Apparatus discriminating the transport condition of a recording medium through a fixing device based on temperature of a fixing roller
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorsYuusuke Morigami, Tetsuro Ito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image forming apparatus and a fixing device used therein capable of discriminating transport condition of a sheet in the fixing device without sheet sensors. The fixing device is provided with a fixing roller for heating unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixing the toner onto the sheet. A temperature sensor is arranged for detecting the temperature of the fixing roller, which temperature sensor communicating with a controller of the image forming apparatus or the fixing device. The controller discriminates the transport condition of the sheet based on the temperature change of the fixing roller detected by the temperature sensor so as to execute varied control.
Claims72
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a fixing device which heats and melts unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixes said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device being provided with,
- 1) a first rotating member which is freely rotatable,
- 2) a second rotating member which is freely rotatable and presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members, and
- 3) a heater which heats said first rotating member;
- a detector which detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and
- a discriminating unit for determining the insertion and the ejection of said sheet in said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
A fixing device for heating and melting unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixing said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device comprising:
- a first rotating member which is freely rotatable;
- a second rotating member which is freely rotatable and presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members;
- a heater which heats said first rotating member;
- a detector which detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and
- a discriminating unit for determining the insertion and the ejection of said sheet in said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
An image forming apparatus having a fixing device that heats and melts unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixes said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device comprising:
- a first rotating member that is freely rotatable;
- a second rotating member that is freely rotatable and that presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members;
- a heater that heats said first rotating member;
- a detector that detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and a discriminating unit for determining when said sheet has been inserted in said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
An image forming apparatus having a fixing device that heats and melts unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixes said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device comprising:
- a first rotating member that is freely rotatable;
- a second rotating member that is freely rotatable and that presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members;
- a heater that heats said first rotating member;
- a detector that detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and a discriminating unit for determining when said sheet has been ejected from said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
A fixing device for heating and melting unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixing said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device comprising:
- a first rotating member that is freely rotatable;
- a second rotating member that is freely rotatable and that presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members;
- a heater that heats said first rotating member;
- a detector that detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and
- a discriminating unit for determining when said sheet has been inserted in said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
A fixing device for heating and melting unfixed toner borne on a sheet and fixing said toner onto said sheet, said fixing device comprising:
- a first rotating member that is freely rotatable;
- a second rotating member that is freely rotatable and that presses against said first rotating member to nip and transport said sheet between said first and second rotating members;
- a heater that heats said first rotating member;
- a detector that detects the temperature of said first rotating member;
- and
- a discriminating unit for determining when said sheet has been ejected from said fixing device based on the temperature of said first rotating member detected by said detector.
A method of detecting the passage of a sheet between a pair of rotating members, comprising the steps of:
- inserting a sheet between a first rotating member and a second rotating member,
- wherein said sheet is transported between said first rotating member and said second rotating member and ejected from between said first rotating member and said second rotating member;
- heating said first rotating member or said second rotating member;
- detecting the temperature of the heated rotating member;
- and determining when the sheet is inserted and ejected based on the detected temperature.
A method of detecting the insertion of a sheet between a pair of rotating members, comprising the steps of:
- inserting a sheet between a first rotating member and a second rotating member for transporting said sheet between said first rotating member and said second rotating member;
- heating said first rotating member or said second rotating member;
- detecting the temperature of the heated rotating member;
- and
- determining when the sheet is inserted and ejected based on the detected temperature.
A method of detecting the ejection of a sheet from between a pair of rotating members, comprising the steps of:
- inserting a sheet between a first rotating member and a second rotating member for transporting said sheet between said first rotating member and said second rotating member;
- ejecting a sheet from between said first rotating member and said second rotating member;
- heating said first rotating member or said second rotating member;
- detecting the temperature of the heated rotating member;
- and
- determining when the sheet is ejected based on the detected temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.