Patent Grant
11137705
This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2020-003509 filed on Jan. 14, 2020, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a fixing device which fixes a toner image on a sheet and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device.
An electrophotographic type image forming apparatus includes a fixing device which heats a toner image transferred on a sheet. The fixing device includes a heater, a cylindrical fixing belt (a heated member) heated by the heater and a pressing roller (a pressing member) which forms a nip area between the fixing belt and the pressing roller, through which the sheet is passed. The heater is stored inside the fixing belt, for example. When the pressing roller is rotated, the fixing belt is driven to be rotated, and the inner circumferential face of the fixing belt is slid with respect to the heat radiation face of the heater in a sheet conveyance direction.
When the fixing belt and the pressing roller are rotated, the heater is controlled such that the nip area is heated to a predetermined target temperature (a fixing temperature). When the heater is controlled such that heat is applied to the fixing belt from the heater, the heat is transferred from the nip area to the pressing roller through the fixing belt, and the pressing roller is also heated.
As a heating device to heat the fixing belt, a configuration is conventionally known, which is provided with a central heater heating a central portion of the fixing belt and two end heaters heating end portions outside the central portion of the fixing belt.
By the way, in the above described fixing device, all the heaters are connected in parallel by a power supply line to a power supply source. Each power supply line is provided with a switching element which turns on and off the power supply. However, even if any of the switching elements fails and is short-circuited, the corresponding heater may be overheated to an abnormal temperature. Then, the conventional fixing device is provided with a temperature sensor, such as a thermostat or a thermal cut-off element, which measures an abnormal temperature of the heater. However, because the heaters are connected in parallel, there is a problem that it is needed to provide the temperature sensor for each heater.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a fixing device heats a toner image on a sheet at a fixing position on a sheet conveyance path to fix the toner image on the sheet. The fixing device includes a cylindrical heated member and a heating part. The cylindrical heated member is long in a width direction of the sheet, and is supported in a rotatable manner with coming into contact with a fixing face of the sheet. The heating part is provided in an inner space of the heated member and heating an inner circumferential face of the heated member. The heating part includes a plurality of heaters disposed side by side in a longitudinal direction of the heated member; and a first temperature sensor measuring a first heater of the plurality of heaters or a heated area of the heated member heated by the first heater. The plurality of heaters and the first temperature sensor are connected in series by a first power supply line.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure is shown by way of illustrative example.
Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, one embodiment of the present invention will be described. The following embodiments are specific examples of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.
[Configuration of the Image Forming Apparatus]
An image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is an apparatus performing a printing processing where an image is formed on a sheet 9. The image forming apparatus 10 performs the printing processing in an electrophotographic manner. The sheet 9 is a media on which an image is formed, such as a paper or a sheet-shaped resin member.
As shown in
The sheet conveyance device 3 includes a sheet feeding device 30 and a plurality of conveyance rollers pairs 31. The sheet feeding device 30 feeds the sheet 9 stored in a sheet storage part 2 to a sheet conveyance path 300 in the main body 1.
The conveyance rollers pairs 31 are driven by a motor to be rotated. When the conveyance rollers pair 31 are rotated with the sheet 9 nipped, the sheet 9 is conveyed along the conveyance path 300. Furthermore, the conveyance rollers pair 31 discharges the sheet 9 through a discharge port 301 of the conveyance path 300 on a discharge tray 49. In the following description, a direction in which the sheet 9 is conveyed along the conveyance path 300 is called a sheet conveyance direction D1. A direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction D1 and along the conveyance path 300 (a direction perpendicular to a paper surface on which
The printing device 40 forms a toner image on the sheet 9 conveyed along the conveyance path 300 by the sheet conveyance device 3. The printing device 40 includes an image forming device 4, an optical scanning device 46, a transferring device 47 and a fixing device 48. The image forming device 4 includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member 41, a charging device 42, a development device 43 and a drum cleaning device 45.
The image forming apparatus 10 shown in
In the image forming device 4, the photosensitive member 41 is rotated, and the charging device 42 charges the surface of the photosensitive member 41. The optical scanning device 46 scans the surface of the photosensitive member 41 with laser light to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive member 41. The photosensitive member 41 is an example of an image carrier.
Then, the development device 43 supplies the toner on the surface of the photosensitive member 41 to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image.
The transferring device 47 transfers the toner image to the sheet 9 on the conveyance path 300. In the transferring device 47, the belt transferring device 472 transfers the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive member 41 to the surface of the intermediate transferring belt 471. Then, a color toner image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transferring belt 471.
The sheet transferring device 473 transfers the toner image formed on the intermediate transferring belt 471 to the sheet 9 on the conveyance path 300.
In a case where the image forming apparatus 10 is a monochrome image forming apparatus, the sheet transferring device 473 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive member 41 to the sheet 9 on the conveyance path 300.
The drum cleaning device 45 removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member 41. The belt cleaning device 474 removes the toner remaining on the intermediate transferring belt 471.
The fixing device 48 presses the toner image transferred on the sheet 9 while heating it in a fixing position P1 on the conveyance path 300 to fix the toner image on the sheet 9.
The fixing device 48 includes a heating device 5 (an example of a heating part in the present disclosure), a fixing belt 53 (an example of a heated member in the present disclosure), and a pressing roller 6 as an example of a pressing member. The heating device 5 includes three heaters 51 (51a, 51b and 51c), a supporting member 52, two temperature sensors 56 (56a and 56b), and a heater power supply circuit 50 (refer to
The fixing belt 53 is a cylindrical flexible member. The pressing roller 6 is a roller around which an elastic layer made of rubber sponge material (an elastic material layer) is formed.
The three heaters 51 and the supporting member 52 are provided in the inner hollow space of the fixing belt 53. Each heater 51 heats the fixing belt 53, in detail, the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53. The heaters 51 are disposed side by side along the width direction D2 at the fixing position P1. Each heater 51 has a plurality of heating resistors disposed side by side along the width direction D2. For example, each heater 51 is a ceramic heater formed into a flat shape or a narrow width thin plate. Each heating resistor is a heating element which converts electricity into heat, and applied with power from a power source 70 (refer to
The supporting member 52 is a member which supports the heaters 51. The heaters 51 and the supporting member 52 are disposed with their longitudinal directions along the width direction D2.
The fixing belt 53 is a flexible cylindrical member. Specifically, the fixing belt 53 is an endless belt-shaped member. For example, the fixing belt 53 is a cylindrical sheet member.
As shown in
The pair of guide members 55 is supported in a state where the protrusions 55a face the end portions of the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53 in the width direction D2. Then, the pair of guide members 55 supports the fixing belt 53 in a rotatable manner.
When the fixing belt 53 is rotated around the heaters 51 and the supporting member 52, the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53 is slid with respect to the heat radiation face 511 of each heater 51 along the sheet conveyance direction D1. On the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53, lubricant is applied in order to enhance sliding performance between the heat radiation face 511 of each heater 51 and the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53.
The heater 51 is a member coming into contact with the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53. That is, the heater 51 is a heating member which radiates heat on the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53 to heat the fixing belt 53 and also a member coming into contact with the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53.
The pressing roller 6 is supported in a rotatable manner with biased toward the heater 51. For example, the pressing roller 6 is biased toward the heaters 51 by a biasing member (not shown) such as a spring. The pressing roller 6 is not necessarily biased toward the heaters 51, but, for example, the heaters 51 and the supporting member 52 may be biased toward the pressing roller 6 by a biasing member such as a spring.
As shown in
The pressing roller 6 is driven to be rotated by a rotational driving force input from a motor 60 (refer to
When the pressing roller 6 is rotated, the fixing belt 53 is driven by the pressing roller 6 to be rotated. That is, the rotation of the pressing roller 6 drives the fixing belt 53 to be rotated.
The heater power supply circuit 50 supplies power to the heater 51 according to an instruction from the controller 8. The heater power supply circuit 50 adjust an amount of the power supplied to the heater 51 according to an instruction from the controller 8.
As shown in
The temperature measured by the temperature sensor 56 is a temperature serving as an alternate index showing a temperature of the fixing position P1, that is, the nip area Np1. In other words, the temperature sensor 56 measures the temperature serving as the alternative index showing the temperature of the nip area Np1.
The controller 8 (refer to
As shown in
The CPU 81 is a processer which executes various data processing and predetermined control by executing a computer program. The RAM 82 is a computer readable volatile storage device. The RAM 82 primarily stores the computer program executed by the CPU 81 and data output and referred to in a process of the executing various processing by the CPU 81.
The CPU 81 includes a plurality of processing modules achieved by executing the above described computer program. The plurality of processing modules includes a main control part 8a, a heating control part 8b, a conveyance control part 8c and a printing control part 8d. In the other words, the control device 8 includes the main control part 8a, the heating control part 8b, the conveyance control part 8c and the printing control part 8d.
The main control part 8a executes various processing according to an operation for the operation device 801 and a signal input from an external device, and also executes a control of the display device 802.
The heating control part 8b adjusts an amount of power supplied to the heating device 5 so as to heat the nip area Np1 to the target temperature by feedback control based on a comparison of a temperature measured by each temperature sensor 56 with the previously set target temperature. Specifically, the heating control part 8b controls the heater power supply circuit 50 to adjust an amount of power supplied to each heater 51 and to control the heating by each heater 51.
The conveyance control part 8c controls the sheet conveyance device 3. The printing control part 8d controls the printing device 40 to execute the printing processing in synchronization with the conveyance of the sheet 9.
The secondary storage device 83 is a computer readable non-volatile storage device. The secondary storage device 83 enables a storage processing of the computer program and various data and an updating processing. For example, one or both a flash memory and a hard disk drive are used as the secondary storage device 83.
The communication part 84 is a signal interface, converts a signal output from various sensor such as the temperature sensor 56 into a digital data, and transmits the converted digital data to the CPU 81. Furthermore, the communication part 84 converts a control instruction output from the CPU 81 into a control signal, and transmits the control signal to the device to be controlled.
By the way, in a conventional fixing device, a plurality of heaters is connected in parallel to a power supply source by power supply lines. Each power supply line is provided with a switching element for turning on and off the power supply. Even if any of the switching elements fails and is short-circuited, the corresponding heater may be overheated to an abnormal temperature. Then, the conventional fixing device is provided with a temperature sensor to measure an abnormal temperature of the heater, such as a thermostat and a thermal cutoff element. However, because the heaters are connected in parallel, there is a problem that it is necessary to provide the temperature sensor for each heater.
On the other hand, in the fixing device according to the present embodiment, the heaters are connected in series, as described below. Then, it is sufficient to provide one heater for the heaters connected in series. Accordingly, it becomes possible to reduce the number of the temperature sensor and to make a structure of the internal circuit of the heating device 5 simple.
Specifically, the heating device 5 includes the central heater 51a, the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c. The central heater 51a is an example of a central heater in the present disclosure, and the first end heater 51b is an example of a first heater in the present disclosure. The first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are an example of a plurality of heaters in the present disclosure. Each heater heats the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53.
The central heater 51a heats the longitudinal central portion 80c of the fixing belt 53, and is disposed so as to correspond to the central portion 80c. The first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are disposed side by side in the longitudinal direction of the fixing belt 53, and they form one pair. In detail, the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are disposed such that the central heater 51a is disposed between both end heaters. The first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c heat the end portions 80e outside the central portion 80c in the longitudinal direction, and are disposed so as to correspond to the end portions 80e. In the present embodiment, the central heater 51a, the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are disposed in a line along the longitudinal direction of the fixing belt 53.
The fixing belt 53 is formed to have a length contactable with a maximum size sheet 9 which can be fixed by the fixing device 48. In the present embodiment, the A3 size sheet (420 mm×297 mm) can be fixed by the fixing device 48, and the fixing belt 53 is formed to have a length longer than a shorter side length (297 mm) of the A3 size sheet. For the fixing belt 53, the central heater 51a is configured to heat the central portion 80c having the same length as the shorter side length of the A4 size sheet (297 mm×210 mm) with respect to a longitudinal center of the fixing belt 53. For the above fixing belt 53, the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are configured to heat the end portions 80e extending from the longitudinal outer edges of the central portion 80c to the longitudinal outer edges of the fixing belt 53.
The heating device 5 includes the two temperature sensors 56 (56a and 56b). The central temperature sensor 56a is provided on the surface of the central heater 51a, and the end temperature sensor 56b is provided on the surface of the first end heater 51b. The central temperature sensor 56a is an example of the second temperature sensor in the present disclosure, and the end temperature sensor 56b is an example of a first temperature sensor in the present disclosure. The second end heater 51c is not provided with a temperature sensor.
The central temperature sensor 56a is directly mounted on the surface of the central heater 51a which is a temperature measurement object, and measures a temperature of the central heater 51a directly. A sensor signal output from the central temperature sensor 56a is transmitted to the controller 8, and the controller 8 calculates a temperature of the central heater 51a based on the sensor signal.
The end temperature sensor 56b is directly mounted on the surface of the first end heater 51b which is a temperature measurement object, and measures a temperature of the first end heater 51b directly. A sensor signal output from the end temperature sensor 56b is transmitted to the controller 8, and the controller 8 calculates a temperature of the first end heater 51b based on the sensor signal.
To the central heater 51a, the second supply line L2 connected to the first power supply line L1 in parallel is connected. That is, the central heater 51a is provided in parallel to the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c. To the central heater 51a, power is supplied from the power source 70 through the second power supply line L2. The central temperature sensor 56a is connected in series to the second power supply line L2. On the second power supply line L2, an electromagnetic contactor SW2 to connect and disconnect the second power supply line L2 is provided. The electromagnetic contactor SW2 is controlled by the controller 8 to be turned on and off.
As described above, the heaters 51 are connected by the first power supply line L1 and the second power supply line L2, as shown in
The first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are disposed so as to heat both end portions 80e of the fixing belt 53. In a case of the sheet 9 having the fixable maximum width, when the sheet 9 passes through the nip area Np1, heat is taken from the central portion 80c and both end portions 80e of the fixing belt 53 to the sheet 9, so that the temperatures of the central portion 80c and both end portions 80e are lowered. However, in a case of the sheet 9 having a width narrower than the maximum width, when the sheet 9 passes through the nip area Np1, the temperature of the central portion 80c is lowered by heat taken from the central portion 80c to the sheet 9, while the temperature of both end portions 80e is hardly lowered because the sheet 9 does not come into contact with both end portions 80e. Therefore, by measuring the temperature of one of the end portions 80e by the end temperature sensor 56b, the abnormal temperature of the fixing belt 53 can be detected more quickly.
Further, because the end temperature sensor 56b is a thermostat that breaks the internal conductive part and disconnect the first power supply line L1 when an abnormal temperature is measured, it becomes possible to make the control of the heating device 5 simple.
The above embodiment illustrates a configuration that the central heater 51a is connected to the second power supply line L2, and the first end heater 51b and the second end heater 51c are connected in series to the first power supply line L1. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above configuration. For example, the central heater 51a, the first end heater 51b, and the second end heater 51c may be connected in series to a common power supply line. In this case, it is sufficient to provide one temperature sensor for each heater 51.
The above embodiment describes an example where the temperature sensor 56 directly measures the temperature of the heater 51, but, for example, the temperature sensor 56 may measure the temperature of a heated area on the inner circumferential face 53a of the fixing belt 53 heated by the heater 51. In this case, the temperature sensor 56 is a non-contact type temperature sensor for measuring the temperature by measuring infrared rays emitted from the heated area. In this configuration, the controller 8 controls the corresponding electromagnetic contactors SW1 or SW2 to be turned on or off when determining that the temperature of the heated area has reached an abnormal temperature based on the sensor output from the temperature sensor 56.
Further, the present disclosure may be taken as a disclosure of the image forming apparatus 10 including the fixing device 48, or may be taken as a disclosure of the fixing device 48 alone.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2020-003509 | Jan 2020 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7277654 | DeMoor | Oct 2007 | B2 |
| 10061237 | Cao | Aug 2018 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2008-299205 | Dec 2008 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210216029 A1 | Jul 2021 | US |
