Temperature control apparatus and image forming apparatus
AssigneeToshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYutaka USAMI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
According to one embodiment, a temperature control apparatus supplies power to a heater to control temperature of a temperature control target. The temperature control apparatus includes a temperature estimation unit to estimate a temperature of a temperature control target based on electrical power supplied to the heater. The temperature control apparatus also includes control signal generation unit that calculates a duty value for the heater based on an estimated temperature from the temperature estimation unit, a detected temperature from a temperature sensor, and a target temperature for the temperature control target. A pulse signal for controlling the electrical power supplied to the heater is generated based on the calculated duty value.
Claims20
A temperature control apparatus, comprising:
- a temperature estimation unit configured to estimate a temperature of a temperature control target based on electrical power supplied to a heater configured to heat the temperature control target;
- and
- a control signal generation unit configured to:
- calculate a duty value for the heater based on an estimated temperature of the temperature control target received from the temperature estimation unit, a detected temperature of the temperature control target from a temperature sensor, and a target temperature for the temperature control target, and
- output a pulse signal for controlling the electrical power supplied to the heater, the pulse signal being generated based on the calculated duty value.
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a fixing device with a rotating body for heating a toner image on a medium and a heater for heating the rotating body;
- a temperature control unit configured to supply electrical power to the heater to control a temperature of the rotating body;
- and
- a temperature sensor positioned to detect a temperature corresponding to the temperature of the rotating body, wherein
- the temperature control unit includes:
- a temperature estimation unit configured to estimate the temperature of the rotating body based on the electrical power supplied to the heater;
- and
- a control signal generation unit configured to:
- calculate a duty value for the heater based on an estimated temperature of the rotating body received from the temperature estimation unit, the detected temperature from the temperature sensor, and a target temperature for the rotating body, and
- output a pulse signal for controlling the electrical power supplied to the heater, the pulse signal being generated based on the calculated duty value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.