JP2012058629A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a printing apparatus and a printing method that take ecology into consideration, eliminate waste of power consumption, and consider printing speed.
A printing apparatus 1 having a thermal fixing means 27, wherein a printing speed variable means for changing a printing speed, a means for acquiring information on the number of printed sheets included in print data, and a print included in the print data. Based on the information on the number of prints, a print speed setting means 57 for setting a print speed at which the power consumption required for the print processing of the print data is minimized, and the print data based on the print speed set by the print speed setting means. And print processing means 56 for performing print processing.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus using a thermal fixing device and a printing method using a printing apparatus using a thermal fixing device.

  Today, the preservation of the global environment is screamed worldwide, and emission regulations for greenhouse gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) are being realized, centered on the Global Warming Prevention Conference. Under such circumstances, efforts are also being made to reduce CO2 in printing apparatuses. In particular, the heat fixing device used in the printing apparatus consumes a large amount of power, and it is important to reduce the power consumption of the heat fixing device in order to reduce the power consumption of the printing device.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention that provides means capable of performing recording with the minimum power consumption according to the use and purpose of use in an electrophotographic image recording apparatus depending on the copy amount and the type of recording paper. It is. For example, an invention in which the operator selects the energy saving mode according to the application and switches the throughput to reduce the power consumption of the fixing heater, the main motor, etc., or the thin paper mode to reduce the power consumption of the fixing heater. It is.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-72678

  However, in recent years, printing apparatuses have been speeded up, and control is performed to perform a large amount of printing at high speed. For this reason, when power saving control of the thermal fixing device is performed regardless of the number of printed sheets, useless power consumption may be used, which is not desirable from the viewpoint of reducing power consumption. However, on the other hand, there is a case where print output is rushed.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a printing apparatus and a printing method for the printing apparatus that take ecology into consideration and reduce power consumption and also consider printing speed.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing unit, a printing speed variable unit that varies a printing speed, a unit that acquires information on the number of prints included in print data, and the print data. Based on the information on the number of prints included, a print speed setting means for setting a print speed at which the power consumption required for the print processing of the print data is minimized, and the printing based on the print speed set by the print speed setting means This can be achieved by providing a printing apparatus having print processing means for performing data print processing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing unit, wherein a printing speed variable unit that varies a printing speed, a unit that acquires information on the number of prints included in print data, and the printing Based on the information on the number of prints included in the data, based on the print speed setting means for setting the print speed at which the print time required for the print processing of the print data is the shortest, and the print speed set by the print speed setting means This can be achieved by providing a printing apparatus having print processing means for performing print processing of the print data.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the printing speed setting means includes a first setting means for setting the amount of heat required for printing image data on one sheet, and a temperature at which heat fixing processing can be performed. A second setting means for setting a heat amount for heating the heat fixing means; a calculation means for calculating natural heat radiation from the heat fixing means; a heat amount set by the first setting means; and the second setting means. A heat quantity set by the setting means and the heat quantity calculated by the calculation means are added, and a printing speed at which the heat quantity obtained by dividing the addition result by the number of printed sheets of paper is minimized is set. This can be achieved by providing a printing apparatus having the setting means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method of the printing apparatus having the thermal fixing means, the process for obtaining the number of printed sheets included in the print data and the number of printed sheets included in the print data Based on the print speed setting process for setting the print speed at which the power consumption required for the print processing of the print data is minimized, and the print speed of the apparatus is variable based on the print speed set by the print speed setting process. In addition, this can be achieved by providing a printing method of a printing apparatus that performs a printing process based on the print data.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method for a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing unit, a process for obtaining information on the number of printed sheets included in print data, and information on the number of printed sheets included in the print data. A print speed setting process for setting a print speed at which the print time required for the print process of the print data is the shortest, and a print process for the print data based on the print speed set by the print speed setting process. This can be achieved by providing a printing method for the printing apparatus to be performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to select a printing process that reduces power consumption corresponding to the number of printed sheets, or a process that shortens printing time, and in the case of reducing power consumption, this contributes to protection of today's global environment. Selecting a process for shortening the printing time is advantageous when rushing the printing process.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a printer apparatus as a printing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing explaining the internal structure of the printer apparatus (printing apparatus) in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a belt-type heat fixing apparatus concretely. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the first embodiment, and is a flowchart for explaining processing of a data drawing unit. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the first embodiment, and is a flowchart for explaining processing of an eco-level print control unit. FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram of a printer apparatus as a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of calculation of the calorie | heat amount with respect to the printing speed. It is a table which shows the relationship between the number of printed sheets and printing speed. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of this embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the internal configuration of the printer apparatus (printing apparatus) in the present embodiment. The printer apparatus 1 shown in the figure is an electrophotographic secondary transfer tandem type color printer apparatus, which includes four image forming units 2, an intermediate transfer belt unit 3, a sheet feeding unit 4, and a conveyance for double-sided printing. The unit 5 is configured.

  The four image forming units 2 have a configuration in which four image forming units 6 (6M, 6C, 6Y, 6K) are arranged side by side in a multistage manner from right to left in FIG. Of the four image forming units 6, the three upstream image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6Y are magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow, which are subtractive three primary colors, respectively. A mono-color image is formed with the (Y) color toner, and the image forming unit 6K forms a monochrome image with the black (K) toner mainly used for dark portions of characters and images.

  Each of the image forming units 6 has the same configuration except for the color of the toner stored in the toner container. Accordingly, the configuration of the black (K) image forming unit 6K will be described below as an example.

  The image forming unit 6K includes a photosensitive drum 7 at the bottom. The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is made of, for example, an organic photoconductive material. A cleaner 8, a charging roller 9, a print head 11, and a developing roller 13 of the developing device 12 are arranged around the periphery of the photosensitive drum 7.

  The developing device 12 puts one of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) toners in the upper toner container as indicated by M, C, Y, and K in the drawing. The intermediate portion is provided with a toner replenishing mechanism for the lower portion, the lower portion is provided with the above-described developing roller 13 at the side opening, the toner stirring member inside, the toner supply roller for supplying toner to the developing roller 13, and the developing A doctor blade or the like for regulating the toner layer on the roller 13 to a constant layer thickness is provided.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 3 has an endless transfer belt 14 extending in a flat loop shape from substantially the left and right sides of the figure at the approximate center of the main unit, and the transfer belt 14 is stretched over the transfer belt 14. A driving roller 15 and a driven roller 16 are provided to circulate and move the belt 14 counterclockwise in the drawing.

The transfer belt 14 transfers the toner image directly onto the belt surface (primary transfer) and conveys the toner image to the transfer position to the paper for further transfer (secondary transfer). The whole is an intermediate transfer belt unit.
The intermediate transfer belt unit 3 includes a belt position control mechanism 17 in the loop of the flat loop-shaped transfer belt 14. The belt position control mechanism 17 includes a primary transfer roller 18 made of a conductive foam sponge that presses against the lower peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 via the transfer belt 14.

  The belt position control mechanism 17 supports the three primary transfer rollers 18 corresponding to the three image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6Y of magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow (Y) in a bowl shape. A single primary transfer roller 18 corresponding to the black (K) image forming unit 6K is rotated and moved at a rotational movement period different from the period of the three primary transfer rollers 18 around the axis. The transfer belt 14 is moved away from the photosensitive drum 7, and the full-color mode (all four primary transfer rollers 18 are in contact with the transfer belt 14) and the monochrome mode (only the primary transfer roller 18 corresponding to the image forming unit 6K are provided). And a non-transfer mode (all four primary transfer rollers 18 are separated from the transfer belt 14).

In the intermediate transfer belt unit 3, a belt cleaner unit is disposed further upstream of the uppermost image forming unit 6M on the upstream side in the belt moving direction, and is flat and thin so as to be almost along the entire lower surface. The waste toner collection container 19 is detachably disposed.
The paper feed unit 4 includes two paper feed cassettes 21 arranged in two upper and lower stages, and in the vicinity of the paper feed opening (right side in the figure) of the two paper feed cassettes 21, respectively, A feeding roller 23, a separating roller 24, and a standby conveying roller pair 25 are disposed. In the paper conveyance direction (vertical upward direction in the figure) of the standby conveyance roller pair 25, a secondary transfer roller 26 that is in pressure contact with the driven roller 16 via the transfer belt 14 is disposed, and the secondary transfer portion to the paper is arranged. Forming.

  A belt-type heat fixing device 27 serving as a heat fixing unit is disposed on the downstream side (upper side in the drawing) of the secondary transfer unit, and the paper after fixing is placed on the belt further downstream of the belt-type heat fixing device 27. A pair of unloading rollers 28 that are unloaded from the thermal fixing device 27 and a pair of discharge rollers 31 that discharge the unloaded sheets to a sheet discharge tray 29 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus are provided.

  The duplex printing conveyance unit 5 includes a start return path 32a that branches from the intermediate conveyance path between the carry-out roller pair 28 and the discharge roller pair 31 to the right lateral direction in the drawing, and then an intermediate return path 32b that bends downward. A terminal return path 32c that bends in the left lateral direction opposite to the above and eventually reverses the return sheet, and four return roller pairs 33a, 33b, 33c, and 33d disposed in the middle of these return paths. ing. The exit of the end return path 32 c communicates with a conveyance path to the pair of standby conveyance rollers 25 corresponding to the sheet feeding cassette 21 below the sheet feeding unit 4.

  In this example, a cleaning unit 35 and a take-in roller 36 are disposed on the upper surface of the intermediate transfer belt unit 3. The cleaning unit 35 comes into contact with the upper surface of the transfer belt 14 to scrape and remove the waste toner, and the take-in roller 36 takes over the waste toner removed by the cleaning unit 35, and a temporary storage unit of the belt cleaner unit (not shown). The accumulated waste toner is conveyed to the upper part in the dropping cylinder by a conveying screw and sent to the waste toner collecting container 19 through the dropping cylinder.

Further, in order to bring the cleaning unit 35 into pressure contact with the transfer belt 14 with an appropriate pressure, a pressure roller 37 is provided on the intermediate transfer belt unit 3 side to press the transfer belt 14 toward the cleaning unit 35 from below. Yes.
In the above configuration, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the belt-type heat fixing device 27 more specifically. The belt-type heat fixing device 27 includes a heating roller 40, a fixing roller 41, a fixing belt 42 spanned between the heating roller 40 and the fixing roller 41, and a pressure roller 43.

  The heating roller 40 has a built-in heater 45. In this example, the heater 45 has a built-in halogen heater. Further, on the surface of the fixing belt 42 on the heating roller 40 side, a thermistor 46 is disposed, for example, at a position corresponding to the center of the belt in a normal state, that is, in a state in which the fixing belt 42 does not generate belt deviation. A thermistor 47 is also disposed on the pressure roller 43.

  Then, the toner image attached to the sheet conveyed upward while being sandwiched between the fixing roller 41 and the pressure roller 43 is melted at a predetermined temperature (for example, 180 ° C.) and thermally fixed on the sheet. The thermistors 46 and 47 are configured to set the fixing roller 41 to a predetermined temperature, and drive control of the heater 45 is performed according to a detection signal from the thermistors 46 and 47 to set the fixing roller 41 to a predetermined temperature. .

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a control system of the printer apparatus 1 having the above configuration. The printer apparatus 1 includes an interface controller (hereinafter referred to as an I / F controller) 55, a printer controller 56, an engine controller 57, and the like. From a host device 58 such as a personal computer (PC) via a wired LAN or USB interface. The transmitted print data is stored in, for example, the SDRAM 59 under the control of the I / F controller 55. In addition, a nonvolatile memory 50 and a hard disk (HDD) 60 are also connected to the I / F controller 55. A table described later is constructed in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  The printer controller 56 converts the print data supplied from the I / F controller 55 into video data, and print heads 11Y and 11M corresponding to yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). , 11C, and 11K.

  The printer controller 56 receives the temperature detection signal of the heating roller 40 from the thermistor 46 provided in the belt-type heat fixing device 27 and receives the temperature detection signal of the pressure roller 43 from the thermistor 47. The heater 45 provided in the belt-type heat fixing device 27 is supplied with power from the power supply unit 62 based on a control signal output from the printer controller 56 in accordance with the temperature detection signal.

  The engine controller 57 performs drive control of the intermediate transfer belt unit 3, the paper feed unit 4, and the duplex printing transport unit 5 described above, and outputs various drive signals to corresponding devices. The power supply unit 62 is connected to a commercial power supply of AC 100V through a main switch 63.

  In the non-volatile memory 50, a table 51 storing heat consumption corresponding to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed, and a table 52 storing printing time corresponding to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed are constructed. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the table 51 that stores the heat consumption corresponding to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed.

  The configuration of the table 51 is such that the printing speed is set to 10 ppm, 20 ppm,... 60 ppm corresponding to the data of 10, 20,... 140, and the amount of heat consumed in each combination. Remember. Note that the warm-up time, pre-rotation time, post-rotation time, and print time data per sheet use predetermined numerical values corresponding to the printing speed, and the warm-up heat amount, paper heat amount, and natural heat amount are the above values. Based on the calculation.

  For example, in the example shown in the figure, when the printing speed is 10 ppm, if the number of printed sheets is 10, the printer apparatus 1 consumes a heat amount of “3460”, and if the number of printed sheets is 20, the amount of heat of “6920”. If the number of printed sheets is 30, the amount of heat of “10380” is consumed. The other combinations are as shown in the figure.

  Here, an example of the calculation method of the heat amount during warm-up, the paper heat amount, and the natural heat amount, and the calculation method of the consumed heat amount in the case of each combination will be described. As described above, the belt-type heat fixing device 27 performs printing by applying heat and pressure to the toner image transferred onto the paper to dissolve it and fixing it onto the paper. Therefore, it is necessary to apply heat for dissolving the toner image to the paper, and it is necessary to apply a certain amount of heat regardless of the printing speed. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram. For example, when a certain amount of heat (for example, “100”) is applied to a sheet, it is necessary to apply the sheet while the sheet is pressed against the fixing roller 41 at a low printing speed of 30 ppm for 2 seconds. In addition, at the high printing speed of 60 ppm, it is necessary to apply the same amount of heat while the sheet is pressed against the fixing roller 41 for 1 second.

  For this reason, in order to give a certain amount of heat to the sheet, the belt-type heat fixing device 27 needs to store the above amount of heat. However, the amount of heat differs depending on the printing speed as described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a small amount of heat is sufficient at a low printing speed of 30 ppm, and a large amount of heat is required at a high printing speed of 60 ppm.

  Hereinafter, the calculation method of heat consumption will be described using specific numerical values. The example shown in FIG. 7 is the case where the printing speed is 60 ppm and 30 ppm, and FIG. 7A shows the case where the printing speed is 60 ppm, and FIG. 7B shows the case where the printing speed is 30 ppm. The case where the number of printed sheets is 5 and 100 will be described.

  Here, the amount of heat required to print one sheet of paper is “100”, the amount of heating of the heating roller 40 is (200 / second), the warm-up time in the case of high speed is (34 seconds), the low speed In this case, the warm-up time is (21 seconds), the natural heat dissipation is 50 / second when the speed is high, and 45 / second when the speed is low. In this case, when five sheets are printed at a high speed of 60 ppm, the heat consumption is “7550”. That is, in this case, the warm-up time is 34 seconds, and since heating is performed with a heat amount of “200” per second, a heating heat amount of “6800” (200 × 34) is required, and further, a heat amount of 500 sheets is heated. (1 × 5 × 100) and an added value of heat quantity “250” (5 × 50) for natural heat radiation.

  On the other hand, at a low speed of 30 ppm, the heat consumption required for printing five sheets is “5150”. That is, in this case, the warm-up takes 21 seconds, and since heating is performed with a heat amount of “200” per second, a heating amount of “4200” (200 × 21) is necessary, and a heat amount of “500” (2 × 5 × 50) and the heat value “450” (2 × 5 × 45) for natural heat dissipation. Therefore, in this case, considering the amount of heat consumed, a lower speed is more advantageous when performing printing processing for five sheets.

  Similarly, when performing the printing process for 100 sheets, if the calculation is performed, the heat consumption amount is “21800” at the high speed, and the heat consumption amount is “23200” at the low speed. In this case, high speed is more advantageous.

  Therefore, the above-described table shown in FIG. 4 is created by performing the above calculation for each combination of the number of printed sheets and the printing speed. Further, the thick frame portion shown in the figure shows a range where the heat consumption is the smallest with respect to the number of printed sheets.

  On the other hand, the table shown in FIG. 8 is the printing speed data with respect to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed. Like the above, the warm-up time, the pre-rotation time, the post-rotation time, and the print time data per sheet are the same as the print speed. Using the corresponding numerical value, the printing time corresponding to the number of printed sheets is calculated. Also, the thick frame portion shown in the figure indicates a range in which the print waiting time is the shortest with respect to the corresponding number of printed sheets.

In the above configuration, the processing operation of this example will be described below.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of this example. First, a print mode is set and it is determined whether a print job is input (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1). Here, the setting of the print mode is, for example, the setting of the ecology-oriented mode or the printing time-oriented mode. In the case of the ecology-oriented mode, the print processing with the least amount of heat consumption, that is, the power consumption is selected. On the other hand, in the printing time emphasis mode, emphasis is placed on the waiting time for the printing process, and the printing process with the smallest waiting time is selected.

  Next, when print data is input from a host device (not shown) (YES in S1), the printer apparatus 1 performs a print job analysis process (S2). If no print data is input from the host device (NO in S1), the input of print data is awaited.

  If print data has been input, information on the total number of print pages included in the print job is acquired by print job analysis processing (S3). For example, information on the total number of printed pages described in the header of the print job is read and notified to the CPU.

  Next, the table constructed in the above-described nonvolatile memory 50 is referred to based on the acquired information on the total number of printed pages. For example, when the above-described ecology-oriented mode is selected, the table of heat consumption for the number of printed sheets and the printing speed shown in FIG. 4 is referred to. On the other hand, when the printing time emphasis mode is selected, the table of the printing time with respect to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed shown in FIG. 5 is referred to.

  Next, the printing speed is set based on the data stored in the table (S5). For example, when the ecology priority mode is selected as the print mode and the table shown in FIG. 4 is referred to, the corresponding print speed is set according to the number of prints. For example, if the total number of printed pages is 10 (10 sheets) as a result of the above analysis, the printing speed with the least amount of heat consumption is set from the table shown in FIG. Specifically, the printing speed corresponding to the number of printed sheets 10 and having the smallest amount of heat consumption registered in the thick frame of the table shown in FIG. 4 is set. In this case, the printing speed is set to 10 ppm corresponding to “3460”, which has the smallest heat consumption.

  Similarly, for example, when the total number of printed pages is 20 pages (20 sheets), a printing speed of 20 ppm at which the heat consumption is minimized is set from the table shown in FIG. Further, when the total number of printed pages is 30 pages or 40 pages, a printing speed of 30 ppm at which the heat consumption is minimized is set from the table shown in FIG. Hereinafter, it is as shown in FIG.

  Next, the printing speed is set according to the above settings, the paper transport mechanism transports the paper according to the above settings, and the image forming unit 2 performs a printing process on the paper (S6). Thereafter, it is determined whether the processing of the print job is completed (S7). If all the print jobs are not completed (S7 is NO), the printing process is continued, and if all the print jobs are completed (S7 is YES), printing is performed. The process ends.

  By performing the processing as described above, it is possible to perform the printing process with the smallest amount of heat consumption based on the number of printed sheets included in the print job, and to reduce the power consumption of the printer apparatus 1.

  On the other hand, when the printing time emphasis mode is selected, the waiting time for the printing process can be minimized. For example, when urgent print processing is necessary, the printing time emphasis mode is selected and performed. The processing in this case is basically the same as the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  That is, first, it is determined whether print data is input from a host device (not shown) (S1). If print data is input (S1 is YES), print job analysis processing is performed (S2). Then, information on the total number of printed pages included in the print job is acquired (S3), and a table constructed in the nonvolatile memory 50 is referred to based on this information.

  In this case, the printing time emphasis mode is selected, and the printing speed is set with reference to the table of printing times with respect to the number of printed sheets and the printing speed shown in FIG. 8 (S5). For example, if the total number of printed pages is 5 (5) as a result of the above analysis, a printing speed of 30 ppm corresponding to 33.0 s in the thick frame with the shortest printing time is set from the table shown in FIG. .

  Similarly, for example, when the total number of printed pages is 10 pages (10 sheets), a printing speed of 40 ppm at which the printing time is the shortest is set from the table shown in FIG. Further, when the total number of printed pages is 15 pages or 20 pages, a printing speed of 50 ppm at which the printing time is the shortest is set from the table shown in FIG. Hereinafter, it is as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the printing speed is set according to the above processing, and thereafter, the printing processing on the paper is performed as described above (S6, S7). By performing processing in this way, it is possible to perform printing processing with the shortest printing time based on the number of printed sheets included in the print job, which is a convenient printing method when, for example, urgently obtaining print output is desired.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer apparatus 2 ... Image formation part 3 ... Intermediate transfer belt unit 4 ... Paper feed part 5 ... Conveyance unit 6, 6M, 6C, 6Y, 6K for double-sided printing Unit 7... Photosensitive drum 8... Cleaner 9... Charging rollers 11, 11 Y, 11 M, 11 C, 11 K ..Print head 12 .. Developer 13 .. Developing roller 14. Drive roller 16, driven roller 17, belt position control mechanism 18, primary transfer roller 19, waste toner collecting container 21, sheet feeding cassette 22, sheet take-out roller 23, feeding roller 24, and roller 25..Standing conveying roller pair 27..Belt type heat fixing device 28..Unloading roller pair 29..Discharge tray 31..Discharge roller pair 32a..Start return path 32b..Intermediate return path 32c..Termination Return path 3a, 33b, 33c, 33d..Return roller pair 35..Cleaning unit 36..Capture roller 37..Pressing roller 40..Heating roller 41..Fixing roller 42..Fixing belt 43..Pressure roller 46. 47. Thermistor 50 Nonvolatile memory 51, 52 Table 55 I / F controller 56 Printer controller 57 Engine controller 58 Host device 59 SDRAM
60..Hard disk 62..Power supply unit 63..Main switch

Claims (5)

In a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing means,
A printing speed variable means for varying the printing speed;
Means for obtaining information on the number of prints included in the print data;
A print speed setting means for setting a print speed at which the power consumption required for the print processing of the print data is minimized based on the information on the number of prints included in the print data;
Print processing means for performing print processing of the print data based on the print speed set by the print speed setting means;
A printing apparatus comprising: In a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing means,
A printing speed variable means for varying the printing speed;
Means for obtaining information on the number of prints included in the print data;
A printing speed setting means for setting a printing speed at which the printing time required for the printing process of the printing data is the shortest based on the information on the number of printed sheets included in the printing data;
Print processing means for performing print processing of the print data based on the print speed set by the print speed setting means;
A printing apparatus comprising: The printing speed setting means
First setting means for setting the amount of heat required to print image data on one sheet of paper;
A second setting means for setting an amount of heat for heating the heat fixing means to a temperature at which heat fixing processing is possible;
Calculation means for calculating natural heat radiation from the heat fixing means;
The heat quantity set by the first setting means, the heat quantity set by the second setting means, and the heat quantity calculated by the calculation means are added, and the addition result is divided by the number of printed sheets. Third setting means for setting a printing speed at which the amount of heat obtained in this way is minimized,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: In a printing method of a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing means,
Processing for obtaining information on the number of copies included in the print data;
A printing speed setting process for setting a printing speed at which the power consumption required for the printing process of the print data is minimized based on the information on the number of printed sheets included in the print data;
Based on the printing speed set by the printing speed setting process, the printing speed of the apparatus is varied, and the printing process based on the print data is performed.
A printing method for a printing apparatus. In a printing method of a printing apparatus having a thermal fixing means,
Processing for obtaining information on the number of copies included in the print data;
A print speed setting process for setting a print speed at which the print time required for the print process of the print data is the shortest based on the information on the number of prints included in the print data;
Printing the print data based on the print speed set by the print speed setting process;
A printing method for a printing apparatus.