Patent ID: 7557463

Claim:
An image forming apparatus executing image forming processing in response to input from an AC power supply, comprising: a drive unit used for executing at least one of a mechanical operation and a heating operation that are included in said image forming processing; a control unit including a memory storing information for controlling said drive unit; and a power supply circuit for supplying a DC voltage to said drive unit and to said control unit that consumes less power than said drive unit, in response to input from said AC power supply, wherein said power supply circuit includes: a first power supply unit supplying a first voltage to a first power supply node in association with said drive unit; a second power supply unit supplying a second voltage lower than said first voltage to a second power supply node in association with said control unit; a coupling unit for electrically coupling said first power supply node and said second power supply node respectively of said first power supply unit and said second power supply unit, when an interruption of said AC power supply occurs; a detection unit for detecting the interruption of said AC power supply to output a detection signal; a third power supply unit supplying a predetermined voltage to a third power supply node in association with said detection unit; and a shutoff circuit electrically shutting off a passage for supply to said drive unit when the interruption of said AC power supply occurs, said first power supply unit and said second power supply unit have respective electrolytic capacitors provided between said first power supply node and said second power supply node respectively and a fixed voltage, said detection unit outputs said detection signal based on a comparison between a voltage level of said predetermined voltage supplied to said third power supply node and a reference voltage level, said coupling unit electrically couples said first power supply node and said second power supply node according to said detection signal, when the interruption of said AC power supply occurs, said second voltage is supplied for a predetermined period of time to said control unit based on electric charge stored by respective electrolytic capacitors of said first power supply unit and said second power supply unit, and when the interruption of said AC power supply occurs, said control unit receives said detection signal that is output from said detection unit to carry out a predetermined operation for protecting said information stored by said memory for said predetermined period of time.