US 7,680,423 B2Granted

Image forming apparatus and method for controlling wear of a photoconductor drum

AssigneeFuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

InventorsKenji Hayashi, Kazuhiro Iihara

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Abstract

Wear of the photoreceptor drum can be suppressed, and degradation of image quality of recorded images can be suppressed. When instruction information (image information and control information) for instructing formation of a developed image on a plurality of recording sheets S is inputted, driving of the photoreceptor drum 50, the developing device 52 and the transfer roller 56 is controlled such that formation of the developed image on a plurality of the recording sheets S according to the instruction information is continuously performed, and driving of the photoreceptor drum 50, the developing device 52 or the transfer roller 56 is controlled such that, in the course of the continuous image formation, driving of the photoreceptor drum 50, the developing device 52 or the transfer roller 56 is halted at least once.

Claims11

Dependent claims

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a photoreceptor drum on which, in a driven state, an electrostatic latent image of an image for image formation is optically formed;
developing means which, in a driven state, toner-develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum;
transfer means for, in a driven state, transferring to an image recording medium the developed image obtained by toner development by the developing means;
and
control means which, when instruction information for instructing formation of the developed image on a plurality of sheets of the image recording medium is inputted, controls driving of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means such that formation of the developed image on the plurality of sheets of the image recording medium according to the instruction information is continuously performed, and controls driving of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means such that, in a course of the continuous image formation, driving of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means are halted at least once;
and
a fuser, which fixes the developed image transferred to the image recording medium on the image recording medium by heat;
and wherein
the control means controls the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means, based on a size of the image recording medium, such that, every time a number of continuously image-formed sheets reaches a prescribed number of sheets of the image recording medium, the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means are halted for a prescribed period of time, and
the prescribed number of sheets and the prescribed period of time are determined as those with which image formation on the image recording medium can be continuously performed by the prescribed number of sheets without the fuser exceeding a prescribed temperature, wherein
the size of the image recording medium is a measure of a printable area of the image recording medium.

8 more elements

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a photoreceptor drum on which, in a driven state, an electrostatic latent image of an image for image formation is optically formed;
developing means which, in a driven state, toner-develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum;
transfer means for, in a driven state, transferring to an image recording medium the developed image obtained by toner development by the developing means;
and
control means which, when instruction information for instructing formation of the developed image on a plurality of sheets of the image recording medium is inputted, controls driving of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means such that formation of the developed image on the plurality of sheets of the image recording medium according to the instruction information is continuously performed, and controls driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means such that, in a course of the continuous image formation, driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means is halted at least once;
specification means for specifying whether a type of the image recording medium is a first type of predetermined regular size, or a second type of non-regular size, other than the regular size, wherein,
when the type of the image recording medium is specified to be the second type by the specification means, the control means controls driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means such that, in the course of the continuous image formation, driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means is halted at least once;
and
regular size and non-regular size are measures of a printable area of the image recording medium.

6 more elements

An image formation method for an image forming apparatus, comprising a photoreceptor drum on which, in a driven state, an electrostatic latent image of an image for image formation is optically formed;

developing means which, in a driven state, toner-develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum;
and transfer means for, in a driven state, transferring a developed image obtained by toner development by the developing means to an image recording medium, including:
when instruction information for instructing formation of the developed image on a plurality of sheets of the image recording medium is inputted, controlling driving of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means and the transfer means such that formation of a developed image on a plurality of sheets of the image recording medium according to the instruction information is continuously performed, and controlling driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means such that, in a course of the continuous image formation, driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means is halted at least once;
specifying whether a type of the image recording medium is a first type of predetermined regular size, or a second type of non-regular size other than the regular size, and
when the type of the image recording medium is specified to be the second type by the specification means, controlling driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means such that, in the course of the continuous image formation, driving of at least one of the photoreceptor drum, the developing means or the transfer means is halted at least once, wherein
regular size and non-regular size are measures of a printable area of the image recording medium.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.