |
20100129106 | Image Forming Apparatus - In an image forming apparatus, a temperature of a heating member heated by a heat source to fix a developer image on a recording sheet is detected by a temperature sensor disposed apart from the heating member. A controller controls the heat source based upon a temperature determined mathematically by application of a specific function to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor. In the controller, the specific function is switched among a plurality of functions according to a control mode which is switchable among a plurality of modes and in which operation of the heat source is regulated. | 05-27-2010 |
20100172669 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A fixing device which can prevent deterioration and breakage of each member, and an image forming apparatus having the fixing device are provided. A separation/contact mechanism carries out separation/contact operation of an external heating section with respect to a fixing roller by turning the whole external heating section using a central axis of a rotation supporting roller out of a pair of rotation supporting rollers, as a rotation axis. This constitution can decrease impact force generated at the time of pressure-contact, and can prevent deterioration and breakage of the external heating belt and the fixing roller. Furthermore, when a heater lamp is provided in only the rotation supporting roller, positional deviation and damage of the heater lamp can be prevented. | 07-08-2010 |
20100209131 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, RECORDING MEDIUM RECORDING CONTROL PROGRAM FOR REALIZING FIXING DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD FOR FIXING DEVICE - A fixing device is provided. A fixing device includes a heating section that has a heat source comprised of a ceramic heat generating element that generates heat by electric power supply and has a positive temperature coefficient property. Then, in the heating section, an applied voltage value by a voltage variable power source to the ceramic heat generating element is variably controlled by a control unit such that an input power value in the ceramic heat generating element is approximately constant. | 08-19-2010 |
20100215391 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing part and a controller controlling power to be supplied to the heating unit so as to keep the temperature of the heating unit at a control target temperature, wherein when the fixing process is ended, in the standby-mode, the supply of power to the heating unit is started to keep the temperature of the heating unit at the control target temperature, and a start timing of the supply of power to the heating unit is set to a timing when the temperature of the heating unit is lowered to a predetermined temperature lower than the control target temperature. By the virtue of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the image forming apparatus in the standby-mode. | 08-26-2010 |
20100247131 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The image forming apparatus includes an image forming part, a fixing part including a heater and a temperature detection element; and a power-control part that controls power to be supplied to the heater according to the detection temperature of the temperature detection element, wherein during the power to be supplied to the heater is controlled so as to keep the detection temperature at a control target temperature, if the on-duty ratio selected so to keep the detection temperature at the control target temperature is a specific on-duty ratio and the specific on-duty ratio continues for a predetermined number of cycles, the power-control part switches to another control cycle different in the number of consecutive half-waves of the AC waveform from the control cycle. | 09-30-2010 |
20100266307 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE FIXING DEVICE - A fixing device using a belt fixing method includes a fixing belt which satisfies 42.2≧ER≧0.1044×D×μ | 10-21-2010 |
20100303496 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FIXING DEVICE - In a case where a process is carried out with respect to an envelope in a fixing process mode, at least either (i) a set temperature of a fixing roller | 12-02-2010 |
20100322660 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAVING POWER IN AN IMAGE PRODUCTION DEVICE - A method and apparatus for saving power in an image production device is disclosed. The method may include determining if the image production device has been inactive for a predetermined period of time, wherein if it is determined that the image production device has been inactive for a predetermined period of time, decreasing a fuser fan's output by a predetermined amount, decreasing a fuser lamp setting by a predetermined amount, the fuser system being heated to operate at a temperature that is at a first predetermined level, setting a timer, determining if the fuser system's temperature is at a second predetermined level, wherein if it is determined that the fuser system's temperature is not at the second predetermined level, determining if the timer expired, wherein if it is determined that the timer expired, decreasing a fuser lamp setting by the predetermined amount and resetting the timer. | 12-23-2010 |
20110013922 | POWER CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS TO HEAT A HEATING ROLLER - A power control method and apparatus to heat a heating roller. The power control method includes heating a heating roller provided to fix a toner image of print data in an image forming apparatus, the heating roller having a heating resistor to receive roller power, the power control method includes gradually increasing a maximum level of a source power supplied from an external source up to a specific maximum supply level, and supplying the maximum source power to the heating resistor as the roller power while gradually increasing the maximum level of the source power up to a specific maximum supply level, measuring a surface temperature of the heating roller, and further supplying the source power of which maximum level is equal to the maximum supply level to the heating resistor as the roller power until the measured surface temperature reaches a specific fixing target temperature, and fixing the toner image onto a fed printing medium. Supplying the source power is performed right after the image forming apparatus is turned on, or right after the image forming apparatus is switched from a standby mode to a print mode. | 01-20-2011 |
20110081158 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - An image forming device fusing a developer transferred to a recording medium surface based on inputted print data includes a heat source, a fusion member supported in a freely rotatable manner and heated by the heat source, a pressure application member positioned to face the fusion member and pressing against the fusion member, a temperature detection device positioned to face the pressure application member and detecting a surface temperature of the pressure application member, and a temperature control part controlling a heating temperature by the heat source based on a detection result by the temperature detection device. The temperature control part selects a second set temperature that is lower than a preset first set temperature when the surface temperature of the pressure application member detected by the temperature detection device is less than a predetermined temperature, to control a temperature of the fusion member. | 04-07-2011 |
20110091233 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING POWER SUPPLY TO HEATING ROLLER AND PHASE CONTROL CIRCUIT CORRESPONDING TO THE APPARATUS AND METHOD - A method and an apparatus to control power supplied to a heating roller and a phase control circuit corresponding to the method or the apparatus. The phase control circuit may include an examination unit to compare levels of a sine wave having a predetermined first period and a switching signal to increase and decrease repeatedly according to a predetermined second period, and a phase control signal generation unit to generate a phase control signal having a non-zero in intervals of time sections including a time when levels of the switching signal and the sine wave which is in a decreasing section are equal to each other during a time period when the level of the sine wave is zero, and a time when levels of the switching signal and the sine wave which is in an increasing section are equal to each other during a time period when the level of the sine wave is zero. | 04-21-2011 |
20110135335 | PRINTING APPARATUS, PRINTING APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An image forming apparatus having an image forming unit and a fixing unit. The image forming unit may form an image on a sheet based on image data by using a recording agent. The fixing unit may fix the recording agent on the sheet. The image forming apparatus may include a control unit to receive the image data and transmit the received image data to the image forming unit and a determination unit to determine a type of an interface via which the image data has been received. The control unit additionally determines whether to start raising a temperature of the fixing unit before the image data becomes ready to be transmitted to the image forming unit based on the type of the interface determined by the determination unit. | 06-09-2011 |
20110142476 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device; a mode selecting unit for selecting one of a normal mode and a power save mode; and a fixing control unit. The fixing device includes a rotational member, a pressing member disposed to press against the rotational member for sandwiching and pressing a print medium with the rotational member after a developer image is developed on the print medium, and a heating portion for heating the rotational member. In the normal mode, a normal printing operation is enabled. In the power save mode, the printing operation is partially terminated to conserve power consumption. The fixing control unit controls the rotational member to rotate for a specific amount when the mode selecting unit selects the power save mode. | 06-16-2011 |
20110150518 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The fixing device using an electromagnetic induction heating (IH) method includes a fixing sleeve having a heating layer, a pressure roller to form a nip while contacting the fixing roller and rotate to drive the fixing sleeve, a temperature detector to detect a temperature on a circumference of the fixing sleeve, and an excitation coil provided near the fixing sleeve and configured to perform induction heating of the heating layer of the fixing sleeve based on the detection result from the temperature detector. The fixing device is configured to change a rotation speed of the fixing sleeve in a standby time during which the fixing sleeve, while rotating, is controlled to be heated so as to maintain a target temperature when a periodic temperature difference occurs on a circumference of the fixing rotary member and having a fluctuation amplitude larger than a predetermined value compared to the target temperature. | 06-23-2011 |
20110158672 | FUSING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An induction heating type fusing device to reduce the size of an induction coil and an image forming apparatus having the same, and a control method thereof. The image forming apparatus includes a printing device to form an image on a recording medium, and a fusing device to fix the image to the recording medium. The fusing device includes a heating member arranged to transfer heat to the recording medium and having a main heater and a sub heater, and an induction coil having a width equal to or less than a width of the recording medium and arranged in an axial direction of the heating member to generate a magnetic field acting on the main heater. The sub heater is arranged inside the heating member to heat both ends of the main heater. | 06-30-2011 |
20110188876 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - An image forming device includes an image forming section that forms toner images on paper, a fixer that fixes the toner images to the paper through heating, and a controller that changes a reference value for a warm-up control of the fixer according to a connection status of plural option devices which work by being supplied with power from the image forming device. | 08-04-2011 |
20110217063 | FUSER AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL METHOD OF FUSER - According to one embodiment, a fuser including a heating section which heats a hot-melt visualizing material fixed to a sheet medium and the sheet medium, a heat generator which increases the temperature of the heating section in accordance with supply of power, a temperature detector which detects the temperature of the heating section, and a controller which outputs temperature information during the increasing of the temperature on the basis of the temperature of the heating section detected by the temperature detector while the temperature of the heating section increases so that notification can be provided that fusing is possible for an image only using a single color hot-melt visualizing material. | 09-08-2011 |
20110236048 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming section, an intermediate transfer section, a secondary transfer section, a fixing section, a power source, a voltage detection section, a temperature detection section, and a fixing section control circuit. The fixing section control circuit includes a switching control section, a voltage judgment section, a temperature judgment section, and a preparation control section. When the switching control section switches the current conduction state to the heat source and the driving section from an off conduction state to an off conduction state and the voltage judgment section judges to be less than a threshold voltage, the preparation control section controls the preparation operation of the heating section such that the switching control section continues the on conduction state over a given idle time after the temperature judgment section has judged to be a preset temperature or higher. | 09-29-2011 |
20110243594 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS OPERATION METHOD - Upon recovery from a power-saving mode to a normal mode and then restart of fixing temperature control from a state in which the fixing temperature control is stopped, a control part (display control part | 10-06-2011 |
20110262168 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - According to one embodiment, a fixing device includes: a heating roller including a heat generating member on the inside; a pressing roller arranged to be opposed to the heating roller across a recording medium conveying path; a first temperature sensor configured to detect the temperature of the heating roller; a second temperature sensor set in non-contact with the pressing roller; a driving motor configured to drive the heating roller, and a control section configured to receive outputs from the first and second sensors and control, if the control section determines that a creep phenomenon is present in the pressing roller, the driving motor to extend a pre-run operation. | 10-27-2011 |
20110262169 | POWER CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS TO HEAT A HEATING ROLLER - A power control method and apparatus to heat a heating roller includes heating a heating roller provided to fix a toner image of print data in an image forming apparatus, the heating roller having a heating resistor to receive roller power. The power control method includes gradually increasing a maximum level of a source power supplied from an external source up to a specific maximum supply level, and supplying the maximum source power to the heating resistor as the roller power while gradually increasing the maximum level of the source power up to a specific maximum supply level, measuring a surface temperature of the heating roller, and supplying the source power of which maximum level is equal to the maximum supply level to the heating resistor as the roller power until the measured surface temperature reaches a specific fixing target temperature, and fixing the toner image onto a printing medium. | 10-27-2011 |
20110305476 | FIXING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing apparatus includes a hot roller, a fixing roller, a fixing belt that extends between the fixing roller and the hot roller and revolves, a pressure roller that is pressed against the fixing roller via the fixing belt, and forms a nip region between the pressure roller and the fixing belt, and at least one non-contact temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the fixing belt. A first temperature detection portion is set in a region where the fixing belt is in contact with a circumferential surface of the hot roller. A second temperature detection portion is set in a region that is on a downstream side in a revolution direction of the fixing belt relative to a point at which the fixing belt separates from the circumferential surface of the hot roller, and that is on an upstream side in the revolution direction relative to the nip region. | 12-15-2011 |
20110311255 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, a fixer, a control operation selection portion which selects any one of a monochrome control operation of keeping the fixing temperature at a first temperature at which a monochrome image can be fixed, and a color control operation of keeping the fixing temperature at a second temperature higher than the first temperature, and a controller. In the state in which the monochrome control operation is selected, when the fixing temperature reaches the first temperature during rise, the controller executes a monochrome ready display and the monochrome control operation, the controller raises the fixing temperature up to the second temperature to print the color image when printing of a color image is instructed while the monochrome control operation is executed, and the controller executes the monochrome control operation after printing the color image. | 12-22-2011 |
20110311256 | FIXING DEVICE - In a fixing device for electrophotography, a fixing sheet carrying thereon a toner image is passed under application of heat and pressure between a toner heating member and a press roller to fix the toner image onto the a fixing sheet. The fixing device is so controlled that a temperature of the toner heating member is set higher and a temperature of the press roller is set lower in a ready-display state during warm-up for starting the fixing device or returning from a power save mode, respectively compared with corresponding set temperatures of the toner heating member and the press roller in a normal ready state. As a result, consumption of fixing energy is suppressed and the time until the ready state is reduced by a relatively simple control. | 12-22-2011 |
20110311257 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - An embodiment provides an image forming apparatus including: a job acquiring unit that acquires an image forming job that gives instructions for performing forming of an image; an image forming process control unit that controls performance of the image forming job that the job acquiring unit acquires; a temperature information acquiring unit that acquires information showing temperature of the heating rotary body; a determining unit that determines whether the temperature of the heating rotary body which is acquired by the temperature information acquiring unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined stand-by temperature set as a temperature in a stand-by state that stands by to perform the image forming process, when the image forming process is completed, based on the image forming job by the image forming process control unit; and a fixing device control unit, which controls the fixing device, performs a first stand-by control process that increases the temperature of the heating rotary body to the stand-by temperature by heating the heating rotary body with the heating member while rotating the heating rotary body with the heating rotary body and the pressing body in contact, when the determining unit determines that the temperature of the heating rotary body is lower than the stand-by temperature. Further, the fixing device control unit stops the rotation of the heating rotary body and performs a second stand-by control process that makes the fixing device stand by, without heating the heating rotary body with the heating member, when the determining unit determines that the temperature of the heating rotary body is the stand-by temperature or higher. | 12-22-2011 |
20110311258 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH STANDBY AND POWER SAVING MODES - An image forming apparatus, for which a heated roller fixing device is employed but for which a savings in power can still be obtained, is provided. The image forming apparatus includes: a fixing device, which is a heated roller fixing device that requires pre-heating in a stand-by state; an operation panel, with which a power-saving mode transition time period can be changed; and a control part, which selects pre-heating or does not select pre-heating of the heated roller fixing device. The control part employs the power-saving mode transition time period, entered at the operation panel, to change the pre-heating or to not change the pre-heating of the heated roller fixing device. | 12-22-2011 |
20120045241 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCORPORATING SAME, AND FIXING METHOD - A fixing device includes a temperature controller that controls a temperature of a fixing rotary body based on the temperature of the fixing rotary body detected by a temperature detector so as to heat the fixing rotary body to a plurality of preset target temperatures that includes a first target standby temperature, a target fixing temperature, a target idle temperature, and a second target standby temperature. When the target fixing temperature is lower than the first target standby temperature, the temperature controller separates a pressing rotary body from the fixing rotary body to idle the fixing rotary body for a predetermined idle time period before a fixing operation starts. After the fixing operation, the temperature controller controls a heater to change the temperature of the fixing rotary body to the second target standby temperature. | 02-23-2012 |
20120076523 | PRINTER - A printer having operational modes including a sleep mode, includes, an operation display unit, a sleep-mode setting-value table in which a warm-up time from the sleep mode and an estimated amount of power consumption per certain unit of time in the sleep mode are stored in association with values for setting items to set up conditions of the sleep mode, and a first setup unit. The first setup unit is configured to, when setting up the conditions of the sleep mode, extract the estimated amount of power consumption and the warm-up time in reference to the sleep-mode setting-value table by using, as a key, values of the setting items inputted through the operation display unit, and display the extracted estimated amount of power consumption and warm-up time in the operation display unit. | 03-29-2012 |
20120107005 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FORMING TONER IMAGE ON RECORDING MEDIUM - An image forming apparatus for performing a copier job and a printer job includes a controller operatively connected to a fixing rotary body heater and a pressing rotary body heater to control the fixing rotary body heater and the pressing rotary body heater. The controller activates a standby mode after the copier job and the printer job are finished in which the controller turns off at least the fixing rotary body heater and a subsequent off mode in which the controller turns off the pressing rotary body heater and the fixing rotary body heater, and identifies which of the copier job and the printer job is to be performed to turn on and off the pressing rotary body heater in the standby mode according to the identified job. | 05-03-2012 |
20120107006 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH THE SAME - A fixing device is provided with a fixing unit for fixing a toner image; a magnetic flux generator including a switching element for generating a magnetic flux; and a control unit for performing a start-up mode for raising the temperature of the fixing unit to a fixing temperature by the magnetic flux and a steady mode for maintaining the temperature of the fixing unit at the fixing temperature. The control unit turns off the switching element when the temperature of the switching element is equal to or higher than a first reference temperature lower than a destruction temperature during a period of the start-up mode, and turns off the switching element when the temperature of the switching element is equal to or higher than a second reference temperature lower than the destruction temperature and higher than the first reference temperature during a period of the steady mode. | 05-03-2012 |
20120114359 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS CAPABLE OF OBTAINING GOOD FIXED CONDITION REGARDLESS OF TYPE OF GRADATION SEQUENCE PROCESSING - An image forming apparatus comprises an image information obtainer that obtains image information, a gradation sequence processor that applies multiple types of gradation sequence processing to the image information, and a toner image formation device that forms a toner image based on the image information. A fixing device is provided to fix the toner image onto a recording medium in a fixing process. A temperature controller is also provided to change a start-up temperature of the fixing device before the fixing process. The start-up temperature is changed in accordance with inclusion of a halftone process and a type of the gradation sequence processing applied to the image information. | 05-10-2012 |
20120141155 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing rotational body is rotated immediately before shifting from a standby mode to a power saving mode in which not only power supply to a heater and the rotation of the fixing rotational body are stopped but also a timer is stopped so that the reliability of the thermistor detection temperature when returning from the power saving mode is improved, and fixing defect is prevented while power consumption in the power saving mode is reduced. | 06-07-2012 |
20120207503 | POWER CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS TO HEAT A HEATING ROLLER - A power control method and apparatus to heat a heating roller includes heating a heating roller provided to fix a toner image of print data in an image forming apparatus, the heating roller having a heating resistor to receive roller power. The power control method includes gradually increasing a maximum level of a source power supplied from an external source up to a specific maximum supply level, and supplying the maximum source power to the heating resistor as the roller power while gradually increasing the maximum level of the source power up to a specific maximum supply level, measuring a surface temperature of the heating roller, and supplying the source power of which maximum level is equal to the maximum supply level to the heating resistor as the roller power until the measured surface temperature reaches a specific fixing target temperature, and fixing the toner image onto a printing medium. | 08-16-2012 |
20120224878 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND HEATER CONTROL METHOD - A fixing device includes a fuser member, a heater, a thermometer, and a power supply controller. The fuser member is subjected to heating. The heater is adjacent to the fuser member to heat the fuser member. The thermometer is adjacent to the fuser member to detect an operational temperature of the fuser member. The power supply controller controls power supply to the heater by adjusting a duty cycle. The controller includes a duty cycle calculator, a driver circuit, and a duty cycle modifier. The duty cycle calculator is operatively connected to the thermometer to calculate a primary value of the duty cycle based on the operational temperature. The driver circuit is operatively connected to the duty cycle calculator to supply power to the heater according to the duty cycle. The duty cycle modifier is connected between the duty cycle calculator and the driver circuit to modify the duty cycle. | 09-06-2012 |
20120243896 | FIXING DEVICE WHICH INCLUDES TEMPERATURE MEASURING UNIT CAPABLE OF MEASURING SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF HEAT APPLYING ROTARY BODY - A fixing device includes a heating roller which is heated by a heater, a pressure roller which comes into contact with a fixing belt to form a nip portion, and a thermopile capable of measuring a surface temperature of the fixing belt. The fixing device moves that portion on the surface of the fixing belt which was located at the nip portion with the pressure roller at the start of a warm-up operation, to a measurement location of the thermopile. The fixing device uses the thermopile to measure the temperature of that portion on the surface of the fixing belt moved to the measurement location. The fixing device controls the warm-up operation on the basis of the temperature measured by the thermopile. This can reduce the time required for the warm-up operation. | 09-27-2012 |
20120328318 | FIXING DEVICE CAPABLE OF MINIMIZING OVERSHOOT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH SAME - A fixing device is operable through start-up and warm-up stages and has a rotatable fixing member to fix an unfixed toner image borne on a recording medium, an opposing member to press against the fixing member and form a nip on the fixing member, a temperature detector to detect temperature of the fixing member, and a heater controlled in accordance with the temperature of the fixing member to heat the fixing member. The heater is further controlled during the warm-up stage in accordance with at least one of if the fixing member is rotating and if the detected temperature has ever arrived at a prescribed target temperature in the warm-up stage. | 12-27-2012 |
20130022366 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing device to perform a fixing process includes an endless, rotatable belt member; a nip-forming rotary member disposed outside a loop of the belt member; a fixing roller disposed at a backside of the fixing nip inside the loop of the belt member and around which the belt member is rotatably stretched; a heater to heat the belt member at a position different from a position where the belt member is rotatably stretched around the fixing roller; a temperature detector; a memory device to store an operational history of the heater; and a processor operatively connected to the heater to control the heater, before the recording sheet is passed through the fixing nip, to perform a warming-up operation to raise a temperature of the fixing roller at the backside of the fixing nip based on the operational history of the heater stored in the memory device. | 01-24-2013 |
20130028624 | PHASE DETECTING DEVICE, PHASE CONTROL DEVICE INCLUDING THE PHASE DETECTING DEVICE, AND FUSER CONTROL DEVICE INCLUDING THE PHASE CONTROL DEVICE - An image forming apparatus includes a fuser that fuses a paper medium and a fuser control device that controls an AC power supplied to the fuser. The fuser control device includes a phase detecting device that receives an AC voltage, detects zero-crossing points of the AC voltage, outputs a phase detecting signal when the zero-crossing points are detected, and selectively cuts off a flow of AC power into the phase detecting device in response to a mode control signal, a signal generator that generates a phase control signal to control a phase of the AC power supplied to the fuser based on the phase detecting signal, and a temperature controller that controls a temperature of the fuser by controlling the phase of the AC power supplied to the fuser according to the phase control signal. | 01-31-2013 |
20130058674 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND POWER CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An image forming capable of operating with reliability and shortening the down time. An operation unit forms an image. A power source unit supplies electric power supplied from an external power source to the operation unit. A storing unit stores successful data which shows that the image forming apparatus has started successfully. A mode selection unit selects a first mode in which regular electric power is supplied to the operation unit at a start-up when the storing unit stores the successful data, and a second mode in which electric power smaller than the regular electric power is supplied to the operation unit at the start-up when the storing unit does not store the successful data. A power control unit controls the electric power supplied from the power source unit to the operation unit according to the mode selected by the mode selection unit. | 03-07-2013 |
20130084094 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus including a heating rotating body (first body) and a pressurizing rotating body (second body) disposed in a pressure contact state, and commencing image forming when a temperature of the first body reaches a predetermined temperature lower than a fixing temperature. The apparatus acquires a value indicating a temperature of the second body upon commencement of warm-up, and when the value is below a threshold value, heats the first body until the temperature thereof reaches the fixing temperature while rotating the two bodies at a first speed, and when the value equals or exceeds the threshold value, heats the first body until the temperature thereof reaches the predetermined temperature while rotating the two bodies at a second speed slower than the first speed and further heats the first body until the temperature thereof reaches the fixing temperature while rotating the two bodies at the first speed. | 04-04-2013 |
20130114967 | IMAGE HEATING APPARATUS - An image heating apparatus includes an endless belt having a heat generation layer; a driving rotatable member forming a nip; a pressing pad for pressing the endless belt toward the driving rotatable member; an electric energy supply device for supplying electric energy to the heat generation layer; and a shut-off element configured to break electric connection between the electric energy supply device and the heat generation layer when a temperature of the endless belt reaches a predetermined upper limit temperature, wherein the shut-off element is disposed contacted with the endless belt in a region, with respect to a widthwise direction of the endless belt, outside a passing region of a maximum width of the sheet usable with the apparatus and inside of a heat generating region of the heat generation layer. | 05-09-2013 |
20130136481 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image forming station for forming an unfixed image on a recording material; a fixing portion for heating and fixing an unfixed image formed on the recording material, the fixing portion including a fixing rotatable member, and a pressing roller cooperative with the fixing rotatable member to form a nip for nipping and feeding the recording material; an ambient condition sensor for detecting an ambient temperature and an ambient humidity; and a controller for controlling the fixing portion; wherein the controller sets such a warming-up time for warming up the fixing portion that a temperature of the pressing roller at the time when the recording material enters the nip is a temperature calculated on the basis of the ambient temperature and the ambient humidity. | 05-30-2013 |
20130156456 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING POWER SUPPLY TO HEATING ROLLER AND PHASE CONTROL CIRCUIT CORRESPONDING TO THE APPARATUS AND METHOD - A method and an apparatus to control power supplied to a heating roller and a phase control circuit corresponding to the method or the apparatus. The phase control circuit may include an examination unit to compare levels of a sine wave having a predetermined first period and a switching signal to increase and decrease repeatedly according to a predetermined second period, and a phase control signal generation unit to generate a phase control signal having a non-zero in intervals of time sections including a time when levels of the switching signal and the sine wave which is in a decreasing section are equal to each other during a time period when the level of the sine wave is zero, and a time when levels of the switching signal and the sine wave which is in an increasing section are equal to each other during a time period when the level of the sine wave is zero. | 06-20-2013 |
20130195494 | FIXING APPARATUS - A fixing apparatus includes a film, a heater that contacts the inner face of the film and is capable of changing heat distribution, and a pressure member that forms the nip portion with the heater via the film, the pressure member including a region on which a diameter is increased from a center portion toward an end portion, wherein the fixing apparatus performs heater control so that a ratio of an amount of heat generation at the end portion of the heater to an amount of heat generation at the center portion of the heater is changed based on a temperature of the end portion of the pressure member, during a period at least from when the warm-up of the fixing apparatus is started until the recording material reaches the nip portion. | 08-01-2013 |
20130209130 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The image forming apparatus includes a fixing portion, a temperature detection element, and a power control portion. The power control portion is capable of setting a first power supply control mode for supplying power according to the detected temperature for each one control cycle, a second power supply control mode for supplying power according to the detected temperature for each one control cycle and a third power supply control mode for supplying predetermined power, and switches, immediately before a leading edge of the recording material enters the fixing portion, a state of supplying the power in the first power supply control mode to a state of supplying the power in the second power supply control mode, and then switches the state of supplying the power in the second power supply control mode to a state of supplying the power in the third power supply control mode. | 08-15-2013 |
20130209131 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing device capable of shifting to a sleep state includes a heat source; a rotatable fixing member that is partly heated by the heat source to heat an unfixed image carrying surface of a recording medium; a rotatable pressing member that is in pressure contact with the fixing member to form a nip portion between the pressing member and the fixing member; a rotation drive unit that directly or indirectly rotates the fixing member; a temperature detecting unit that detects a temperature of the fixing member; and a controller configured to prohibit the fixing device from shifting to the sleep state when the temperature of the fixing member in a region facing the heat source is equal to or more than a predetermined temperature T | 08-15-2013 |
20130259509 | Image Forming Apparatus Equipped with a Fixing Device Configured to Induce Electromagnetic Heating - A fixing device includes a heating member, a pressurizing member, a coil wound in a loop shape in the width direction of the heating member to generate a magnetic flux that inductively heats the heating member, and a magnetic core adjacent to the coil. The magnetic core is configured to apply the magnetic flux to an inductive heat-generating layer of the heating member. The magnetic core includes first core parts and second core parts. The first core parts are positioned to enclose the coil in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which paper is conveyed. The second core parts are placed in hollow areas formed by the loops of the coil at both ends in the direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction. The second core parts have a higher Curie temperature and a lower thermal capacity than the first core parts. | 10-03-2013 |
20130279933 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a non-contact temperature sensor that commences measuring temperature of a heating member in a fixing device once a waiting period of a certain length has passed after power supply commences to the fixing device, and acquires information indicating a heating condition of the heating member when the fixing device transitions to a non-power supplied state. Once the waiting period has passed, the apparatus controls to increase the heating member temperature to a target temperature, while monitoring the heating member temperature using the non-contact temperature sensor. During the waiting period, the apparatus estimates the heating member temperature at a present time using the information, and controls to increase the heating member temperature when the estimated temperature does not exceed a threshold temperature, and prevent increase of the heating member temperature when the estimated temperature exceeds the threshold temperature. | 10-24-2013 |
20130302058 | Image Forming Apparatus Provided With Fixing Unit for Fixing Images Formed on Paper and Method of Controlling Heaters of the Apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of heaters | 11-14-2013 |
20130302059 | PRINTING APPARATUS, PRINTING APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An image forming apparatus includes a reading unit, a receiving unit, an image forming unit, a fixing unit, and a control unit. The reading unit generates generated image data indicating the image. The receiving unit receives external image data. The image forming unit forms, by using a recording agent, an image on a sheet based on the generated or external image data. The fixing unit fixes the recording agent on the sheet. The control unit controls to start raising a temperature of the fixing unit at a first timing, where a copy process is executed. The control unit controls to start raising the temperature of the fixing unit at a second timing, which is later than the first timing, where a printing process is executed. | 11-14-2013 |
20130330098 | POWER CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS TO HEAT A HEATING ROLLER - A power control method and apparatus to heat a heating roller includes heating a heating roller provided to fix a toner image of print data in an image forming apparatus, the heating roller having a heating resistor to receive roller power. The power control method includes gradually increasing a maximum level of a source power supplied from an external source up to a specific maximum supply level, and supplying the maximum source power to the heating resistor as the roller power while gradually increasing the maximum level of the source power up to a specific maximum supply level, measuring a surface temperature of the heating roller, and supplying the source power of which maximum level is equal to the maximum supply level to the heating resistor as the roller power until the measured surface temperature reaches a specific fixing target temperature, and fixing the toner image onto a printing medium. | 12-12-2013 |
20140023390 | FIXING APPARATUS - The fixing apparatus includes a first rotary member that comes into contact with the unfixed toner image, a second rotary member that is heated by the first rotary member and forms the nip portion together with the first rotary member, and a air supply unit that supplies air to the second rotary member. The fixing apparatus is configured to execute a first mode of warming the first rotary member and the second rotary member as a warm-up while rotating the first rotary member and the second rotary member before the fixing process and performing supplying air by the air supply unit in the fixing process, and a second mode of performing the warm-up for a longer period than in the first mode and performing the supplying air by the air supply unit in the fixing process. | 01-23-2014 |
20140050498 | FIXING DEVICE - A fixing device includes a fixing belt including a metal layer, a pressing member to form a nip between the pressing member and the fixing belt, an induction current generating coil that faces an outer periphery of the fixing belt, and heats the fixing belt located at a nip position through a hollow inside of the fixing belt, and a coil controller supplies a high frequency to the induction current generating coil. | 02-20-2014 |
20140064768 | IMAGE FORMATION APPARATUS - An electromagnetic induction heating apparatus comprises: a resonance circuit that includes a inductor and a capacitor; a direct-current electric power supply; and a switching element performing ON and OFF switching of electric power supplied to the resonance circuit by the direct-current electric power supply; performs intermittent control of the electric power supply by controlling the ON and OFF switching at regular intervals, and by performing control to stop the electric power supply when not controlling the ON and OFF switching, wherein during the intermittent control, the switching control unit performs gradual control such that, upon beginning the control of the ON and OFF switching, the electric power supply gradually increases to reach a target value, and upon stopping the control of the ON and OFF switching, the electric power supply gradually decreases from the target value until stopping, such that the gradual decrease involves fewer steps than the gradual increase. | 03-06-2014 |
20140079425 | HEATER CONTROL DEVICE, FIXING DEVICE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A heater control device that performs phase control of AC power and supplies phase-controlled power to a heater, the heater control device including: a control unit configured to, in the phase control, gradually increase an on-duty ratio until a target power amount is supplied to the heater; and a judgment unit configured to judge whether or not the on-duty ratio is within a predetermined range of on-duty ratios including a 50% on-duty ratio. The control unit (i) increases the on-duty ratio by a first amount while the on-duty ratio is within the predetermined range, and (ii) increases the on-duty ratio by a second amount while the on-duty ratio is not within the predetermined range. The first amount is greater than the second amount. | 03-20-2014 |
20140093268 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing portion for fixing an image, formed on a recording material, on the recording material, wherein the fixing portion includes a heater for generating heat by electric power supplied from a commercial power source; a power source portion for supplying the electric power to a load except the heater, wherein the power source and the heater are connected with the commercial power source in parallel; a suppliable electric power calculating portion for calculating suppliable electric power suppliable to the heater; and a temperature setting portion for setting, depending on the suppliable electric power calculated by the calculating portion, a control target temperature of the fixing portion in an operation in a stand-by mode in which the image forming apparatus awaits a print instruction. | 04-03-2014 |
20140105629 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming part which picks up a recording medium at a predetermined pickup timing and forms an image at a predetermined printing speed; and a controller which accelerates the timing for picking up the recording medium in advance of the predetermined pickup timing, and which lowers the printing speed so as to allow the printing operation to take place at a lower fusing temperature during warming up from a cold start in order to shorten the first print output time (FPOT). | 04-17-2014 |
20140112678 | IMAGE HEATING APPARATUS - An image heating apparatus includes an endless belt for heating a toner image on a sheet in a nip; a driving rotatable member for cooperating with the belt to form the nip and for rotating the belt; a pressing pad for pressing the belt from an inside of the belt toward the driving rotatable member; a heating device for heating the belt; and a controller configured to execute, in a stand-by mode following a warming-up mode, intermittent heating operation of the heating device for the belt while rotating the belt by the driving rotatable member, wherein the controller is capable of executing, after executing the intermittent heating operation in a first rest period in the stand-by mode, the intermittent heating operation by a second rest period which is longer than the first rest period. | 04-24-2014 |
20140133879 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In the present invention, upon return from a standby mode or sleep mode, image data is acquired as warming-up time estimate information for estimating the warming-up time to increase the temperature of a fixing belt to a target fixing temperature and, if the acquired image data is the data on a black-and-white image, control is performed to delay the heating start timing of the fixing belt. | 05-15-2014 |
20140133880 | FIXING UNIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing unit includes a first heat source configured to heat a roller, and a second heat source configured to heat the roller. The maximum value of a total amount of heat generated in the second heat source is smaller than that of the first heat source. The second heat source has an amount of heat generated higher in ends of the second heat source than in a center thereof in a distribution of the amount of heat generated in the axial direction. The second heat source has a rate of the amount of heat generated in the ends of the second heat source to that in the center thereof higher than a rate of the amount of heat generated in the ends of the first heat source to that in the center thereof. | 05-15-2014 |
20140212161 | Method and System for Controlling a Fuser Assembly - An imaging device includes a fuser assembly including a heat transfer member and a backup member positioned to engage the heat transfer member thereby defining a fusing nip therewith. A motor is coupled to the backup member for rotating the backup member. A controller coupled to the fuser assembly controls the motor using time-based commutation for a period of time to rotate the backup member at a slower speed relative to a speed for performing a toner fusing operation. In memory, at least one lookup table is stored having entries which, when sequentially accessed by the controller during the time-based commutation, are used to generate one or more drive signals for the motor to cause current flowing through windings of the motor to have a substantially sinusoidal waveform. | 07-31-2014 |
20140270836 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, METHOD OF SETTING FIXING TEMPERATURE, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image forming apparatus includes: an identification information acquiring unit that acquires identification information to identify a user; a usage history information acquiring unit that acquires usage history information for the user specified by the identification information; an output setting forecasting unit that forecasts output setting used by the user based on the usage history information; and a fixing temperature setting unit that sets a fixing temperature based on the forecasted output setting. | 09-18-2014 |
20140334838 | IMAGE FORMING METHOD FOR FORMING TONER IMAGE ON RECORDING MEDIUM - A method for forming a toner image on a recording medium includes receiving a job, rotating a pressing rotary body in a predetermined direction of rotation, rotating a flexible endless belt disposed opposite the pressing rotary body to form a nip therebetween, turning on a belt heater disposed opposite to an inner circumferential surface of the flexible endless belt, conveying the recording medium bearing the toner image through the nip, turning off the belt heater for a predetermined first time period after the recording medium is discharged from the nip while the flexible endless belt and the pressing rotary body rotate, stopping the flexible endless belt and the pressing rotary body, turning on the belt heater when a predetermined second time period elapses after stopping the flexible endless belt and the pressing rotary body, and turning off the belt heater. | 11-13-2014 |
20140341600 | FUSER FOR EQUALIZING TEMPERATURE OF HEAT GENERATING SECTION - According to one embodiment, a fuser includes a fixing belt including a conductive layer, an induction-current generating section to electromagnetically induction-heat the conductive layer, an opposed section to form a nip in cooperation with the fixing belt, an auxiliary heat generating section electromagnetically induction-heated by the induction-current generating section, and a moving section to move the auxiliary heat generating section with respect to the fixing belt. | 11-20-2014 |
20140356009 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, PROCESSING TIME SIMULATION APPARATUS AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus includes: a fixing device that has a fast heating mode and a heat storage mode; and a selection section that selects any one of a case where execution of a job indicating an image forming process of a predetermined batch throughput is instructed, and when the fixing device returns to a normal power state from a power saving state, the fixing mode in which an image forming process is early completed is selected on the basis of a total throughput of the job to perform the image forming process, and a case where during the total throughput of the job is not determined or in a case where the job corresponds to a plurality of sets, the fast heating mode is selected as an initial operation for at least the first set to perform the image forming process. | 12-04-2014 |
20140376940 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing member rotatably supported for heating a developer; a pressure member pressing a recording medium upon sandwiching the recording medium with the fixing member; a temperature detection unit for detecting temperature of the fixing member; a temperature control unit for controlling the temperature of the fixing member; a rotation control unit for controlling rotation of the fixing member; an environment value detection unit for detecting an atmosphere temperature; a time measure unit for measuring time necessary for finish of warming up of the fixing member; and a rotation time setting unit for setting rotation time of the fixing member, wherein the rotation time setting unit changes the rotation time from a timing that the fixing member reaches a warming up temperature, based on a lapse time result provided from the time measure unit, where the atmosphere temperature is lower than a prescribed temperature. | 12-25-2014 |
20150071670 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS - An image-forming apparatus is provided in which power is supplied to a heater at the smaller duty ratio of an upper-limit duty ratio D15a which is set according to the current detected by an inlet current detecting unit in a warm-up period of a fixing unit and a duty ratio Dn which is continuously corrected according to a change in a heater resistance value and is required for supplying a predetermined target power to the heater. The image-forming apparatus can output a first page of recording material in a short period time so that a current consumption of the entire apparatus does not exceed rated current consumption. | 03-12-2015 |
20150086232 | Circuit and Method for a Hybrid Heater with Dual Function Heating Capability - A method and system for fusing toner to media sheets in an imaging device. The system includes a fuser heater having a first heating element and a second heating element, the fuser heater providing heat to a fuser nip; and heat control circuitry coupled to the fuser heater for passing current through the first and second heating elements of the fuser heater to generate heat therefrom. The system further includes a controller coupled to the heat control circuitry, the controller controlling the heat control circuitry for passing current through the first heating element during a warm up operation and passing current through the second heating element during a fusing operation following the warm up operation, the fusing operation fusing toner to a sheet of media. | 03-26-2015 |
20150110513 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS - In an image-forming apparatus including: an image forming unit which forms an unfixed toner image on a recording material; a fixing unit having a heat generating member which generates heat by power supplied from a commercial AC power source via a choke coil, the fixing unit heating the unfixed toner image formed by the image forming unit and thereby fixing the image to the recording material; and a control unit which controls the supply of power from the commercial AC power source to the heat generating member. The control unit supplies power to the heat generating member by control including phase control, during printing for performing an image forming operation by the image forming unit, and supplies power to the heat generating member by wave number control during standby for awaiting a print instruction. | 04-23-2015 |
20150338794 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes heating and pressing rollers for fixing a toner image; a contacting and spacing portion for contacting and spacing between the rollers; an air feeder for cooling the pressing roller during a job; a guide for the sheet having been subjected to an image fixing process; an acquiring portion for acquiring the temperature of the guide: and an executing portion for executing a warming-up process of the heating roller and the pressing roller to raise temperatures of the heating roller and the pressing roller, wherein the executing portion controls the contacting and spacing portion and the air feeder so that the air is fed toward the guide through between the heating roller and the pressing roller at least in a part of the warming-up process, when the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature upon activation of a main voltage source. | 11-26-2015 |
20160018764 | FIXING APPARATUS - A fixing apparatus includes a cylindrical film, a heater including a substrate, a first heat generation resistor formed on a first surface of the substrate which is a surface facing an inner surface of the film, and a second heat generation resistor formed on a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a control portion, wherein during a time period from the start of warm-up of the fixing apparatus to a predetermined time, the control portion is configured either to supply power to the first heat generation resistor while supplying no power to the second heat generation resistor or to supply power to the first heat generation resistor and the second heat generation resistor such that the power supplied to the first heat generation resistor is higher than the power supplied to the second heat generation resistor. | 01-21-2016 |
20160077472 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit having a heater, a temperature detection unit, a power control unit, and a conveyance control unit that controls conveying a recording material. The conveyance control unit executes, when the maximum power is greater than a threshold power, a first mode where conveyance is performed according to a time, and executes, in a case where the maximum power is less than the threshold power, a second mode where conveyance is performed according to the detected temperature. The power control unit sets a larger value to the threshold power when an option device is connected to the image forming apparatus as compared to when the option device is not connected to the image forming apparatus. | 03-17-2016 |
20160091849 | ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electric power supply device for supplying electric power to a load, the electric power supply device includes a first relay connected with a live line of an AC voltage source; a second relay connected with a neutral line of the AC voltage source; a controller for executing a starting sequence for rendering On the first relay and the second relay from Off state; and a storing portion for storing information relating to the starting sequence executed by the controller; wherein when the electric power supply device is actuated, the controller switches the starting sequence on the basis of the information stored in the storing portion. | 03-31-2016 |
20160097995 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS - An image-forming apparatus is provided which enables more productive image formation. When an option unit implements a change from a second operation mode that exhibits high power consumption to a first operation mode that exhibits low power consumption while images are being consecutively formed on a plurality of recording materials, an upper limit on power that can be supplied to a fixing section is set higher than that in the second operation mode, and intervals, at which recording materials are consecutively fed, are set narrower than those in the second operation mode. | 04-07-2016 |
20160109833 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium includes a fixing member that fixes a toner image to the recording medium. A heating unit heats the fixing member. A control unit receives a print job, the print job indicating a print mode and at least one job condition. The control unit determines a ready temperature based on the print mode and the at least one job condition. The control unit controls a heating operation of the heating unit based on the determined ready temperature. | 04-21-2016 |
20160124356 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing part including a heater, and a first temperature detection part configured to detect the temperature of the heater; a chopper circuit including a reactor, a freewheeling element, and a switching element, the chopper circuit being configured to switch an input direct current on and off in a specified duty cycle by using the switching element and to supply the current to the heater; and a control part configured to control the duty cycle based on a detection result obtained by the first temperature detection part, as well as to control a switching frequency of the switching element based on an operation mode of the image forming apparatus. | 05-05-2016 |
20160139545 | FIXING DEVICE THAT FIXES IMAGES OF DECOLORABLE AND NON-DECOLORABLE MATERIALS - A fixing device includes a roller, a pressing member pressed against the roller, such that when a sheet having an unfixed image is passed thorough a nip formed between the roller and the pressing member, the unfixed image is fixed on the sheet, a first heater configured to heat the roller, a second heater configured to heat the pressing member, and a controller configured to control the second heater, such that a time-averaged heat generation by the second heater when an image of a decolorable material is fixed is greater than a time-averaged heat generation by the second heater when an image of a non-decolorable material is fixed. | 05-19-2016 |
20160179038 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD | 06-23-2016 |
20160195839 | SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME | 07-07-2016 |
20160252852 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | 09-01-2016 |
20180024477 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS | 01-25-2018 |