Lexmark International, Inc.

Douglas Campbell Hamilton

Jerry Wayne Smith

Larry Earl Stahlman

Jichang Cao

Kiyoshi Mizushima

Johnny Ray Sears

Makoto Aoki

Hisakazu Hujimoto

Jing X Sun

Bradley Leonard Beach

Kevin Dean Schoedinger

James Douglas Gilmore

Terence E Franey

Peter Alden Bayerle

Peter E Wallin

Cyrus Bradford Clarke

Alexander D Meade

Benjamin Karnik Johnson

Kathryn E Dowlen

Brian Keith Bartley

Jeffrey Allen Ardery

Jason Kyle Romain

Gerald G Leslie

Ann Marie Garland

Harald Portig

Fangsheng Wu

Phillip Byron Wright

Douglas Anthony Able

Thomas Campbell Wade

David Brian Langer

Robert Leonard Burdick

Steven Jeffrey Harris

Russell Edward Lucas

Michael Duane Donovan

William Thomas Kearney, Iii

Katherine Mary Mulloy

Larry Christopher Coleman

Clark Edwin Jarnagin

Stacey Edward Balch

Charles Jerome Cheek

Casey Thomas Wilson

Michael Alan Cleary

Thomas Paul Maddox

A fuser assembly includes a heated member and a backup member defining a fusing nip. Toner fuses to media in the nip at a fusing temperature and process speed during an imaging operation. Upon receipt of a command to commence imaging, a controller operates a heater to heat the fuser assembly to a first temperature less than the fusing temperature and operates a motor to rotate the fuser assembly at a speed lower than the process speed to prevent overheating the heated and backup members. Before a first media reaches the fusing nip, a speed of the motor is increased to the process speed to properly advance the media through the nip at the process speed. Upon the first media arriving at the fusing nip, the controller increases the temperature of the heater to a second temperature greater than the first temperature to prevent cold offset.

Fuser temperature control in an imaging device

A heating element for the fuser for an electrophotographic imaging device. The heating element includes a panel of positive temperature coefficient material having electrodes coupled to opposed surfaces thereof. The positive temperature coefficient material serves to stabilize the temperature of the heating element so as to prevent damage due to overheating.

Fuser heating element for an electrophotographic imaging device

A fuser assembly for an imaging device is shown and described. The fuser assembly includes a heat transfer member for generating heat and a backup roll coupled to the heat transfer member and rotatable therewith. The backup roll includes a central core and a rubber layer surrounding the central core. The fuser assembly further includes a plurality of end cap members, each end cap member being disposed at an end of the backup roll and dimensioned for substantially preventing outward expansion of the rubber layer in an axial direction of the backup roll.

Backup roll having axial constraints and fuser therefor

A printer is provided having a fuser assembly having a belt, a heater to heat the belt, a backup roll positioned to engage the belt thereby defining a fusing nip with the belt, a main temperature sensor associated with the heat transfer member, the first temperature sensor associated with the backup roll for sensing a temperature of a portion of the backup roll, the second temperature sensor associated with a distal end region of the heat transfer member for sensing the temperature of the distal end region. A controller is coupled to the fuser assembly for controlling a throughput of the printer based on at least one of the backup roll temperature and the temperature at the distal end region of the heater.

Narrow media throughput control using temperature feedback

The present invention relates to an article, system and method for thermally conditioning an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus may incorporate a heating device and a component that includes a lubricant. The component including the lubricant may be preheated before movement and then rotated at reduced speeds prior to a printing operation. This may occur during an image forming apparatus cold start or power saver mode.

Thermally conditioned image forming apparatus

A fuser assembly includes a fuser housing, a fuser roller rotatably mounted to the fuser housing, an actuator mechanism, and a fuser detack mechanism. The fuser detack mechanism includes a detack housing pivotably mounted to the fuser housing. The fuser detack mechanism is pivoted from a first position to a second position when the actuator mechanism is actuated. A plurality of detack fingers is mounted to the detack housing. Each of the plurality of detack fingers has a distal end, wherein when the fuser detack mechanism is in the first position, the distal end of each of the plurality of detack fingers is positioned to be disengaged from an exterior surface of the fuser roller, and when the fuser detack mechanism is in the second position, the distal end of each of the plurality of detack fingers is positioned to be engaged with the exterior surface of the fuser roller.

Fuser assembly having selectable fuser detack mechanism

A method for forming a ceramic laminate ceramic laminate from first and second sheets of ceramic material, the sheets having a first and a second surface, wherein the first ceramic material has a different coefficient of thermal expansion than the second ceramic material and the outer layers comprises ceramic materials having substantially the same thermal properties, comprising (a) heating the first and the second sheets of ceramic material; (b) stacking the first and the second sheets of ceramic material wherein the second surfaces are opposed to one another to provide stacked sheets; and (c) pressing the stacked sheets and forming the ceramic laminate.

Method for forming a ceramic laminate

A fuser assembly configured to fix a toner image to a sheet of print media includes a fuser belt having a first side edge and a second side edge. A plurality of end cap assemblies is positioned to locate the fuser belt. The plurality of end cap assemblies include a first end cap assembly having a first compliant stopping flange positioned to engage the first side edge of the fuser belt, and a second end cap assembly having a second compliant flange positioned to engage the second side edge of the fuser belt.

Fuser assembly having complaint stopping flange

A fuser assembly configured to fix a toner image to a sheet of print media includes a fuser belt having a first side edge, a second side edge spaced apart from the first side edge, an exterior surface, an interior surface, and a hollow interior defined by the interior surface. A pair of end cap assemblies is positioned to locate the fuser belt, and the fuser belt is positioned between and supported by the pair of end cap assemblies. Each end cap assembly of the pair of end cap assemblies includes an end cap body and a belt support mechanism. The belt support mechanism is coupled to the end cap body for supporting the fuser belt and is configured to be compliant in a direction perpendicular to a rotational axis of the fuser belt to apply a biasing force to the interior surface of the fuser belt.

Fuser assembly having compliant end cap

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus relating to the thermal management of an image fixing device such as establishing the temperature of a component that engages with the image fixing device in an image forming apparatus.

Imaging device temperature management

An improved laser printer is provided that keeps its fuser at a standby temperature that is somewhat raised above the ambient temperature, which allows the printer to operate more quickly (to begin printing the first page) when a print job arrives at the printer. The time needed to raise the fuser's temperature is minimized, so that other printer operations become the determining factor in the time to first print parameter. The electrical energy that energizes the fuser is provided in a form that prevents light flicker, by use of AC waveform phase control, or by use of integer half cycle control. The present invention uses closed-loop feedback control, and the type of controller is a PID controller.

Method and apparatus for controlling temperature of a laser printer fuser with faster response time

A large area heater used, for example, in a laser printer belt fuser or as cooking surface, has an alumina substrate in which two bowed parts of alumina ceramic having opposed concave regions are formed together as a laminate. Electrical resistors are deposited on the laminate. The alumina laminate provides excellent resistance to uneven heating or other thermal stress. Alumina ceramic is readily shaped during manufacture and manufacturing costs and yield are good. A wide variety of large area heaters can usefully employ the laminate.

Large area alumina ceramic heater

A back-up roller (,) for use in the fusing portion of an electrophotographic process is disclosed. This back-up roller has an inner cylindrical metal core (,), an outer hollow cylindrical metal shell (,) surrounding the core, and a plurality of metal ribs (,) running lengthwise between and attached to the core and the shell. The outer surface of the shell is coated with a layer (,) of a rubberized material. This back-up roller, when used in the fuser portion of an electrophotographic process, reducing the condensation of moisture on its surface, thereby effectively eliminating fuser stalls.

Back-up roller with reduced mass

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, KY, United States of America

Douglas Campbell Hamilton