Patent Grant
7164869
This invention relates to printers and other imaging devices that must be warmed prior to initiating imaging. More specifically, this invention relates to providing for adequate warming for heavy or thick media while not burdening the time to print for common media such as paper. This permits the heater size to be reduced to avoid flicker.
Applying high power to an internal heater or heaters of the printer can warm fusers and other elements of printer fairly rapidly. However, such application of power in an ordinary business or office setting may divert power from related systems and cause flicker of lights powered by such systems. Flicker is undesirable as it is distracting and the drain of power evidenced by flicker may interfere with the operation of other apparatus. At least one state in Europe has requirements directed to flicker.
Flicker can be avoided with special apparatus or systems such as coils installed as chokes and surge control circuits. These add expense to the printer and limit initial power to the heater. This invention requires only a control system, which may be only software used with pre-existing elements. This invention delays printing for heavy or thick media, while the use of chokes or surge control delays power to the heater. Delay of power to the heater inherently delays printing since printing is not initiated until the appropriate temperature is reached.
The adding of delays for a printer to reach certain temperatures before launching a sheet to be printed is prior and established in the printer art. This is done in known embodiments by storing a table of the time period to delay or a table of the offset from an operating temperature value normally sensed for. These delays are specific to heavy or thick media in contrast to normal media. The prior art, however, is not known to add to such delays at cold start nor to combine the added delay with a lower power supply to avoid flicker.
In accordance with this invention, a heater in the printer or other imaging device is employed which is of medium power output such that it is not capable of causing flicker when connected to a normal office power source. At turn-on of the printer from a start at which the fuser is not being heated (termed here a cold-fuser start), the control system imposes a delay before initiating printing. The primary purpose for heating of the printer often is to prepare the fuser of a laser printer for operation. As is conventional, a sensor monitors the temperature of the fuser. The delay imposed may be a direct result of monitoring the temperature sensed and launching the media sheet when the fuser reaches a predetermined temperature which assures adequate heat when the sheet reaches the fuser. Alternatively, the delay may be for a predetermined period of time after fuser heating is initiated.
Where heavy or thick media is identified to the control system, in accordance with this invention, at turn-on from a cold-fuser start, the control system imposes a longer delay. Where the temperature sensor is employed to define the delay, the control system launches a sheet at a higher sensed temperature. A typical delay for normal media when this invention is implemented is 30 seconds. Actual line voltages and other factors influencing temperature can vary this. For heavy or thick media, this invention adds 10 to 15 seconds, making the overall delay about 40 to 45 seconds. Delays for heavy or thick media when the device is in operation are much shorter.
By adding this delay, the required heater wattage is reduced to support cold-fuser starts without significant added delay for paper and the like and to support continuous operation once the fuser is warmed for all media. The lower wattage design can avoid flicker.
Identification of the media to be printed as heavy or thick may be defined by code in a communicated print job, but often it will necessarily be defined by the printer operator making an entry in the control panel. Typically, a control panel has several keys that can be used in sequences or combinations or both to define unique entries. Often, use of pre-existing keys can be defined to specify heavy or thick media, since not all entry alternatives have been used.
The details of this invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which
Referring now to the drawings,
Power supply 12 receives electrical current by electrical cord plugged into an outlet, such as a standard wall outlet. It is the electrical system supporting the outlet, which is significantly reduced in power when flicker or the like results. The typical source of power to such outlets is limited in capacity, which allows flicker to occur.
Laser printer 10 will typically contain at least one serial input, parallel input or USB port, or in many cases two types of input ports, as designated by the reference numeral 18 for the serial port and the reference numeral 20 for the parallel port. Each of these ports 18 and 20 would be connected to a corresponding input buffer, generally designated by the reference numeral 22 on
Once the text or graphical data has been received by input buffer 22, it is commonly communicated to one or more interpreters designated by the reference numeral 28. A common interpreter is PostScript™, which is an industry standard used by most laser printers. After being interpreted, the input data is typically sent to a common graphic engine to be rasterized, which typically occurs in a portion of RAM designated by the reference numeral 30 on
Once the data has been rasterized, it is directed into a queue manager or page buffer, which is a portion of RAM, designated by reference numeral 34. In a typical laser printer, an entire page of rasterized data is stored in the queue manager during the time interval that it takes to physically print the hard copy for that page. The data within the queue manager 34 is communicated in real time to a print engine designated by the reference numeral 36. Print engine 36 includes the laser light source within the printhead, and its output results in physical inking on a piece of paper or other media, which is the final print output from laser printer 10.
It will be understood that the address, data and control lines are typically grouped in buses, and which are physically communicated in parallel (sometime also multiplexed) electrically conductive pathways around the various electronic components within laser printer 10. For example, the address and data buses are typically sent to ROM and RAM integrated circuits, and the control lines or interrupt lines are typically directed to all input or output integrated circuits that act as buffers.
Print engine 36 contains an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 40, which acts as a controller and data manipulating device for the various hardware components within the print engine. The bitmap print data arriving from queue manager 34 is received by ASIC 40, and at the proper moment is sent via signal lines 46 to the laser, which is designated by the reference numeral 48.
ASIC 40 controls the various motor drives within the print engine 36, and also receives status signals from the various hardware components of the print engine. A motor 42 is used to drive the faceted mirror (see the polygonal mirror 116 on
The lock signal may be dictated or controlled by various alternatives. Where the lock speed is to be different for different applications by the same printer 10, reference frequencies are supplied to track motor 42 that supports different lock speeds at different reference frequencies. Where only a single lock speed is to be employed by motor 42, the HSYNC signal (discussed below) may be supplied to motor 42 with a predetermined comparison to motor speed defining lock.
During conventional operation, once ASIC 40 receives the lock signal from motor 42, it transmits a corresponding lock signal (as part of a byte of a digital signal) along one of the data lines 64 of the data bus 62 that communicates with ASIC 40. Data bus 62 is either the same as the data bus 60 that communicates with microprocessor 70, or a portion thereof. When this lock status signal is received by microprocessor 70, microprocessor 70 initiates action of printer 1 leading to printing by printer 1 in normal course.
A portion of the swept light that creates each raster scan is aimed by the polygonal mirror 116, lens 118, fold mirror 120, and a “start of scan” mirror 122 to create a light signal that follows the path designated by the reference numeral 138. Light that ultimately travels along path 138 will be directed to impact an optical sensor on the HSYNC sensor card 124 and the optical sensor is equivalent to the HSYNC sensor 52, seen on
Major elements of the printer as a whole are illustrated in
Special media, such as envelopes and index cards, are fed into the media feed path 212 from an external, front tray 228, sometimes referred to as a multi-purpose tray. Special media may also be fed from a separate, external tray (not shown). The photoconductive drum 218 forms an integral part of a replaceable toner cartridge 230 inserted in to printer 10. A print head 100 is disposed in the printer 10 for scanning the photoconductive drum 218 with a laser beam 234 so that it ultimately sweeps or “scans” across a “writing line” on the photoconductive drum 218 as described in the foregoing, thereby creating, in a black and white laser printer, a raster line of either black or white print elements, also known as “pels”. Pivoted roller 232 feeds sheets from tray 216. Other nip rollers shown in
This invention is operative in the foregoing embodiment when printer 10 is turned on from a cold start, which encompasses when the printer is on but the fuser is unheated (often termed “power saver” mode). If printer 10 is maintained partially warmed, often termed “standby” mode, mirror 116 is not driven, and another essential delay may be for mirror 116 to reach “lock” as discussed in the foregoing.
The dominant delay from a cold-fuser start is for fuser 220 to reach operating temperature. Additionally, where the media is thick or heavy, such as transparencies and many labels, the fuser 220 must be warmed to more than a lower temperature suitable for paper and the like. It is conventional for the control system, implemented in the embodiment by microprocessor 14, to track the fuser temperature and to launch a media sheet so that the sheet arrives at the fuser nip at the same time or soon after the fuser 220 reaches this desired temperature. The resulting delay typically is about 30 seconds.
In accordance with this invention, when the media to be printed at cold start is identified as heavy or thick, by executing software stored in ROM 16 the control system implemented by microprocessor adds an additional delay before launching the sheet—with a total delay of 40 to 45 seconds being representative. Accordingly, the launching of the media 214 from tray 216 or media from an alternative source is delayed those predetermined amounts regardless of other factors. The additional delay may be by launching media 214 only when temperature sensed at fuser 220 is higher than that at which media 214 is normally launched. Alternatively, the delay may be imposed as a predetermined time period between start of warming and launch of media 214. Individual values or tables of values depending on the need for this purpose are stored in ROM 16 or built into ASIC 40. A table of values would be used if different delays are to be imposed on, for example, each of transparencies, card stock and labels. A table might be used for different delays at different print speeds.
In specific situations an even longer delay may be imposed, for example, when mirror 116 has not reached “lock”.
Entry of the thick-or-heavy media information may be by any available alternative. The print job received by printer 10 on its ports 18 and 20 may have information code (often termed “header” code) that identifies the media. The print job may call for feeding from a tray reserved or unique to heavy or thick media, and therefore may be known to the control system as necessarily being heavy or thick.
This invention combines a heating system not capable of causing flicker or other significant drain of power with a delay at cold start to achieve reliable operation. As it can be implemented by only changing the control code of a microprocessor, tangible costs to practice this invention are generally insignificant. Exact time periods and characteristics of the heating system are a matter of ordinary design, depending upon the details of the printer.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20030202813 A1 | Oct 2003 | US |
