Bando Chemical Industries, Inc.

Showa Denko Kabushiki Kaisha

Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Rikuzou Kouzuki

Katsumi Murofushi

Yoshikazu Hosoda

Yuki Abe

Yoshihiro Uchimoto

Yasunori Mikata

Sadao Tanimoto

Masakazu Okamoto

Masatsugu Tabata

Shigeki Inoue

Makoto Suzuki

In a toner-fixing heater device, a heater strip in a meandering pattern and a pair of heater electrodes are formed on an insulator film which is in turn fixed to a cylindrical roller body. Each heater electrode which slidably contacts a brush electrode has a leading and trailing edges formed inclinedly at an inclination angle .theta., e.g., 50.degree.. The axial width Wd of the heater electrode 14, the circumferential width Wg of a spacing between the leading and the trailing edges, and the circumferential width Wb of the brush electrode are determined to satisfy (Wd/tan .theta.+Wd).gtoreq.Wg. This arrangement assures a continuous sliding contact between the heater electrode and the brush electrode.

Toner fixing heater device having inclined heater electrode ends

A sheet of paper, plastic or the like on which an image has been formed using a toner that is photochemically decolorizable by absorption of near infrared rays is illuminated with near infrared rays under the state wherein the image is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass-transition temperature of a binding resin of the toner. The color of the toner can thereby be easily and rapidly eliminated. This enables the reuse of the sheet to be realized easily and at a low cost.

Apparatus for decolorizing toner images and an image forming apparatus

Method and apparatus for decolorization, and image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Rikuzou Kouzuki