Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Takehiro Sato

Masayuki Yamada

Masaru Takagi

Yuya Shimohora

Yoshiaki Tashiro

Hideaki Doyo

Keiju Ishida

Sachio Izumichi

Yuichiro Tanaka

Koji Murata

Yoshio Sugishima

Hiroaki Takai

Noriko Masuta

Takeshi Fujimura

Toshio Hori

Koki Morizono

An image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a paper dust cleaning device configured to remove paper dust adhered to a surface of a conveying roller that conveys a paper sheet in a predetermined conveying direction. The paper dust cleaning device includes a paper dust removing member configured to extend in an axial direction of the conveying roller and come in contact with a surface of the conveying roller; a holder formed in a long shape in the axial direction and configured to hold the paper dust removing member; and a holder support portion configured to hold the holder so that the paper dust removing member comes in contact with the surface of the conveying roller, and configured to support the holder so as to be movable in the axial direction.

Image forming apparatus and paper dust cleaning device

An image forming apparatus includes a movable unit, a support unit, a protruding portion, a guide portion, and a pressing portion. The movable unit includes a fixing member and a pressure member, and swings along a width direction of a sheet. The support unit supports the movable unit. The protruding portion is electrically conductive and is provided to protrude from a first unit of one of the movable unit and the support unit toward a second unit of the other. The guide portion is electrically conductive and is formed in the second unit so that the protruding portion can be inserted therein, and guides the protruding portion along the width direction. The pressing portion presses the movable unit in a pressing direction perpendicular to the width direction and along a horizontal plane.

Image forming apparatus capable of stabilizing electrical connection between movable unit and support unit included in fixing device

The image forming apparatus transfers an image onto a surface of a sheet at a transfer position on a conveying path. A pair of conveying rollers convey the sheet to the transfer position. The image sensor reads the sheet upstream of the transfer position. The rotary body is disposed to face the image sensor with the conveying path interposed therebetween. The rotary body includes a background portion configured to face a reading surface of the image sensor when the rotary body is at a first rotational position, and a cleaning portion configured to come into contact with the reading surface of the image sensor when the rotary body is at a second rotational position.

Image forming apparatus with rotary body having background portion and cleaning portion

A fixing unit includes a plurality of first engagement portions which respectively engage with a plurality of first to-be-engaged portions to restrict a movement of a heating unit in a third direction intersecting with a first direction and a second direction. A fixed unit includes a second engagement portion which engages with a second to-be-engaged portion to restrict a movement of the heating unit in the first direction. The fixing unit includes a movable unit, a supporting member, and a reciprocating mechanism. The supporting member supports the movable unit such that the movable unit is movable along the first direction. The reciprocating mechanism causes the movable unit to reciprocate. The reciprocating mechanism causes the movable unit to reciprocate once every time a plurality of sheets pass between a first rotation member and a second rotation member in the fixing unit.

Image forming apparatus including reciprocatable fixing unit next to heating unit

A heating unit includes a to-be-engaged portion. A fixing unit includes an engagement portion. The heating unit or the fixing unit includes an engagement guide portion. A movement mechanism retains the heating unit in a tilted attitude when causing the heating unit to move at a position set apart from the fixing unit. The engagement guide portion causes the heating unit to rock from the tilted attitude to a reference attitude while guiding the to-be-engaged portion to the engagement portion. The engagement portion engages with the to-be-engaged portion to restrict a movement of the heating unit in a longitudinal direction. A unit bias portion retains an engagement state between the engagement portion and the to-be-engaged portion.

Image forming apparatus with heating unit rockable between reference attitude and tilted attitude

A heating unit urging member urges a first support body of a heating unit toward a second support body of a fixing unit with elastic force. The heating unit urging member brings the first support body into contact with the second support body and brings the second support body into contact with two struts. An interlocking mechanism moves the heating unit along a direction in which the heating unit and the fixing unit are arranged, in conjunction with movement of an operation portion. When the operation portion moves from a first position to a second position, the interlocking mechanism moves the first support body from a reference position where the first support body is in contact with the second support body to a retracted position where the first support body is separated from the second support body.

Image forming apparatus

In an image formation device, a driven gear is coupled to a far end portion in a unit inserting and withdrawing direction of a rotary fixing member or a rotary pressure member of a fixing unit. A driving gear is provided in a far end portion of a fixing unit housing part and engages with the driven gear when the fixing unit is housed in the fixing unit housing part. The driving gear and the driven gear are formed so that a transmission force transmitted from the driving gear to the driven gear in a mutual engagement position has a component so directed as to horizontally press the fixing unit against columns making a pair. The fixing unit as housed in the fixing unit housing part is pressed by the transmission force against the columns and positioned in a direction orthogonal to the unit inserting and withdrawing direction.

Image formation device

A transfer unit includes, as transfer rollers, a first roller and a second roller of which the latter has an elastic layer larger in an axial direction than that of the former, a first bearing member, a second bearing member, a roller holder, a first urging member, a second urging member, a switching cam, a transfer voltage power supply, and a driving mechanism. By rotating the roller holder, one of the first and second rollers is arranged opposite an image carrying member and, by rotating the switching cam, the first or second roller arranged opposite the image carrying member is arranged either at a reference position at which, by being kept in pressed contact with the image carrying member, the first or second roller forms a transfer nip or at a released position at which the first or second roller lies away from the image carrying member.

Transfer unit capable of switching between two transfer rollers

A transfer unit includes first and second rollers of which the second roller has an elastic layer larger in the axial direction than the first roller, a roller holder, and a switching cam. One of the first and second rollers is, by rotating the roller holder, arranged opposite an image carrying member and, by rotating the switching cam, arranged selectively either at a reference position to form a transfer nip or at a released position to lie away from the image carrying member. Let a length of the elastic layer of the first roller in the axial direction, a width of an effective image area on the image carrying member to which a toner image can be transferred, and a width of a recording medium of a maximum size allowing transfer using the first roller be L1, L3, and L4 respectively, L4&#x3c;L1&#x2264;L3&#x2212;5 mm is fulfilled.

Transfer unit capable of switching a transfer roller to one of a size appropriate to a recording medium

A transfer unit includes, as transfer rollers, first and second rollers of which the second has an elastic layer larger in an axial direction than the first, first and second bearing members, a roller holder, first and second urging members, a switching cam, a driving mechanism, and a first pre-transfer guide. By rotating the roller holder, the first or second roller is arranged opposite an image carrier and, by rotating the switching cam, the first or second roller arranged opposite the image carrier is arranged selectively either at a reference position where the first or second roller is in pressed contact with the image carrier or at a released position where the first or second roller lies away from the image carrier. With the first or second roller arranged at the reference position, the first pre-transfer guide is arranged at a first guide position.

Transfer unit capable of switching between two transfer rollers and maintaining a positional relationship with pre-transfer guide

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, an image input portion, a transfer unit, a transfer voltage power supply, and a control portion. The transfer unit includes a transfer roller having a metal shaft and an elastic layer laid around an outer circumferential face of the metal shaft to form a transfer nip by keeping the elastic layer in pressed contact with an image carrying member, and transfers a toner image formed on the image carrying member to a recording medium as it passes through the transfer nip. The transfer unit includes, as the transfer roller, a first roller, and a second roller having a larger axial-size elastic layer compared to the first roller. The control portion arranges the first or second roller opposite the image carrying member according to width-direction sizes of the recording medium and image data fed to the image input portion.

Image forming apparatus that can selectively switch between two transfer rollers

A fixing unit fixes the toner image on a sheet by causing the sheet carrying a toner image to pass through a nip portion formed by bringing a rotary fixing member and a rotary pressing member into pressure contact with each other. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body having a fixing unit accommodating portion for accommodating the fixing unit in an insertable and removable manner, and a heating unit provided in the image forming apparatus main body and heating a rotary fixing member of the fixing unit mounted on the fixing unit accommodating portion from outside in a radial direction. The direction in which the fixing unit is inserted into and removed from the fixing unit accommodating portion coincides with the axial direction of the rotary pressing member.

A sheet storage cassette includes a cassette base and inner rails. The cassette base has side plates facing each other parallel to insertion/withdrawal directions of the sheet storage cassette. The inner rails each have positioning bosses that protrude from each of different positions on the inner rails in a longitudinal direction thereof and a hook portion that protrudes in an L-shape in cross section toward the cassette base and is formed between the positioning bosses. On the side plates of the cassette base, there are provided mounting holes that receive the positioning bosses fitted thereinto at the time of mounting the cassette base to the inner rails, positioning surfaces that comes into contact with two locations on each of the inner rails in a longitudinal direction thereof, and fitted portions that are fitted together with the hook portion in a direction orthogonal to the insertion/withdrawal directions.

Sheet storage cassette as well as sheet feeder and image forming apparatus provided with the same

A fixing device includes: a fixing element; a heat source heating the fixing element; a press roller pressed against the fixing element, to form with the fixing element a nip region where a recording sheet passes; a driver device rotating the press roller; and a controller controlling the heat source to set a temperature of the fixing element to a predetermined target temperature, and controlling the driver device to set a rotation speed of the press roller to a predetermined target rotation speed. The controller determines the target rotation speed by adding a correction value to a normal rotation speed, based on the temperature of the fixing element at start of job, a type of the recording sheet, ambient temperature, and elapsed time from start of paper feed, and sets the rotation speed of the press roller to the target rotation speed.

Fixing device that controls rotation speed of press roller, according to temperature of fixing element at start of job, type of recording sheet, ambient temperature, and elapsed time after start of paper feed, and image forming apparatus

A fixing device has a fixing member, a pressing member, a pressing mechanism, a pressure changing mechanism, and a moving mechanism. The fixing member has a fixing belt. The pressing member forms a fixing nip portion by making contact with the fixing member. The pressing mechanism presses the pressing member against the fixing member to apply a nip pressure to the fixing nip portion. The pressure changing mechanism changes the nip pressure. The moving mechanism moves the fixing member in a sheet width direction which is perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction. The pressing mechanism has a holding member rotatably holding the pressing member and held swingably in such directions as to approach and recede from the fixing member. The moving mechanism moves the fixing member in the sheet width direction in coordination with the nip pressure being applied or removed by the pressure changing mechanism.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Takehiro Sato