Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Kyocera Mita Corporation

Kenichi Kasama

Akihiro Kondo

Eiji Nakajima

Yuzuru Nanjo

Naoyuki Ishida

Syoukou Gon

Yoshihiro Yamagishi

Kuniaki Nakano

Koji Uno

Shoko Gon

Yuta Kitabayashi

Nobuyuki Hayashi

Tamotsu Shimizu

Akifumi Yamaguchi

Minoru Wada

Noriaki Furukawa

Takashi Miyake

Hisashi Mukataka

Eiji Gyoutoku

Tamami Asari

Shoji Koda

A fixing device includes a first fixing member, a second fixing member, a charging portion, and a control portion. The first fixing member makes contact with a toner image on a sheet conveyed along a conveying passage. The second fixing member forms a nip. The charging portion generates an application current. The control portion can perform an application mode, in which the application current is generated, and a standby mode, in which no application current is generated. The control portion performs the application mode during a first period after initial start-up until the passage of a predetermined period and performs the standby mode during a second period after the passage of the first period until the passage of a predetermined period.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus therewith

An image forming apparatus has an image forming portion, a fixing device, a temperature sensing device, and a control portion. The fixing device has a fixing member having a heated rotary member and a pressing member forming a fixing nip by making contact with the heated rotary member. The temperature sensing device senses the surface temperature of at least one of the heated rotary member and the pressing member in a plurality of regions in the axial direction. The control portion estimates the thickness distribution of the surface layer of at least one of the heated rotary member and the pressing member in the axial direction based on the time taken for the surface temperature in the plurality of regions to reach the predetermined temperature, and thereby estimates the lifetime of at least one of the heated rotary member or the pressing member based on the estimated thickness distribution.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus has a photosensitive member, a charging member, an exposing device, a developing device, a transfer member, a polishing member, a driving device, a voltage applying device, a torque detector, and a control portion. The photosensitive member has a photosensitive layer and a surface protection layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive layer. The polishing member has an elastic layer on its circumferential surface, and rotates with a linear velocity difference from that of the photosensitive member. The torque detector detects the torque of the driving device. The control portion estimates an attachment condition of discharge products to the surface of the photosensitive member based on the torque of the driving device detected by the torque detector. When the torque is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the control portion performs an image degradation suppression process.

Image forming apparatus provided with a photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer and a surface protection layer which is formed on the surface of the photosensitive layer and which has a hardness higher than that of the photosensitive layer

A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressing member, a charger, and adjusting part. The fixing member heats toner images on media. The pressing member forms nips with the fixing member and presses the media. The charger uses a corona discharge that occurs in an electric field generated around a discharging electrode so as to charge the fixing member to a same polarity of toner in the toner images. The adjusting part increases a bias applied to the discharging electrode in accordance with increase of a cumulative number calculated by accumulating a number of the media on which the toner images are fixed or increase of a cumulative printing amount calculated by multiplying a printing rate that indicates a ratio of an area of the toner images to an area of the media by the cumulative number.

A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressing member, a charger and an air discharging device. The fixing member is rotatably provided and heated by a heat source. The pressing member is rotatably provided and brought into pressure contact with the fixing member to form a fixing nip through which a sheet having a toner image is passed. The charger is disposed to oppose to the fixing member and applies an electric charge of the same polarity as a toner constituting the toner image to a surface of the fixing member. The air discharging device discharges an air flow passed between the fixing member and the charger via a filter.

Fixing device for improving charging stability of charger composed of electrode and shield and image forming apparatus including this fixing device

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressuring member, an exciting coil and a belt guide. The pressuring member comes into pressure contact with the fixing belt to form a fixing nip. The exciting coil is provided at an outer diameter side of the fixing belt and configured to generate a magnetic flux to inductively heat the fixing belt. The belt guide supports the fixing belt from an inner diameter side. The belt guide includes a contact part which is in contact with an inner circumferential face of the fixing belt and a non-contact part which is not in contact with the inner circumferential face of the fixing belt. The non-contact part is provided with a slit configured to inhibit induction heating of the non-contact part due to the magnetic flux generated by the exciting coil.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressuring member, an exciting coil and a belt guide. The pressuring member comes into pressure contact with the fixing belt to form a fixing nip. The exciting coil is provided at an outer diameter side of the fixing belt and configured to generate a magnetic flux to inductively heat the fixing belt. The belt guide supports the fixing belt from an inner diameter side. The belt guide includes a contact part which is in contact with an inner circumferential face of the fixing belt and a non-contact part which is not in contact with the inner circumferential face of the fixing belt. A magnetic flux blocking member configured to block the magnetic flux that passes through the fixing belt is provided between the fixing belt and the non-contact part.

A fixing device according to the present invention includes a fixing belt (), a cap member () attached to an end part () of the fixing belt () and an elastic member () arranged between the fixing belt () and the cap member (). The cap member () includes a main body part () covering an outside of the end part () of the fixing belt () and a flange part () extending from the main body part () to an inside and covering an outer diameter side of the end part () of the fixing belt (). A step (s) is formed in an inner circumference face of the flange part (). An outer circumference face of the elastic member () comes into contact with an inside part from the step (s) in the inner circumference face of the flange part ().

In a fixing device including a cap member mounted at an end portion of a fixing belt in a rotation shaft direction via a rotation transfer member, an axis center of a support shaft supporting the cap member is made eccentric with respect to a rotation axis center of the fixing belt.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressuring member, a pressing member, a guiding member, a cap member, an elastic member and a detecting mechanism. The pressing member includes a pressing face pressing the fixing belt to a side of the pressuring member. The fixing belt includes a bulging part arranged at the downstream side from a fixing nip in a conveying direction. The cap member includes a facing part facing to the bulging part. Before the pressuring member comes into pressure contact with the fixing belt, a gap is arranged between the bulging part and facing part. When the pressuring member comes into pressure contact with the fixing belt, the bulging part bulges toward an external diameter side of the fixing belt to fill up the gap and the cap member is held by an end part of the fixing belt via the elastic member.

A fusing device includes a regulating member and a switching mechanism. The regulating member has a flat surface and an arc-shaped surface and regulates a nip formed by a belt and a roller. The switching mechanism switches the fusing device between a first mode and a second mode in which an unfused toner image is fused to a recording medium. The flat surface is provided along a direction in which the recording medium enters the nip. The arc-shaped surface is provided downstream of the flat surface in the recording medium entry direction, is contiguous to the flat surface, and is curved toward the roller. In the first mode, the nip is regulated by the flat surface and the arc-shaped surface. In the second mode, the nip is regulated by the flat surface of the flat and arc-shaped surfaces.

Fusing device including nip regulating member having flat and arc-shaped surfaces and image forming apparatus including the fusing device

An image forming apparatus has an image forming station and a fixing unit. The fixing unit includes a coil for generating a magnetic field for induction heating the heating member. A first core made of a magnetic material is arranged fixedly around the coil. A second core made of a magnetic material is between the first core and the heating member in a generation direction of the magnetic field to form a magnetic path in cooperation with the first core and capable of changing a posture thereof. A shield made of a nonmagnetic metal is arranged along the outer surface of the second core to shield magnetism in the magnetic field and a magnetic shielding portion for changing the posture of the second core between a first posture where the shield shields the magnetism and a second posture where the shield does not shield the magnetism.

Image forming apparatus with image fixing device including an induction heater and a shield located between two sections of a core of the induction heater

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit fixing a toner image onto a sheet. The fixing unit includes a heating member having a sheet conveyed region that is set in accordance with the size of the sheet. The fixing unit further includes a coil generating magnetic field, a fixed core forming a magnetic path, movable cores forming a magnetic path together with the fixed core and arranged along the sheet conveyed region, a shielding member arranged on at least one movable core and shielding magnetism, and a magnetism adjustment unit rotating at least one movable core to switch the position of the shielding member between a shielding position where the shielding member is positioned inside the sheet conveyed region to shield the magnetism and a retracted position where the shielding member is positioned outside the sheet conveyed region to permit pass of the magnetism.

An image forming apparatus is provided with a photoconductor to have an electrostatic latent image formed thereon, a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image with a toner, a toner replenishing device for replenishing the toner into the developing device, and a controller for controlling an image developing operation by the developing device and a toner replenishing operation by the toner replenishing device. The controller executes a non-replenishment mode for causing the developing device to perform image development without being replenished with the toner from the toner replenishing device, a discharge mode, following the non-replenishment mode, for discharging the toner remaining in the developing device and a refill mode, following the discharge mode, for refilling the toner into the developing device by the toner replenishing device.

Image forming apparatus for controlling replenishing toner into developing device

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit and a fixing unit. The fixing unit includes a heating member; a coil arranged along an outer surface of the heating member for generating a magnetic field for induction heating the heating member; a core arranged to face the heating member with the coil located therebetween in order to form a magnetic path around the coil and made of a magnetic material; a shielding member arranged near the magnetic path generated by the coil, including a closed frame portion and made of a nonmagnetic metal; and a magnetic shielding portion for displacing the shielding member between a retracted position for permitting a magnetic flux to pass along a frame surface virtually formed inside the closed frame portion and a shielding position for shielding magnetism by the penetration of a magnetic flux inside the frame surface.

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Osaka, Japan

Kenichi Kasama