Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Chugai Ro Co., Ltd.

Masaaki Nakano

Keisuke Fujimoto

Masanori Yoshikawa

Masaru Imai

Hideo Hirose

Masaomi Inoue

Syuuiti Watanabe

Kenji Asakura

Noboru Katakabe

Hideyuki Sawada

Masakazu Mizusaki

Keisuke Okano

Yoshiteru Izura

Sousaku Takeuchi

Ikuko Katoh

A thermal processing furnace for workpieces has a blowing hood in which a nozzle is installed, the nozzle blowing a gas flow to thermally process a workpiece, including a driving mechanism that adjusts a distance between the nozzle and a portion of the workpiece facing the nozzle so that the gas flow blown from the nozzle impinges on workpieces of various dimensions at a desired flow velocity, wherein a plurality of nozzles are arranged as the nozzle along a conveying direction of the workpiece in a zone where the thermal processing is performed, and the driving mechanism adjusts a distance between each of the nozzles and a portion of the workpiece facing the nozzle individually in each of the plurality of nozzles.

Thermal processing furnace for workpieces

In a heating furnacewhere elongate workpieces fed into the heating furnace are sequentially transferred on fixed beams by walking beams from an inlet area to an outlet area, concaves to retain the workpieces are formed at least on the walking beams. A concave in the inlet area for heating the workpieces is increased in width in a transfer direction, while a concave in the outlet area where the heated workpieces are wholly heated to a uniform temperature and retained in position is formed in a corrugated configuration. Despite curving of an elongate workpiece being heat treated as transferred by walking beams in a direction crossing a longitudinal direction of the workpiece, this ensures that the curved workpiece is properly transferred and adequately corrected for the curving.

Walking-beam type heating furnace

In an optical scanning device using two polygon mirrors, the present invention achieves both a simplification of the device and a reduction of vibrations. An optical scanning device is provided with a first optical system including a polygon mirror and a second optical system including a polygon mirror. The polygon mirror provided in the first optical system and the polygon mirror provided in the second optical system are configured such that they rotate in mutually opposite directions. Further, the optical scanning device is provided with one BD sensor for detecting laser beams that are scanned with the polygon mirrors. Slits with mutually different widths are arranged between the BD sensor and the respective polygon mirrors of the first and second optical systems.

Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus provided with the same

A heating roller () includes a heat generating layer () that generates heat by electromagnetic induction, a heat insulating layer (), and a supporting layer (), which are provided inwardly in this order. The supporting layer () is formed of a material having a specific resistance of 1&#xd7;10&#x3a9;m or higher. Therefore, even when the heat generating layer () has a thickness smaller than a skin depth, i.e. a thickness defined by a flow of an induction current, so that magnetic flux penetrates the heat generating layer () and even reaches the supporting layer (), heat generation of the supporting layer () under an eddy current can be suppressed. Thus, the heat generating layer () can be decreased in thermal capacity, and heat generation of the supporting layer () is suppressed, so that only the heat generating layer () can be heated efficiently. As a result, a warm-up time can be reduced. Further, breakage by heat of, for example, bearings supporting the heating roller () can be prevented.

Heating roller, image heating apparatus, and image forming apparatus

In an overfilled optical scanner in which a plurality of light beams are used, a uniform luminous-energy distribution is achieved on a scanning plane to be scanned. The optical scanner includes: a light sourcefor producing a first light beam Land a second light beam L; a polygon mirror; a first image formation optical system for leading the light beams Land Lto a deflecting plane of the polygon mirror and for forming, on the deflecting plane, a line image whose width is greater than the plane width of the deflecting plane; and a second image formation optical system for leading the light beams Land Lfrom the polygon mirror to the scanning plane of a photosensitive drum and forming an image on the scanning plane. The first image formation optical system is adjusted so that the optical axes Aand Aof the first and second light beams Land Lare approximately symmetrical about the optical axis Aof the first image formation optical system. The powers of the first and second light beams Land Lare thus balanced with each other on the scanning plane.

Optical scanner and image formation apparatus including the optical scanner

A heating roller () includes a heat generating layer () that generates heat by electromagnetic induction, a heat insulating layer (), and a supporting layer (), which are provided inwardly in this order. The heat generating layer () is composed of at least two layers that are a first heat generating layer of a magnetic material and a second heat generating layer of a non-magnetic material. The first heat generating layer has a specific resistance higher than a specific resistance of the second heat generating layer and a thickness larger than a thickness of the second heat generating layer. This allows the second heat generating layer to function effectively as a heat generating part that generates heat by electromagnetic induction. Thus, compared with the case where the heat generating layer () is formed only of a single layer of a magnetic material, heat generation efficiency is increased, thereby allowing warm-up time to be reduced. Further, the heat generating layer () is heated intensively, so that heat generation of the supporting layer () is reduced, thereby allowing the prevention of breakage of, for example, bearings supporting the heating roller ().

Heating roller, heating belt, image heating device, and image forming device

A temperature determining device is composed of a temperature detecting unit that detects a temperature of a determination object member based on an intensity of infrared rays from the object member, a unit for determining a temperature for correction that determines a temperature of an opposing member opposed to the object member or a temperature of a member whose temperature changes in correlation to a change in the temperature of the opposing member, and a calculating unit that corrects the detected temperature obtained by the temperature detecting unit using the temperature as the temperature for correction obtained by the unit for determining a temperature for correction. Thus, stable temperature determination can be performed accurately without being influenced by infrared rays from around a determination object member.

Temperature determining device, temperature correcting method, and image forming apparatus

The present invention relates to deflection apparatus which can appropriately scan the target and other parts of a storage tube when recording and reproducing on the storage tube a plurality of signals which are different from one another. The apparatus can be constructed from simple circuits and is directed toward the driving of a deflection coil of high inductance.

Growing community of inventors

Shijonawate, Japan

Masaaki Nakano