Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Tomohiro Watatani

Masakazu Uehara

Yuhiro Sakai

Hironori Takahashi

Fumito Nakamoto

Shota Onishi

Takuya Kawasumi

Akihiro Kondo

Yoshiharu Kanematsu

Ryohei Tokunaga

Daisuke Mimura

Yuta Kitabayashi

Hiroki Kawasaki

Shunsaku Fujii

Rina Kikugawa

Yuto Masaoka

A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure roller, a discharge rollers pair, a discharge guide, and an actuator. The fixing member is heated by a heat source. The pressure roller forms a pressurized region. The discharge rollers pair includes an upper roller and a lower roller, and conveys the sheet passed through the pressurized region. The discharge guide guides the sheet passed through the pressurized region to the discharge rollers pair. The actuator includes a rotating shaft supported by the discharge guide rotatably and movably in an axial direction and a detection piece extending radially from the rotating shaft, and rotated by the sheet passed through the pressurized region to detect the sheet. The discharge guide has a slit in which the detection piece is housed to regulate a moving of the detection piece in a width direction of the sheet.

Fixing device including discharge guide guiding sheet passed through pressurized region and image forming apparatus

In a fixing device, a heater heats an endless rotatable fixing belt. A retention member includes a groove for retaining a lubricant and retains the heater such that a surface on a front side comes into contact with an inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt via the lubricant. A pressure member is pressed against the heater while the fixing belt is interposed therebetween and forms, with the fixing belt, a pressure region for heating and pressurizing a paper sheet onto which a toner image has been transferred. A guide guides the paper sheet to the pressure region. The guide causes the paper sheet to come into contact with the fixing belt at a position more on a downstream side of a rotation direction of the fixing belt than the groove, to guide the paper sheet to the pressure region.

Fixing device for image forming apparatus with retention member having groove for retaining lubricant

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device, a shutter, a lock member and an attachment member. The fixing device is supported by an apparatus main body. The shutter is movable to a close position and to an open position. The lock member is movable to a holding position holding the shutter to the close position and an allowable position allowing the shutter to move from the close position to the open position. The lock member is moved to the holding position to hold the shutter to the close position in a state where the attachment member is detached from the apparatus main body. In the middle of attaching the attachment member to the apparatus main body, the attachment member moves the lock member from the holding position to the allowable position and then moves the shutter from the close position to the open position.

Image forming apparatus including fixing device having shutter and lock member for holding shutter position

A fixing device according to the present disclosure includes a rotatable endless belt and an end portion holder. The end portion holder supports each of end portions of the fixing belt rotatably, and has a cylindrical part along which an inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt slides and an end wall part which faces an end surface of the fixing belt. The end wall part has a restraint part which faces an outer circumferential surface of the fixing belt with a predetermined interval and restrains the fixing belt from turning up.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a heating rotating body, a pressure rotating body, and a fixing frame. The fixing frame supports the heating rotating body and the pressure rotating body. The fixing frame includes a pair of side plates and a plurality of stays. The side plates are disposed to face each other, and supports both axial end portions of the heating rotating body and both axial end portions of the pressure rotating body. The stays are disposed between the side plates. In a XYZ coordinate in which an axis along a direction in which the side plates face each other is defined as the X-axis, and axes perpendicular to the X-axis and perpendicular to each other are defined as the Y-axis and the Z-axis, each of the stays is fastened to the side plates at least two axial directions of the three axial directions of the XYZ coordinates.

Provided is a fixing device including: a fixing belt; a pressure roller which pressurizes toner on a sheet that passes through a pressure area; a pair of retention members each including a shaft-supporting portion which rotatably guides one of both end portions of the fixing belt in an axial direction, and a restriction surface which restricts a movement of the fixing belt in the axial direction; and a frame including a pair of side plates which rotatably support both end portions of the pressure roller in the axial direction as well as support the fixing belt via the pair of retention members, in which attachment positions of the pair of retention members in the pair of side plates are provided such that a gap becomes larger on a downstream side of a passing direction of the sheet with respect to the pressure area than on an upstream side.

A fixing device includes a pressure member, and a holder. The pressure member forms a pressure area between the pressure member and a fixing belt. The holder is provided inside the fixing belt, has a sliding surface in contact with an inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt via a lubricant, and holds a heater for heating the fixing belt. The holder includes a plurality of slits and a blocking portion. The plurality of slits are arranged in an axial direction on the sliding surface upstream of the pressure area in a passing direction of a medium and guide movement of the lubricant from upstream to downstream in a rotational direction of the fixing belt. The blocking portion restricts an outflow of the lubricant from each of the slits and restricts a fall of the fixing belt into each of the slits.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus capable of suppressing deformation of fixing belt and excessive adhesion of lubricant

A fixing device includes a fixing member, a pressure member, and a pair of retention members each including a restriction surface. The restriction surface restricts a movement of the fixing member in an axial direction. The restriction surface includes a first contact area and a second contact area. The first area is an area more on a downstream side of a passing direction of a medium than a center of a pressure area in the passing direction, and also closer to the pressure area than an apex of the fixing member on an opposite side of the pressure area. The first contact area and the second contact area are each tilted at a certain gradient so as to be set apart from the end portion of the fixing member in the axial direction from a side of the apex toward a side of the pressure area.

A fixing device () includes a fixing belt (), a pressure member (), and a heating section (). The heating section () faces an inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt (). The heating section () includes a heater (HT), a first heat sensitive body (SM), and a second heat sensitive body (SM). The second heat sensitive body (SM) differs from the first heat sensitive body (SM). The heater (HT) has a first heater portion (AE). The first heater portion (AE) is one end portion of a pair of end portions of the heater (HT) in a longitudinal direction thereof. The first heat sensitive body (SM) and the second heat sensitive body (SM) face the first heater portion (AE) and are aligned in a conveyance direction (DC) of a sheet (S).

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including thermistor and thermostat aligned in a sheet conveyance direction

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressing roller, a flat heater, a heater holder and a pair of mounting members. The flat heater has a first surface coming into contact with an inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The heater holder comes into contact with the second surface of the flat heater. The mounting members comes into contact with both end portions of the first surface of the flat heater in the width direction, and are mounted to the heater holder such that the flat heater is held between the mounting members and the heater holder. The mounting member includes a downstream side end surface contact part which comes into contact with a downstream side end surface of the flat heater in the conveying direction.

A heat roller includes a main body and a follower gear. The main body includes a cutaway portion and a pair of protruding plate portions. The follower gear includes a transmission protrusion and an abutment portion. The transmission protrusion is abutted against one protruding plate portion, when the follower gear rotates. The abutment portion is abutted against the one protruding plate portion, when the main body rotates in advance. A size of the transmission protrusion along the width direction of the cutaway portion is smaller than a clearance between the pair of protruding plate portions in the width direction, and a clearance between the abutment portion and the one protruding plate portion in the roller rotation direction is narrower than a clearance between the transmission protrusion and the other protruding plate portion in the roller rotation direction, when the transmission protrusion is in contact with the one protruding plate portion.

Fixing device in which transmission protrusion of follower gear abuts against one of protruding plate portions of heat roller main body, and image forming apparatus including fixing device

A fixing device includes a heater, a heater holding member, a stay sheet-metal, and a belt holding member. The stay sheet-metal includes a top plate and side plates and is configured to control a load applied to the heater holding member, the side plates extending respectively from opposite sides of the top plate in a short-length direction of the top plate, toward the heater holding member. The belt holding member holds the fixing belt such that the fixing belt can peripherally rotate, the belt holding member holding at least one end of the heater holding member in a longitudinal direction thereof and at least one end of the stay sheet-metal in a longitudinal direction thereof. The top plate of the stay sheet-metal is formed to extend to at least one end of the stay sheet-metal in the longitudinal direction thereof.

A heater holding member circulatably guides a fixing belt and holds a heater that heats the fixing belt. A stay sheet metal reinforces the heater holding member. The heater holding member has a base plate and side walls. The stay sheet metal is placed on the base plate. A side wall is erected on either side of the base plate in a short direction thereof. A pocket which keeps the stay sheet metal is formed in each side wall. The stay sheet metal has a top plate and side plates. A side plate bends and extends from either edge of the top plate in a short direction thereof. A slit is formed in each side plate such that the side plates are kept in the pockets of the heater holding member.

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a pressure applying member, and a heater holding member. The fixing belt fixes toner to a sheet. The pressure applying member forms a nip portion together with an outer peripheral surface of the fixing belt and causes the fixing belt to peripherally rotate while applying pressure to the fixing belt at the nip portion. The heater holding member holds a heater that applies heat to the fixing belt. The heater holding member includes: a side portion that extends from the nip portion along an inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt and guides the fixing belt; and a plurality of inclined ribs that are disposed on the side portion to face the inner peripheral surface and formed such that an interval between them is gradually narrowed as they proceed in a direction in which the fixing belt peripherally rotates.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus capable of promoting circulation of lubricant

A fixing device includes a fixing belt, a heater holding member, and a belt holding member. The fixing belt fixes a toner image to a sheet by heating the sheet. The heater holding member guides the fixing belt such that the fixing belt can peripherally rotate. The heater holding member holds a heater that heats the fixing belt. The belt holding member is fixed in position with respect to a conveyance path of the sheet and holds an end portion of the fixing belt in a rotation axis direction of the fixing belt such that the fixing belt can peripherally rotate. The belt holding member includes an engaging portion. The heater holding member includes an engaged portion that is engaged with the engaging portion to restrict a movement of the belt holding member with respect to the heater holding member.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Tomohiro Watatani