Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Takara Kosan Co., Ltd.

Dow Corning Toray Company, Ltd.

Satoru Taniguchi

Yasuhiro Shimura

Masaki Hirose

Takashi Honke

Hirohiko Aiba

Taisuke Minagawa

Mahito Yoshioka

Keita Nakajima

Kazushi Nishikata

Fumiki Inui

Hiroyuki Yamazaki

Wataru Uchida

Jun Asami

Yuji Fujiwara

Toshifumi Kitamura

Akira Nakamura

Koji Nihonyanagi

Hiroyuki Sakakibara

Hiroto Hasegawa

Hisashi Nakahara

Hideaki Yonekubo

Nozomu Nakajima

Yusaku Iwasawa

Koichi Yamada

Takemi Morita

Mitsunori Yoshida

Masaaki Takahashi

Kazuo Kishino

Ken Nakagawa

Hideo Kawamoto

Munehito Kurata

Keisuke Mochizuki

Hikaru Osada

Yuji Kitano

Akihito Kanamori

Toshiya Kaino

Yusuke Nakazono

Yoshihiro Matsuo

Yoji Tomoyuki

Shinkichi Yamamoto

Osamu Soutome

Takuya Ogura

Teruyoshi Tanaka

An image heating apparatus fixes a toner image by heating a recording material bearing an image when a film rotates around a support member which supports a nip forming member forming a nip portion with a rotating member while sliding on the nip forming member. The image heating apparatus includes a temperature detection element which outputs information about a detected temperature to a control unit which controls a temperature of the heating member supplying heat to the rotating member or the film, a first supply member which supplies a lubricant to the film in contact with the film, and a second supply member which is different from the first supply member and supplies the lubricant to the film in contact with the film, wherein the temperature detection element is arranged between the first supply member and the second supply member in a longitudinal direction of the support member.

Image heating apparatus which attains secure fixing of an unfixed image and reduction of energy to be consumed while securing slidability of a film

A supporting member supporting a heating member includes a lubricant storage portion storing a lubricant on an upstream side of a nip portion in a rotation direction of an endless film sliding with respect to the heating member. The supporting member further includes a lubricant supplying portion supplying the lubricant stored in the lubricant storage portion to an inner peripheral surface of the film. An amount of the lubricant supplied from the lubricant supplying portion to the inner peripheral surface of the film per unit time is larger in an area through which a small-sized recording material smaller than a maximum-sized recording material fixable by the image heating device does not pass in a longitudinal direction than in an area through which the small-sized recording material passes.

Image heating device that prevents failure caused by insufficient supply of lubricant at ends parts

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion configured to form a toner image on a recording material, a fixing portion configured to heat and to fix the toner image formed on the recording material, and a controller configured to control the apparatus, which is operable to form an image on a recording material having a first size and a recording material having a second size smaller than the first size in a direction perpendicular to a recording material feeding direction. If a printing instruction for printing on the recording material of the first size is received while continuously printing on the recording material of the second size at a first throughput, the controller controls the apparatus so as to print on the recording material of the second size at a second throughput, lower than the first throughput, before printing on the recording material of the first size.

Image forming apparatus having a controller that changes a throughput of a recording material of a size if the apparatus receives a printing instruction for printing on a recording material of another size

A fixing device includes a cylindrical film a pressing member, and a preventing member including a preventing surface configured to prevent movement of the film in a longitudinal direction, and a film rotation guiding surface. As viewed in the longitudinal direction of the film, the preventing surface includes first and second regions positioned downstream and upstream, respectively, of a nip center line with respect to a recording material feeding direction. The first region retracts from a longitudinal film end surface relative to the second region. The second region continuously extends in the recording material feeding direction from a portion upstream of the nip center line to a portion downstream of the nip center line, and has a length, with respect to a rotational direction of the film, that is greater at the portion upstream of the nip center line than at the portion downstream of the nip center line.

Fixing device having a preventing member that prevents folding of an end portion of a film

A balloon includes two joined plastic films. The balloon includes: a gas supply valve sandwiched between and joined to the first film and the second film; a first chamber receiving air supplied from the gas supply valve for expansion; and a second chamber communicating to the first chamber. The gas supply valve includes a gas passage that extends from a gas inlet positioned on an outer side of the second chamber to an inside of the first chamber through the second chamber. Part of the first film and the second film between the first chamber and the second chamber and between the gas passage and a peripheral edge of the balloon are joined together to form a first weld portion and a second weld portion. The first weld portion is formed on an opposite side of the second weld portion with the gas passage sandwiched therebetween.

Balloon

The fixing apparatus includes a cylindrical heating film, a nip portion forming member, a roller; a motor, a control unit, and an acquisition unit. The apparatus executes a fixing process of conveying and heating the recording material carrying the toner image to fix the toner image to the recording material at the nip portion. The apparatus is further configured to execute a first mode of stopping the supply of power to the motor just after the end of the fixing process and a second mode of stopping the supply of power to the motor after a low-speed rotation period for rotating the motor at a rotational speed set lower than the target rotational speed during the fixing process after the end of the fixing process, and to select one of the first and second modes.

Fixing apparatus the fixes an image on recording material and performs motor control after fixing the image

A fixing device includes a rotatable cylindrical film, a contact member, a nip forming member, and regulating member. The regulating member includes an inner surface regulating surface that contacts and regulates a position of an inner surface of the film, and that, with respect to a rotational direction of the film, includes a first region remotest from a nip and a second region closer to the nip than the first region, the second region being positioned in a side upstream of a center of the nip with respect to a recording material feeding direction. The inner surface regulating surface is inclined so as to be spaced from the inner surface of the film toward a longitudinal center of the film, and a degree of inclination of the inner surface regulating surface is greater in the first region than in the second region.

Fixing device that regulates a position of an inner surface of a film

A fixing device for fixing an image formed on a recording material onto the recording material. The fixing device includes a heater contacting an inner surface of the film, a supporting member for supporting the heater, the supporting member being provided in a hollow space, a first portion for preventing lateral movement of the film in a generatrix direction of the film, the first portion being supported by a frame of the fixing device and holding the supporting member, and a second portion opposed to a surface of the heater where the heater contacts the film and elongated along a widthwise direction of the heater, the second portion being provided at the same position with the generatrix direction of the film.

Fixing device

An image-forming apparatus includes an image-forming unit, a fixing device including a heating rotator and a pressure member forming a nip portion together with the heating rotator, and a bias-applying unit applying bias to the heating rotator. Image forming modes each having a time interval between a preceding recording material and a succeeding recording material which is different from each other can be performed. A control unit executes a first control while the recording materials are being conveyed at the nip portion, and a second control while the recording materials are not being conveyed at the nip portion due to the time interval. A switching time in the image forming mode in which the time interval is a first time interval is determined to be longer than in the image forming mode in which the time interval is a second time interval shorter than the first time interval.

Fixing device and image-forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a cylindrical film; a plate heater including an electrode portion, wherein a lubricant is applied in a region where the heater contacts the film; a supporting member; and a sealing member contacting a surface of the heater where the electrode portion of the heater is provided, the sealing member being provided at a position closer to a center of the heater than the electrode portion is. The sealing member includes an engaging portion engaging with an end portion of the supporting member with respect to a widthwise direction of the heater and a cantilever contact portion contacting the surface of the heater where the electrode portion is provided.

To notify a residual life of a replaceable part at appropriate time on image quality required by the user. An image forming apparatus including: a replaceable part used for image formation; an output unit configured to output information indicating that a usage amount has reached a threshold; an input unit configured to input information; and a control unit configured to change the threshold in accordance with information about image quality input by the input unit.

Image forming apparatus and image forming system

A balloon can maintain a bent state even if a bent state-holding member is not used. A balloon includes two plastic films that are stacked and sealed at a peripheral edge. The balloon includes a first part, a second part, and a bending part that is situated between the first part and the second part. The bending part includes a gas passage through which the interior of the first part and the interior of the second part communicate with each other, and a bending sealed part that is formed by sealing the two plastic films situated opposite to each other in an inward area relative to the peripheral edge. An outer edge of the bending sealed part extends beyond the bending part so as to be situated within the first part and the second part.

Provided is a heat fixing apparatus, which suppresses the depletion of a lubricant applied to an inside of the heat fixing apparatus and which has long life and high reliability, the heat fixing apparatus including a heating rotary member and a pressurizing rotary member, and containing, as a lubricant in a sliding portion, (A) perfluoropolyether oil having a kinetic viscosity at 40&#xb0; C. of from 100 to 200 mm/s and an evaporation loss being 1.2 mass % or less in a case where 10 g of a sample of the perfluoropolyether oil is placed in a petri dish having an inner diameter of 41 mm and allowed to stand still at 250&#xb0; C. for 200 hours and (B) polytetrafluoroethylene.

Heat fixing apparatus and grease composition for the heat fixing apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a detection unit that detects information about a used amount of a unit, and a control unit that outputs information indicating that the unit is required to be replaced when the information about the detected used amount reaches a first predetermined threshold value, wherein the control unit changes the threshold value to a second threshold value according to information about the used amount when the unit is replaced.

Image forming apparatus and image forming system including a detection unit that detects information about a used amount of unit

A heater used for a fixing device includes a substrate, first and second conductor patterns formed at either end of the substrate in the short direction of the substrate, a third conductor pattern formed between the first and second conductor patterns and separated from the two conductor patterns, a first heating member disposed between the first and third conductor patterns and electrically connected to the two conductor patterns, and a second heating member disposed between the second and third conductor patterns and electrically connected to the conductor patterns. The heater has both end regions in which the widths of the third conductor pattern in the short direction is smaller than that of a middle portion of the third conductor pattern. The widths of the first and second heating members in the end regions are smaller than the widths of the first and second heating members in the other region, respectively.

Growing community of inventors

Mishima, Japan

Satoru Taniguchi