Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Haruyuki Honda

Toshikane Nishii

Hiroshi Fujiwara

Tomoyoshi Yamazaki

Mizuna Tanaka

Ippei Kimura

Yasuhide Ohkubo

Masafumi Takahira

Yoshiki Yamaguchi

Yoshio Hattori

Kazuyoshi Kondo

Toshihiko Shimokawa

Yasunori Ishigaya

Ryuuichi Mimbu

Shigeo Nanno

Mitsutaka Nakamura

Masanori Namba

Yasuo Matsuyama

Ippei Fujimoto

Kazuya Saito

Kazuhito Kishi

Keisuke Kawabata

Jun Okamoto

Kazuhiro Wakamatsu

Yoshihide Ohta

Hirofumi Horita

Misaki Shimizu

Yutaka Ikebuchi

Yuusuke Furuichi

Keitaro Shoji

Kiwako Hiroi

Kenichi Hasegawa

Tomoya Adachi

Masahiro Samei

Hiroyuki Shimada

Masahiko Saito

Masanari Fujita

Yukiko Nakajima

Takumi Waida

Yasuo Takuma

Masashi Yamamoto

Ryohei Matsuda

Ikuo Fujii

Munekazu Hirata

A slide member over which a sliding member is configured to slide includes a slide portion over which the sliding member slides. The slide portion is weaved with a first fiber having a first color. The slide member further includes a non-slide portion over which the sliding member does not slide. The non-slide portion is weaved with a second fiber having a second color that is different and distinguished from the first color.

Fixing device with slide member having fibers of different colors

A fixing device includes a fixing belt and a pressure rotator that presses against a nip formation pad via the fixing belt to form a fixing nip between the pressure rotator and the fixing belt. A first holder holds a first lateral end of the fixing belt in an axial direction thereof. A second holder holds a second lateral end of the fixing belt in the axial direction thereof. The second holder, together with the first holder, defines a holder interval provided between the first holder and the second holder in the axial direction of the fixing belt. A lubricant supplying sheet impregnated with a lubricant is sandwiched between the nip formation pad and the fixing belt at the fixing nip. The lubricant supplying sheet has a sheet span in the axial direction of the fixing belt. The sheet span is within the holder interval.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A pressure and pressure relief device includes a rotator, a pressure body, a first pressure lever, and a biasing mechanism. The biasing mechanism includes a first elastic body, a second pressure lever, a cam, and a cam follower. A relations of L&#x3e;LL&#x3e;Land L&#x3c;Lare satisfied. Lrepresents a length between a first fulcrum of the first pressure lever and a point of load of the first pressure lever. Lrepresents a length between the point of load of the first pressure lever and a hook portion of the first pressure lever. Lrepresents a length between a pivot of the second pressure lever and a second fulcrum of the second pressure lever. Lrepresents a length between the second fulcrum of the second pressure lever and a fastened portion of the second pressure lever.

Pressure and pressure relief device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a rotatable endless fixing belt, a pressure rotator, a nip formation pad, a lubricant impregnated member, and restrictors. The pressure rotator contacts an outer circumferential face of the fixing belt. The nip formation pad is disposed at an inner circumferential side of the fixing belt, to contact the pressure rotator via the fixing belt to form a nip. The lubricant impregnated member is disposed on the nip formation pad to contact an inner circumferential face of the fixing belt. The lubricant impregnated member is impregnated with lubricant. The restrictors, each disposed at an inner side than each end in a width direction of the fixing belt, regulate movement of the lubricant adhering to the fixing belt, toward each end of the fixing belt in the width direction. The restrictors have a lower absorbability of the lubricant than an absorbability of the lubricant impregnated member.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including fixing device with lubricant movement restrictors

A fixing device has a flexible endless fixing member; a heater to heat the fixing member; a nip forming member to contact the fixing member directly or via a slide member; a pressure member, rotatably disposed opposite the fixing member and the nip forming member; and a back curl correction structure that includes a drive roller disposed on a side where a back curl appears in the recording sheet; a driven roller disposed opposite the drive roller; an auxiliary nip portion to feed the recording sheet; a guide member to guide the recording sheet fed out from the auxiliary nip portion to bend in a direction opposite a curled direction of the back curl of the recording sheet. A driving connection between the drive roller and the pressure member is performed by a connection between a drive roller side connection gear and a pressure member side connection gear.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device to transfer an image to a recording sheet; a fixing device to feed the recording sheet and fix the image onto the recording sheet; a branching device to switch between an ejection path to eject the recording sheet fed downstream of the fixing device, to outside the apparatus, and a reversing path for duplex printing; and a back curl correction structure disposed in a sheet feeding path between the fixing device and the branching device. The back curl correction structure includes a drive roller; a driven roller; an auxiliary nip portion; a guide member; and a guide moving device to move the guide member to a first position and a second position depending on the condition of the recording sheet.

Image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes an endless fixing belt; a pressure roller to contact the fixing belt; a nip forming member to press the pressure roller from the fixing belt; a nip portion formed between the fixing belt and the pressure roller; a heater to heat the fixing belt to fuse and fix toner onto a recording sheet in the nip portion; an auxiliary driven roller; an auxiliary drive roller to drive the driven roller; an auxiliary nip portion, formed between an outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary driven roller and an outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary drive roller, to nip the recording sheet after toner fixation conveyed from the nip portion; and an outlet guide member, disposed downstream of the auxiliary nip portion, to guide the recording sheet after toner fixation conveyed from the auxiliary nip portion, with the toner-fixed recording sheet surface bent in a concave shape.

Fixing device including outlet guide member and image forming apparatus thereof

A fixing device includes a fixing member; a heater to heat the fixing member; a nip forming member to contact the fixing member; and a pressure member, disposed opposite the nip forming member to press against the fixing member to form a fixing nip portion together with the nip forming member. The fixing device applies heat and pressure to fix an image transferred to a recording sheet when the recording sheet passes through the fixing nip. The nip forming member includes a first and second planar portions disposed at an upstream end and a downstream end, respectively, of the fixing nip portion, and the first planar portion and the second planar portion are continuous with a curved portion of the nip forming member. A guide member guides the recording sheet to bend in a direction opposite a back curl of the recording sheet generated in the fixing nip portion.

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation and including a heated face and a heater including a contact face contacting the heated face of the fixing rotator. The contact face has a Vickers hardness not greater than about 600 Hv.

Heater for heating a fixing rotator of a fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A fixing exit guide plate for use in a fixing device, which supports the conveyance of a paper while being curved in a direction opposite to a curl direction of the paper in a paper conveyance path downstream of conveyance support rollers, includes a conveyance downstream portion having a paper conveyance plane and a conveyance upstream portion having a paper conveyance plane, wherein the fixing exit guide plate is retracted in a paper jam process to move such that the paper conveyance plane of the conveyance downstream portion rotates about a rotation axis of the conveyance support driving roller to be substantially parallel to the paper conveyance plane of a conveyance upstream portion.

Fixing exit guide plate, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a heater that heats a fixing rotator and includes a first heating portion and a second heating portion substantially aligned with the first heating portion in an axial direction of the fixing rotator. A multi-view thermopile array detects a temperature of an outer circumferential surface of the fixing rotator at a plurality of spots thereon. A heater controller controls the first heating portion and the second heating portion individually based on the temperature of the fixing rotator detected at the plurality of spots thereon. A recording medium conveyance controller determines whether or not to convey the recording medium to the fixing nip based on an increased temperature detected at at least one of the plurality of spots on the fixing rotator.

Fixing device, image forming apparatus, and fixing method

A fixing device includes a nip formation pad pressing against a pressure rotator via a fixing rotator to form a fixing nip between the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The nip formation pad includes a base and a first thermal conductor sandwiched between the base and the fixing rotator at the fixing nip and having a first thermal conductivity greater than a basic thermal conductivity of the base. A first heater and a second heater are disposed opposite an inner circumferential surface of the fixing rotator to heat the fixing rotator. A rotatable light shield moves to a shield position where the light shield is interposed between the second heater and the fixing rotator to shield the fixing rotator from the second heater. The second heater is disposed at a location where the light shield screens the second heater more readily than the first heater.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus with a rotatable light shield

A sheet conveying device includes a first rotating member, a second rotating member, and a biasing unit that biases the second rotating member toward the first rotating member. The first and second rotating members pinch a sheet therebetween and convey the sheet in a sheet conveying direction. The second rotating member includes a small-diameter portion that faces a conveying portion of the first rotating member, and a large-diameter portion at a position axially displaced from the conveying portion. The second rotating member can change its orientation to an orientation where a rotating shaft of the second rotating member is tilted relative to a rotating shaft of the first rotating member as viewed in the sheet conveying direction, thereby moving a position of an end portion of the second rotating member on a side of the large-diameter portion away from the rotating shaft of the first rotating member.

Sheet conveying device, sheet discharging device, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a manual operating unit, at least a part of which being exposed to an outside of the apparatus body and a part of which included inside the apparatus body being exposed to the outside by manually operating from the outside, a condensation part to which moist air in the apparatus body contacts to dew-condense to a water droplet, and a recovery container part containing the water droplet generated by the condensation part and being disposed on an inner surface of the manual operating unit included inside the apparatus body.

A fixing device includes a first rotator and a second rotator pressed against the first rotator to form a fixing nip therebetween, through which a recording medium bearing a toner image is conveyed. A thermal insulation cover is disposed opposite the second rotator. A mover is connected to the second rotator to move the second rotator with respect to the first rotator. The mover is coupled with the thermal insulation cover to move the thermal insulation cover while retaining a predetermined interval between the thermal insulation cover and the second rotator.

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Osaka, Japan

Haruyuki Honda