Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ricoii Company, Limited

Takuya Seshita

Takahiro Imada

Hiroshi Yoshinaga

Hajime Gotoh

Toshihiko Shimokawa

Masaaki Yoshikawa

Kenji Ishii

Naoki Iwaya

Hiromasa Takagi

Shuutaroh Yuasa

Arinobu Yoshiura

Takamasa Hase

Akira Suzuki

Takeshi Uchitani

Kensuke Yamaji

Yutaka Ikebuchi

Kazuya Saito

Tadashi Ogawa

Teppei Kawata

Masahiko Satoh

Yuji Arai

Yoshiki Yamaguchi

Ippei Fujimoto

Tetsuo Tokuda

Takayuki Seki

Ryuuichi Mimbu

Takeshi Yamamoto

Shinichi Namekata

Yasunori Ishigaya

Shuntaro Tamaki

Kenji Sugiura

Masayuki Yamane

Satoru Yoshida

Kunihiro Ohyama

Ryota Yamashina

Shuntaroh Tamaki

Ichiro Kadota

Nobuyuki Taguchi

Takahiko Tokumasu

Daichi Yamaguchi

Toyoshi Sawada

Tomomi Suzuki

Motoyoshi Yamano

Junichi Awamura

Masahide Yamada

Hitoshi Fujiwara

Yoshihiro Fujiwara

Yasuo Miyoshi

Kohichi Utsunomiya

Hiroshi Kajiyama

Norio Kudo

Yoshikuni Sasaki

Katsuhiko Tani

Yumiko Yagi

Hiroyuki Sugiyama

Chiaki Tanaka

Yuusuke Furuichi

Satoshi Kojima

Yoshio Hattori

Ryota Inoue

Masayuki Ishii

Masashi Nagayama

Yuki Oshikawa

Tomoji Ishikawa

Yoshihiro Moriya

Shingo Sakashita

Tsuneyasu Nagatomo

Akinori Saitoh

Hiroyuki Uenishi

Keitaro Shoji

Yuuki Satoh

Yoshiharu Takahashi

Toshiki Hayashi

Yasuharu Kawarasaki

Natsuki Watanabe

Taira Otsuka

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a pressure rotator, a heater, a temperature responsive element, and a fastener. The pressure rotator presses the fixing rotator to form a fixing nip between the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The heater heats the fixing rotator. The temperature responsive element is exposed outside the fixing device and fixed to the fastener. The fastener is exposed outside the fixing device.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A removable unit that is attachable to and detachable from a body of an apparatus includes a positioning projection and an upstream projection. The positioning projection projects downward to position a unit or a member located below the removable unit when the removable unit is attached to the body. The upstream projection projects more downward than the positioning projection at an upstream end of the removable unit in an attachment direction of the removable unit to the apparatus. A lower end of the positioning projection is located higher than a line connecting a lower end of the upstream projection and a lower portion of a downstream end of the removable unit in the attachment direction when viewed in a direction orthogonal to both an up and down direction and the attachment direction.

Removable unit and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device, a temperature detector, and processing circuitry. The fixing device fixes a toner image on a surface of a sheet by heating of a heater. The temperature detector detects an internal temperature of the image forming apparatus. The processing circuitry switches a continuous print mode to an intermittent print mode when the internal temperature is equal to or higher than a first execution temperature during the continuous print mode. The processing circuitry cancels the intermittent print mode and switches to the continuous print mode when the internal temperature is equal to or lower than a first cancellation temperature. The processing circuitry causes the heater to stop heating the fixing device in the intermittent print mode when the internal temperature is higher than the first cancellation temperature even after a predetermined time has elapsed since a start of the intermittent print mode.

Image forming apparatus and method for switching a continuous print mode to an intermittent print mode

A sheet conveying device includes a pair of conveyors each including a conveyance face to convey a recording medium inside an image forming apparatus. One of the pair of conveyors further includes an exposed face, a handle, and a swing fulcrum. The exposed face is exposed to an outside of the apparatus while an inside of the apparatus is open. The handle is exposed to the outside of the apparatus and operatable to expose the conveyance face to the outside of the apparatus while the inside of the apparatus is open. The swing fulcrum swings the one of the pair of conveyors to expose the conveyance face to the outside of the apparatus when the handle is operated while the inside of the apparatus is open. The handle includes a partial annular portion. The partial annular portion is included in a plane including a swing direction around the swing fulcrum.

Sheet conveying device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor that detect a temperature of at least one of a first rotator, a second rotator, and a heater that heats at least one of the first rotator and the second rotator. The first temperature sensor is disposed outboard from an increased conveyance span where an increased size sheet having an increased width in a longitudinal direction of the heater is conveyed. The second temperature sensor is disposed outboard from a decreased conveyance span where a decreased size sheet having a decreased width in the longitudinal direction of the heater is conveyed. The decreased conveyance span is smaller than the increased conveyance span. The second temperature sensor is disposed within the increased conveyance span and disposed opposite the first temperature sensor via a center of the increased conveyance span in the longitudinal direction of the heater.

Heating device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a rotator, a heat source to heat the rotator, a first thermal equalization plate, a second thermal equalization plate, and an overheating preventer. The first thermal equalization plate and the second equalization plate are in contact with the heat source. The overheating preventer is in contact with one end of the second thermal equalization plate in an axial direction of the rotator. The first thermal equalization plate is in contact with a portion of the heat source, and the portion of the heat source is farther from a center of the rotator than the one end of the second thermal equalization plate in the axial direction of the rotator. The first thermal equalization plate is spaced apart from the one end of the second thermal equalization plate.

Fixing device including plural thermal equalization plates and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fixing device includes a rotary endless fixing belt; a nip forming member disposed in an interior of the fixing belt; a rotary opposed member to contact the nip forming member via the fixing belt to form a nip together with the fixing belt; a heat source to directly heat the fixing belt at a portion other than the nip, including at lease one heat-generation part disposed outside lateral ends of a maximum area of the fixing belt where a recording medium passes through, wherein a recording medium carrying an unfixed image is conveyed to the nip and the fixing device fixes the unfixed image onto the recording medium; and a shielding member disposed between the fixing belt and the heat generation part of the heat source and configured to shield heat from the heat source at least at an area outside the maximum passing area of the recording medium.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device, control circuitry, and a controller. The fixing device includes a first rotating body, a second rotating body in pressure contact with the first rotating body, and a heat source to heat the first rotating body. The circuitry, at startup of the fixing device, causes the fixing device to perform a rotating operation to rotate the first rotating body while causing the heat source to perform a heating operation to heat the first rotating body, thereby performing a fixing startup operation to raise a temperature of the first rotating body. The circuitry delays at least one of a timing for start of the rotating operation and a timing for start of the heating operation to be later than a start of a controller startup operation such that the fixing startup operation is completed in time with completion of the controller startup operation.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including same

A fixing device is provided that includes a rotatable endless fixing member; a heat source for heating the fixing member; a pressure member that forms a nip with the fixing member; and a nip forming portion that faces the pressure member inside the fixing member and forms the nip; wherein the nip forming portion has a base material and a heat equalizing member, the heat equalizing member has a flat portion between the base material and the pressure member and a bent portion that begins to bend away from the pressure member at an upstream side edge of the base material with respect to a conveyance direction of a recording medium that is configured to be conveyed between the pressure member and the fixing member, and then the bent portion further bends to at least partially hook over a convex part of the base material that is formed at the upstream side of the base material such that an end portion of the bent portion is farther downstream with respect to the conveyance direction of a recording medium than the upstream side edge of the base material.

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a pressure rotator configured to press the fixing rotator, a fixing structure, a temperature detector, a discharger, and a holder. The fixing structure is configured to hold at least one of the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The temperature detector is configured to contact a detected member that is at least one of the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator and detect a temperature of the detected member. The discharger is configured to contact and discharge the detected member. The holder is fixed on the fixing structure and configured to hold the temperature detector and the discharger.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fixing device includes an endless belt rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation and a nip formation assembly disposed opposite an inner circumferential surface of the endless belt. An opposed rotary body is pressed against the nip formation assembly via the endless belt to form a fixing nip between the endless belt and the opposed rotary body through which a recording medium bearing a toner image is conveyed. A belt holder contacts and supports each lateral end of the endless belt in an axial direction thereof. The belt holder is isolated from the opposed rotary body with a first interval interposed therebetween in the axial direction of the endless belt.

Fixing device capable of enhancing durability of endless belt and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

An image forming apparatus includes a pressing device, an apparatus body, an opening body, and a vibration insulator. The pressing device housed in the apparatus body is configured to press a pressing body to a pressing target body. The opening body is configured to open and close to the apparatus body. The opening body presses a pressing target portion of the apparatus body, at a first pressing portion to cancel a pressing state of the pressing device by opening of the opening body and at a second pressing portion to enter the pressing state of the pressing device by closing of the opening body. The vibration insulator is provided on at least one of the pressing target portion and the second pressing portion, at a contact portion at which the pressing target portion contacts the second pressing portion when the first pressing portion cancels the pressing state.

Image forming apparatus incorporating pressing device

A fixing device includes a driving unit, a pressing roller, a heater, a fixing belt, a pressing roller, a nip formation pad that presses against an inner surface of the fixing belt toward the pressing roller via the fixing belt to form a nip, a separation mechanism, a lubricant between the fixing belt and the nip formation pad, and a processor to execute a warming-up operation of the fixing device. In the warming-up operation, before the heater heats the fixing belt, the separation mechanism moves the nip formation pad in a direction of separating the nip formation pad from the pressing roller to set a nip pressure lower than an ordinary nip pressure, and the driving unit rotates the pressing roller that rotates the fixing belt. Thereafter, the heater starts heating, and the separation mechanism moves the nip formation pad to contact the fixing belt at an ordinary nip pressure.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takuya Seshita