Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hitachi, Ltd.

Tsutomu Miki

Kazuhisa Kemmochi

Hikaru Osada

Keisuke Abe

Masashi Tanaka

Toshinori Nakayama

Atsuyoshi Abe

Masayuki Tamaki

Taichi Takemura

Daisuke Aoki

Takahiro Hosokawa

Jiro Ishizuka

Satoshi Nishida

Kenichi Ogawa

Koji Kitani

Masao Umezawa

Shigeki Masatsugu

Satoru Nitobe

Jiro Ishiduka

Koh Kamachi

Hirotsugu Misaka

An additive manufacturing apparatus includes a powder-layer forming portion, an energy beam source, a shielding portion, and/or a removal portion. The powder-layer forming portion is configured to form a powder layer by moving between a waiting position and a forming area and supplying powder to the forming area. The energy beam source is configured to irradiate the powder layer with an energy beam. The shielding portion is disposed outside the forming area and between the forming area and the waiting position and configured to reduce powder reaching the powder-layer forming portion, the powder being scattered from the powder layer when the powder layer is irradiated with the energy beam by the energy beam source. The removal portion is configured to remove the powder scattered from the powder layer and having adhered to the powder-layer forming portion.

Additive manufacturing apparatus and method of manufacturing three-dimensionally shaped object

A manufacturing method of a three-dimensional shaped object includes a first step of depositing powder to form a powder layer, and a second step of scanning and irradiating an energy beam to the powder layer to melt and then solidifying the powder layer to form a solidified layer. The energy beam is irradiated to the powder layer corresponding to a contour area and an inner-solid area inside of the contour area. The first and second steps are alternately and repeatedly executed. The energy beam is scanned such that an irradiation starting point of the energy beam for forming an upper solidified layer does not overlap with an irradiation starting point of the energy beam for forming a lower solidified layer in a view from a lamination direction.

Manufacturing method of three-dimensional shaped object and additive manufacturing apparatus used therefor

According to embodiments, a heating member or a sliding member arranged in contact with the surface of a fusing roller is moved in an intersecting direction with the rotational direction of the fusing roller in a contact state with the heating member or the sliding member so as to prevent a scratch from being generated on the surface of the fusing roller or to repair the scratch.

Image heating apparatus and image heating rotational body to be mounted on the image heating apparatus

A fixing apparatus includes a back-up member contacting an inner surface of a cylindrical belt; a roller having an elastic layer and contacting an outer surface of the belt, the roller being cooperative with the back-up member to form a fixing nip between the belt and the roller. A sheet carrying a toner image is nipped and fed through the fixing nip, during which the unfixed toner image is heat-fixed thereon by the fixing nip. The back-up member includes a portion contactable with the inner surface and having such a configuration that the belt forms a first curved surface convex toward the roller in an upstream region in the fixing nip with respect to a moving direction of the belt and that the belt forms a second curved surface convex toward the back-up member in a downstream region in the fixing nip with respect to the moving direction.

Fixing apparatus

An image forming portion of an image forming apparatus is configured to form a toner image on a recording medium such that a relationship of M&#x2266;&#x3c1;&#x3c0;L/(30&#x221a;3) is satisfied, where a volume average particle size of toner is L (&#x3bc;m), density of the toners is &#x3c1; (g/cm), and a maximum toner laid quantity per unit area of a single color toner image on a recording medium is M (mg/cm). The toner image formed by the image forming portion is fixed on the recording medium by a fixing nip portion by being heated and applied a force in a direction of a plane of the recording medium.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an unfixed toner image on a recording material and a fixing unit, wherein, in a case where an image is formed by using the toners of the plurality of colors, when a specific gravity of the toners is &#x3c1; (g/cm) and a weight average particle diameter of the toners is L (&#x3bc;m), the image forming unit sets a maximum laid-on amount A (mg/cm) of each color in the unfixed toner image on the recording material so as to satisfy the following condition: A&#x3c;&#x3c1;&#x3c0;L/30&#x221a;3, and wherein the fixing unit fixes the unfixed toner image to the recording material so that a dot spread amount (&#x3bc;m) of the toner image satisfies the following condition: &#x221a;(&#x3c1;&#x3c0;L/90&#x221a;3A)&#x2266;Dot Spread Amount.

When an unfixed toner image is formed on a recording material, a maximum toner amount per unit area satisfies A&#x3c;(&#x3c1;&#x3a0;L)/30&#x221a;3, where a specific gravity of a toner is &#x3c1; (g/cm), a weight-average particle size is L (&#x3bc;m), and the toner amount per unit area of the unfixed toner image on the recording material is A (mg/cm), in formation of the unfixed toner image with each color toner, and the unfixed toner image is fixed so that a region where colors of chromatic toners of respective colors in the above-described images are seen in an overlaid state is 84% or more.

Image forming apparatus controlling toner image overlapping ratio

An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable member; a heater contactable to a surface of the rotatable member to heat the rotatable member; and a back-up member cooperative with the rotatable member to form a nip for nipping and feeding a recording material carrying an image, wherein a position of a peak in a pressure distribution with respect to a rotational direction of the rotatable member is upstream, with respect to the rotational direction, of a central portion of a contact region between the rotatable member and the heater with respect to the rotational direction.

Image heating apparatus

A fixing apparatus for heat-fixing an unfixed toner image formed on a sheet, includes a roller; an endless belt contacted to the roller; a pressing member contacted to an inner surface of the endless belt and cooperating with the roller to nip the endless belt, wherein the sheet on which the unfixed toner image is formed is heated while being nipped and fed by a nip between the roller and the endless belt, wherein such a surface of the pressing member as is opposed to the inner surface of the endless belt is curved substantially in the same direction as a curved surface of the roller, wherein the nip includes a first nip region in which the endless belt is not pressed by the pressing member and the endless belt is contacted to the roller by an elastic force of the endless belt which is in a slack state, and a second nip region in which the endless belt is contacted to the roller by pressing of the pressing member, wherein the nip starts with the first nip region with respect to a feeding direction of the sheet, wherein the second nip region is continuous with the first nip region.

Fixing apparatus with endless belt and curved pressing member

The image heating apparatus includes a rotary member that comes into contact with a toner image borne on a recording material, a backup member that forms a nip portion to pinch and convey the recording material with said rotary member, wherein said rotary member heats the toner image on the recording material in the nip portion, a cover member that covers a surface of said rotary member with a gap between the surface of said rotary member and the cover member and a frame that accommodates said rotary member, said backup member and said cover, wherein said cover is not in contact with said frame. This structure can suppress heat dissipation to the exterior of the image heating apparatus, thus suppressing the energy consumption.

Image heating apparatus with frame accommodating apparatus components

In an image heating apparatus, outer peripheral surfaces of two endless belts are held in contact with each other to form a nip portion, and a recording material bearing a toner image is heated at the nip portion while being pinched and conveyed. In the image heating apparatus, the nip portion has a pre-nip portion formed by regions of the endless belts with no backup by pressure members, and a pressure nip portion where one endless belt with backup by the pressure members is held in contact with another endless belt. The image heating apparatus is capable of securing a large nip width compatible with an increase in speed and free from 'pressure-absence' leading to image abnormality such as misregistration, thus enabling an image having a sufficient gloss to be obtained.

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Komae, Japan

Tsutomu Miki