JPH08248814A - Method and device for controlling fixing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a fixing unit controller for enabling the fixing unit having different specifications to be freely attached to/detached from an image forming device to perform a specified fixing operation without reducing the operational lives of a heater and peripheral parts. CONSTITUTION: The specifications of a fixing unit 23 is read out by a control section 50 and a heater rating detecting means 47 based on a characteristic signal corresponding to specifications of the set temperature and the power voltage, etc., of the fixing unit outputted from the fixing unit 23 freely attached to/detached from an image forming device via the terminal 32C of a connector C, the control section 50 controls switching on/off of an optical switch 46 and a triach 45 based on a temperature detected by a thermistor 31 so as to maintain the set temperature and when a power source voltage detected by a voltage detecting section 42 exceeds a specified voltage and an allowable range, a breaker 44 is switched off by a voltage comparing section 48, supplying of power to a heat lamp 30 is shut off and an warning message is simultaneously flickered on a display section 53 by the control section 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method and a control device for a fixing unit used in an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fixing unit used in an image forming apparatus requires a fixing unit depending on whether the image to be fixed is a monochrome image or a color image and what kind of transfer paper is used. The heat fixing temperature is different. Further, in the case of specifications in countries and regions where commercial power supplies have different specifications, it is necessary to use fixing units having corresponding power specifications.

In this connection, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-166490
In the publication, the power supply time to the load is determined based on the power supply voltage detected by the voltage detection circuit and the power supply frequency detected by the zero-cross detection circuit, and the power supply to the load is determined by the determined power supply time. There is disclosed a control circuit for a thermal fixing device, which controls the temperature control unit and supplies a predetermined electric power to a load in response to the change of the power supply voltage.

Further, in JP-A-59-126578, when the voltage specification is higher than the rated value of the heater, the energization ratio of the AC voltage supplied to the heater is reduced, and when the voltage specification is lower than the rated value of the heater. Discloses a thermal fixing device of a copying machine which controls the energization ratio so as to increase the energization ratio of the AC voltage supplied to the heater.

According to the techniques disclosed in these disclosures, the fixing device can be caused to perform the fixing operation in response to the change of the commercial power source. However, when the power source voltage rises, the operating life of the heater and peripheral parts is increased. There is a problem that is shortened.

[0006]

The fixing unit of various specifications is placed in the image forming apparatus in a detachable structure, and the commercial power source specification and the fixing specification of the delivery destination (hereinafter, particularly in this specification, Unless otherwise specified, the specifications including the fixing specifications and the power supply specifications will be referred to as specifications), and the fixing unit corresponding to the conditions is selected from the fixing units of various specifications manufactured in advance and placed to form an image. It is advantageous in terms of manufacturing cost if it can be installed in the device and delivered. However, in an image forming apparatus that selectively uses fixing units of different specifications,
A control device for controlling according to the specifications has not been proposed yet.

The present invention has been made in view of the present situation of the control of the thermal fixing unit of this type as described above, and the first object thereof is that the specification for detachably mounting the image forming apparatus is different. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing unit control method for performing a predetermined fixing operation on various fixing units without shortening the operating life of the heater and peripheral components.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a predetermined fixing unit to various fixing units which are detachably mounted on the image forming apparatus without shortening the operating life of the heater and peripheral parts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control device for a fixing unit that performs a fixing operation.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A characteristic signal output step of outputting a characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit from a fixing unit of various specifications that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus, and power to the fixing unit based on the characteristic signal. The present invention is characterized by including a determination step of determining compatibility of the supply state and a control step of controlling supply of electric power to the fixing unit based on the determination result of the determination step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, when it is determined in the determining step that the power supply state is incompatible, power is supplied to the fixing unit in the control step. Is stopped.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a fixing unit that is detachable from the image forming apparatus is provided with the fixing unit based on a characteristic signal output from the fixing unit that corresponds to the specifications of the fixing unit. A fixing unit control device for controlling a fixing operation, comprising: a power supply unit that supplies electric power to the fixing unit; and a determination unit that determines suitability of a power supply state to the fixing unit based on the characteristic signal. , Based on the determination result of the determination means,
And a control unit for controlling power supply to the fixing unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the third aspect, the control means stops the operation of the power supply unit when the determination means determines that the power supply state is incompatible. It is characterized by doing.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the invention, in the characteristic signal output step, the characteristic signal corresponding to the specification of the fixing unit is output from the fixing unit of various specifications which is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus, and the determination is made. In step, the suitability of the power supply state to the fixing unit is determined based on the characteristic signal, and in the control step, the power supply to the fixing unit is controlled based on the determination result in the determination step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the operation according to the first aspect of the invention, when the control step determines in the determination step that the power supply state is incompatible, power is supplied to the fixing unit. Be stopped.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device for a fixing unit, based on a characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit, which is output from the fixing unit which is detachable from the image forming apparatus. Take control. In this case, the determination means determines the suitability of the power supply state of the power supply unit to the fixing unit based on the characteristic signal, and the control means determines the compatibility of the power supply unit to the fixing unit based on the determination result of the determination means. Control of power supply is performed.

According to the invention of claim 4, in the operation according to the invention of claim 1, when the judging means judges that the power supply state is not suitable, the controlling means causes
The power supply to the fixing unit is stopped.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 based on an embodiment of a control device for a fixing unit.
1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
2 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the fixing unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG.
4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the connector of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus to which the same embodiment is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus to which the present embodiment is mounted has a structure in which the printer main body 10 is placed on the printer table 11, and the printer main body 10 is mounted on the printer table 11. Is attached with a large-volume feed tray 13 containing transfer paper continuously fed to
In addition, a paper feed mechanism 15 that conveys and feeds the transfer paper stored in the large-volume paper feed tray 13 to the printer body 10 is provided.

A photosensitive drum 17 for forming an image is rotatably arranged in the center of the printer body 10. Above the photosensitive drum 17, the original image is exposed on the photosensitive drum 17 and electrostatically charged. An optical writing unit 19 that forms a latent image is provided. Further, the photoconductor drum 17 is closely opposed to the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 17 in a clockwise direction from the exposure position.
Developing unit 20 that develops the electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive drum 17 with toner, a transfer / separation unit 21 that transfers the toner image of the photoconductor drum 17 onto a transfer sheet, a cleaning unit 28 that removes the residual toner of the photoconductor drum 17, and charge removal. Static elimination lamp 2
9 and a charging charger 18 for charging the photosensitive drum 17
Are arranged in this order.

Further, the paper feed cassettes 12 are attached to the printer body 10 in upper and lower two stages, and the paper feed mechanism 14 for feeding and feeding the transfer is provided from the paper feed cassette 12 to the transfer position. A transfer device 22 that transfers the transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred by the transfer / separation unit 21 is provided, and the transfer paper that is transferred by the transfer device 22 is fed to the fixing unit 23.

In the vicinity of the fixing unit 23, a face-up tray 24 for ejecting the transfer sheet on which the image is formed is attached to the printer body 10 as it is, and the transfer sheet on which the image is formed is attached to the upper part of the printer body 10. A face-down tray 27 is provided, which is turned upside down and discharged. A transport switching claw 25 that switches the transport path is disposed between the fixing unit 23 and the face-up tray 24, and a transfer sheet that discharges the transfer paper to the face-down tray 27 is disposed between the transport switching claw 25 and the face-down tray 27. A paper unit 26 is arranged.

The fixing unit 23 constituting the present embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus is configured to be detachable by a connector C, and includes a fixing roller 35 that is heated by a heater lamp 30, and a pressure roller 36 that fixes toner onto a transfer sheet. A thermistor 31 that detects the temperature of the fixing roller 35 is arranged near the fixing roller 35.

The connector C is a male-female type connector comprising a connecting portion 33 fixed to the main body side and a connecting portion 32 fixed to the fixing unit 23 side, and an AC from the connecting portion 33.
The line 33-A is connected to a commercial power source S described later, and D
The C line 33-DC is connected to the control unit 50 described later.

The signal line 34 for outputting the characteristic signal has a jumper line structure as shown in FIG. 3, and the connecting portion 32 is connected to the terminal 32-A connected to the heater lamp 30 and the thermistor 31. Terminal 32-B, fixing unit 2
A terminal 32C for outputting a characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of No. 3 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment comprises a fixing unit 23, a power supply unit 40, and a main body 55, which shows the fixing unit 23 mounted in an image forming apparatus. There is.

The power supply unit 40 is provided with a rectification control unit 41 which is connected to the commercial power supply S and rectifies the commercial power into DC, and the rectification control unit 41 supplies a DC constant voltage to a DC constant voltage control unit. 43 and a voltage detector 42 that detects the rectified voltage are connected in parallel with each other.

Further, the power supply unit 40 is provided with a heater rating detecting means 47 for detecting a characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit 23 output from the connecting portion 33 when the fixing unit 23 is mounted. The detection means 47 is connected to the connection portion 33 of the connector C to which a constant voltage is applied from the DC constant voltage control portion 43 to the connection portion 32, and the heater rating detection means 47 includes the voltage detection portion 4.
2 is connected to the voltage comparison control unit 48.

The power supply unit 40 is provided with a circuit breaker 44 connected to one end of the heater lamp 30, and the circuit breaker 44 is connected to a voltage comparison controller 48.
Further, the optical switch 46 connected to the DC constant voltage control unit 43 and the triac 45 driven by the optical switch 46 are connected to the commercial power source S at the subsequent stage position of the circuit breaker 44.

The main body 55 is provided with a control unit 50 for performing overall control. The control unit 50 includes an optical switch 46,
It is connected to the voltage detector 42, the DC constant voltage controller 43, the voltage comparison controller 48, and the heater rating detector 47.
The thermistor 31 is connected to the control unit 50 via the AD converter 51, the display driver 52 is connected to the control unit 50, and the display control unit 53 is connected to the display driver 52.

The operation of this embodiment having such a configuration will be described. In the image forming apparatus, the cleaning unit 2
The residual toner is removed at 8, the static electricity is removed by the static elimination lamp 29, and the original image is exposed to the electrostatic latent image by the optical writing unit 19 on the photosensitive drum 17 that is uniformly charged by the charging charger 18. Is formed.

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor drum 17 is developed by the developing unit 20, a toner image of the original image is formed on the photoconductor drum 17, and the toner image is fed by the transfer / separation unit 21. The toner image on the photoconductor drum 17 is transferred onto the transfer paper conveyed from the cassette 12 or the large-volume paper feed tray 13. Then, the transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is sent to the fixing unit 23 and subjected to a fixing process.

In this embodiment, when the fixing unit 23 is attached to the image forming apparatus, a characteristic signal according to the specifications of the attached fixing unit 23 is output from the terminal 32C, and the characteristic signal is the heater rating detecting means. 47 and the characteristic signal detected by the controller 50, and the detected characteristic signal is detected by the voltage comparison controller 48.
Is input to

The control unit 50 reads the set temperature information and the power supply voltage information of the fixing unit 23 from the detected characteristic signal. For example, if the set temperature information is 185 ° C., the control unit 5
At 0, while monitoring the output signal of the thermistor 31, the ON / OFF control of the optical switch 46 is performed to control the ON / OFF of the triac 45, and the heater lamp 30 is controlled via the breaker 44 which is normally ON. By controlling the power supply to the fixing unit 23, the set temperature of the fixing unit 23 is 185 ° C.
Is controlled so that

Further, the characteristic signal detected by the heater rating detecting means 47 is inputted to the voltage comparison control section 48, and the voltage comparison control section 48 reads the power supply voltage information of the fixing unit 23 from the characteristic signal, and the power supply voltage information. And the voltage value from the voltage detection unit 42 are compared, and if the voltage value of the power supply matches the power supply voltage information within the allowable range, a normal signal is supplied to the control unit 50.

On the other hand, when the voltage comparison control unit 48 determines that the voltage value of the power supply differs from the power supply voltage information by exceeding the predetermined value, the breaker 44 outputs the cutoff signal from the voltage comparison control unit 48. Turns off, heater lamp 30
The power supply to the power supply is cut off, and at the same time, a cutoff signal is input from the voltage comparison control unit 48 to the control unit 50. The control unit 50 drives the display driver 52 in response to the cutoff signal, and the display driver 52 causes the display unit 53 to blink a warning message indicating that the power supply is different from the specifications of the fixing unit 23.

The control unit 50 responds to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage detected by the power supply detection unit 42 within the allowable range,
ON / OFF control of the TRIAC 45 by ON / OFF control of the optical switch 46 as necessary,
This is handled by controlling the energization of the heater lamp 30, and in this case, the warning message is not displayed.

Thus, according to this embodiment, when the fixing unit 23 is attached to the image forming apparatus, the connector C is attached.
A characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit 23 is output from the terminal 32C of the heater, the heater rating detection means 47 and the controller 50 read the specifications of the fixing unit 23 from the characteristics signal, and the controller 50 maintains the set temperature. To do
The energization control to the heater lamp 30 is performed, and the energization control to the heater lamp 30 is performed according to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage within the allowable range, and when the power supply voltage is different from the specified voltage beyond the allowable range, The circuit breaker 44 is controlled by the voltage comparison control unit 48.
The power to the heater lamp 30 is cut off by the control unit 5
In response to the 0 command, a warning message is displayed on the display unit 53 in a blinking manner. For this reason, in the fixing unit 23,
When the set temperature is maintained, high-quality fixing operation is performed, and the power supply voltage that does not conform to the specified power supply is used, the operator is immediately notified by the display unit 53. It is also possible to prevent the operating life of the heater lamp 30 and peripheral components from being shortened.

In the embodiment, the controller 50 controls the energization of the heater lamp 30 with respect to the change from the specified voltage within the allowable range. The case has been described in which the circuit breaker 44 is operated to shut off the power supply to the heater lamp 30.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and the control unit 50 can perform these controls. Further, in the embodiment, the case where the warning message is displayed by blinking on the display unit 53 when the non-conforming voltage is used has been described, but it is also possible to adopt the notification by the buzzer.

[0039]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the characteristic signal output step, the characteristic signal corresponding to the specification of the fixing unit is output from the fixing unit of various specifications detachably attached to the image forming apparatus. In the determination step, the suitability of the power supply state to the fixing unit is determined based on the characteristic signal, and in the control step, the power supply to the fixing unit is controlled based on the determination result in the determination step. Therefore, it is possible to perform a high-quality fixing process at all times by accurately controlling the fixing units having various specifications according to the specifications. According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1,
In the control step, if it is determined in the determination step that the power supply state is incompatible, the power supply to the fixing unit is stopped, so that the fixing unit is accurately and safely operated without shortening the operating life due to overvoltage. Can be controlled. According to the third aspect of the invention, the control of the fixing unit controls the fixing unit on the basis of the characteristic signal corresponding to the specification of the fixing unit output from the fixing unit detachable from the image forming apparatus. The determination means determines the suitability of the power supply state of the power supply unit to the fixing unit based on the characteristic signal, and the control means determines the compatibility of the power supply unit to the fixing unit based on the determination result of the determination means. Since the power supply is controlled, the fixing unit of various specifications can be controlled accurately according to the specifications,
It is possible to always perform high-quality fixing processing. According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention described in claim 3, when the determining means determines that the power supply state is incompatible, the control means supplies power to the fixing unit. Therefore, the fixing unit can be controlled accurately and safely without shortening the operating life due to overvoltage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a fixing unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of the connector of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the embodiment is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 23 Fixing Unit 30 Heater Lamp 31 Thermistor 32, 33 Connection Section 32A, 32B, 32C Terminal 40 Power Supply Unit 42 Voltage Detection Section 47 Heater Rating Detection Section 48 Voltage Comparison Control Section 50 Control Section 53 Display Section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A characteristic signal output step of outputting a characteristic signal corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit from a fixing unit of various specifications that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus, and based on the characteristic signal, It is characterized by further comprising: a determination step for determining suitability of a power supply state to the fixing unit, and a control step for controlling power supply to the fixing unit based on the determination result in the determination step. Fixing unit control method. 2. If the power supply state is determined to be incompatible in the determination step, the control step is
The method for controlling the fixing unit according to claim 1, wherein power supply to the fixing unit is stopped. 3. A fixing unit, which is detachable from the image forming apparatus, controls the fixing operation of the fixing unit based on a characteristic signal output from the fixing unit and corresponding to the specifications of the fixing unit. A fixing unit control device, a power supply unit that supplies electric power to the fixing unit, a determination unit that determines the suitability of the power supply state to the fixing unit based on the characteristic signal, and a determination of the determination unit A fixing unit control device comprising: a control unit that controls power supply to the fixing unit based on a result. 4. The control means, by the determination means,
4. The fixing unit control device according to claim 3, wherein the operation of the power supply unit is stopped when it is determined that the power supply state is not suitable.