JP2008011700A - Image forming apparatus and inter image forming apparatus power-cooperative system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the short-time start up of an image forming apparatus at a start-up time or power shortage, a drop in the temperature of a fixing roller in a high-speed machine cannot be prevented. <P>SOLUTION: A power transmission control unit includes a power transmitting means for transmitting power to the other image forming apparatus 52, a power-receiving means for receiving power supplied from the other image forming apparatus 52, and a control means for controlling power transmission to the other image forming apparatus 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, and a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses.

First, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a request for energy saving will be described.
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile has a process of forming an image on a recording member such as plain paper or OHP paper. Various image recording methods have been realized. Among them, the electrophotographic method is widely adopted in image forming apparatuses because of high speed, image quality, cost, and the like.

  In the electrophotographic system, there are a step of forming an unfixed toner image on a recording member such as plain paper or OHP paper, and a fixing step of fixing the unfixed toner image to the recording member with heat and pressure. As a fixing device for performing the fixing process, a heat roller type fixing device as a heat fixing device is currently most frequently used from the viewpoint of high speed and safety.

  A heat roller type fixing device forms a mutual pressure contact portion called a nip portion by pressing a fixing roller heated by a heat generating member such as a halogen heater and a pressure roller disposed opposite to the fixing roller. In this system, a sheet as a recording member is passed between the fixing roller and the pressure roller and heated.

The fixing roller mainly uses a metal roller made of metal such as iron or aluminum, and has a large heat capacity. For this reason, the fixing roller has a drawback that it takes a long rise time of several minutes to several tens of minutes in order to raise the temperature to about 180 ° C., which is a usable temperature.
Therefore, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, even when the user is not performing image formation, power is supplied to the fixing roller, and the surface temperature of the fixing roller is kept at a preheating temperature slightly lower than the usable temperature. As a result, the fixing roller can immediately rise up to the usable temperature, so that the user does not wait for the temperature of the fixing roller to rise.

  However, in this image forming apparatus, extra power is consumed by the fixing device, which is not directly required for image formation even during standby when not in use. There is also a survey result that the energy consumption during standby is about 70 to 80% of the energy consumption of the image forming apparatus.

In recent years, energy conservation regulations have been enacted in each country due to increased awareness of environmental protection. In Japan, the Energy Conservation Law has been amended and strengthened, and energy conservation programs such as Energy Star and Zero Energy Star Mode (ZESM) have been established in the United States.
In the image forming apparatus, when energy saving is achieved in order to comply with these regulations and programs, the energy saving effect is great if the energy consumption during standby is reduced. For this reason, the image forming apparatus desirably sets the power supply to the fixing device to zero during unused standby.

  However, if the stand-by power is zero with the conventional configuration, the temperature of the fixing roller will take several minutes at the time of restarting, and the waiting time is long and user convenience deteriorates. End up. For this reason, a configuration for promptly raising the temperature of the fixing roller is necessary for realizing an energy-saving image forming apparatus. For example, in the above-described ZESM, 10 seconds or less is required for restarting.

Next, the power of the power source in the fixing device will be described.
In order to shorten the heating time of the fixing roller, it is preferable to increase the input energy per unit time, that is, the rated power. In fact, some image forming apparatuses (high-speed machines) having a high image forming speed are compatible with a power supply voltage of 200V. However, in general offices in Japan, the power supply is generally 100V15A and the upper limit is 1500W, and the countermeasure to increase the power supply voltage to 200V requires a special work on the power-related part of the installation site. It's not a good solution.

An image forming apparatus that uses two 100V15A power supplies to increase the total input power has also been put into practical use, but it cannot be installed unless there are two outlets nearby.
For this reason, until now, even if it is attempted to raise the temperature of the fixing roller in a short time, the upper limit of the input energy cannot be raised.

Next, the auxiliary power supply and the large capacity capacitor will be described.
In order to realize energy saving by increasing the maximum power supply, an image forming apparatus has been proposed that solves the above problems using an auxiliary power source. Typical auxiliary power sources that can be charged are lead-acid batteries and CADNICA batteries.

  However, the secondary battery has a property that it deteriorates when it is repeatedly charged and discharged, the capacity decreases, and the life is shortened as the battery is discharged with a large current. Even in a CADNICA battery, which is generally considered to have a long life with a large current, the number of charge / discharge cycles is about 500 to 1000 times, and if a charge / discharge cycle is repeated 20 times a day, the lifetime will be reached in about one month. It will end up. This takes time to replace the battery, and the running cost such as battery cost is very high. Furthermore, since it takes several hours to fully charge a battery having a large capacity, it cannot be used for applications in which charging and discharging are repeated many times a day, making it difficult to use in practice.

Since a secondary battery cannot use a practical auxiliary power supply, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique using a large-capacity capacitor (capacitor) such as an electric double layer capacitor as an auxiliary power supply. Large capacity capacitors have the following advantageous characteristics.
1) The number of repetitions of charge / discharge is almost unlimited at tens of thousands or more, charging characteristics are hardly deteriorated, and regular maintenance is unnecessary.
2) The charging time can be set to several seconds to several tens of seconds while the battery, which is a secondary battery, takes several hours. In addition, since the electric double layer capacitor can flow a large current of several tens to several hundreds of amperes, power can be supplied in a short time.

As described above, when the large-capacity capacitor is used as the auxiliary power source, the fixing device can be supplied with power exceeding the power limit of the commercial power source in a short time from several seconds to several tens of seconds. Therefore, it is possible to realize a fixing device having a short rise time with high reliability and durability.
Patent Document 2 describes a heating device that can obtain a large power at a low voltage by connecting a halogen heater in parallel to a large-capacity capacitor.
.

Next, the reduction in heat capacity of the heating member will be described.
There is a SURF fixing method as a fixing method specialized for short-time startup. This is a configuration in which a film made of heat-resistant resin is wound around a plate-shaped ceramic heater, and since the heat capacity of the ceramic heater is reduced, the startup time can be shortened, and it is mainly put into practical use in low-speed machines. ing.

  However, in this SURF fixing method, it is necessary to make the film thicker to prevent breakage in order to cope with higher speed machines in the future. As a problem at this time, if the temperature of the film is not raised before the film enters the nip, the resin has a lower thermal conductivity than the metal and heat cannot be sufficiently transferred to the paper in the nip. It is necessary to heat the film from the upstream part before entering. For this reason, the area of the plate-like portion of the heater is increased, and a high power source is required to perform a rapid temperature increase.

  In recent years, even in the heat roller method, the start-up time is shortened by using a thin roller made of iron or aluminum of 1.0 mm or less for the fixing roller. The method of reducing the heat capacity of the heating member is very useful for shortening the startup time. However, when the technology for reducing the heat capacity is introduced into a high-speed machine, the “temperature drop” problem occurs.

  "Temperature drop" is a high-speed machine that passes more than 60 sheets per minute, and if a continuous sheet such as thick paper is passed immediately after startup, the heat of the heating member is taken away from the recording member in large quantities. For this reason, the surface temperature of the heating member having a small heat capacity immediately falls below the required fixing temperature, which causes a problem of fixing failure.

  In order to solve this problem, high-speed machines that have introduced a technology for reducing heat capacity perform “CPM down” that lowers the paper feeding speed of plain paper during continuous paper feeding. This avoids the occurrence of fixing failure.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an image forming apparatus connected to a peripheral device so that the power supply of the peripheral device can be used as an auxiliary power source of the image forming apparatus. Is described. In this image forming apparatus, when power is about to fall short, the power of the peripheral device power supply is input to the image forming apparatus as an auxiliary power supply, enabling stable operation, reducing the size and cost of the power supply. Is possible.

JP 2000-315567 A JP 2002-184554 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-17863

In developing a heating device (fixing device) using the large-capacity capacitor, the following problems have been clarified in order to further improve the performance.
In the heating device (fixing device), in order to use up the electric power held by the large-capacity capacitor with a start-up time of several seconds to several tens of seconds, a configuration for taking out the large electric power is necessary. Since power = voltage × current, high power can be obtained by increasing the voltage or increasing the current.

  The halogen heater that is normally used as a heat generating member for heating the fixing roller has an upper limit of about 10 to 12 A maximum current, and it is difficult to increase the maximum current further. This is because the life of the halogen heater is shortened when the current of the halogen heater is increased. Therefore, in order to obtain a large amount of power with a heating device using a halogen heater as a heat generating member, it is necessary to adopt a configuration in which a large voltage power source is used as a power supply source.

  However, a large-capacity capacitor originally has a low voltage per cell of about several volts. This is to prevent the solution inside the cell from being electrolyzed, and the voltage per cell is a little over 1 volt for water and about a few volts for organic. For this reason, in order to heat the fixing roller using a conventionally used halogen heater as a heat generating member, it is necessary to connect dozens to dozens of cells in series and use it as a high voltage power supply unit.

  However, with a large-capacity capacitor that is configured to obtain high voltage and high power by connecting many cells in series, even if only a few cells have sufficient energy to raise the temperature of the fixing roller. In order to increase the voltage, it was necessary to increase the number of cells. In other words, it was necessary to use an extra capacity capacitor cell. However, at present, the cost of the capacitor is high, and since the energy density is low and the volume is large, it is indispensable to reduce the number of capacitor cells.

That is, in the configuration in which the halogen heater is used as the heat generating member, it is necessary to use an extra cell in terms of energy in order to increase the voltage, so there is a problem that the volume of the power source is large and the cost is high.
Even in the heating device described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to increase the voltage of the large-capacity capacitor, so that it is necessary to provide a capacitor cell with extra energy, and there is a problem that the volume of the power source is large and the cost is high.

  In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 2 proposes a technique for obtaining high power at a low voltage by connecting a halogen heater in parallel to a large-capacity capacitor. This is to take advantage of the feature of allowing a large current to flow through a large-capacity capacitor and to take out a large amount of power at a low voltage in a short time by setting the resistance of the halogen heater low.

In the prior art, when an auxiliary power source such as a large-capacity capacitor is used, a halogen heater for an auxiliary power source is connected to the auxiliary power source in addition to the halogen heater connected to the main power source.
However, in a fixing device having a configuration in which a plurality of halogen heaters are installed in the fixing roller, when a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity is used as the fixing roller, a glass member of another halogen heater is turned on when one halogen heater is turned on. Therefore, there is a problem in that heat radiation is hindered by the influence of the above, and temperature unevenness occurs on the surface of the fixing roller.

If there is an excessively high temperature portion on the surface of the fixing roller, there is a possibility that hot offset occurs where molten toner adheres to the portion.
The problem of uneven surface temperature of the fixing roller becomes a very serious problem when an auxiliary power source such as a large capacity capacitor is not charged.

  Halogen heaters connected to an auxiliary power supply that is not fully charged cannot generate enough heat due to insufficient power supply, and the temperature difference between the halogen heater connected to the main power supply is extremely high May cause problems such as fixing failure due to offset or breakage of the fixing roller.

  Therefore, the temperature variation peculiar to the thin fixing roller is reduced, and the fixing roller of the fixing roller is caused by the difference in the amount of heat generated between the auxiliary heating member when the necessary power is not stored in the auxiliary power source and the main heating member connected to the main power source. Measures are necessary to prevent the widening of the temperature gap and excessive local temperature rise.

  Therefore, a control device that detects the amount of electricity stored in the auxiliary power source and switches the power supply source to the heat generating member connected to the auxiliary power source from the auxiliary power source to the main power source when predetermined power is not stored in the auxiliary power source. By providing a heating device provided with the above, it is considered that stable power can be supplied to the auxiliary heat generating member and temperature unevenness of the heating member can be reduced regardless of the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply.

  However, when switching the power supply source to the heat generating member connected in parallel to the auxiliary power source from the auxiliary power source to the main power source, if all the heat generating members in the heating device are simply connected in parallel to the main power source, A current exceeding the power limit of 15A will flow.

  In addition, the purpose is to eliminate the temporal temperature unevenness of the heating roller due to large power, and supply to the auxiliary power supply heater from the large capacity capacitor by changing the connection of the cell of the large capacity capacitor, which is the auxiliary power supply, during discharge There has been proposed a technique for controlling the electric power to reduce the temperature unevenness of the heating roller. However, in this technique, when the heating roller is heated to a predetermined temperature, the capacitor cells are connected in parallel to limit the power supplied from the large-capacity capacitor to the auxiliary power source heater, thereby causing uneven temperature of the heating roller. The temperature unevenness generated in the circumferential direction of the heating roller cannot be solved when the heat generation amounts of the main power supply heater and the auxiliary power supply heater are different.

  By the way, by mounting the fixing device using the auxiliary power source, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that saves energy and has a very short startup time. There are a method for increasing the input power of the heating device and a method for reducing the heat capacity of the heating device in order to promote a short temperature increase of the heating device. Therefore, it is considered that the heating device can increase the temperature in a shorter time by using a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity.

  In the case of a high-speed machine that exceeds 60 sheets per minute, since the heat amount of the fixing roller is taken away from the recording member in large quantities, the surface temperature of the thin fixing roller with a small heat capacity is the continuous sheet immediately after startup. As a result, the problem will be that the thin fixing roller cannot be used for high-speed machines because the temperature will drop immediately below the required fixing temperature, but not only when the auxiliary power supply is turned on, but also when the temperature drops due to paper feeding. This problem can be solved by introducing it, and it is possible to greatly shorten the start-up time and save energy in a high-speed machine.

However, in developing an image forming apparatus using a large-capacity capacitor and a thin fixing roller, the following problems have been clarified in improving the performance.
An image forming apparatus equipped with an auxiliary power source has a problem that when the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source is insufficient, sufficient power cannot be supplied to the fixing device, and a stable operation cannot be performed.

A large-capacity capacitor as an auxiliary power source mounted on an image forming apparatus requires a charging period of about several minutes after discharging a large amount of electric power during startup or the like.
As described above, the capacitor itself can be configured to have a charging time of about several tens of seconds. However, the capacitor of the image forming apparatus is charged after the image formation, and is small in terms of cost and space saving. It takes several minutes at a low current using a charger.

When the start-up command is issued again to the image forming apparatus when the capacitor is insufficiently charged at this low current, the start-up cannot be performed in the same short time as when the capacitor is fully charged.
With a normal fixing roller, if the interval from the previous start-up to the next start-up command is short, there is no problem because the remaining heat remains on the fixing roller, but a thin fixing roller with a small heat capacity was used. In this case, since the amount of heat stored in the fixing roller is very small, it immediately falls to room temperature, and the above-described problems occur.

In addition, in the case of high-speed machines, if image formation is performed while the amount of electricity stored in the capacitor is insufficient, the fixing roller surface temperature must be fixed without being able to cope with the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding immediately after the fixing device is started up. The temperature may drop below the temperature and fixing may not be possible.
Further, in the prior art such as that described in Patent Document 1, when an auxiliary power source such as a large-capacity capacitor is used, a halogen heater for auxiliary power source is connected in addition to the halogen heater connected to the main power source. It is.

  In this prior art, a halogen heater connected to an auxiliary power source that is not sufficiently charged cannot generate sufficient heat due to a lack of supplied power, and a halogen heater connected to a main power source Due to the temperature difference, the temperature unevenness of the fixing roller becomes very large, which may cause a phenomenon such as fixing failure due to offset or breakage of the fixing roller.

  To solve this problem, the purpose is to eliminate the need to add a new heat generating member even if an auxiliary power source is added. In a fixing device having a plurality of heat generating members, the main power source and the auxiliary power source A conventional technique has been proposed in which a heat generating member that supplies electric power is shared, and power is supplied only by the main power source even when the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply is insufficient, so that all the heat generating members generate heat.

However, with this conventional technology, the power that can be taken out becomes too small, and it is possible to cope with the temperature unevenness of the fixing roller. However, when the fixing device is raised to a predetermined temperature, sufficient power cannot be taken out, and the image forming apparatus Cannot be launched for a short time. Further, it cannot cope with the temperature drop of the fixing roller in the high speed machine.
Further, the cost of the capacitor is high at present, and there is a drawback that the price of the image forming apparatus main body is increased by mounting the power storage device using the capacitor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can receive power transmission from another image forming apparatus at the time of start-up or when power is insufficient.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses that can shorten the start-up time of an image forming apparatus in the system and guarantee a stable operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system that can search the system for other optimal image forming apparatuses that transmit power to the image forming apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system capable of transmitting and receiving information between an image forming apparatus and a power-on control apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system that can appropriately transmit the power of another image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus needs electric power.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a power coordination system between image forming apparatuses capable of supplying power exceeding the limit of a commercial power supply when the image forming apparatus is started up.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be operated by an autonomous power source that is not a commercial power source.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a power transmission means for transmitting power to another image forming apparatus, a power receiving means for receiving power supply from the other image forming apparatus, and the other image forming apparatus. And a power transmission control device having control means for controlling power transmission to the power source.

  The invention according to claim 2 is an inter-device power coordination system comprising a plurality of the image forming apparatuses according to claim 1 and connecting the plurality of image forming apparatuses by the power transmission control device, wherein the power transmission means The image forming apparatus includes a power input control device having power switching means for transmitting the power of the image forming device to another image forming device different from the image forming device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the second aspect, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power input control apparatus are connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power input control apparatus. They are connected by information transmission means for transmitting and receiving information between them.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. is there.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second or third aspect, each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. Is.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the fifth aspect, the power-on control device acquires operation information of the image forming apparatus by the information transmission unit, and based on the acquired information. Thus, the power switching means is switched.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the power coordination system between image forming apparatuses according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, and 6, wherein the image forming apparatus forms an unfixed image according to image information. And a fixing device for fixing the unfixed image, and the image forming apparatus uses this power for the fixing device when receiving power from the other image forming apparatus. .

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image forming apparatus is operated by electric power from the fuel cell.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to the second aspect, the power-on control device is provided in one of the image forming apparatuses.

According to the present invention, power can be transmitted from another image forming apparatus at the time of start-up or when power is insufficient.
According to the present invention, the start-up time of the image forming apparatus in the system can be shortened and stable operation can be ensured.
According to the present invention, it is possible to search in the system for another optimal image forming apparatus that transmits power to the image forming apparatus.

According to the present invention, information can be transmitted and received between the image forming apparatus and the power-on control apparatus.
According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately transmit power from another image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus needs power.

According to the present invention, it is possible to input power exceeding the limit of the commercial power supply when starting up the image forming apparatus.
According to the present invention, it can operate with an autonomous power source that is not a commercial power source.

  Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. This 1st Embodiment is one form of the electric power cooperation system between apparatuses. As shown in FIG. 2, auxiliary power supply-equipped devices 51 and 52 that constitute the inter-device power coordination system are electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, and operating units 55 and 56 that are operated by power from the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54. Is a fixing unit provided in the image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 14 shows a cross section of the image forming apparatus 51 in the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 51 is set to have a high overall height so that the image forming apparatus 51 can be placed on the floor and used, and the whole is composed of an upper part and a lower part. The upper part has an automatic document feeder (not shown) provided above and an optical unit comprising optical elements (not shown) provided below, and each of the image forming systems located below the automatic unit. Has a unit. The lower part has a paper feed unit in which a plurality of paper feed trays 80 on which recording members P of a plurality of sizes are respectively placed are accommodated.

  In FIG. 14, reference numeral 71 denotes a drum-shaped photoconductor that is an example of an image carrier made of a rotating body. Around the photosensitive member 71, in the order of rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow, a charging device 72 composed of a charging roller, a mirror 73 constituting a part of an exposure unit, a developing unit 74 having a developing roller 74a, and a recording member P A transfer device 78 for transferring the developed image to the transfer paper as a transfer member, a cleaning means 76 having a blade 76a in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 71, and the like are arranged. On the photoreceptor 71, exposure light Lb is scanned between the charging device 72 and the developing roller 74a via a mirror 73. The irradiation position of the exposure light Lb is called an exposure unit 75.

  Reference numeral 78 denotes a transfer device 78 facing the lower surface of the photoconductor 41, and a portion of the photoconductor 71 facing the transfer device 78 is a transfer portion 77. A pair of registration rollers 79 are provided at a position further upstream of the transfer portion 77 in the transfer paper conveyance direction. The recording member P stored in the selected paper feed tray among the plurality of paper feed trays 80 is sent out by the paper feed roller 81, guided by the transport guide, and transported to the registration rollers 79. A fixing device 55 is disposed further downstream of the transfer unit 77 in the transfer paper conveyance direction. An automatic duplexer 83 is disposed downstream of the fixing device 55.

  In this image forming apparatus 51, image formation is performed as follows. The photosensitive member 71 is rotated by a drive unit (not shown) and starts rotating. During this rotation, the photosensitive member 71 is uniformly charged by the charging device 72 in the dark, and the exposure unit 75 is irradiated with the exposure light Lb by the exposure unit. By scanning, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an image to be created is formed. This electrostatic latent image is moved to the developing device 74 by the rotation of the photosensitive member 71, where it is visualized with toner to form a toner image.

  On the other hand, feeding of the transfer paper P as a recording member on the paper feed tray 80 is started by the paper feed roller 81, and temporarily stops at the position of the pair of registration rollers 79 via a conveyance path indicated by a broken line. Wait for the timing of delivery so that the toner image coincides with the transfer portion 77. When this timing arrives, the transfer paper P that has stopped at the registration roller 79 is sent out from the registration roller 79 and conveyed toward the transfer unit 77.

  The toner image on the photoconductor 71 and the transfer paper P coincide with each other at the transfer unit 77, and the toner image on the photoconductor 71 is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the electric field generated by the transfer device 78.

  In this way, the toner image formed in the image forming section as an image forming system comprising the photosensitive member 71 and the surrounding units 72, 74, 78, and 76 and the exposure means is transferred, and the transfer paper P carrying this is the fixing device 55. It is sent out toward. The toner image on the transfer paper P is fixed on the transfer paper P while passing through the fixing device 55 and discharged to the paper discharge unit 84.

Further, the image forming apparatus 51 forms images on both sides of the transfer paper P in the duplex mode. The transfer paper on which the toner image is formed on the front surface in the double-side mode is conveyed to the automatic double-side device 83 by a branching claw (not shown), and the front and back sides are reversed by switchback inversion. Re-feed the roller 79.
On the other hand, the residual toner remaining on the photosensitive member 71 without being transferred by the transfer unit 77 reaches the cleaning device 76 along with the rotation of the photosensitive member 71, and is cleaned while passing through the cleaning device 76 for the next image formation. Prepare.
Although the image forming apparatus 52 is configured in the same manner as the image forming apparatus 51, only the image forming apparatus 51 is provided with an auxiliary power input control device 87 as shown in FIG.

Next, the configuration and operation of the inter-device power coordination system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings, focusing on the fixing device 55 that is an operation unit.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 each equipped with the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 are connected by an auxiliary power transmission unit 85 and an information transmission unit 86. The auxiliary power input control device 87 provided in the image forming apparatus 51 transmits the power of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 to the image forming apparatus 52 by the auxiliary power transmission means 85 or the auxiliary power supply of the image forming apparatus 52 Control for transmitting power of 54 to the image forming apparatus 51 is performed.

  FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 included in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 and the fixing devices 55 and 56 which are the operation units, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the fixing device 55. 2 and 3, reference numerals 88 and 89 denote main power sources of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, respectively. The main power supplies 88 and 89 are power sources that supply power from a commercial power supply, and can be supplied by connecting to a power outlet.

  Reference numerals 53 and 54 denote electric double layer capacitors as auxiliary power supplies for the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, and switches 90, 91, 92, and 93 as switching means for the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, respectively. The auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 may use electrochemical capacitors. Reference numeral 94 denotes a heating member in the fixing device 55 of the image forming apparatus 51. The heating member 94 includes a main heat generating member 95 and an auxiliary heat generating member 96. The main heat generating member 95 is connected to the main power supply 88 via the switch 90. When the switch 90 is turned on / off, the power from the main power supply 88 is turned on / off, and the temperature of the heating member 94 is controlled to the set temperature. The auxiliary power supply 53 is connected to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 and discharged to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 when the switch 91 is switched to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 side. The charger 97 is connected to the main power supply 88. When the switch 91 is switched to the charger 97 side, the power from the main power supply 88 is converted into direct current and applied to the auxiliary power supply 53 to charge the auxiliary power supply 53.

  98 is a charge / discharge control device having a storage amount detection means for detecting the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 53 and an operation detection means for detecting the operation of the image forming apparatus 51. An image based on the detection information of the operation detection means. The charging / discharging of the auxiliary power supply 53 is controlled in accordance with the operation of the forming device 51. This charging / discharging control device 98 switches the switch 91 to the charger 97 side immediately after the auxiliary power supply 53 is discharged based on the detection information of the charged amount detection means, and the charger 97 uses the electric power from the main power supply 88. The auxiliary power supply 53 is charged, and the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply 53 is constantly monitored based on the detection information of the power storage amount detection means. In this case, the switch 91 is switched to the charger 97 side, and the auxiliary power source 53 is charged by the charger 97 by the electric power from the main power source 88.

  Reference numeral 99 denotes a heating member in the fixing device 56 of the image forming apparatus 52. The heating member 99 includes a main heat generating member 100 and an auxiliary heat generating member 101. The main heat generating member 100 is connected to the main power supply 89 via the switch 92. When the switch 92 is turned on / off, the power from the main power supply 89 is turned on / off, and the temperature of the heating member 99 is controlled to the set temperature. The auxiliary power supply 54 is connected to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 and discharged to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 when the switch 93 is switched to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 side. The charger 102 is connected to the main power supply 89, and when the switch 93 is switched to the charger 102 side, the power from the main power supply 89 is converted into direct current and applied to the auxiliary power supply 54 to charge the auxiliary power supply 54.

  Reference numeral 103 denotes a charge / discharge control device that includes a storage amount detection unit that detects the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 54 and an operation detection unit that detects the operation of the image forming apparatus 52. An image based on the detection information of the operation detection unit The charging / discharging of the auxiliary power supply 54 is controlled in accordance with the operation of the forming device 52. This charging / discharging control device 103 immediately switches the switch 93 to the charger 102 side after the auxiliary power source 54 is discharged based on the detection information of the storage amount detecting means, and the charger 102 uses the power from the main power supply 89 to The auxiliary power supply 54 is charged, and the storage amount of the auxiliary power supply 54 is constantly monitored based on the detection information of the storage amount detection means, and the storage amount falls below a predetermined storage amount due to self-discharge of the auxiliary power supply 54, etc. In this case, the switch 93 is switched to the charger 102 side, and the auxiliary power source 54 is charged by the charger 102 by the power from the main power source 89. In the present embodiment, since the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 are electric double layer capacitors, the storage amount detecting means is a voltage monitor.

  In this embodiment, the heating members 95, 96, 100, 101 are halogen heaters, and two heating members 95, 96, 100, 101 are installed in each heating member 94, 99, but the number of heating members is three or more. It doesn't matter. In addition, since the voltage of the electric double layer capacitors 53 and 54, which are auxiliary power supplies, decreases as they are discharged, the auxiliary heat generating members 96 and 101 are made of resistance heating elements that reliably generate heat even when the input voltage decreases. Also good. In addition, a carbon heater is used for the auxiliary heat generating members 96 and 101 so that a larger current can flow than the halogen heater, so that the auxiliary power supply 96 and 101 can take out a large amount of power even at a low voltage, and the auxiliary power supply can be downsized. can do.

  In this embodiment, thin fixing rollers are used for the heating members 94 and 99. These thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 have an aluminum core metal having a thickness of 0.7 mm and a Teflon (registered trademark) layer having a thickness of 0.02 mm as a release layer outside the core metal, and have a diameter of 40 mm. is there. Since the thin fixing rollers 94 and 99 have a very small heat capacity, the temperature can be increased for a short time.

  Reference numeral 104 denotes a pressure roller as a pressure member that applies pressure to the transfer paper P as a heated body in the fixing device 55. The transfer paper P is heated by being supplied with heat from the heating member 94 by passing through the nip portion formed by the heating member 94 and the pressure member 104. Similarly, the fixing device 56 has a pressure roller as a pressure member that applies pressure to the transfer paper P as a heated body, and the transfer paper passes through the nip portion formed by the heating member 99 and the pressure member. Thus, heat is applied from the heating member 99 to heat it.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the inside of the inter-device power coordination system constituted by the auxiliary power input control device 87 and the image forming devices 51 and 52. The auxiliary power input control device 87 transmits the power of the auxiliary power source 53 included in the image forming device 51 to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 included in the other image forming device 52, and the power supplied from the auxiliary power source 54 included in the image forming device 52 to the other power source. An auxiliary power switching means 105 for transmitting power to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 included in the image forming apparatus 51 and a CPU 106 are provided. The CPU 106 is shown in FIG. 1 from the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 included in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52. The auxiliary power switching means 105 is switched based on the information input via the information transmission means 85 shown.

  As the information transmission means 86 for transmitting information from the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103, it is desirable to use a dedicated signal line, but at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network and communication for connecting to this You may have a means. The information transmission means 86 preferably uses a dedicated signal line, but may use a general-purpose network and have an interface function for this purpose. For example, Ethernet (registered trademark) such as 10Base-T and 100Base-TX ) Cables and network interface cards (NICs) for using devices compatible with the wireless LAN standard 802.11g.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of a fixing device using electric power from an auxiliary power source. In this fixing device, by supplying the power from both the main power supply 88 and the auxiliary power supply 53 to the heat generating members 95 and 96 simultaneously, a large amount of power exceeding the power supplied by the main power supply 88 can be supplied to the heat generating members 95 and 96. .
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the temperature rise time of the fixing roller as the heating member can be shortened by using the main power supply and the auxiliary power supply simultaneously rather than using only the main power supply.
Therefore, when a large amount of electric power is required when the heating member is heated to a predetermined temperature due to low temperature or the like, the electric power of the auxiliary power supply 53 together with the main power supply 88 is supplied to the heating members 95 and 96 at the same time. By supplying more total power input to the heat generating member than when only the main power supply is used, the temperature of the fixing roller can be raised in a short time.

  As mentioned above, in order to promote energy saving, it is very important to raise the temperature of the fixing device for a short time, and it is necessary to input more power than the rated power of the commercial power supply to the heating member of the fixing device. Therefore, the fixing device shown in FIG. 6 which can raise the temperature of the fixing device for a short time is very useful. Further, this fixing device can increase the temperature in a shorter time by using a thin fixing roller having a small heat capacity as a heating member.

  In this embodiment, a thin-walled fixing roller 55, 56 has a 1200V halogen heater that generates heat from the commercial power supply and a 90V capacitor auxiliary power supply that includes 36 500F, 2.5V capacitor cells. In the case where one 850 W halogen heater that generates heat by the electric power of 1 was arranged, the surface temperature of the fixing rollers 55 and 56 was raised from 20 ° C. to 180 ° C., and then 100 sheets were passed. As a result, the start-up time was as short as 10 seconds. Further, since the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 of the present embodiment are high-speed machines that pass 75 sheets per minute, the temperature of the fixing rollers 55 and 56 drops due to continuous sheet passing immediately after startup. Even when the temperature dropped, the temperature of the fixing rollers 55 and 56 was maintained in order to supply power to the capacitor. However, since it takes about 2 minutes to charge the capacitor after discharging, if the fixing device is started up again within 2 minutes after the image formation, the startup time becomes longer, and Problem has occurred.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 are started up and restarted after completion of continuous sheet passing. The start-up time when the first electric double layer capacitors 53 and 54 are charged is 10 seconds, but the power of the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 is supplied to the heating members 96 and 101 for the second start-up time. Because it was not possible, the fixing rollers 55 and 56 were each 30 seconds, which was almost the same as when the temperature was raised by only one ordinary 1200 W halogen heater. Further, when the surface temperature distribution of the thin fixing rollers 55 and 56 was measured, a temperature difference of about 40 ° C. was generated where the difference in the surface temperature of the thin fixing rollers 55 and 56 was the largest.

  FIG. 9 shows changes over time of the surface temperature at the position A where the heat quantity received per unit area by the thin fixing rollers 55, 56 from the heat generating members 95, 96, 100, 101 is the largest and at the position B where the thinned fixing rollers 55, 56 are the smallest. . The position B is a portion in the thin fixing rollers 55 and 56 where heat radiation of the main heating members 96 and 100 is hindered by the glass member of the heater of the auxiliary heating members 96 and 101 that do not generate heat. When the start-up was completed, the temperature at position A reached 200 ° C. or more. When the toner was fixed on the transfer paper by subsequent paper passing, hot offset occurred on the surfaces of the fixing rollers 55 and 56 near position A. Moreover, the temperature drop of the fixing rollers 55 and 56 due to continuous paper feeding immediately after the start-up also occurred.

  The conventional fixing device shown in FIG. 6 is configured to use a heat generating member 96 that generates heat by the electric power from the auxiliary power supply 53, and the heat generating member 96 is arranged in the heating member 94 as shown in FIG. When sufficient power is not charged in the auxiliary power supply 53, the halogen heater 96 connected to the auxiliary power supply 53 cannot generate a sufficient amount of heat because the power supplied from the auxiliary power supply 53 is insufficient. The temperature difference with the halogen heater 95 connected to the main power supply 88 becomes very large, which may cause a fixing failure such as an offset or a phenomenon such as breakage of the fixing roller 94. In addition, even if the temperature of the fixing roller 94 drops due to a large amount of continuous paper feeding immediately after startup, problems such as fixing failure may occur.

  In this embodiment, even when the amount of power stored in one of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 is insufficient, the power of the auxiliary power supply of the other image forming apparatus is transmitted to the auxiliary power supply. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing stable operation without causing malfunction due to power shortage of the power source, saving energy, and having a very short start-up time.

  In the present embodiment, the power from both the main power supplies 88 and 89 and the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 can be supplied to the heating members 55, 56, 100, and 101 at the same time, thereby increasing the temperature to a predetermined temperature in a short time. it can. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, 850 W of electric power is extracted from the auxiliary power supplies 53, 54 at a voltage of 90 V of the auxiliary power supplies 53, 54, and 1200 W is extracted from the commercial power supplies 88, 89. , 100 has a resistance of about 8Ω, and the auxiliary heating members 96 and 101 have a resistance of about 9.5Ω. As a result, 2050 W of electric power exceeding the upper limit of the electric power supplied from the commercial power sources 88 and 89 can be used for raising the temperature of the heating members 55 and 56.

  Further, the auxiliary power input control device 87 uses the auxiliary power switching means 105 based on the information of the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 connected to the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54, and the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is determined. If it is insufficient (below the predetermined charged amount), the power of the auxiliary power supply 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 is transmitted to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 of the image forming apparatus 51 to thereby generate all the heat generating members of the image forming apparatus 51. Stable power can be supplied to 95 and 96, and the temperature unevenness of the heating member 55 and the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding that cause fixing failure can be reduced. In the start-up time, the image forming apparatus 51 can start up in a short time as in the case where the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply 53 is sufficient.

  Similarly, the auxiliary power input control device 87 uses the auxiliary power switching means 105 based on the information of the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103 connected to the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 to store the storage amount of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming apparatus 52. Is insufficient (below the predetermined charged amount), the power of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is transmitted to the auxiliary heat generating member 101 of the image forming apparatus 52 to thereby generate the total heat of the image forming apparatus 52. Stable power can be supplied to the members 100 and 101, and the temperature unevenness of the heating member 56 and the temperature drop due to continuous paper feeding that cause fixing failure can be reduced. In the start-up time, the image forming apparatus 52 can start up in a short time as in the case where the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 54 is sufficient.

  FIG. 5 shows a program stored in the ROM of the CPU 106 included in the auxiliary power input control device 87 in this embodiment. The CPU 106 instructs the discharge command of the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 from the charge / discharge control device 98. The inter-device power cooperative control by the auxiliary power input control device 87 when receiving the power is shown. The charging / discharging control device 98 determines the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming device 51 based on the detection information of the power storage amount detection means (power storage amount detection function) when the auxiliary power source 53 is discharged along with the operation of the image forming device 51. Check. The charge / discharge control device 103 determines the storage amount of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52 based on the detection information of the storage amount detection means (storage amount detection function) when the auxiliary power source 54 is discharged along with the operation of the image forming device 52. Check.

  Based on the information from the charge / discharge control device 98, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 has a power storage amount equal to or greater than the first set power storage amount, and the auxiliary power source 53 of the image forming device 51 When there is no charged amount equal to or more than the first set charged amount, the charge / discharge state and the charged amount information of the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52 are confirmed based on the information from the charge / discharge control device 103, and image formation is performed. When the auxiliary power source 54 of the device 52 is not in a discharged state, and when the storage amount equal to or larger than the second set storage amount is stored in the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming device 52, the auxiliary power switching means 105 is switched to form an image. By transmitting the power of the auxiliary power source 54 of the apparatus 52 to the auxiliary heat generating member 96 of the image forming apparatus 51, the auxiliary heat generating member 96 is caused to generate heat. In the present embodiment, the first set power storage amount is set to 60% with respect to the full charge amount, and the second set power storage amount is set to 80% with respect to the full charge amount, and the image forming apparatus 52 itself This prevents the start-up operation from becoming unstable.

  The auxiliary power input control device 87 detects the discharge stop information of the auxiliary power supply 53 (information for stopping the discharge of the auxiliary power supply 53) output from the charge / discharge control device 98 of the image forming device 51, and The power transmission of the auxiliary power supply 54 is stopped. Thereafter, the auxiliary power supply 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 is charged by the charger 102 with the power from the main power supply 89 under the control of the charge / discharge control apparatus 103 included in the image forming apparatus 52.

  The image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 of the present embodiment control charging / discharging of the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 by charge / discharge control apparatuses 98 and 103 provided in the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52, respectively. The charging / discharging and transmission of all the auxiliary power sources in the inter-device power coordination system may be controlled by the auxiliary power input control device 87.

  Although it seems that there are not many situations, the capacitor 53 may be used for a long period of time when one of the image forming apparatuses is started up again immediately after starting up the plurality of image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 at the same time, or during a Golden Week or a Bon holiday. , 54 is self-discharged, the power stored in the auxiliary power sources 53, 54 of the image forming apparatuses 51, 52 is equal to or greater than the set power storage amount (first set power storage amount, second set power storage amount). When the amount is not stored, in this embodiment, a command “CPM DOWN” to reduce the number of recording members that form an image per minute is output to the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 by the auxiliary power input control device 87. The As a result, the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 minimize the increase in startup time. In the meantime, the auxiliary power supply 54 is charged to the auxiliary power supply 54 by the charge / discharge control device 103 included in the image forming apparatus 52 in the image forming apparatus 52 in which the stored power amount is equal to or less than the second set power storage amount. Subsequent stable operation of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 is guaranteed.

  As a matter of course, three or more image forming apparatuses may be connected by the auxiliary power transmission unit 85. When there are three or more image forming apparatuses, the auxiliary power input control device 87 detects the storage amount of the auxiliary power source of each image forming apparatus and searches for an image forming apparatus that can transmit power. By having more image forming apparatuses in the present embodiment, the inter-device power coordination system is guaranteed to operate more stably.

FIG. 10 shows a state when the image forming apparatus 51 is started up in accordance with the above program in a state where the electric double layer capacitor 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is not charged. Power transmission from the auxiliary power source 54 of the image forming apparatus 52 operates with the same startup time as when the auxiliary power supply 53 of the image forming apparatus 51 is charged, and the temperature drops even during continuous paper feeding immediately after startup. Does not occur. Further, since the auxiliary heat generating member surely generates heat, a temperature difference between the fixing roller surface temperatures such as a temperature rise when the control of FIG. 5 is not performed as in the fixing device shown in FIG. Could get.
In the present embodiment, the inter-device power coordination control is performed when the charge amount of the auxiliary power supply 53 is insufficient when the image forming apparatus 51 is started up or during continuous paper feeding. Even when the amount of charge of the auxiliary power supply 54 is insufficient during continuous paper feeding, inter-device power cooperative control similar to the inter-device power cooperative control is performed.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the following points. In the inter-device power coordination system of the first embodiment, the same number of auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 as the number of image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 exist. In the first embodiment, since the auxiliary power supply uses a capacitor, the cost is increased and the size is increased accordingly, and the increase in price is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen depending on the configuration. However, there is a problem that the burden is large when introducing a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  Capacitors can be used semi-permanently, so the cost per charge / discharge decreases as the number of uses increases within the same period. I want to raise it. However, if the number of times of use is increased with the image forming apparatus alone to increase the use efficiency of the capacitor, there is a problem that the life of the image forming apparatus main body is shortened.

  11 and 12 show an inter-device power coordination system according to the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 equipped with the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 and the image forming apparatus 107 not equipped with the auxiliary power supply are connected to the auxiliary power input control apparatus 87 by the auxiliary power transmission means 85 and the information transmission means 86. By connecting, the inter-device power coordination system is configured. Unlike the first embodiment, the auxiliary power input control device 87 is installed outside the image forming apparatus 51. In the image forming apparatus 107, the auxiliary power supply 53, the switch 91, the charger 97, and the charge / discharge control apparatus 98 are omitted from the image forming apparatus 51.

  An image forming apparatus 107 not equipped with an auxiliary power source includes an auxiliary heat generating member 108 capable of transmitting power from other auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 via an auxiliary power input control device 87, and a switch as switching means (not shown) from the main power source 109. A main heating member 110 to which electric power is supplied via the auxiliary heating member 108, and a thin fixing roller 111 as a heating member heated by the main heating member 110. Electric power from the main power source 109 to the main heating member 110 is controlled by turning on / off a switch (not shown), and the temperature of the heating member 111 is controlled to a set temperature.

  The image forming apparatus 107 exceeds the power of the main power supply 109 by receiving power transmission from the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 included in the other image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 to the auxiliary heat generating member 108 when the fixing device 112 is heated. Since electric power can be input to raise the temperature of the heating member 111, it is possible to start up in a short time. Further, the image forming apparatus 107 transmits information regarding its own operation to the auxiliary power input control device 87 by the information transmission means 86, and transmits information to the auxiliary power input control device 87 when power from the auxiliary power source is necessary. .

  As a result, the cost and space required for a plurality of devices (here, the image forming apparatuses 51, 52, and 107) to increase the temperature in a short time can be added when three image forming apparatuses equipped with an auxiliary power supply are prepared. It is possible to suppress the increase in cost and space. In addition, it is possible to improve the use frequency of the capacitor, that is, the use efficiency without increasing the operation frequency of the image forming apparatus.

  In the present embodiment, the auxiliary heating member 108 that receives power from the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 is newly provided in the heating member 111. However, the auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 are provided in the image forming apparatus 107 other than the fixing device. You may transmit the electric power. Normally, the image forming apparatus uses a large amount of power in addition to the fixing device at the time of start-up, and therefore, it is impossible to supply all the power of the main power source to the fixing device. Therefore, by supplying power from the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 to devices other than the fixing device in the image forming apparatus 107 and supplying all power from the main power supply 109 to the fixing device 112, a new auxiliary heating member 108 is obtained. It is possible to start up in a short time without any parts.

  FIG. 13 shows a program stored in the ROM of the CPU 106 included in the auxiliary power input control device 87 in the second embodiment. The CPU 106 increases the temperature of the heating member of the image forming apparatus 107 from the information transmission means 86. The inter-device power cooperative control by the auxiliary power input control device 87 when receiving the information output is shown.

  First, the auxiliary power input control device 87 receives the output of the heating member temperature rise information of the image forming apparatus 107 from the information transmission means 86, and the charge / discharge state of the image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 equipped with the auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 and The amount of power storage is confirmed based on information from the charge / discharge control devices 98 and 103. Auxiliary power input control device 87, when auxiliary power source 1x of auxiliary power sources 53 and 54 of image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 is not in a discharged state, but is stored in a stored amount equal to or greater than a third set charged amount Then, the auxiliary power switching means 105 is switched to transmit the power of the auxiliary power source 1x to the auxiliary heat generating member 108 of the image forming apparatus 107.

  In the present embodiment, the third set power storage amount is set to 80% of the full charge amount, which is equal to the second set power storage amount of the first embodiment. The auxiliary power input control device 87 detects discharge stop information (information for stopping discharge of the auxiliary power source 1x) of the auxiliary power source 1x output from the charge / discharge control device of the image forming apparatus having the auxiliary power source 1x, and switches the auxiliary power. The means 105 is switched to stop the power transmission of the auxiliary power source 1x.

  In this embodiment, the inter-device cooperation system is configured by two image forming apparatuses 51 and 52 equipped with auxiliary power supplies 53 and 54 and one image forming apparatus 107 not equipped with an auxiliary power supply. As long as there are not too many image forming apparatuses not equipped with an auxiliary power supply for the image forming apparatus, this system may be configured with any number of image forming apparatuses. In consideration of a stable system, it is desirable that the number of image forming apparatuses equipped with an auxiliary power supply is more than twice the number of image forming apparatuses equipped with other auxiliary power supplies.

  In the present embodiment, with the above configuration, an image forming apparatus that does not have an auxiliary power supply can be started up in a short period of time in the same manner as an image forming apparatus that has an auxiliary power supply. This can greatly reduce the cost.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, in an image forming apparatus having a quick temperature rise time using power from a chargeable auxiliary power supply, stable operation is ensured regardless of the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply. Can do. Furthermore, the start-up time of an image forming apparatus that does not have an auxiliary power supply can be shortened.

  The present invention can be applied to an inter-device power coordination system configured by a device having an auxiliary power source and a device not having an auxiliary power source instead of the image forming apparatus.

According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, by sharing the power of the auxiliary power supply of a plurality of auxiliary power supply devices, when the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply is less than a predetermined amount, By receiving power transmission from another auxiliary power supply device, the operation unit can operate stably regardless of the amount of power stored in the auxiliary power supply.
According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, it is possible to guarantee the stable operation of the auxiliary power supply-equipped device in the system and to transmit the power of the auxiliary power to an electric device having no auxiliary power. it can.

According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, a plurality of devices (devices such as image forming apparatuses) and the auxiliary power input control device are exchanged between the plurality of devices and the auxiliary power input control device. By connecting by means of information transmission / reception means for transmission / reception, it is possible to search for the optimum auxiliary power source for transmitting auxiliary power to the device in the system.
According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, each of the plurality of devices includes a communication means for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network, thereby supporting the plurality of devices. There is no need to wire a dedicated signal line for transmitting and receiving information between the power-on control devices.

According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the operation unit acquires the operation information of the operation unit detected by the operation detection unit, and switches the auxiliary power switching unit based on the acquired information. When power is required, the power of the auxiliary power can be transmitted immediately, and erroneous power transmission can be prevented.
According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the storage amount information of the auxiliary power source of the auxiliary power supply device is acquired from the charge / discharge control device, and the auxiliary power switching unit is switched based on the storage amount information. As a result, it is possible to prevent overdischarge of the auxiliary power supply for transmitting electric power and shortage of the amount of power storage, and it is possible to guarantee stable operation of each auxiliary power supply device.

According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus with a short start-up time by inputting the maximum supply power exceeding the limit of the commercial power supply to the image forming apparatus.
According to the first and second embodiments, the toner can be stably heated and melted by making the surface temperature of the heating member uniform even when sufficient power is not stored in the auxiliary power source. Thus, a good quality toner image can be fixed on the recording paper.

According to the second embodiment, the start-up time can be shortened by transmitting the power of the auxiliary power source to the image forming apparatus that does not have the auxiliary power source. Further, the cost can be reduced by improving the utilization efficiency of the auxiliary power source.
According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the auxiliary power source is an electrochemical capacitor, so that the charging time of the auxiliary power source can be shortened and the life can be extended.

  According to the first embodiment, since the auxiliary power input control device is provided in one of the auxiliary power supply devices, the main power of the auxiliary power device can be supplied to the auxiliary power input control device. There is no need to newly connect the power-on control device to a commercial power source or the like.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 constituting the inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system of this embodiment are electrophotographic, and the power from the image forming apparatus 113 is supplied to the image forming apparatus 114 as shown in FIGS. The electric power from the image forming apparatus 114 is input to the fixing apparatus 115 included in the image forming apparatus 113. The image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 are configured in the same manner as the image forming apparatus 107, and the image forming apparatus 113 is equipped with an auxiliary power input control device 117.

  In the inter-device power coordination system of this embodiment, the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 are connected to the power transmission control apparatus 118 and the information transmission means 119. The power input control device 117 controls the power transmission control device 118 to transmit the power from the image forming device 113 to the image forming device 114 or to transmit the power from the image forming device 114 to the image forming device 113.

  FIG. 16 shows a circuit configuration of the fixing devices 115 and 116 provided in the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114. In FIG. 16, reference numerals 120 and 121 denote main power sources of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114, respectively. The main power sources 120 and 121 are power sources that supply power from a commercial power source, and can be supplied by connecting to an outlet. 122 and 123 are heating members in the fixing devices 115 and 116 of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114. The heating members 122 and 123 have main heating members 124 and 125 and auxiliary heating members 126 and 127, respectively. The main heating members 124 and 125 are connected to the main power sources 120 and 121 via the switches 128 and 129, respectively. When the switches 128 and 129 are switched, the power from the main power sources 120 and 121 to the main heating members 124 and 125 is turned on. / The temperature of the heating members 122 and 123 is controlled to the set temperature by being turned off. The auxiliary heat generating member 126 generates heat when electric power is supplied from the image forming apparatus 114, and the auxiliary heat generating member 127 generates heat when electric power is supplied from the image forming apparatus 113.

In the present embodiment, the heat generating members 124 to 127 are halogen heaters, and two heat generating members are installed in the heating members 122 and 123, but the number of the heat generating members may be three or more.
The power transmission control devices 118a and 118b monitor the operating states of the image forming devices 113 and 114, respectively, and transmit / receive information to / from the power input control device 117 via the information transmission unit 119. The operation states of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 monitored by the power transmission control apparatuses 118a and 118b are as follows. Start-up state: The fixing devices 115 and 116 are heated from the normal temperature to the fixing temperature that is the first set temperature. Operating state: After the start-up is completed, the temperatures of the fixing devices 115 and 116 are set to the first set temperature. Image forming state: State in which an image is actually formed Standby state: The temperature of the fixing devices 115 and 116 is maintained at the second set temperature after image formation has not been performed for a certain period of time. State of sleep: State of not supplying power to the fixing devices 115 and 116 Continuous state of passing thick paper: State of passing 10 sheets or more of thick paper In this embodiment, the first set temperature is 180 ° C., and the second setting The temperature is 60 ° C. In the present embodiment, the power transmission control devices 118a and 118b and the power input control device 117 exchange information on the above-described operation state to control power transmission and reception between the image forming devices 113 and 114. The power transmission / reception between the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 may be controlled by other information such as the image forming apparatus.

  The information transmission unit 119 may include at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network, and a communication unit for connecting to the computer. The information transmission unit 119 preferably uses a dedicated signal line, but may use a general-purpose network and have an interface function for this purpose. For example, Ethernet (registered) such as 10Base-T and 100Base-TX (Trademark) cable and a network interface card (NIC) for using a device compatible with the wireless LAN standard 802.11g.

  In this configuration, fixing rollers are used for the heating members 122 and 123. The fixing rollers 122 and 123 have an aluminum core metal having a thickness of 5.0 mm and a Teflon (registered trademark) layer having a thickness of 0.02 mm as a release layer provided on the outside of the core metal, and have a diameter of 50 mm. is there. The fixing devices 115 and 116 are configured as shown in FIG. 3 similarly to the fixing device 55, and have a pressure member that applies pressure to the transfer paper P as a heated body. The transfer paper P is heated by being supplied with heat from the heating members 122 and 123 by passing through the nip portions formed by the heating members 122 and 123 of the fixing devices 115 and 116 and the pressure member, respectively.

  FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram showing the inside of the power coordination system between image forming apparatuses which is constituted by the power input control apparatus 117 and the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114. The power input control device 117 includes a power switching unit 132 that transmits power from one main power source 120 or 121 of each of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 to the auxiliary heating member 126 or 127 included in the other of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114. , The CPU 133, and the CPU 133 controls the power based on the information input from the power transmission control devices 118a and 118b of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 via the information transmission means 119 shown in FIG. It is configured to switch 132.

  An image forming apparatus having one 1200 W halogen heater arranged in the fixing roller used in this embodiment, which is a configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus, was started up and 100 sheets of thick paper were passed. In this embodiment, after the surface temperature of the fixing rollers 122 and 123 is raised from 20 ° C. to the first set temperature 180 ° C., the fixing rollers 122 and 123 are idled for 40 seconds to make the surface temperatures of the fixing rollers 122 and 123 uniform. The startup time was 300 seconds.

  In addition, since the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 according to the present embodiment are high-speed machines that pass 60 sheets per minute, the temperature of the fixing rollers 122 and 123 drops in the continuous sheet feeding of thick paper immediately after startup. . The image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 incorporate a command “CPM DOWN” for reducing the number of recording members that form an image per minute in order to prevent fixing failure, and immediately after the temperature drop occurs, the “CPM DOWN” control is performed. Occurred and the number of sheets passed decreased to 30 sheets per minute.

In the present embodiment, an image forming apparatus having a very short start-up time is provided by transmitting the power of the other of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 to one of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114.
In the present embodiment, the fixing device 115 can be supplied with power from both the main power source 120 of the image forming device 113 and the main power source 121 of the other image forming device 114 to the heating member 122 at the same time. Can simultaneously supply power from both the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 and the main power supply 120 of the other image forming apparatus 113 to the heating member 123, so that the fixing devices 115 and 116 can quickly reach the predetermined temperature. The temperature can be raised at

  In the present embodiment, 400 W of power is extracted from the commercial power supply 100V of the image forming apparatus 114, and 1200 W of power is extracted from the commercial power supply of the image forming apparatus 113 and used to raise the temperature of the heating member 122. , 125 has a resistance of about 8Ω, and the auxiliary heating members 126, 127 have a resistance of about 25Ω. As a result, 1600 W of power exceeding the upper limit of the supply power of the commercial power source can be used to raise the temperature of the heating member 122.

  Similarly, 1200 W is extracted from the commercial power supply 100V of the image forming apparatus 114, and 400 W is extracted from the commercial power supply of the image forming apparatus 113 and used to raise the temperature of the heating member 123. An electric power of 1600 W exceeding the upper limit can be used for raising the temperature of the heating member 123.

  Also, when there is a concern about a drop in temperature, such as when one of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 continuously passes thick paper or when the environmental temperature is low, the other of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 Is transmitted to one of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114, CPM down control is not generated as much as possible, and a stable sheet passing speed is ensured.

  In this embodiment, the power of one of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 is input to the auxiliary heat generating member included in the other fixing device of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114, but the power of the image forming apparatus 113 and the power of the image forming apparatus 114 are used. May be superposed on either one of the main heating members 124 and 125. As a result, there is no need to add an auxiliary heat generating member to the image forming apparatus, which leads to downsizing and cost reduction of the apparatus. Alternatively, the power of the image forming apparatus 114 may be supplied to a device other than the fixing device 115 in the image forming apparatus 113 so that all the power of the image forming apparatus 113 can be used for the fixing device 115.

  18 and 19 are flowcharts showing a program stored in the ROM of the CPU 133 included in the power input control device 117 according to the present embodiment. The CPU 133 changes the power transmission control device 118a to the image forming device 113. The figure shows power coordination control between devices (image forming apparatuses) by the power-on control device 117 when receiving information indicating that the state is shifted to the start-up state or the thick paper continuous sheet-passing state.

  In the program shown in FIG. 18, when the image forming apparatus 113 is started up, the power-on control device 117 confirms the operation state of the image forming apparatus 114 based on information from the image forming apparatus 114, and the image forming apparatus 114 is in a standby state or In the sleep state, the power switching unit 132 transmits the power from the main power source 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 to the auxiliary heat generating member 126 of the image forming apparatus 113, and the heating member 122 is supplied with the power of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114. Increase the temperature. The power-on control device 117 detects start-up completion information output from the power transmission control device 118a of the image forming apparatus 123 and stops power transmission from the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114.

  If the image forming apparatus 114 is not in a standby state or a sleep state when the image forming apparatus 113 is started up, the power input control device 117 uses the power switching unit 132 to switch from the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 to the image forming apparatus. The power transmission to the auxiliary heat generating member 126 of 113 is stopped. Accordingly, the power of the image forming apparatus 113 is supplied only to the main heat generating member 124, and the image forming apparatus 113 shifts to an operating state after the start-up is completed.

  In the program shown in FIG. 19, the power-on control device 117 confirms the operating state of the image forming device 114 based on information from the image forming device 114 when the image forming device 113 continuously passes thick paper, and the image forming device 114 waits. In the state or the sleep state, the power switching unit 132 transmits power from the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 to the auxiliary heat generating member 126 of the image forming apparatus 113. The power input control device 117 detects the cardboard passing completion information output from the power transmission control device 118a of the image forming apparatus 113, and stops power transmission from the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 when the cardboard passing is completed. To do.

  The power input control device 117 transmits power from the main power supply 121 of the image forming device 114 to the auxiliary heating member 126 of the image forming device 113 by the power switching unit 132 when the image forming device 114 is not in the standby state or the sleep state. Stop. Accordingly, the fixing device 115 is operated only by the electric power from the main power source 120 of the image forming apparatus 113. However, the power-on control device 117 immediately takes one minute when there is a possibility of fixing failure such as continuous cardboard feeding. A command “CPM DOWN” for reducing the number of recording members for forming an image is output to the image forming apparatus 113 to prevent fixing failure.

The power-on control device 117 performs power transmission control from the main power supply 121 of the image forming apparatus 114 to the auxiliary heat generating member 126 of the image forming apparatus 113 as described above, but the auxiliary heat generation of the image forming apparatus 114 from the image forming apparatus 113. The power transmission to the member 126 is similarly controlled.
The power transmission of the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114 according to the present embodiment is controlled by the power transmission control apparatuses 118a and 118b included in the image forming apparatuses 113 and 114, respectively. All power transmissions may be controlled by the power input control device 117.

FIG. 20 shows a state when the image forming apparatus 113 is started up according to the program. Due to the power transmission of the image forming apparatus 114, the startup time of the image forming apparatus 113 is shortened to 220 seconds. In addition, the temperature drop did not occur even in the continuous feeding of thick paper immediately after start-up, and the same paper feeding speed as that of normal paper was obtained.
As a matter of course, three or more image forming apparatuses may be connected by the power transmission control apparatus 118.

  When there are three or more image forming apparatuses constituting the power coordination system between devices (image forming apparatuses), the power-on control device 117 detects the operation state of each image forming apparatus based on information from each image forming apparatus. To search for an image forming apparatus capable of transmitting power. By having more image forming apparatuses of the present embodiment, the power coordination system between devices (image forming apparatuses) can be assured of more stable operation.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus is operated by power from a commercial power source. The power source of the commercial power source is based on centralized power generation such as thermal power, hydraulic power, and nuclear power. Since the image forming apparatus is a product that handles company / individual information, it is important to ensure its security and supply power stably. The image forming apparatus can cope with a backup power source such as a UPS power source in an emergency or an emergency, but it is difficult to say that security and stable power supply are ensured.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus itself has an autonomous power source by using power from a power generation element such as a fuel cell instead of power from a commercial power source. Secure and stable power supply is guaranteed. In addition, the fuel cell is cleaner and more energy efficient than a commercial power source that generates power from fossil fuel and supplies the power, thus providing a very environmentally friendly image forming apparatus. can do.

In the third embodiment, the startup time of the image forming apparatus can be shortened. Further, it is possible to prevent the operation of the image forming apparatus from becoming unstable due to the continuous passing of thick paper.
According to the third embodiment, since a plurality of image forming apparatuses share power, commercial power is received from other image forming apparatuses when the image forming apparatus starts up or when power is insufficient. Power exceeding the limit of the power supply can be turned on, enabling startup for a short time and stabilization of operation.

According to the third embodiment, it is possible to shorten the startup time of the image forming apparatus in the system and to ensure stable operation.
According to the third embodiment, the image forming apparatus and the power-on control apparatus are connected by the information transmission unit that transmits and receives information between the image forming apparatus and the power-on control apparatus. It is possible to search the system for another optimal image forming apparatus that transmits power.

According to the third embodiment, each of the image forming apparatuses includes communication means for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. There is no need to wire a dedicated signal line for transmitting and receiving information.
According to the third embodiment, the operation information of the image forming apparatus is acquired, and the power switching unit is switched based on the acquired information, so that another image can be appropriately used when the image forming apparatus requires power. The power of the forming apparatus can be transmitted, and erroneous power transmission can be prevented.

  According to the third embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes an apparatus that forms an unfixed image according to image information, and a fixing apparatus that fixes the formed unfixed image on a recording member. When any one of the image forming apparatuses receives power supply from another image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus that receives the power supply stands by using the power supplied from the other image forming apparatus for the fixing device. The electric power exceeding the limit of the commercial power source can be input to the fixing device at the time of raising, and the temperature can be raised for a short time.

  According to the third embodiment, by configuring the image forming apparatus to operate with the power from the fuel cell, the image forming apparatus can be operated with an autonomous power source that is not a commercial power source, and security of the image forming apparatus can be ensured. A stable power supply can be ensured. In addition, the fuel cell is cleaner and more energy efficient than a commercial power source that generates power from fossil fuel and supplies the power, thus providing a very environmentally friendly image forming apparatus. can do.

  According to the third embodiment, the power input control device can be supplied to the power input control device by providing the power input control device in one of the image forming devices. No need to connect to etc.

It is a front view which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an auxiliary power source and a fixing device in the first embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the fixing device in the first embodiment. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the inside of the auxiliary | assistant power input control apparatus in the said 1st Embodiment, and the power cooperation system between apparatuses. It is a flowchart which shows the program memorize | stored in ROM of CPU which the auxiliary power input control apparatus in the same 1st embodiment has. It is a circuit diagram which shows the prior art example of a fixing device. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a fixing roller temperature rise characteristic of the fixing device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the image forming apparatus is started up and restarted after completion of continuous sheet passing in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a temporal change in surface temperature at a position A where the heat amount received per unit area by the thin fixing roller per unit area when the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment is started up and at a position B where the heat amount is the smallest. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state when the image forming apparatus is started up in a state where the electric double layer capacitor of the image forming apparatus is not charged in the first embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the program memorize | stored in ROM of CPU which the auxiliary | assistant power input control apparatus in the said 2nd Embodiment has. It is sectional drawing which shows the image forming apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment. It is a front view which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the 3rd Embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the inside of the power-on control apparatus and system of 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the program memorize | stored in ROM of CPU which the power input control apparatus in the said 3rd Embodiment has. It is a flowchart which shows the other program memorize | stored in ROM of CPU which the power input control apparatus in the said 3rd Embodiment has. It is a figure which shows a mode when starting the image forming apparatus of the said 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

51, 52 Image forming device
53, 54 Auxiliary power supply
55, 56 Fusing device
85 Auxiliary power transmission means
86 Information transmission means
87 Auxiliary power input control device
88, 89 Main power supply
90, 91, 92,93 switch
94, 99 Heating member
95, 100 Main heating element
96, 101 Auxiliary heating element
97, 102 charger
98, 103 Charge / discharge control device
104 Pressure roller
107 Image forming device
108 Auxiliary heating element
109 Main power supply
110 Main heating element
111 Heating member
112 Thin fixing roller
113, 114 Image forming device
115, 116 fusing device
117 Auxiliary power input control device
118, 118a, 118b Electric power transmission control device
119 Information transmission means
120, 121 Main power
122, 123 Heating member
124, 125 Main heating element
126, 127 Auxiliary heating element
128, 129 switch

Claims (9)

Power transmission means for transmitting power to another image forming apparatus;
Power receiving means for receiving power supply from another image forming apparatus;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a power transmission control device having a control unit that controls power transmission to the other image forming device. An inter-device power coordination system comprising a plurality of image forming apparatuses according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected by the power transmission control device.
Inter-image forming apparatus power comprising: a power input control device having power switching means for transmitting the power of the image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus different from the image forming apparatus by the power transmitting means. Collaborative system.   3. The information coordination system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power-on control apparatus transmit and receive information between the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the power-on control apparatus. A power coordination system between image forming apparatuses, characterized in that they are connected by means.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication unit for connecting to at least one of a computer, a telephone line, and a network. Inter-power coordination system.   6. The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to claim 5, wherein the power input control apparatus acquires operation information of the image forming apparatus by the information transmission means, and switches the power switching means based on the acquired information. A power coordination system between image forming apparatuses.   The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to any one of claims 2, 3, 5, and 6, wherein the image forming apparatus forms an unfixed image according to image information; and the unfixed image The image forming apparatus uses the power for the fixing device when receiving power from the other image forming apparatus. system.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is operated by electric power from a fuel cell.   3. The inter-image forming apparatus power coordination system according to claim 2, wherein the power-on control device is provided in one of the image forming apparatuses.

Images