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US 9,869,958 B2Granted
Image forming apparatus that controls movement of a continuous sheet through a fixing unit
AssigneeKonica Minolta, Inc.
InventorsShinya Tanigami, Shingo Sasami, Shougo Fukai, Hideo Yamane
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes: an image forming unit for forming an image on a continuous paper; a fixing unit for fixing by heat the image which has been formed on the continuous paper by the image forming unit; conveyance units for conveying the continuous paper; and a control unit for controlling the conveyance units to convey the continuous paper in such a manner that, when an image forming operation by the image forming unit is stopped, the same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, does not remain in the fixing unit for a predetermined period of time.
Claims33
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming unit configured to form an image on a continuous paper;
- a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the continuous paper by heat;
- a plurality of conveyance units configured to convey the continuous paper in a predetermined conveying direction for an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus;
- and
- a control unit configured to, throughout a period from completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for a previous image forming operation to start of conveyance of the continuous paper for a next image forming operation, control the plurality of conveyance units to convey the continuous paper only in the predetermined conveying direction in such a manner that positioning of a same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, in the fixing unit for more than a predetermined period of time is avoided,
- wherein the control unit continuously conveys the continuous paper throughout the period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation, and
- wherein the control unit controls the conveyance units to stop conveying the continuous paper, when a temperature of the fixing unit is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature while continuously conveying the continuous paper.
4 more elements
An image forming system comprising:
- an image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming unit configured to form an image on a continuous paper;
- a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the continuous paper by heat;
- a plurality of conveyance units configured to convey the continuous paper in a predetermined conveying direction for an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus;
- and
- a control unit configured to, throughout a period from completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for a previous image forming operation to start of conveyance of the continuous paper for a next image forming operation, control the plurality of conveyance units to convey the continuous paper only in the predetermined conveying direction in such a manner that positioning of a same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, in the fixing unit for more than a predetermined period of time is avoided,
- wherein the control unit continuously conveys the continuous paper throughout the period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation;
- a paper feeding apparatus configured to feed the continuous paper to the image forming apparatus;
- a paper discharging apparatus configured to discharge the continuous paper, on which the image is formed, from the image forming apparatus;
- a paper feeding adjustment apparatus configured to adjust feeding of the continuous paper in order to absorb a conveyance speed difference of the continuous paper between the paper feeding apparatus and the image forming apparatus;
- and
- a paper discharging adjustment apparatus configured to adjust discharging of the continuous paper in order to absorb a conveyance speed difference of the continuous paper between the paper discharging apparatus and the image forming apparatus.
9 more elements
An image forming method in an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit configured to form an image on a continuous paper, a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the continuous paper by heat, and a plurality of conveyance units configured to convey the continuous paper in a predetermined conveying direction for an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
- determining whether or not the image forming operation by the image forming apparatus is stopped between completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for a previous image forming operation and start of conveyance of the continuous paper for a next image forming operation;
- and
- when it is determined that the image forming operation is stopped, throughout a period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation:
- controlling the plurality of conveyance units to convey the continuous paper only in the predetermined conveying direction in such a manner that positioning of a same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, in the fixing unit for more than a predetermined period of time is avoided, wherein the continuous paper is continuously conveyed throughout the period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation;
- and
- controlling the conveyance units to stop conveying the continuous paper, when a temperature of the fixing unit is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature while continuously conveying the continuous paper.
3 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having stored thereon an image forming program for a computer of an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit configured to form an image on a continuous paper, a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the continuous paper by heat, and a plurality of conveyance units configured to convey the continuous paper in a predetermined conveying direction for an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus, the program causing the computer to perform functions comprising:
- determining whether or not the image forming operation by the image forming apparatus is stopped between completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for a previous image forming operation and start of conveyance of the continuous paper for a next image forming operation;
- and
- when it is determined that the image forming operation is stopped, throughout a period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation:
- controlling the plurality of conveyance units to convey the continuous paper only in the predetermined conveying direction in such a manner that positioning of a same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, in the fixing unit for more than a predetermined period of time is avoided, wherein the continuous paper is continuously conveyed throughout the period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation;
- and
- controlling the conveyance units to stop conveying the continuous paper, when a temperature of the fixing unit is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature while continuously conveying the continuous paper.
3 more elements
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming unit configured to form an image on a continuous paper;
- a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the continuous paper by heat;
- a plurality of conveyance units configured to convey the continuous paper in a predetermined conveying direction for an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus;
- and
- a control unit configured to, throughout a period from completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for a previous image forming operation to start of conveyance of the continuous paper for a next image forming operation, control the plurality of conveyance units to convey the continuous paper only in the predetermined conveying direction in such a manner that positioning of a same portion of the continuous paper, on which the image is not formed, in the fixing unit for more than a predetermined period of time is avoided,
- wherein the control unit continuously conveys the continuous paper throughout the period from the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation to the start of conveyance of the continuous paper for the next image forming operation, and
- wherein the control unit controls the conveyance units to stop conveying the continuous paper, when a conveyance amount of the continuous paper is equal to or longer than a predetermined length, after the completion of conveyance of the continuous paper for the previous image forming operation.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.