# US 2014/0193168 A1 · Image forming apparatus

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- Number: US 2014/0193168 A1
- Document ID: US20140193168A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/014,052
- Filed: 2013-08-29
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09
- Assignees: Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha; Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
- Applicants: Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha; Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
- Inventors: Taizo KIMOTO
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140193168A1

## CPC

- G03G 15/205: {specially for the mode of operation, e.g. standby, warming-up, error (G03G15/2046 takes precedence)}
- G03G 15/2039: {with means for controlling the fixing temperature}
- G03G 2215/209: plural types of toner image handled by the fixing device
- G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY

## Abstract

According to an embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit that fixes an image of a toner using any one of a first toner and a second toner on a recording medium, and a control unit that sets a fixing temperature and a standby temperature of the fixing unit. The control unit sets the fixing temperature when the image of the first toner is fixed, to a first temperature, sets the fixing temperature when the image of the second toner is fixed, to a second temperature lower than the first temperature and sets the standby temperature when the fixing unit is in a standby state, to a temperature closer than the second temperature than the first temperature.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An image forming apparatus comprising:
an operation unit configured to receive an instruction of an image forming operation;
an image forming unit configured to accommodate a first toner and a second toner and form an image of a toner on a recording medium using any one of the first toner and the second toner when the instruction of the image forming operation is received by the operation unit;
a fixing unit configured to fix the image of the toner formed by the image forming unit on the recording medium at a fixing temperature and wait at a standby temperature when the instruction of the image forming operation is not received by the operation unit; and
a control unit configured to set the fixing temperature when the image of the first toner is fixed, to a first temperature, set the fixing temperature when the image of the second toner is fixed, to a second temperature lower than the first temperature and set the standby temperature when the fixing unit is in a standby state, to a temperature closer to the second temperature than the first temperature, to control the fixing unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets the standby temperature to the same temperature as the second temperature.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets the standby temperature to a temperature lower than the second temperature.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets the standby temperature to a temperature higher than the second temperature and lower than the first temperature.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first toner is a color inerasable toner, and the second toner is a color erasable toner.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first toner is formed of a cyan toner, a magenta toner, a yellow toner, and a black toner.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the operation unit receives an instruction to use any one of the first toner and the second toner when performing the image forming operation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image forming unit includes a process unit that accommodates the first toner and a process unit that accommodates the second toner, and each unit stores data of the accommodated toner.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control unit acquires the first temperature and the second temperature from the data of the toners stored in the process units.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit acquires information about the first temperature and the second temperature from information of the toner stored in a storage unit when the apparatus is powered on.