Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Yasuhisa Katoh

Junji Nakai

Toshihiro Yoshinuma

Sho Sawahata

Ken Onodera

Hirokazu Ikenoue

Satoshi Kitaoka

Hideaki Nishimura

Kenji Ishii

Satoshi Takahashi

Masaaki Yoshikawa

Yoshiki Yanagawa

Motokazu Yasui

Yasushi Hashimoto

Hiromi Sakaguchi

Kaori Toyama

Masaya Kawarada

Satoshi Aizawa

Hidehisa Shibasaki

Ryota Iwasaki

Kohichi Uchida

Kohei Funada

A drying device includes a contact heater unit to contact and heat a medium. The contact heater unit includes a plurality of heating members each having a curved contact face to contact the medium among plural heating members of the plurality of heating members to contact a first surface of the medium opposite a second surface of the medium on which liquid is applied. The plurality of heating members includes a first heating member and a plurality of second heating members. The first heating member has a maximum contact distance to contact the medium. The plurality of second heating members is disposed upstream from the first heating member in a direction of conveyance of the medium. Two heating members of the plurality of second heating members immediately upstream from the first heating member in the direction of conveyance of the medium contact the first surface of the medium.

Drying device and printing apparatus

A dryer includes a heater in a conveyance area in which an object is conveyed, the heater configured to heat the object on which a liquid is applied, a heated portion in an outer area outside the conveyance area, the heated portion connected to the heater, a partition wall partitioning the conveyance area and the outer area, an air supply unit in the conveyance area, the air supply unit configured to feed air to the object conveyed in the conveyance area, and a duct in the outer area, the duct connected to the air supply unit and configured to take in air around the heated portion.

Dryer and printer

A drying device includes heaters disposed along the direction of conveyance of a recording medium to which liquid is applied, the heaters being configured to heat the recording medium, wherein the recording medium is conveyed in contact with the heaters on a conveyance path including a first path on which the recording medium is conveyed in contact with the heaters for the second time and a second path on which the recording medium is conveyed in contact with the heaters for the second time, wherein a dried film of the liquid formed by the following method has a Martens hardness of 30 N/mmor greater at 120 degrees C.: method: the liquid is applied to a glass plate to form a film and the film is dried with a reduced pressure at 100 degrees C. for three hours to obtain the dried film having an average thickness of 5 &#x3bc;m.

Drying device and image forming apparatus

A drying device includes a first heater, a second heater, a conveyance path, and an infrared heater. The first heater contacts and heats a medium on which liquid is applied. The second heater contacts and heats the medium. The second heater contacts the medium at a distance longer than a distance at which the first heater contacts the medium. The conveyance path of the medium includes a first conveyance-path portion and a second conveyance-path portion. The medium is conveyed while contacting the first heater in the first conveyance-path portion. The first conveyance-path portion is disposed upstream from the second heater in a direction of conveyance of the medium. The second conveyance-path portion is disposed downstream from the second heater in the direction of conveyance of the medium. The infrared heater is disposed in the second conveyance-path portion, to irradiate an infrared ray to the medium.

In accordance with the present invention, in an image forming apparatus including a fixing device for fixing a toner image on a sheet with heat at a nip between a fixing member accommodating a heat source and a pressing member not accommodating it, consecutive sheets are driven out of the fixing device at a variable interval without the number of sheets to be output within a preselected period of time being varied.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same

An image forming apparatus in which a sheet conveying path and a sheet discharging path are exposed when a side cover is opened for removing a jammed sheet. The side cover, together with attached copy exit guide plate for sheets is exchangeably and detachably mounted to the main body of the apparatus and serves commonly as a side cover for a simplex type copying machine and a duplex type copying machine. Separate units, attached to each other and aligned, establish sheet discharging paths to different destinations, for example, sheet discharging trays. Sheets are guided to the paths by a course selecting pick. One of the two units includes rollers for directing sheets to a mail box or duplex copying unit, selectably. Disclosed embodiments enable copy sheets to be delivered selectably to face up and face down discharging trays or selectably to mail box and face down discharging trays.

Image forming apparatus having selectably controlled sheet discharge

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Kanagawa, Japan

Yasuhisa Katoh