Konica Minolta, Inc.

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Masataka Yagi

Koji Yamamoto

Toru Hayase

Mamoru Fukaya

Akihiro Kawasaki

Tamotsu Sakuraba

Ryuta Akiyama

A fixing device includes an endless fixing belt, a pad member disposed to be opposed to an inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt, a sliding contact member disposed between the fixing belt and the pad member to slide on the inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt, and a support member supporting the pad member. A heat insulating member having thermal conductivity lower than thermal conductivity of the pad member is interposed in at least one of a plurality of interfaces located between the sliding contact member in a portion in which the sliding contact member slides on the inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt and the support member.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes: a fixing belt that is endless and rotatable; a heating member that heats the fixing belt; a pressure member that is rotatable and presses the fixing belt from outside; a pad member that forms a fixing nip by sandwiching the fixing belt with the pressure member; a support member that supports the pad member; a friction reducing sheet that is provided between the fixing belt and the pad member and reduces friction with the fixing belt; and a heat equalizing sheet that is provided between the friction reducing sheet and the pad member and heats the fixing belt at the fixing nip uniformly in a width direction of a paper sheet passing through the fixing nip.

Fixing device including a friction reducing sheet and a heat equalizing sheet and image forming apparatus

A belt-drive device includes a roller, a belt, and a meandering prevention member. The roller is rotatable about an axis. The belt is wound on an outer circumferential surface of the roller. The meandering prevention member is attached to an end of the roller and abuts a side of the belt in the direction of the axis. The meandering prevention member is elastically deformable and has an annular shape. The meandering prevention member has an inner circumferential surface whose diameter is less than an outer diameter of the roller before the meandering prevention member is attached to the roller.

Belt-drive device and image forming apparatus

When residual toner on the surface of an image carrier belt is removed with an elastic cleaning blade, a blade wear piece which is adhered to a blade edge is removed. When a blade edge of a cleaning blade is brought into sliding contact with a surface of an intermediate transfer belt which runs in a determined direction to remove residual toner on the belt surface, a step section having a predetermined height is provided on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. The step section is able to pass from a rear face side to a front face side of the blade edge while allowing the blade edge to run thereon, when the belt runs in a reverse direction such that the blade edge is in sliding contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. The intermediate transfer belt is moved, with a prescribed timing, in the reverse direction until the step section passes from the rear face side to the front face side of the blade edge at least once in the state that the blade edge is in sliding contact with the belt surface.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus which is provided with a developing device having a rotatable developing member opposite to a rotatable photoreceptor at a developing region for transporting a developer to bring the developer into contact with the photoreceptor at the developing region, and a paper particle removing member provided at a downstream side from the developing region with respect to a rotational direction of the developing member for removing paper particles from the developer held on the developing member.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Masataka Yagi