Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Shinichi Hatakeyama

Kazuna Taguchi

Makoto Souda

Yasutada Kato

Takuya Nishimura

Shota Shinoya

Yuichi Ikeno

Shunsuke Ueki

Kimio Takeuchi

Keiichi Imamiya

A fixing device includes: a casing; a heating portion; a pressure portion; a connector; a harness; and a harness holder. The heating portion extends in a first direction. The pressure portion is configured to form a nipping region between the pressure portion and the heating portion. The connector is detachably attached to the heating portion. The harness is connected to the connector for supplying electric power to the heating portion through the connector. The harness holder is fixed to the casing and positioned upstream relative to the connector in an attachment direction of the connector to the heating portion. The attachment direction crosses the first direction. The harness holder holds the harness between the harness holder and the casing. The harness holder is configured to restrict movement of the connector by making contact with the connector in a case where the connector moves upstream in the attachment direction.

Fixing device including casing, harness, and harness holder holding harness in cooperation with casing

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum and a fuser. The fuser includes an upper frame. The upper frame includes an upper first rib downstream of a heating rotating member in a sheet conveying direction, an upper second rib adjacent to the upper first rib in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, and first and second conveying rollers. The upper first rib includes a first guide surface, and a separation surface. The upper second rib includes a second guide surface. The second guide surface is located downstream of the first guide surface in the sheet conveying direction. A distance between a nip point between the first and second conveying rollers and the second guide surface in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction and the width direction is smaller than a distance between the nip point and the separation surface.

Image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes: an endless belt; a heater; a stay; a holder having a heater supporting surface and a contacting surface in contact with the stay; and a pressure roller having a diameter that becomes smaller from each end of the pressure roller in an axial direction toward a center of the pressure roller in the axial direction. In a state prior to assembling the holder with both the stay and the heater, a distance in an orthogonal direction between the heater supporting surface and the contacting surface at a center of the holder in the axial direction is longer than a distance in the orthogonal direction between the heater supporting surface and the contacting surface at each end of the holder in the axial direction. The orthogonal direction is orthogonal to the axial direction.

Fixing device including holder having heater supporting surface supporting heater, and contacting surface opposite heater supporting surface and in contact with stay

A fixing device to be attached to an image forming apparatus includes a heater, a heating rotating body, a pressure rotating body, a frame, and a reinforcement plate. The heating rotating body is heated by the heater. The pressure rotating body forms a nip in combination with the heating rotating body. The frame is made of plastic and configured to support the heating rotating body and the pressure rotating body. The frame has a first end and a second end located apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the pressure rotating body. The frame includes a side wall located at the first end thereof. The reinforcement plate is made of metal and fixed to the side wall. The reinforcement plate includes a protrusion that protrudes in the longitudinal direction. The protrusion locates the fixing device in place with respect to the image forming apparatus.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device incorporated in a main body of an image forming apparatus includes a heater, a rotatable body, and a pressure roller. The rotatable body is configured to be heated by the heater. The pressure roller is configured to form a nip region in cooperation with the rotatable body to nip a sheet at the nip region between the pressure roller and the rotatable body. The pressure roller includes a shaft, and an elastic layer covering a peripheral surface of the shaft. The elastic layer has a thickness of at least 1 millimeter to at most 3 millimeters. The pressure roller has a peripheral surface whose hardness is in a range of at least 60 to at most 67 on the Asker C scale.

Fixing device including pressure roller whose elastic layer has little impact on nip width due to thermal expansion

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming engine, a re-conveyance path configured to guide a sheet, on which an image is formed by the image forming engine, to be switched back and re-conveyed toward the image forming engine. The apparatus also includes a discharge tray, and a discharge path configured to guide the sheet in a sheet discharge direction toward the discharge tray. A stack lever is configured to contact a top surface of the sheet on the discharge tray and press the sheet toward the discharge tray. A guide member is configured to form a part of the re-conveyance path, extend up to a position downstream of the stack lever in the sheet discharge direction above the stack lever, and guide the sheet being conveyed along the re-conveyance path, between the guide member and the stack lever.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi, Japan

Shinichi Hatakeyama