Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090010688 | FIXING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND FIXING METHOD - When an infra-red heater is to be taken out from a fixing device for maintenance of the infra-red heater, screw-fastening is first released and one holder is extracted from a holding member. The infra-red heater is then pulled out from the side the holder was extracted from. This process is then reversed when a new or repaired infra-red heater is to be mounted on the fixing device. | 01-08-2009 |
20090016792 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, FIXING DEVICE, AND FIXING METHOD - An image forming apparatus includes an image forming mechanism for forming a toner image on a recording medium, and a fixing device for fixing the toner image on the recording medium. The fixing device including a fixing film, a pressure member, a contact member, a heating device, a holding member, and at least one of a low friction member and a thermal conductivity improving member provided between the fixing film and the contact member. The fixing film heated by the heating device via the contact member comes into contact with the recording medium. The pressure member comes into pressure contact with the fixing film. The contact member comes into pressure contact with the pressure member via the fixing film to form, between the fixing film and the pressure member, a nip portion through which the recording medium is passed. The holding member holds the contact member and the heating device. | 01-15-2009 |
20090116884 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressing member, a contacting member fixed in an interior of the fixing member, and a heating unit that emits infrared ray. A mechanism concentrates the infrared ray emitted by the heating unit into a nip portion between the fixing member and the pressing member and into an area narrower than a width of the nip portion. | 05-07-2009 |
20090148207 | Fixing device and image forming apparatus - A fixing device includes a flexible fixing member that heats a toner image to fuse, a contact member fixedly disposed internal to the fixing member and comes into contact with a pressure member via the fixing member to form a nip part, a plurality of heating devices that heats the contact member, wherein the contact member always maintains the contact state with the pressure member via the fixing member, the plurality of heating devices generally remain disposed in the fixing device under an operational state for heating and are freely removable for replacement under a non-operational state for heating. | 06-11-2009 |
20090208264 | Fixing device and image forming apparatus including same - A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure member, a contact member, and a heater. The fixing member is provided in a width direction of a recording medium and to heat and fuse a toner image on the recording medium. The pressure member is to press against the fixing member. The contact member is provided inside the fixing member and to contact the pressure member through the fixing member to form a nip portion between the pressure member and the fixing member. The heater includes a heating element and is to heat the contact member. The heating element of the heater is a mold member of a relatively thin plate extending in a width direction of the fixing member and includes a flat surface that faces the contact member. An image forming apparatus for forming an image includes the fixing device. | 08-20-2009 |
20100008691 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS CAPABLE OF IMPROVING FIXING EFFICIENCY AND SUPPRESSING OVERHEATING - In a fixing device, a rotatable endless film heats a sheet. A heat source is contacted and surrounded by the endless film to heat the endless film. A pressing member is disposed opposite the heat source. An air current generator generates an air current inside a loop formed by the endless film. The endless film and the pressing member are disposed to sandwich and feed the sheet forward as the sheet passes therebetween. The air current generator concentrates the air current on the endless film to heat the sheet at a given position. | 01-14-2010 |
20100225053 | Sheet Feeder And Image Forming Apparatus Including Same - A sheet feeder including a sheet feed shaft, a partially cut-out semicircular sheet feed roller coaxially provided to the sheet feed shaft, a cam coaxially provided to the sheet feed shaft, a driven gear having a toothless portion coaxially provided to the sheet feed shaft, a bottom plate movable to contact or separate from the cam, a driving unit to move the driven gear relative to the sheet feed shaft in a direction of rotation of the sheet feed shaft, a drive gear to drive the driven gear, a gear stopping unit to stop rotation of the driven gear at a predetermined timing, a coupling unit to drive the driven gear and the sheet feed shaft in conjunction with each other, and a shaft stopping unit to stop rotation of the sheet feed shaft. | 09-09-2010 |
20100232822 | Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same - In a fixing device, a first reflection plate covers a part of an outer circumferential surface of an infrared heater in a circumferential direction of the infrared heater along an axial direction of the infrared heater substantially perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the infrared heater. The first reflection plate reflects light emitted by the infrared heater toward a fixing member. At least one light control mirror is provided in at least one end of the first reflection plate in an axial direction of the first reflection plate. At least one second reflection plate opposes the infrared heater via the at least one light control mirror to reflect the light emitted by the infrared heater and passing through the at least one light control mirror toward a center portion of the fixing member in an axial direction of the fixing member. | 09-16-2010 |
20110020018 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS USING SAME - A fixing device includes a fixing member including a recording medium passing area inside thereof through which the recording medium passes, a first heater disposed in the fixing member to heat the fixing member, a first pressing member disposed opposite the fixing member to press against and rotate the fixing member to fix the unfixed toner image on the recording medium, a second heater disposed outside the recording medium passing area and inside the fixing member to heat the fixing member cyclically in a given cycle of heating, a temperature detector to detect a change in the temperature of the fixing member when the fixing member is cyclically heated by the second heater, and a determination unit to evaluate a condition of rotation of the fixing member based on the cycle of heating by the second heater and the cycle of change in the temperature detected by the temperature detector. | 01-27-2011 |
20110026961 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS USING SAME - A fixing device for fixing an unfixed toner image on a recording medium includes a rotatable fixing member heated by a heater to contact the recording medium bearing the unfixed toner image while rotating, with the heater disposed inside a hollow of the fixing member and turned on and off intermittently at a start of a fixing process to heat the fixing member intermittently, a first pressing member disposed opposite the fixing member to press against and rotate the fixing member to define a fixing nip through which the recording medium passes to fix the unfixed toner image with heat and pressure, and a temperature detector to detect a change in the temperature of the fixing member when the heater turns on and off intermittently. When the temperature detector detects the change in the temperature of the fixing device, the heater is turned on continuously. | 02-03-2011 |
20110116822 | Fixing device, image forming apparatus incorporating same, and method of dimensioning fixing device - A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressing member, a temperature detector, and a heater. The pressing member contacts an outer circumferential surface of the fixing member to form a fixing nip between the fixing member and the pressing member through which a recording medium bearing a toner image passes. The heater heats the fixing member to a predetermined temperature based on a detection result provided by the temperature detector. A circumferential distance A between the temperature detector and the heater along a circumference of the fixing member is defined by the following formula: | 05-19-2011 |
20140125007 | AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT FEEDER, IMAGE READING DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - According to an embodiment, an ADF that feeds and conveys original document sheets one sheet by one sheet from a tray unit to a read position on a document glass by motive power from a driving motor includes: an opening/closing unit operable to open and close relative to the document glass; an open/close detection sensor that detects an open/closed state of the opening/closing unit; a first interlock switch, which is arranged between a power source and the driving motor, that is on when the opening/closing unit is closed, and vice versa; and a control circuit that determines the open/closed state of the opening/closing unit based on detection outputs of the first interlock switch and the open/close detection sensor. The control circuit determines that the opening/closing unit is in the closed state when the first interlock switch is on and the open/close detection sensor is detecting the closed state. | 05-08-2014 |
20140177012 | IMAGE READING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image reading apparatus includes: a transmitting glass; and a step member that is located upstream of a reading position, at which an image of a conveyed document is read by a reading unit via a transmitting glass, in a conveying direction of the document, and has a document guiding surface at a position away from a surface of a transmitting glass by a prescribed distance and forms a step between the document guiding surface and the transmitting glass. The step member is provided with a protrusion protruding downstream in the conveying direction of the document to form space between the transmitting glass and a downstream part of the step member in the conveying direction of the document. | 06-26-2014 |