Image forming apparatus
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorsYukinobu Iguchi, Fumio Maekawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus such as a copier and an air conditioner communicate with one another in a network. The air conditioner provides information regarding ambient temperature and/or humidity to the image forming apparatus. Based upon this information, the image forming apparatus selectively activates systems within the apparatus that regulate its internal temperature and humidity levels, to thereby achieve power savings. The image forming apparatus provides information regarding its operation state to the air conditioner. The air conditioner uses this information to adjust its heating or cooling operations to compensate for the heat generated by the image forming apparatus when it is operating.
Claims29
An image forming apparatus which is connected to a network including an air conditioner, comprising:
- a device that determines an operative condition of the image forming apparatus;
- and
- a communication unit which transmits the operative condition to an external unit;
- wherein the air conditioner adjusts an ambient condition of an area in which the image forming apparatus is installed, in accordance with the operative condition.
An image forming apparatus which is connected to a network, comprising:
- a communication unit which receives information about an ambient condition of an area in which the image forming apparatus is installed, from an external unit;
- and
- an adjusting unit which adjusts the temperature and/or moisture content in the image forming apparatus in accordance with the received information.
A network system including an image forming apparatus and an air conditioner, comprising:
- means for obtaining an operative condition of the image forming apparatus and information about an ambient condition of an area in which the image forming apparatus is installed;
- and
- means for changing an operating condition of the air conditioner in accordance with the operative condition and the information about the ambient condition.
A method for controlling an air conditioner that is operatively coupled to communicate with an image forming device, comprising the following steps:
- receiving information regarding an operational state of said image forming device;
- and
- adjusting said air conditioner to reduce ambient temperature when said image forming device is in a predetermined operational state.
A method of controlling an image forming device that is operatively coupled to communicate with an air conditioner, comprising the following steps:
- receiving information from said air conditioner regarding at least one ambient condition in an area in which the image forming device is located;
- determining whether said ambient condition is greater than a threshold value;
- and
- selectively activating a system within said image forming device that regulates an internal condition of said device in dependence upon whether said ambient condition is greater than said value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.