Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Norikazu Okabe

Hideaki Hayashi

Naoki Yamamoto

Taizou Oonishi

Kazunori Nishinoue

Satoru Yoneda

Toru Hayase

Kuniaki Ishiguro

Toshiyuki Sakai

Tomoharu Nishikawa

Tohru Murakami

Tatsuya Shinno

Hiromasa Ueno

Motoki Takata

Riichi Hama

Hideki Sendou

Hiroshi Hadano

Yoshikazu Nakabayashi

Toshihide Taniguchi

A fixing device for fixing an unfixed image on a recording sheet passing through a fixing nip formed by pressing a pressing member against an inside surface of a pressure belt via a low friction sheet, so that an outside surface of the pressure belt presses against a fixing member, wherein the pressing member includes a first pressing part having an elastic front face, and (ii) a second pressing part whose front face presses against a rear face of the first pressing part, the low friction sheet extends from a portion thereof pressed by the front face against the pressure belt, to an upstream end thereof, along a lateral side of the first pressing part, the upstream end being upstream from the other end with respect to a rotation direction of the pressure belt and sandwiched between the rear face and the front face by pressure.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

Fixing belt is brought into pressure-contact with the surface of fixing roller such that fixing belt rotates according to rotation of fixing roller, thereby forming, between fixing belt and fixing roller, fixing nip portion through which recording sheets pass. A pressing area of an opposing surface of pressing member contacting the surface of fixing roller via fixing belt is smaller in each end portion of the opposing surface in the axis direction of fixing roller than in a central portion of the opposing surface in the axis direction of fixing roller. This makes speed of conveying recording sheets faster in each edge portion in the width direction perpendicular to a recording sheet conveyance direction than in a central portion in the width direction. Thus, creases of recording sheets can be prevented while a recording sheet passes through fixing nip portion between fixing roller and fixing belt mutually brought into pressure-contact.

Fixing device and image formation apparatus

A first pad has a first nip forming surface which extends in a direction X. An angle formed between an end portion of the first nip forming surface and an XZ plane is smaller than an angle formed between a central portion of the first nip forming surface and the XZ plane, where the XZ plane is formed on a downstream side of the first nip forming surface. Thereby, a fixing device is provided which suppresses generation of wrinkles on a recording material when the fixing device fixes toner on the recording material and conveys it.

Presser member, fixing device and image forming apparatus

A mono-component developing apparatus including a developing roller which transports toner supported on an outer circumferential face of a center portion toward a developing area by rotating while frictionally sliding on a sealing member on each of two end portions. The developing roller includes surface processing areas having a spiral shape, placed on each of outer circumferential faces of the two end portions. An angle, made by a spiral direction of each surface processing area and the rotation direction, is an acute angle. The developing roller inhibits toner leakage, with the driving torque of the developing roller being only slightly increased.

Developing roller specific for mono-component developing apparatus

A fixing device has a presser member, a slide member and a pressure belt. Both ends of the presser member are positioned outside both ends of the slide member. Both ends of the slide member are positioned outside both ends of the pressure belt. Thereby, the slide member and the pressure belt are improved in service life, so that the fixing device as a whole is improved in service life.

A sheet accommodating device comprising a sheet-laid tray including a processing tray and a carrying tray; a discharge tray; a sheet accommodating unit; first, second and third sheet transporting paths for leading the discharged sheet to the sheet-laid tray, the sheet accommodating unit and the discharge tray, respectively; a transporting and aligning device for moving the sheet discharged onto the sheet-laid tray toward an alignment reference position; a detector for detecting a vertical position of an upper surface of the sheet on the carrying tray; a tray position adjusting device for adjusting the vertical position of the carrying tray based on a result of detection by the detector ; controller for raising or lowering the carrying tray; and others, the second sheet transporting path extending through the escape position of the processing tray, as well as a sheet processing system including a combination of the sheet accommodating device and an image forming apparatus.

Reciprocating tray for sheet finisher

A feeding device which feeds paper sheets accommodated in a paper supply tray detachable from a body of an image forming apparatus. Paper sheets stacked in the paper supply tray is induced to make pressure contact with a feed roller in conjunction with attachment of the paper supply tray to the body of the apparatus, and release the pressure contact between paper sheets and the feed roller in conjunction with detachment of the paper supply tray from the body of the apparatus. The feed roller has on an exterior surface at least one portion having a friction coefficient lower than the rest portion of the exterior surface, and is stopped its rotation in a state that the lower friction coefficient portion contacts with an uppermost paper sheet when paper feeding is completed, so as to prevent paper jams caused by shifting or deformation of the uppermost paper sheet during attachment or detachment of the paper supply tray to the body of the apparatus.

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Toyokawa, Japan

Norikazu Okabe