Image forming apparatus configured to determine heater elements to be energized and image forming method performed thereby
AssigneeToshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorMasaya Arakawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of heater elements arranged in a direction perpendicular to a sheet transport direction to heat the sheet, a plurality of temperature sensors, each of which is configured to detect a temperature of one of the heater elements, and a controller configured to control each of the sensors to detect a first temperature before the sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element and a second temperature of the heater element after the sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element, and determine one or more of the heater elements to be energized based on the first temperatures and the second temperatures detected by the sensors.
Claims20
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of heater elements arranged in a direction perpendicular to a sheet transport direction to heat the sheet;
- a plurality of temperature sensors, each of which is configured to detect a temperature of one of the heater elements;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- control each of the sensors to detect a first temperature before the sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element and a second temperature of the heater element after the sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element, and
- determine one or more of the heater elements to be energized based on the first temperatures and the second temperatures detected by the sensors.
A method carried out by an image forming apparatus having a plurality of heater elements arranged in a direction perpendicular to a sheet transport direction, the method comprising:
- generating heat using one or more of the heater elements;
- detecting, using each of a plurality of temperature sensors, a first temperature before a sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element and a second temperature of the heater element after the sheet is passed by the corresponding heater element;
- and
- determining one or more of the heater elements to be energized based on the first temperatures and the second temperatures detected by the sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.