Image forming apparatus having first and second independently controllable fans

摘要

An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming portion; a fixing portion; a first air blowing portion; and a second air blowing portion. The apparatus is operable in a first air blowing mode in which both the first and second air blowing portions are driven and in which the direction of the air near the exit is the recording material feeding direction, and is operable in a second air blowing mode in which both the first and second air blowing portions are driven and in which a direction of the air near the exit is a recording material feeding direction and a speed of the air is lower than a speed of the air in the first air blowing mode or in which the direction of the air near the exit is the opposite direction to the recording material feeding direction.

主权项

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming portion configured to form a toner image on a recording material; a fixing portion configured to fix the toner image on the recording material by heating the recording material while feeding the recording material, through a nip, on which the toner image is formed; a first fan configured to take outside air into the inside of said image forming apparatus, the first fan generating airflow in a recording material feeding direction at a position downstream of the fixing portion with respect to the recording material feeding direction when only the first fan is driven; a second fan configured to take in outside air into the inside of said image forming apparatus, the second fan generating airflow in an opposite direction to the recording material feeding direction at the position when only the second fan is driven; a power source portion; and a controller configured to independently control the number of rotations of said first fan and said second fan, wherein the first fan is configured to blow air to the power source portion, and the second fan is configured to blow air to the image forming portion, and wherein said image forming apparatus executes an operation in a first air blowing mode in which both said first fan and second fan are driven, and executes an operation in a second air blowing mode in which both said first fan and said second fan are driven and in which the number of rotations of said first fan is lower than that in the first air blowing mode.