IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

• US 20190033771A1
• Filed: 07/02/2018
• Published: 01/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2017
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Inventors: SAKAI, Katsuhide, ISHIHARA, Yasuhiro, CHIKAZAWA, Satoshi
• Application Number:
  US16/025,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20190033771A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5029 by measuring the copy material characteristics, e.g. weight, thickness
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/6529 Transporting G03G15/6555 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/70 Detecting malfunctions relating to paper handling, e.g. jams
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/80 Details relating to power supplies, circuits boards, electrical connections

Abstract

An image forming apparatus that conveys a sheet and forms an image on the sheet, the image forming apparatus includes: a plurality of rollers that are arranged at different positions from one another in a conveyance path of the sheet, and convey the sheet; a motor that rotationally drives at least one of the rollers; a drive that drives the motor by applying a current to the motor; and a hardware processor that determines whether a jam has occurred and a jam type, in accordance with a change in the current flowing in the motor in a period during which the sheet is expected to pass through a target roller being rotationally driven by the motor among the rollers.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus that conveys a sheet and forms an image on the sheet, the image forming apparatus comprising:

a plurality of rollers that are arranged at different positions from one another in a conveyance path of the sheet, and convey the sheet;

a motor that rotationally drives at least one of the rollers;

a drive that drives the motor by applying a current to the motor; and

a hardware processor that determines whether a jam has occurred and a jam type, in accordance with a change in the current flowing in the motor in a period during which the sheet is expected to pass through a target roller being rotationally driven by the motor among the rollers.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the motor is a permanent magnet synchronous motor,

the image forming apparatus further comprises a motor controller that performs vector control on driving of the motor, and

the hardware processor determines whether a jam has occurred and a jam type, in accordance with a change in the current flowing in the motor, the current flowing in the motor being an active current that is a current component generating a rotation torque in the motor in the vector control.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when an amount of the change in the current is not larger than a predetermined value even after a time at which a top edge of the sheet arrives at the target roller, the hardware processor determines that an accordion jam has occurred before the target roller.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when the current increases to exceed the predetermined value at the time, and the current starts changing after a period required for the target roller to make one revolution has passed since the time, the hardware processor determines that a winding jam has occurred as the sheet winds around the target roller.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

a sensor that detects presence/absence of the sheet is disposed on a downstream side of the target roller, and

when the current increases to exceed the predetermined value at the time, and the sheet is not detected by the sensor after a time at which the sheet is expected to arrive at a position at which the sensor is disposed, the hardware processor determines that a winding jam has occurred as the sheet winds around the target roller.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the period during which the sheet is expected to pass through the target roller is determined from a period of time elapsed since a reference time at which the sheet arrived at a reference position located on an upstream side of the target roller.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reference time is a time at which the sheet is detected by a sensor that detects presence/absence of the sheet at the reference position.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reference time is sensed in accordance with a change in a current flowing in a motor that rotationally drives an upstream-side roller disposed at the reference position.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the amount of change and the predetermined value is corrected in accordance with temperature of the motor, to adjust the change in the current flowing in the motor to a change in torque on a rotation axis of the motor.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when speed control for adjusting a rotation speed of the motor is performed during conveyance of the sheet, the hardware processor determines whether a jam has occurred and a jam type, in accordance with a change in a current flowing in the motor in a constant speed period during which the rotation speed of the motor is maintained at a constant speed.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the motor is a drive source shared among the rollers, and

the hardware processor determines whether a jam has occurred, a jam type, and a jam occurrence position, using a threshold value for determination, the threshold value being set for each of the rollers.