Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ricoh Corporation

Ricoii Company, Limited

Hiroshi Yoshinaga

Kenji Ishii

Toshihiko Shimokawa

Masaaki Yoshikawa

Takahiro Imada

Naoki Iwaya

Ippei Fujimoto

Yutaka Ikebuchi

Takamasa Hase

Takuya Seshita

Yoshiki Yamaguchi

Shuutaroh Yuasa

Hiromasa Takagi

Hajime Gotoh

Arinobu Yoshiura

Kazuya Saito

Tetsuo Tokuda

Takeshi Uchitani

Takayuki Seki

Kensuke Yamaji

Akira Suzuki

Tadashi Ogawa

Teppei Kawata

Akira Shinshi

Yuji Arai

Masahiko Satoh

Kenichi Hasegawa

Takashi Seto

Kazunari Sawada

Shuntaroh Tamaki

Ryuuichi Mimbu

Kazuhito Kishi

Shuntaro Tamaki

Shinichi Namekata

Yasunori Ishigaya

Masanao Ehara

Ryota Yamashina

Masahiro Samei

Takayuki Andoh

Ryohei Matsuda

Kota Shiodera

Toshiyuki Kabata

Hiroyuki Shimada

Yasuhiko Ogino

Shohta Kobashigawa

Takeshi Yamamoto

Takeo Suda

Motokazu Yasui

Masumi Sato

Hirofumi Ogawa

Hideo Furukawa

Yukiko Iwasaki

Susumu Matsusaka

Hitoshi Ishibashi

Ryohhei Sugiyama

Shigeru Watanabe

Ken Amemiya

Hiroshi Seo

Masaru Tanaka

Takatsugu Fujishiro

Haruji Mizuishi

Daisuke Inoue

Hiroyuki Gotoh

Hiroko Hirano

Yoshio Hattori

Kenzo Tatsumi

Atsushi Takehara

Tetuso Tokuda

Mayumi Oh-Hori

Yuusuke Furuichi

Tomoya Adachi

Yukimichi Someya

Akira Sawada

Kunihiro Ohyama

Hitoshi Fujiwara

Toshitaka Yamaguchi

Toshiharu Hachisuka

Masami Hiramatsu

Misaki Shimizu

Hiroyuki Kunii

Yoshinori Ozawa

Kazuhiko Yuuki

Kenzou Tatsumi

Kentaro Yamashita

Akio Kosuge

Yoshiyuki Fukuda

Yutaka Naitoh

Yoshikuni Sasaki

Mayumi Yoshida

Takayuki Yoshii

Kohji Kamiya

Mayumi Ohori

Keisuke Kawabata

Natsuki Watanabe

Moriaki Ogawa

Tomoyuki Nishikawa

Mitsuko Sugano

Yutaka Ikebuchii

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a heater, a pressure rotator, a nip formation pad, and a slide aid sheet. The fixing rotator is rotatable in a rotation direction. The heater heats the fixing rotator. The pressure rotator contacts an outer circumferential face of the fixing rotator. The nip formation pad is inside a loop of the fixing rotator to form a nip between the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The slide aid sheet is on the nip formation pad and faces the fixing rotator. The slide aid sheet includes a carbon fiber extending in a width direction orthogonal to a rotation direction of the fixing rotator.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fixing device includes a rotator, a heater, a rotator support, a nip formation pad, lubricant, and a pressure rotator. The heater heats an inner circumferential surface of the rotator. The rotator support supports an end of the inner circumferential surface of the rotator in an axial direction of the rotator. The rotator slides on the rotator support. The nip formation pad is in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the rotator. One end of the nip formation pad in a longitudinal direction of the nip formation pad is separated from the rotator support with a clearance of 2 mm or more. The lubricant is between the rotator and the nip formation pad. The pressure rotator presses the nip formation pad via the rotator to form a nip between the rotator and the pressure rotator.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressing member, a heat source, and a reflecting member. The pressing member presses and contacts an outer circumferential surface of the fixing member. The heat source is disposed inside a loop of the fixing member. The reflecting member includes a reflecting portion, a pressure receiving portion, and an extending portion. The reflecting portion reflects heat toward an inner circumferential surface of the fixing member. The pressure receiving portion receives a pressing force of the pressing member via the fixing member. The extending portion extends from an area upstream to an area downstream from the nip portion in a direction of rotation of the fixing member and facing the inner circumferential surface of the fixing member. The reflecting member is in non-contact with one or more of members disposed inside the loop of the fixing member, at least when the fixing member rotates.

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a pressure rotator, a fixing nip support, a heat source, and a reflector. The pressure rotator contacts an outer face of the fixing rotator to form a nip through which a recording medium conveyed in a conveyance direction passes. The fixing nip support has a receiving portion to receive a pressing force of the pressure rotator. The heat source inside a loop of the fixing rotator has a heat generation area having a first length in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. The reflector includes a contacting portion contacting the receiving portion of the fixing nip support and a reflecting portion facing the heat source to reflect radiant heat radiated by the heat source toward an inner face of the fixing rotator. The reflecting portion has a second length in the width direction longer than the first length.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A heating device includes a rotator, a heater, a rotator holder, lubricant, and a shield. The heater heats the rotator in a heat generation range. The rotator holder holds an end of the rotator in a longitudinal direction of the rotator. The lubricant adheres to the rotator holder. The shield shields heat transferred from the heater. The shield includes a first shield, a second shield, and a heat transfer reducer. The first shield faces the heater and the rotator. The second shield faces the rotator holder. The second shield is outside the heat generation range in the longitudinal direction. The heat transfer reducer is disposed between the first shield and the second shield. The heat transfer reducer reduces the heat transferred from the first shield to the second shield.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a rotator that rotates and a heater that is disposed opposite an inner circumferential face of the rotator. The heater heats the rotator. A rotator holder is disposed opposite the inner circumferential face of the rotator. The rotator holder holds a lateral end of the rotator in a longitudinal direction of the rotator. The rotator holder is adhered with a lubricating substance. A heat shield is disposed between the heater and the rotator and between the heater and the rotator holder. The heat shield blocks radiant heat radiated from the heater and is separated from the rotator holder. The heat shield includes a first portion and a second portion that is disposed outboard from the first portion in the longitudinal direction of the rotator. The second portion is separated from the inner circumferential face of the rotator farther than the first portion is.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus with heat shield including first portion and second portion

A heating device includes a rotator, a heater heating the rotator, a rotator holder holding a longitudinal end of the inner peripheral surface of the rotator, and lubricant applied to the rotator holder. The rotator holder includes a holding portion contacting the end of the inner peripheral surface, a flange portion contacting a longitudinal end of the rotator and extending outward in a radial direction of a loop of the rotator, and an inclined surface. The inclined surface is inclined in a direction away from an inner peripheral surface of the rotator from the holding portion toward the flange portion.

Heating device, nip forming device, and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a rotator, a heating source, a reflector, a rotator holder, and a liquid or semi-solid substance. The rotator is rotatably held. The heating source heats the rotator. The reflector includes a reflection face that reflects radiant heat emitted from the heating source. The reflection face has a reflectance lower at each end portion of the reflection face in a longitudinal direction of the rotator than at a center portion of the reflection face in the longitudinal direction of the rotator. The rotator holder holds a longitudinal end portion of the rotator. The liquid or semi-solid substance has lubricity and adheres to the rotator holder.

A heating device includes a rotator, a heating source, a rotator holder, and a liquid or semi-solid substance. The rotator is rotatably held. The heating source heats the rotator. The rotator holder holds a longitudinal end portion of the rotator. The rotator holder includes a reflector disposed at least at a portion to be irradiated with radiant heat emitted from the heating source to reflect the radiant heat. The reflector has a reflectance of not less than 60%. The liquid or semi-solid substance has lubricity and adheres to the rotator holder.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus including lubricant and reflector

An image forming apparatus includes a heating device, a recording medium ejector, a recording medium tray, an outer wall having an intake, and a filter. The heating device heats a recording medium having an image on one side of the recording medium. The recording medium ejector ejects the recording medium with the one side facing downward. On the recording medium tray, the recording medium ejected by the recording medium ejector is stacked. The intake is open toward the recording medium tray and is disposed at a position below the recording medium ejector. At the position, a maximum amount of recording media placeable on the recording medium tray does not cover at least a part of the intake. The filter collects foreign substances in air sucked from the intake.

Image forming apparatus including a filter for collect foreign substances in air sucked into at least one intake

A heating device includes a rotator that rotates and a heater that heats the rotator. A rotator holder holds each lateral end of the rotator in a longitudinal direction of the rotator. The rotator holder is adhered with one of silicone oil and silicone grease, that contains siloxanes that are not smaller than a dodecamer and not greater than a heptadecamer and have a concentration not greater than 1,250 ppm.

A sheet conveying device includes a pair of conveyors each including a conveyance face to convey a recording medium inside an image forming apparatus. One of the pair of conveyors further includes an exposed face, a handle, and a swing fulcrum. The exposed face is exposed to an outside of the apparatus while an inside of the apparatus is open. The handle is exposed to the outside of the apparatus and operatable to expose the conveyance face to the outside of the apparatus while the inside of the apparatus is open. The swing fulcrum swings the one of the pair of conveyors to expose the conveyance face to the outside of the apparatus when the handle is operated while the inside of the apparatus is open. The handle includes a partial annular portion. The partial annular portion is included in a plane including a swing direction around the swing fulcrum.

Sheet conveying device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a rotator, a heating source, a reflector, a shield, a rotator holder, and a liquid or semi-solid substance. The rotator is rotatably held. The heating source heats the rotator. The reflector reflects radiant heat emitted from the heating source. The shield is disposed closer to a longitudinal end portion of the rotator than to a longitudinal center portion of the rotator to shield, between the heating source and the rotator, the radiant heat emitted from the heating source. The shield has a reflectance lower than a reflectance of the reflector. The rotator holder holds the longitudinal end portion of the rotator. The liquid or semi-solid substance has lubricity and adheres to the rotator holder.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus including a rotator holder and reflector

A heating device includes a rotating body, a heating source, a rotating body holder, and a lubricant of liquid or semi-solid. The heating source heats the rotating body. The rotating body holder holds both longitudinal ends of the rotating body rotatably. The lubricant of liquid or semi-solid adheres to the rotating body holder. A temperature of the rotating body holder is lower than a generation temperature of fine particles of the lubricant.

Heating device configured to limit a temperature rise of a lubricant, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A nip formation pad includes a base, a high thermal conduction member, and an attachment. The high thermal conduction member has a thermal conductivity greater than a thermal conductivity of the base. The attachment is attached to the high thermal conduction member by elastic deformation of the attachment on the base held between the high thermal conduction member and the attachment.

Nip formation pad, heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

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Chiba, Japan

Hiroshi Yoshinaga