Image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10576753-B2
Application number	US-201816162951-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2018
Priority date	Nov 17, 2017
Publication date	Mar 3, 2020
Grant date	Mar 3, 2020

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes: a light source that emits a laser beam; a polygon mirror that reflects the laser beam; a photoreceptor that is to be exposed to the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror; a motor that rotates the polygon mirror; and a hardware processor capable of detecting sheet type, that is, type of a sheet conveyed in the image forming apparatus, wherein the hardware processor controls to rotate the motor at a first rotation speed until the sheet type is detected, and rotate the motor at a second rotation speed determined on the basis of the sheet type after detection of the sheet type.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a light source that emits a laser beam;
a polygon mirror that reflects the laser beam;
a photoreceptor that is to be exposed to the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror;
a motor that rotates the polygon mirror; and
a hardware processor capable of detecting sheet type, that is, type of a sheet conveyed in the image forming apparatus,
wherein the hardware processor controls to
rotate the motor at a first rotation speed until the sheet type is detected and before exposure to the photoreceptor is started, and
rotate the motor at a second rotation speed determined on the basis of the sheet type after exposure to the photoreceptor is started and the sheet type is detected.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor determines the first rotation speed so as to reduce a transition time from the first rotation speed to the second rotation speed.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first rotation speed is the second rotation speed or less.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor determines a lowest rotation speed as the first rotation speed from among a plurality of predetermined candidate rotation speeds that are candidates for the second rotation speed.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a storage apparatus that stores a history of the second rotation speed determined by the hardware processor, as history information,
wherein in a case where history count of the second rotation speed included in the history information is less than a predetermined first threshold, the hardware processor determines the lowest rotation speed among the plurality of candidate rotation speeds, as the first rotation speed.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage apparatus that stores a history of the second rotation speed determined by the hardware processor, as history information,
wherein the hardware processor determines the first rotation speed to be a minimum value of the second rotation speed included in the history information or more and to be a maximum value of the second rotation speed included in the history information or less.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the hardware processor determines the second rotation speed having the highest execution frequency in the history information, as the first rotation speed.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein the hardware processor determines the rotation speed corresponding to the maximum execution frequency as the first rotation speed when the history count of the second rotation speed included in the history information is a predetermined first threshold or more and one of the execution frequencies for each of the rotation speeds with respect to the second rotation speed included in the history information is a predetermined second threshold or more.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the hardware processor determines an average value of the second rotation speeds having the execution frequency of a predetermined second threshold or more, as the first rotation speed.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the history information includes an execution frequency of the second rotation speed for each of a plurality of different rotation speeds, and
when the history count of the second rotation speed included in the history information is a predetermined first threshold or more and there is a plurality of execution frequencies of the predetermined second threshold or more among the plurality of execution frequencies included in the history information, the hardware processor determines an average value of the second rotation speeds having the execution frequency of the predetermined second threshold or more, as the first rotation speed.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a sheet feed tray that stores the sheet;
a sheet sensor that detects grammage of the sheet; and
a registration roller that controls a conveyance timing of the sheet conveyed in the image forming apparatus,
wherein the hardware processor detects the sheet type on the basis of a detection result obtained by the sheet sensor, and
the sheet sensor is arranged to detect grammage of the sheet conveyed between the sheet feed tray and the registration roller.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor detects the sheet type of the first sheet alone in a case where printing on a plurality of sheets is executed.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
an operation unit for receiving an operation from a user,
wherein the hardware processor receives an operation from a user by the operation unit, and then rotates the motor at the first rotation speed until the sheet type is detected, before exposure to the photoreceptor is started.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
a storage unit for storing, for each sheet type, information corresponding to a sheet type and a rotation speed of the motor depending on the sheet type,
wherein the hardware processor sets a slowest rotation speed of the motor as the first rotation speed, from among information for each of the sheet types stored in the storage unit.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the first rotation speed is based on a history of second rotation speeds previously determined by the hardware processor.

16. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable control program used in an image forming apparatus comprising:
a light source that emits a laser beam;
a polygon mirror that reflects the laser beam;
a photoreceptor that is to be exposed to the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror;
a motor that rotates the polygon mirror; and
a hardware processor capable of detecting sheet type, that is, type of a sheet conveyed in the image forming apparatus,
wherein the control program causes the hardware processor to perform:
rotating the motor at a first rotation speed until the sheet type is detected and before exposure to the photoreceptor is started, and
rotate the motor at a second rotation speed determined on the basis of the sheet type after exposure to the photoreceptor is started and the sheet type is detected.

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Yamada Tatsutoshi

Classifications

• H04N1/113

  using oscillating or rotating mirrors · CPC title

• B41J2/442

  using lasers · CPC title

• H04N1/2032 Primary

  of two pictures corresponding to two sides of a single medium (refeeding a sheet for double-sided scanning H04N1/00572) · CPC title

• B41J2/471

  using dot sequential main scanning by means of a light deflector, e.g. a rotating polygonal mirror · CPC title

• B41J2/44 Primary

  using single radiation source {per colour}, e.g. lighting beams or shutter arrangements (B41J2/475 takes precedence) · CPC title