Laser beam printer control apparatus

Claim 1

A laser beam printer including: printing process execution means for conducting a xerographic process, said printing process execution means having a photosensitive member, a laser light source, a scanning unit, and a fusing unit; process control means for controlling the operation of said printing process execution means; and signal processing means for receiving, analyzing and decoding a printing signal fed from the outside of said printer and for supplying a printing start signal to said process control means upon receiving printing start data, wherein said signal processing means further comprises provisional start signal producing means for supplying a provisional start signal to said process control means irrespective of contents of said printing signal upon starting reception of said printing signal, and said process control means further comprises means, responsive to said provisional start signal, for producing control signals for raising the temperature of said fusing unit to an operation temperature and for starting the operation of said scanning unit, and means for producing other control signals for lowering the temperature of said fusing unit to a value lower than said operation temperature and for stopping the operation of said scanning unit, provided that said printing start signal is not supplied within a preset time after a printing termination or within another preset time after the application of said provisional start signal.