Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Kiyoshi Muto

Makoto Hasegawa

Naohisa Kinoshita

Hiroyuki Kashima

Toshihiro Tsuzuki

Hiroshi Koie

Takanobu Hirayama

Haruyuki Shimomura

Shinken Ozeki

An electrophotographic image forming system wherein a visible image is generated by an image forming device in response to a print start command and is fixed on the medium by heat generated by a heater. The temperature of the heater is controlled in a temperature-control-on mode and not controlled in a temperature-control-off mode. A controller is provided for controlling the heating device in the temperature-control-on mode such that the temperature is held at a first level when the apparatus is in a stand-by mode before the print start command is received, and at a second level higher than the first level when the apparatus is in a printing mode with the image forming device being operated. The controller changes the temperature-control-off mode to the temperature-control-on mode to control the temperature to be held at the second level and establish the printing mode without establishing the stand-by mode, when the print start command is received in the temperature-control-off mode.

Electrophotographic image forming method and apparatus wherein image

An electrophotographic image forming system wherein a visible image is generated on a recording medium in response to a print start command, and the visible image is fixed on the recording medium by heat generated by a heater. The temperature of the heater is controlled by a controller such that the detected temperature of the heater is held at an image fixing temperature when the system is in a printing operation, at a high stand-by level lower than the image fixing level when the system is in a first stand-by state without the print start command being received within a predetermined time period even after a last printing operation, and at a low stand-by level lower than the high stand-by level when the system is in a second stand-by state without the print start command being received even after the predetermined time has passed.

Image fixing heater having standby temperature control

An electrophotographic apparatus includes a control device for controlling a charger to start a high voltage supply operation so that a scanner unit and a photosensitive drum are simultaneously allowed to carry out a normal exposure operation and a normal photosensitizing operation, respectively. Through this control of the high voltage supply, a first print time can be shortened.

Electrophotographic apparatus and method

In an electrophotographic device, a heat roller is heated by a heater, and upon instruction of start of a print operation, the temperature Tf of the heat roller is detected by a temperature sensor. When the temperature Tf is above a predetermined temperature Tv at which high voltage is applied, the high voltage is applied. Thereafter, the temperature Tf of the heat roller is detected again, and if the temperature Tf is above a predetermined temperature Ts at which the sheet is fed, the solenoid clutch is switched on to feed the sheet. If the print operation is not terminated, the temperature of the heat roller is detected again, and it is checked whether the temperature of the heat roller is above a predetermined fixing temperature Tp.

Electrophotographic device and method for shortening a print time

In an electro-photographic device for printing photographic images by fixing heated toner on printing paper. The electro-photographic device has a cover which is opened by an operator during maintenance and error recovery operations. Since the device has a paper sending unit provided on both the main body and the cover of the device, the paper sending unit has to be driven to recover synchronization after the operation is completed. On the other hand, the device cuts off power to the fixation unit for safety reasons during the operation which causes the fixation unit to cool. The present device is characterized in that the device starts the recovery procedure after the temperature of the fixation unit reaches an optimal point above the melting point of the toner so that the fixation unit is not damaged by solid toner.

Electro-photographic device

A fixing apparatus is provided with a light heater for heating a heat-fixing roller and a temperature detection element for determining the surface temperature of the fixing roller. A temperature corresponding to a lighting time for the heater is determined and compared with the temperature on the surface of the roller and the result of the comparison is used to turn the heater on and off.

Fixing apparatus

A printer with a paper supplying device having a printing section that includes a photosensitive drum for printing on a paper, a manual supplying path for guiding a paper inserted manually, a manual insertion tray for receiving a paper in order to insert the paper into the printing section through the manual supplying path, a manual supplying means for supplying the paper from the insertion member to a printing section through the manual supplying path, an automatic supplying path for guiding a paper inserted automatically, a paper cassette for storing plural papers, an automatic insertion means for supplying a paper from the paper cassette to the printing section through the automatic supplying path, a manual insertion paper detecting sensor for detecting whether or not the paper inserted from the manual insertion tray is in the manual supplying path, an automatic insertion paper detection sensor for detecting whether or not the paper supplied from the paper cassette is in the automatic insertion path, and a LED for informing the operator of the time when the insertion member may receive a following sheet of paper. The LED is activated when no paper is detected by both the manual insertion paper detecting sensor and the automatic insertion paper detection sensor. An automatic insertion controller controls supply of the paper from the paper cassette to the automatic supplying path if there is no paper on the manual insertion tray when the printing of the paper previously inserted from either of the manual insertion tray and the paper cassette has been processed and the LED indicated such to the operator, and a manual insertion controller controls supply of the paper from the manual insertion tray to the manual supplying path if there is a paper on the manual insertion tray when a paper previously inserted from either of the manual insertion tray and the paper cassette has been processed and the paper cassette has been processed and operator informed by means of LED.

Printer with paper supplying device

A recording apparatus including a recording device for recording line of images on a recording medium, and a feeding device having a stepping motor for feeding the recording medium in a feeding direction perpendicular to the recording lines. The apparatus has a signal generator for generating a timing pulse in timed relation with the start of recording of each recording line so that the recording of each line is started in response to the timing pulse. Further, the stepping motor is stepped to feed the recording medium from one line to another, in response to the timing pulse, such that the stepping of the motor from one excitation phase to the next produces an incremental feeding distance of the medium which is equal to 1/n of a line spacing of the recording lines, where n represents a positive natural number.

Recording apparatus having stepping motor stepped to feed recording

In a printer having a manual sheet feed mechanism and an automatic sheet feed mechanism, when feed rollers of the manual paper feed mechanism are driven, a counter starts to count. At the time when the printing operation is completed, a CPU retrieves a predetermined value corresponding to a sheet length from a table stored in a ROM. The predetermined value represents the time necessary for the printing operation to be completed, with a tolerance. The CPU does not feed the next print sheet until the counter counts up to the predetermined value.

Printer having automatic paper feed mechanism and manual paper feed

A paper ejecting device for ejecting a recording cut sheet cut of a recording apparatus is disclosed. The paper ejecting device includes an ejector for ejecting the recording cut sheet through an outlet which is provided at a portion of the recording apparatus, a tray disposed adjacent to the ejector for receiving and recording cut sheet which has been ejected through the outlet by the ejector, and a sheet reversing member operable between a first position for guiding and reversing the recording cut sheet ejected through the outlet before the sheet falls onto the tray, and a second position for permitting the recording cut sheet ejected through the outlet to be received on the tray, without a reversal of the cut sheet.

Paper ejecting device having sheet reversing and non-reversing positions

A photoconductive cartridge removably mounted on a photographic recording apparatus and including a photoconductive body, a casing having an opening for exposure of the photoconductive body to an outside of the casing, and a shutter having a closed position in which the opening is closed by the shutter and an open position in which the opening is open. The photoconductive cartridge further includes a locking device having a first engaging member movable with the shutter, a second engaging member having a first position in which the second engaging member engages the first engaging member to thereby prevent a movement of the first engaging member and a movement of the shutter from the closed position to the open position, and a second position in which the second engaging member is released from the first engaging member, and a biasing device for biasing the second engaging member toward the first position.

Photoconductive cartridge having shutter locking device for holding

A photographic recording apparatus is provided having a housing body, and a process cartridge unit including a photoconductive drum and a developing device and which is removably mounted on the housing body. The cartridge unit includes a first and a second frame which are pivotable about a rotation axis of the drum relative to each other, and a biasing member for biasing the two frames to thereby hold the frames in a first relative angular position. The housing body includes a portion for holding the cartridge unit such that the two frames are held in a second relative angular position, which is established by pivoting the two frames from the first relative angular position against a biasing action of the biasing member. The first and second frames each having holes or openings that are initially misaligned, cooperate in an overlapping fashion to provide at least one opening through which a portion of the drum is exposed outside the frames, when the frames are placed in the second relative angular position. Each opening is closed when the frames are placed in the first relative angular position.

Photographic recording apparatus having photoconductive drum cartridge

Disclosed is a fixing apparatus wherein a print medium having an image transferred thereto is conveyed by rollers provided with a heat source, whereby the transferred image is fixed to the print medium. At least one of the fixing rollers has a hollow section in which the heat source is disposed toward the side at which the print medium is held and upstream with regard to the direction of rotation of the roller. The fixing apparatus comprises a detector for detecting the temperature at or in the vicinity of the heat source; an operating circuit for operating the heat source when the detected temperature is lower than a required temperature; a device for notifying an operator that the temperature of the fixing apparatus has reached a temperature required for the fixing operation; and a timer which starts to count from the start of operation of the heat source. When the required temperature is reached, the timer is reset, and when operation of the heat source is restarted, the timer starts to count again. The notification by the notifying device is continued regardless of the temperature, and is stopped when the count of the timer reaches a predetermined value.

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Yokkaichi, Japan

Kiyoshi Muto