Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for controlling temperature of a laser printer fuser with faster response time

US7224918B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
8References
40Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 18, 2004
Grant dateMay 29, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 25, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03G15/205
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An improved laser printer is provided that keeps its fuser at a standby temperature that is somewhat raised above the ambient temperature, which allows the printer to operate more quickly (to begin printing the first page) when a print job arrives at the printer. The time needed to raise the fuser's temperature is minimized, so that other printer operations become the determining factor in the time to first print parameter. The electrical energy that energizes the fuser is provided in a form that prevents light flicker, by use of AC waveform phase control, or by use of integer half cycle control. The present invention uses closed-loop feedback control, and the type of controller is a PID controller.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.