Image Forming Apparatus Fuser Control for Continuous Paper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in accurately stopping continuous paper at desired positions for post-processing, leading to deformation, increased waste paper, and suboptimal take-up quality due to varying post-processing requirements and heat management issues.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a controller that accepts user-defined or automatically determined stop positions based on post-processing apparatuses, switching between control modes to stop the carriage and separate fuser bodies after the last image passes, optimizing stop positions to reduce waste and ensure quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the continuous paper is stopped at a position near the fuser bodies of revolution, then the take-up quality is improved, but the continuous paper deforms due to heat from the fuser
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary cooling of the fuser bodies of revolution before stopping the continuous paper at the take-up position. The controller activates cooling fans to reduce the temperature of the fuser bodies in advance, ensuring that when the paper stops near the fuser, no heat deformation occurs. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing the thermal environment before the critical stopping operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses temperature sensors to continuously monitor the temperature of the fuser bodies of revolution and provides feedback to the controller. Based on this feedback, the controller dynamically adjusts the cooling fan operation and paper stopping timing to maintain optimal temperature conditions. This closed-loop control ensures the paper can be stopped at the desired position without heat deformation while maintaining take-up quality.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the carriage of continuous paper is stopped after waiting for separation of fuser bodies, then the paper deformation is prevented, but it becomes impossible to stop the paper that has just been ejected
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary cooling of the fuser bodies of revolution during the image formation process, so that by the time the paper needs to be stopped, the fuser is already at a safe temperature. This eliminates the need to wait for cooling after paper ejection, enabling immediate stopping while preventing deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling action continues throughout the image formation process rather than being activated only after ejection. This continuous cooling ensures the fuser remains at a safe temperature throughout, allowing the paper to be stopped immediately after ejection without deformation risk, thus maintaining both productivity and preventing harmful effects.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the fuser bodies are cooled after image formation, then paper deformation is prevented, but over-cooling increases warm-up time for subsequent jobs
Solution Approach 1:
Temperature sensors continuously monitor the fuser body temperature and provide feedback to the controller. The controller activates cooling only when the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold and stops cooling when the temperature reaches the target range. This feedback control prevents over-cooling while ensuring sufficient cooling to prevent paper deformation, thereby minimizing warm-up time for subsequent jobs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the cooling parameters (fan speed, cooling duration) based on the measured temperature of the fuser bodies. By changing the cooling intensity according to the actual thermal state, the system achieves sufficient cooling to prevent deformation without excessive cooling that would increase warm-up time, thus resolving the time trade-off.
4Reliability
If the stop position is changed according to post-processing apparatus, then take-up quality is improved, but the control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed to handle multiple post-processing apparatus types and their respective stop position requirements through a unified control algorithm. The system automatically identifies the connected post-processing apparatus and selects the appropriate stop position and cooling parameters from pre-stored configurations, eliminating the need for separate control systems for each apparatus type while maintaining high take-up quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows precise stopping of continuous paper at desired positions, reducing waste and ensuring high take-up quality by adjusting control modes based on stop positions, paper type, and ambient conditions, thereby optimizing the image forming process.
Implementation Method 1
a fuser that heats and presses the continuous paper passing through a nip portion formed by pressing bodies of revolution against each other to fix the image formed on the continuous paper
Implementation Method 2
the bodies of revolution are cooled by a fan blowing air to the bodies of revolution and by dissipating heat to the continuous paper with the carriage of the continuous paper by the bodies of revolution
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus connectable to a post-processing apparatus via a carriage path for carrying continuous paper includes: a hardware processor that accepts a stop position of the continuous paper on the carriage path; a carrier that carries the continuous paper along the carriage path; an image former that forms an image on the continuous paper; a fuser that heats and presses the continuous paper passing through a nip portion formed by pressing bodies of revolution against each other to fix the image; and the hardware processor that switches between first control that, after the last image among the images formed on the continuous paper passes the fuser, stops carriage of the continuous paper and then separates the pressed bodies of revolution, and second control that separates the pressed bodies of revolution and then stops the carriage of the continuous paper, on the basis of the accepted stop position.