Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Keisuke Ikeda

Tomoyasu Hirasawa

Hiromitsu Fujiya

Kenichi Takehara

Keisuke Yuasa

Masanori Saitoh

Kenji Ishii

Satoshi Okano

Susumu Tateyama

Hiroaki Miyagawa

Yasuaki Toda

Takeshi Watanabe

Yasuaki Iijima

Shingo Suzuki

Yutaka Shoji

Makoto Nakura

Takayuki Nishimura

Shinji Kato

Toshihiko Baba

Takashi Tanaka

Takehara Kenichi

Nobuyuki Arai

Kenichi Shimizu

Kiyotada Katoh

Takeshi Endoh

Hiroki Yamasaki

Hiomitsu Fujiya

A disclosed loop heat pipe includes an evaporator configured to absorb heat from outside by a wall to evaporate a working fluid from a liquid phase to a gas phase; a condenser configured to condense a gas phase working fluid introduced from the evaporator into a liquid phase; an elastic wick configured to contact an inner wall of the evaporator by an elastic force from the elastic wick; and a wick deformation member configured to deform the elastic wick increase a contact pressure of the elastic wick against the inner wall of the evaporator.

Loop heat pipe, cooling device, and electronic device

A recording-material cooling device includes a first cooling member, a second cooling member, an approach-and-separation member, and a positioning member. The first cooling member is disposed at a first face side of a recording material to absorb heat of the recording material. The second cooling member is disposed at a second face side of the recording material to absorb heat of the recording material. The approach-and-separation member brings the first cooling member and the second cooling member close to and away from each other. The positioning member positions the first cooling member and the second cooling member relatively brought close to each other by the approach-and-separation member.

Cooling device and image forming apparatus including same

A surface-emitting light source includes a substrate including a light emitting region where plural light emitting points are disposed and a non-light emitting region located around the light emitting region; and a lens array including plural lenses and a non-lens region around the plural lenses. The substrate and the lens array are directly bonded with each other at the non-light emitting region and the non-lens region such that the plural light emitting points and the plural lenses face each other, and the lens array has a linear expansion coefficient not greater than a linear expansion coefficient of the substrate.

Surface-emitting light source and laser apparatus

A cooling device includes a rotatable belt extended by a plurarity of extending members that transfers a sheet in contact with the surface of the belt, and a plurality of cooling members to cool the sheet via the belt. A cooling surface of the cooling members contacts an internal surface of the transport belt. The cooling members are detachable. The cooling device also includes an adjuster to adjust a contact condition between the cooling surface and the internal surface according to the number of cooling members installed.

Cooling device and image forming apparatus

A recording-material cooling device includes a first belt, a first cooling unit, and a second cooling unit. The first belt is disposed at a first face side of a recording material. The first cooling unit has a first heat absorbing surface to contact the first belt to absorb heat of the recording material. The second cooling unit has a second heat absorbing surface to directly or indirectly contact the recording material to absorb heat of the recording material. The second cooling unit is disposed at a second face side of the recording material. The first and second cooling units are offset from each other in a transport direction of the recording material. Each of the first and second surfaces has a shape in which an inner area protrudes beyond opposed ends in the transport direction. The first and second surfaces overlap each other in a direction crossing the transport direction.

A cooling device including at least two cooling members to cool a recording medium passing thereover, a coolant circulation unit to circulate a coolant, and tubing that connects the coolant circulation unit to the cooling members and through which the coolant circulates. Each of the cooling members includes a heat-absorbing surface that directly contacts the recording medium or indirectly contacts the recording medium via a thermal transmission member, an internal channel provided within each of the cooling members through which the coolant circulates, and a channel inlet and outlet formed at downstream and upstream ends of each of the cooling members in a direction of conveyance of the recording medium, respectively. One of an interval and a thermal insulator is provided between the cooling members.

In a cooling device that includes a cooling roller that comprises a hollow tubular member and a cooling medium transport unit for transporting a cooling liquid to the inside of the cooling roller and contacts a sheet-like member to cool down the paper, a turbulence generating unit that generates turbulence in a cooling liquid is disposed near an inner wall of the outer tube.

Cooling device having a turbulence generating unit

A recording-material cooling device is disposed downstream from a fixing device in a transport direction of a recording material. The fixing device includes a fixing member and a pressing member to fix an unfixed toner image on the recording material. The recording-material cooling device includes a first cooling unit disposed at a same side as the pressing member relative to the recording material, a second cooling unit disposed at a same side as the fixing member relative to the recording material, and a third cooling unit disposed at the same side as the pressing member relative to the recording material. The first cooling unit, the second cooling unit, and the third cooling unit are arranged in an order of the first cooling unit, the second cooling unit, and the third cooling unit from upstream to downstream in the transport direction of the recording material.

An air-conditioning unit includes an air conditioner to control air temperature, a first channel to guide air supplied from the air conditioner to a conditioning target, a heat exchange channel through which the air supplied from the air conditioner exchanges heat with the conditioning target, a second channel to guide air from the conditioning target either outside the air-conditioning unit or to the air conditioner, and a channel switching unit to cause the air conditioner to suck in either external air or the air guided from the conditioning target.

Air-conditioning unit, image forming apparatus incorporating same, and air-conditioning channel switching method

A liquid type cooling device, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a heat receiving part including a heat receiving unit to transport heat from a cooling target to a coolant and a heat releasing part including a heat releasing unit, a cooling fan, and an air flowing space. The heat releasing unit has a coolant flowing path and an air flowing path through which air passes and conducts heat exchange with the coolant. The air flowing space has an air inlet port and an air outlet port. When the air flowing path has an upstream region and a downstream region along a coolant flowing direction of the coolant flowing path, air at high temperature flows into the upstream region of the air flowing path. Alternatively, the heat releasing unit may have a coolant inlet port, a coolant outlet port, and the air flowing path.

Liquid cooling device that arranges a coolant flowing direction in accordance with a temperature gradient of a cooling airflow and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A recording medium conveyor, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a first conveyor and a second conveyor disposed facing the first conveyor. The first conveyor and the second conveyor sandwich a recording medium therebetween and convey the recording medium to a downstream side of an image forming apparatus in a recording medium conveying direction. At least one of the first conveyor and the second conveyor includes a belt having an inner circumferential face, and a cooler to cool the recording medium. The cooler has a heat absorbing face that contacts the inner circumferential face of the belt and that has an air flow path formed thereon to expose the inner circumferential face of the belt to open air.

Recording medium conveyor and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image forming apparatus includes a cooling conveyor to cool a recording material having an image fixed by heat while sandwiching and conveying the recording material. The cooling conveyor includes a conveyance belt, a cooling member, and a cooling unit. The conveyance belt sandwiches and conveys the recording material. The cooling member absorbs heat of the recording material via the conveyance belt. The cooling unit maintains the cooling member at low temperature. The cooling conveyor performs control of stopping the cooling unit in a standby state of the image forming apparatus, activating the cooling unit and performing a preliminary cooling operation to decrease temperature of the cooling member after a shift from the standby state to image forming operation, and then bringing the recording material into contact with the conveyance belt.

Image forming apparatus

A cooling device includes a rotatable belt extended by a plurality of extending members that transfers a sheet in contact with the surface of the belt, and a plurality of cooling members to cool the sheet via the belt. A cooling surface of the cooling members contacts an internal surface of the transport belt. The cooling members are detachable. The cooling device also includes an adjuster to adjust a contact condition between the cooling surface and the internal surface according to the number of cooling members installed.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Keisuke Ikeda