IP Library Granted Patent US 10,423,098
Granted Patent B2
US 10,423,098 · App. 16/105,482 · Granted Sep 24, 2019

Image formation apparatus

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,423,098
App. No.
16/105,482
Granted
Sep 24, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

An image formation apparatus according to one or more embodiments may include: a first conveyer; a second conveyer provided downstream of the first conveyer; a detector that detects a deflection of the medium between the first and second conveyers; a speed controller that controls a speed of the second conveyer within a first speed range; a calculator that calculates an average convey speed of the second conveyer. The calculator calculates a first average speed in a first period from when a leading end of the medium reaches the second conveyer to when the medium is conveyed a predetermined distance from the second conveyer. The speed controller changes, after the first period elapses, the speed of the second conveyer within a second speed range with the calculated first average convey speed as a criteria speed of the second conveyer, based on the detection result from the detector.

Claims (43)

1. An image formation apparatus comprising:

a first conveyer that conveys a medium in a predetermined speed;

a second conveyer that is disposed downstream of the first conveyer in a conveying direction of the medium, and is configured to convey the medium at a variable conveyance speed;

a detector that detects a deflection of the medium between the first and second conveyers;

a speed controller that controls a speed of the second conveyer within a first speed range based on a detection result from the detector; and

a calculator that calculates a first speed of the second conveyer in a first period in which the medium is conveyed a predetermined distance from the second conveyer, after a leading end of the medium reaches the second conveyer, wherein

the speed controller changes, in a second period after the first period elapses, the speed of the second conveyer within a second speed range with the calculated first speed as a criteria speed of the second conveyer for the second period, based on the detection result from the detector.

2. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second speed range is narrower than the first speed range.

3. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the calculator calculates a second speed of the second conveyer in the second period in which the medium is conveyed the predetermined distance after the first period elapses, at each time when the second period elapses, and

the speed controller sets the calculated second speed as a criteria speed of the second conveyer for a next second period at each time when the second period elapses.

4. The image formation apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein

the speed controller executes a first convey speed control that increases or decreases the speed of the second conveyer by a first change amount at predetermined control intervals in the first period, and executes a second convey speed control that increases or decreases the speed of the second conveyer by a second change amount at the predetermined control intervals in the second period, wherein the second change amount is smaller than the first change amount.

5. The image formation apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein

the speed controller continues the first convey speed control until the speed of the second conveyer enters in the second speed range after the first period elapses, and starts, after the speed of the second conveyer enters in the second speed range, the second convey speed control with setting the calculated first speed as the criteria speed of the second conveyer for the second period.

6. The image formation apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein

the calculated second speed of the second conveyer in the second period is an average convey speed of the second conveyer in the second period.

7. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first conveyer includes a belt unit that transfers a developer image to the medium.

8. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second conveyer comprises a fixation device that fuses a developer image on the medium and thus fixes the developer image onto the medium.

9. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first conveyer and the second conveyer includes a roller that is in contact with and coveys the medium.

10. The image formation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the diameter of the roller in the second conveyer is larger than the diameter of the roller in the first conveyer.

11. The image formation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the roller of the second conveyer includes a heating member therein to fuse a developer image on the medium thereby to fix the developer image onto the medium.

12. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the detector is disposed below a conveyance path of the medium between the first and second conveyers.

13. The image formation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the calculated first speed of the second conveyer in the first period is an average convey speed of the second conveyer in the first period.

14. An image formation apparatus comprising:

a first conveyer that conveys a medium in a predetermined speed;

a second conveyer that is disposed downstream of the first conveyer in a convey direction of the medium, and is configured to convey the medium at a variable conveyance speed;

a detector that detects a deflection of the medium generated between the first and the second conveyers;

a speed controller that controls a speed of the second conveyer based on a detection result from the detector; and

a calculator that calculates a first speed of the second conveyer in a first period in which the medium is conveyed a predetermined distance from the second conveyer after a leading end of the medium reaches the second conveyer, wherein

the speed controller executes:

a first convey speed control, in the first period, that changes the speed of the second conveyer within a first speed range;

a transition control that continues the first convey speed control until the speed of the second conveyer enters in a second speed range with respect to the calculated first speed after the first period elapses, wherein the second speed range is narrower than the first speed range; and

a second convey speed control, in a second period in which the medium is conveyed the predetermined distance after the transition control, that controls the speed of the second conveyer within the second speed range with the calculated first speed as a criteria speed of the second conveyer for the second period, based on the detection result from the detector.

15. An image formation apparatus comprising:

a first conveyer that conveys a medium in a predetermined speed;

a second conveyer that is disposed downstream of the first conveyer in a conveying direction of the medium, and is configured to convey the medium at a variable conveyance speed;

a detector that detects a deflection of the medium between the first and second conveyers; and

a speed controller that controls, based on a detection result from the detector, a speed of the second conveyer, wherein

the speed controller:

in a first period in which the medium is conveyed a predetermined distance from the second conveyer after a leading end of the medium reaches the second conveyer, controls the speed of the second conveyer within a first speed range with respect to a first criteria speed; and

in a second period after the first period elapses, controls the speed of the second conveyer within a second speed range narrower than the first speed range with respect to a second criteria speed determined based on a speed of the second conveyer in the first period.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Mar 14, 2022
From: OKI DATA CORPORATION
To: OKI ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 059365/0145 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 22, 2018
From: SATO, NAOKI; AMADA, DAITETSU; TAJIMA, SATORU
To: OKI DATA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 046663/0090 →