Patent ID: 6987936
Filing Date: 2006-01-17
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a fixing unit that thermally fixes a toner image using a fixing member, the fixing unit heated by a heat generating member that generates heat by power supply from a chargeable auxiliary power supply; a power control unit that controls the power supply from the auxiliary power supply to the heat generating member based on a charging voltage of the auxiliary power supply; a job-turnaround-time predicting unit that predicts a job turnaround time required for executing an image forming job; a charging-time predicting unit that predicts a charging time for charging the auxiliary power supply to a predetermined charging voltage based on the charging voltage of the auxiliary power supply; and a control unit that controls a charging operation for the auxiliary power supply and execution of the image forming job based on the job turnaround time predicted and the charging time predicted, such that the job turnaround time for the image forming job is minimized.