Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.

Ube Industries, Inc.

Chikara Hiraoka

Toshio Ogiso

Toru Hanashima

Tamotsu Ikeda

Katsumi Kumada

Shigeru Obata

Yoshiharu Takahashi

Kazuhiro Wakamatsu

Kohta Sakaya

Hiromitsu Fukuda

Shunichi Oohara

Kazuo Kikuchi

Katsuyoshi Onose

Masahiko Saito

Masahiro Yagi

Junichi Matsuno

Masaru Nakano

Shogo Matsumoto

Tetsuji Takegoshi

Shoji Ukei

Akira Shimizu

Hiroyuki Seki

Yuusuke Furuichi

Akira Sasaki

Kaoru Tada

Kenji Nakamura

Osamu Saito

Kazuyoshi Kondo

Masao Mitani

Isao Nakajima

Ippei Kimura

Tomoyoshi Yamazaki

Yasuhide Ohkubo

Yoshihiro Kawakami

Masafumi Takahira

Shuho Yokokawa

Yoshitaro Ishii

Yoshihiro Fukuhata

Masashi Yamamoto

Ikuo Fujii

Yasuo Matsuyama

Akihiko Yamazaki

Toshikazu Tsumura

Kenji Asuwa

Takamitsu Ikematsu

Seiji Okunomiya

Hidefumi Ohtsuka

Yuichiro Suzuki

Shoji Takeya

Kazushige Oonishi

Hisao Suka

Yoshio Ohuchi

Hiroshi Oda

Hiroyoshi Matsumoto

Tetsunori Kaneko

Shizuo Tsuruta

Yoji Hirose

Chiharu Kamoshida

Tsuyoshi Koyama

Goro Sato

Tuyoshi Koyama

Toru Ohashi

Hitoshi Furuyama

Takashi Kakuhashi

Shigeru c/o Hitachi Ltd IntellPropGroup Obata

Masaru c/o Hitachi Ltd IntellPropGroup Nakano

Toshioc/o Hitachi Ltd IntellPropGroup Ogiso

Shogo c/o Hitachi Ltd IntelPropGroup Matsumoto

Kazushige c/o Hitachi Ltd IntelPropGroup Oonishi

Hiromitsu c/o Hitachi Ltd IntellPropGroup Fukuda

Kazuhiro Wakamatus

An image forming apparatus including an intake opening from which an outside air is drawn, a fixing device disposed above the intake opening to heat a recording medium to fix an image onto the recording medium, and a flow path for the air drawn from the intake opening to direct the air onto devices or components provided near the fixing device inside the image forming apparatus by negative pressure generated by an upward current of hot air generated from the fixing device.

Image forming apparatus and air flow path therein

A fixing device, including a fixing member; an opposing member contacting the fixing member to form a fixing nip; plural separation assisting members; a contact direction biasing member contacting an end of the auxiliary separation members to the surface of the fixing member; a contact and release switching member switching contacting the end of the auxiliary separation members to the surface of the fixing member and releasing the end of the auxiliary separation members therefrom; a fixing exit guide member guiding a recording medium to a discharge direction and separated from the fixing member by the separation assisting member; a first rotating member near the auxiliary separation members downstream from an end thereof; and a second rotating member guiding a recording medium guided by the fixing exit guide member in the recording medium conveyance direction while rotating.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A mechanism for guiding a recording medium into a nip formed between a first rotary member subjected to heating, and a second rotary member pressed against the first rotary member includes a guide member and a biasing member. The guide member is disposed upstream from the nip to guide the recording medium therealong. The biasing member is connected to the guide member to mechanically bias the guide member. The guide member is subjected to a constant biasing force from the biasing member and to a pressure force from the recording medium. The pressure force is opposite the biasing force and variable with a stiffness of the recording medium being guided. The guide member is movable to different operational positions depending on the biasing and pressure forces acting thereon.

Media guide mechanism, fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fixing device includes a first opposed body and a second opposed body pressed against the first opposed body. A resilient member exerts a resilient bias to the second opposed body that presses the second opposed body against the first opposed body. A lever assembly is swingable to move the second opposed body against the resilient bias exerted by the resilient member between at least a reduced pressure position where the second opposed body presses against the first opposed body with reduced pressure therebetween and an enhanced pressure position where the second opposed body presses against the first opposed body with enhanced pressure therebetween. A resistance applier engages the lever assembly to exert drag on the lever assembly when the lever assembly moves the second opposed body from the reduced pressure position to the enhanced pressure position.

Lever switcher with mechanism for minimizing mechanical shock and sound and fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating lever switcher

A sheet supplying device that is incorporatable in an image forming apparatus includes a recording media container, a sheet feeding unit to feed a recording medium from the recording media container, and a frame to support the recording media container and the sheet feeding unit. The recording media container is detachably attachable to the frame in a first operation in which the recording media container is moved in a sheet conveyance direction in which the recording medium is conveyed upstream or downstream by the sheet feeding unit, and the recording media container is separated from the frame and the sheet feeding unit with the sheet feeding unit remaining in the frame, and a second operation in which the recording media container is moved in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, and the recording media container is separated from the frame together with the sheet feeding unit.

Sheet supplying device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A guide device includes a fixing exit guide, a first rotary body, a second rotary body disposed downstream from the first rotary body in a recording medium conveyance direction and partially protruding from a guide face through a slot of the fixing exit guide to contact and support an image side of a recording medium conveyed over the second rotary body, and at least one guide rib mounted on the guide face of the fixing exit guide and extending substantially in the recording medium conveyance direction. The guide rib includes a contact face contacting the image side of the recording medium and a downstream end disposed downstream from the contact face in the recording medium conveyance direction to overlap the second rotary body in cross-section taken along a direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the second rotary body.

Guide device with mechanism capable of minimizing damage to toner image and recording medium and fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fusing apparatus for fusing a toner image onto a recording medium using heat and pressure includes a fusing roller; an endless pressing belt disposed opposite the fusing roller; and a pressing member for pressing the endless pressing belt onto the fusing roller. A recording medium with a transferred toner image is passed through a fusing nip between the fusing roller and the pressing belt. The fusing roller includes positive and negative crown portions along the axial direction. The pressing member includes convex and concave surface portions along the longitudinal direction. When the pressing member is pressed onto the fusing roller, the positive and negative crown portions of the fusing roller are engaged with the concave and convex surface portions, respectively, of the pressing member. The pressing member exerts a greater pressing force on the fusing roller at a central portion than at an end portion.

Fusing apparatus and image forming apparatus

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fixing device including: a heating roller that generates a heat and is formed to have a mold releasing property; a pressure belt that is brought into contact with the heating roller and is driven according to a rotation of the heating roller; an arm that presses the pressure belt toward the heating roller; and a belt regulating member that contacts an end face of the pressure belt to regulate a shift thereof and is configured to be swingable with respect to the arm.

Fixing device and electro photographic apparatus using the same

A fixing unit where an operating force for releasing a nip can be reduced with a small-sized configuration. The fixing unit has a heating roller including a heating element, a pressure belt, pressure arms, pressure springs, and nip load releasing units. The pressure belt is supported in an intermediate position between the pressure arms. One end portions of the pressure arms are brought into contact with the pressure springs respectively. The other end portions of the pressure arms are brought into contact with the nip load releasing units respectively. When a load applied to the pressure belt is released by the nip load releasing units, the other end portions of the pressure arms move away from the heating roller.

Fixing unit and image forming apparatus having the same

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing device including: a roller that develops an electric latent image formed on an image holding body; a chamber that stores a toner; a case that houses the roller and the chamber; a concave portion that is inwardly concaved from the case and that includes: a sidewall, a bottom, and a filling port formed in the bottom; and a first lid that closes the filling port.

Developing device and image forming apparatus using the same

A ratio of a radius of curvature of a pressure applying member with an elastic layer, which pushes an endless belt wound around an endless heating member with pressure, in a transferring direction to a radius of curvature of an outer diameter of the heating roller is set to 1.1 or more.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus using the same

To accomplish high-speed fixing which requires high-precision temperature control, or fixing of high-quality color images on various kinds of paper without increasing the size and production cost of the temperature detecting means and contaminating the back sides of paper by toner that comes off from the temperature detecting element, an image forming device is equipped with a fixing device comprising a heating roller, a pressing belt which forcibly contacts the heating roller, and a temperature detecting means which touches the surface of the heating roller to sense the surface temperature of the heating roller, wherein a cleaning means to clean the belt surface is provided on a place which is corresponding to a place at which the contact-type thermistor touches the heating roller.

Fixing device having cleaner and temperature detector

A disclosed fixing device includes: a heat roller unit having a rotatable roller having an elastic body on a surface thereof and a heating unit heating the roller; a pad disposed along a circumference of the elastic body of the heat roller; a belt member disposed on a curved surface of the pad, the belt member rotating by following a rotation of the heat roller; and a pressure member pressing the belt member to the heat roller using the pad, the fixing device causing a conveyed recording medium carrying a visualized image to pass through a space between the heat roller and the pressure member so as to fix the visualized image on the recording medium, wherein a curvature of the curved surface of the pad is changed in a central portion and end portions in an axial direction of the heat roller.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus provided with fixing device

A fixing device includes a first fixing part having a heater disposed therein, a second fixing part, disposed to oppose to the first fixing part, for pinching a recording medium to form a first nip portion, a pair of transfer rollers, disposed at a downstream side of the recording medium, for forming a second nip portion, a guide for biasing the recording medium discharged from the transfer rollers towards the first fixing part side from one of the transfers rollers, and means part for biasing the guide towards the recording medium side.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus with guide having adjustable biasing angle

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device having a pressure roller. The surface of the pressure roller is coated with a PFA resin and has an average surface roughness Ra of 0.05 to 0.13 &#x3bc;m. A thermister is provided to detect the surface temperature of the pressure roller. The thermister includes a metal plate, a resister element attached to the metal plate, and a pair of fluorocarbon-resin films sandwiching the metal plate and the resister element. The fluorocarbon-resin film has a thickness of 15 &#x3bc;m to 80 &#x3bc;m.

Image forming apparatus having a fixing device with improved temperature detection features

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Chikara Hiraoka