Method and apparatus for controlling phase of AC power and method of controlling heating element of fixing unit
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorSe-joong Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of controlling a phase of an alternating current (AC) power having an AC voltage waveform having a predetermined cycle includes counting a number of times a zero crossing signal has been generated, the zero crossing signal being generated whenever a level of the AC voltage waveform becomes “0”; calculating a half cycle of the AC voltage waveform based on times at which the counted number of times the zero crossing signal has been generated changes; detecting phases that divide an area surrounded by a waveform corresponding to the half cycle of the AC voltage waveform into a predetermined number of equal areas; and generating control pulse signals based on the detected phases.
Claims14
A method of controlling a phase of an alternating current (AC) power having an AC voltage waveform having a predetermined cycle, the method comprising:
- counting a number of times a zero crossing signal has been generated, the zero crossing signal being generated whenever a level of the AC voltage waveform becomes “0”;
- calculating a half cycle of the AC voltage waveform based on times at which the counted number of times the zero crossing signal has been generated changes;
- detecting, by using at least one processor, phases that divide an area surrounded by a waveform corresponding to the half cycle of the AC voltage waveform into a predetermined number of equal areas;
- and
- generating control pulse signals based on the detected phases;
- wherein conducting area of the AC voltage waveform by each of the detected phases increases at a constant rate to increase supplied energy by control of the AC power at a constant rate.
A method of controlling a heating element of a fixing unit, the method comprising:
- counting a number of times a zero crossing signal has been generated, the zero crossing signal being generated whenever a level of an alternating current (AC) voltage waveform having a predetermined cycle becomes “0”;
- calculating a half cycle of the AC voltage waveform based on times at which the counted number of times the zero crossing signal has been generated changes;
- detecting, by using at least one processor, phases that divide an area surrounded by a waveform corresponding to the half cycle of the AC voltage waveform into a predetermined number of equal areas;
- generating control pulse signals based on the detected phases;
- and
- controlling a conducting time of an AC power supplied to the heating element of the fixing unit using the generated control pulse signals;
- wherein conducting area of the AC voltage waveform by each of the detected phases increases at a constant rate to increase energy supplied to the heating element at a constant rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.