US-12625448-B2 - Image forming device

US12625448B2US 12625448 B2US12625448 B2US 12625448B2US-12625448-B2

Abstract

An image forming device includes an image carrier, an image former including a charging member, a rotation driver that rotationally drives the image carrier, a date and time acquirer that acquires a date and time, a receiver that receives predetermined input information, which is an operation and/or a state of predetermined processing or is data, a controller, and a storage. When a determination processor determines that an input detection date and time is a date and time on or after a next rotation date and time, the controller performs predetermined distance rotation control of driving the rotation driver to rotate the image carrier by a predetermined movement distance and then stopping the image carrier.

Inventors

Kazuki KAWAJIRI

Assignees

SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241230
Priority Date: 20240111

Claims (10)

1 . An image forming device comprising: an image carrier; an image former including a charging member that comes into contact with a surface of the image carrier and charges the surface of the image carrier; a rotation driver that rotationally drives the image carrier; a date and time acquirer that acquires a date and time; a receiver that receives predetermined input information, the predetermined input information being an operation and/or a state of predetermined processing, or being data; a controller; and a storage, wherein the controller includes a calculation processor that acquires, from the date and time acquirer, a rotation stop date and time, which is a date and time when rotation of the image carrier has stopped, and that stores, in the storage, a date and time obtained by adding a predetermined additional period to the acquired rotation stop date and time, as a next rotation date and time, and a determination processor that acquires a date and time from the date and time acquirer when the receiver has received the predetermined input information, and that determines whether an input detection date and time, which is the acquired date and time, is a date and time on or after the next rotation date and time stored in the storage, and when the determination processor determines that the input detection date and time is the date and time on or after the next rotation date and time, the controller performs predetermined distance rotation control of driving the rotation driver to rotate the image carrier by a predetermined movement distance and then stopping the image carrier.
2 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein when the predetermined distance rotation control is performed and the image carrier is stopped, the calculation processor calculates the next rotation date and time and stores the next rotation date and time in the storage to update the next rotation date and time.
3 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined movement distance is more than one time and equal to or less than five times a contact width of a contact portion between the charging member and the image carrier in a circumferential direction.
4 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a control power source that supplies power to the controller; and an operation power source that supplies power to the image former and the rotation driver, wherein the controller selectively executes a first mode of supplying power from the control power source to the controller and supplying power from the operation power source to the image former and the rotation driver, and a second mode of supplying power from the control power source to the controller and turning off the operation power source, the controller executes the first mode during a stand-by period being a period shorter than the additional period from the rotation stop date and time, and executes the second mode when the receiver does not receive the predetermined input information during the stand-by period, and when the receiver receives the predetermined input information during the execution of the second mode, the controller causes the determination processor to make the determination.
5 . The image forming device according to claim 4 , wherein the storage includes a first storage used when performing non-image forming processing being processing other than image forming processing, the controller includes a first controller that performs the non-image forming processing and a second controller that performs the image forming processing, the first controller includes the calculation processor, the determination processor, and the first storage, the second controller includes the rotation driver, the date and time acquirer and the receiver are connected to the first controller, the control power source supplies power to both the first controller and the second controller when the first mode is selected, and supplies power to only the first controller when the second mode is selected, and the first controller causes the first storage to store the next rotation date and time calculated by the calculation processor, executes the first mode when the determination processor determines, during the second mode, that the input detection date and time is the date and time on or after the next rotation date and time, and executes the second mode once again after the second controller has performed the predetermined distance rotation control.
6 . The image forming device according to claim 4 , wherein the storage includes a second storage used when performing image forming processing, the controller includes a first controller that performs non-image forming processing being processing other than the image forming processing and a second controller that performs the image forming processing, the first controller includes the determination processor, the second controller includes the calculation processor, the second storage, and the rotation driver, the date and time acquirer and the receiver are connected to the first controller, the control power source supplies power to both the first controller and the second controller during execution of the first mode, and supplies power to only the first controller during execution of the second mode, the second controller causes the second storage to store the next rotation date and time calculated by the calculation processor, and the first controller executes the first mode when causing the determination processor to determine whether the input detection date and time is a date and time on or after the next rotation date and time, reads out the next rotation date and time from the second storage, and determines whether to perform the predetermined distance rotation control.
7 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein when the input information is an execution of image forming processing, without performing the predetermined distance rotation control, the controller controls the rotation driver to rotate the image carrier to cause the image former to form an image, causes the calculation processor to calculate the next rotation date and time at a timing when the image carrier is stopped after the image forming processing is completed, and causes the storage to store the next rotation date and time to update the next rotation date and time.
8 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , comprising an operation receiver that receives an input operation by an operator, wherein the input information includes non-rotation operation information indicating, of the input operation received by the operation receiver, a non-rotation operation that does not cause the image carrier to rotate.
9 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , comprising an input unit that receives an input of communication information from an external device, wherein the input information includes the communication information received by the input unit.
10 . The image forming device according to claim 1 , comprising a human detector that detects an approach of a person, wherein the input information includes human detection information indicating that the human detector has detected the person.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates to an imaging forming device such as a copying machine, a multifunction machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine. BACKGROUND ART An image forming device employing a contact charging system includes an image carrier such as a photoreceptor drum, a charging member such as a charging roller that comes into contact with and charges the image carrier, and a rotation driver that rotationally drives the image carrier. In such an image forming device, when the image carrier and the charging member are left in contact with each other for a long period of time, a chemical component exudes from the charging member, and the exuded chemical component adheres to the image carrier. As a result of this, a linear image defect having a contact width between the charging member and the image carrier in the circumferential direction (a streaky image defect extending along the rotation axis direction of the image carrier) may occur in a formed image. In this regard, an image forming device is known that includes a time clocking unit that clocks a stopped period of time during which a charging member (a conductive member) and an image carrier (a body to be charged) are stopped. This image forming device prevents the image carrier and the charging member from being left in contact with each other for a long period of time by driving the charging member and the image carrier when the stopped period of time clocked by the time clocking unit reaches a set stopped period time. SUMMARY Technical Problem However, in such an image forming device, in order to constantly monitor the stopped period of time during which the charging member and the image carrier are stopped, it is necessary to constantly supply power to the time clocking unit, and the power consumption thus increases accordingly. An object of the disclosure is to provide an image forming device that can effectively prevent an image carrier and a charging member from being left in contact with each other for a long period of time while suppressing power consumption. Solution to Problem In order to solve the problem described above, an image forming device according to the disclosure includes an image carrier, an image former including a charging member that comes into contact with a surface of the image carrier and charges the surface of the image carrier, a rotation driver that rotationally drives the image carrier, a date and time acquirer that acquires a date and time, a receiver that receives predetermined input information, the predetermined input information being an operation and/or a state of predetermined processing, or being data, a controller, and a storage. The controller includes a calculation processor that acquires, from the date and time acquirer, a rotation stop date and time, which is a date and time when rotation of the image carrier has stopped, and that stores, in the storage, a date and time obtained by adding a predetermined additional period to the acquired rotation stop date and time, as a next rotation date and time, and a determination processor that acquires a date and time from the date and time acquirer when the receiver has received the predetermined input information, and that determines whether an input detection date and time, which is the acquired date and time, is a date and time on or after the next rotation date and time stored in the storage. When the determination processor determines that the input detection date and time is the date and time on or after the next rotation date and time, the controller performs predetermined distance rotation control of driving the rotation driver to rotate the image carrier by a predetermined movement distance and then stopping the image carrier. Advantageous Effects of Disclosure According to the disclosure, it is possible to effectively prevent an image carrier and a charging member from being left in contact with each other for a long period of time while suppressing power consumption. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an example of an image forming device according to an embodiment. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of an image former of the image forming device illustrated in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view of another example of the image forming device according to the present embodiment when viewed from the front. FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the image former of the image forming device illustrated in FIG. 2A. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system configuration of the image forming device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control operation for controlling rotation of a photoreceptor drum in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system configuration for controlling rotation of the photoreceptor drum of the image fo