Image forming apparatus and control method
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYohei Doi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Certain embodiments provide an image forming device including: a print portion; a first roller provided in a sheet transportation direction; a heating element provided in either the first roller or an endless belt wound around the first roller and generates heat by magnetic flux; a second roller that forms a nip together with the heating element; a coil that has a coil hole facing the nip with a gap therebetween and generates the magnetic flux; an induction heating circuit that supplies the coil with a drive signal; an insulating mold that has a through hole facing the coil hole and supports the coil; a mechanism that transports the sheet through the through hole to the nip; and a controller that causes the mechanism to transport the sheet to the nip and the induction heating circuit to perform the induction-heating.
Claims20
An image forming device comprising:
- a print portion configured to form an as yet unfixed developer image on a sheet;
- a first roller configured to be provided in a direction in which the sheet from the print portion is transported;
- a heating element configured to be provided in either the first roller or an endless belt wound around the first roller and generate heat by magnetic flux;
- a second roller configured to form a nip together with the heating element;
- a coil configured to have a coil hole facing the nip with a gap therebetween and operable of generating the magnetic flux;
- an induction heating circuit configured to supply the coil with a drive signal;
- an electrically insulating mold configured to have a through hole facing the coil hole and operable of supporting the coil, the mold causing the coil to face a coil surface to the nip;
- a mechanism configured to transport the sheet through the through hole of the mold and the coil hole of the coil to the nip;
- and
- a controller configured to cause the mechanism to transport the sheet to the nip and the induction heating circuit to perform the induction-heating.
A fixing control method, comprising the steps of:
- setting an electric power level with respect to an induction heating circuit which supplies a coil generating a magnetic flux with a driving signal;
- transporting a sheet with an as yet unfixed developer image thereon, thereby passing the sheet through a through hole of an electrically insulating mold supporting the coil that faces a coil hole of the coil, the mold causing the coil to face a coil surface to the nip;
- transporting the sheet from the through hole and the coil hole of the coil toward a nip that is formed between a pair of rollers;
- and
- heating a heating element that is provided in any one of a first roller among the pair of rollers and an endless belt wound around the first roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.