Minolta Company, Ltd.

Yoshifumi Kosagi

Toshio Sakata

Hideji Hayashi

Satoru Yoneda

Takashi Yamada

Yuusuke Morigami

Eiji Okabayashi

Tetsuya Yamada

Taizou Oonishi

Shigeo Honma

Kenichi Wantanabe

In a belt type fixing apparatus having a heat roller temperature sensor that detects the temperature of a heat roller that contains a heater for heating a fixing belt, and a fixing belt temperature sensor that is set to contact a pressure roller and indirectly detects the temperature of the fixing belt, the heater that heats the fixing belt is controlled in such a way that the temperature detected by the heat roller temperature sensor matches the target temperature of the heat roller that is set based on the temperature detected by the fixing belt temperature sensor.

Image forming apparatus and fixing apparatus

A heating device comprises an endless rotary member, a resistance heating member, a current receiver member provided at the endless rotary member and a current supply member being in contact with the current receiver member. In a form, the current supply member is made of a sintered material containing copper and carbon, and a content of the copper in the sintered material is in a range from 55% to 80% by weight. In another form, a contact surface of the current receiver member is formed of a material harder than the current supply member. The contact surface of the current receiver member and the contact surface of the current supply member have surface roughnesses satisfying a relationship of (surface roughness of the current receiver member).ltoreq.(surface roughness of the current supply member). The surface roughness Ra of the current receiver member is in a range from 0.3 .mu.m to 5.5 .mu.m. The surface roughness Ra of the current supply member is equal to or smaller than 5.5 .mu.m.

Heating device

A heating device comprises an endless rotary member having a peripheral surface to be moved rotatively, a resistance heating member arranged at the peripheral surface of the rotary member and generating a heat when supplied with an electric current, a current receiver member arranged in a space inside the rotary member and electrically connected to the resistance heating member, and a current supply member being in contact with the current receiver member and to be electrically connected to a power source. A heating rotary member for the heating device comprising the endless rotary member, the resistance heating member, and the current receiver member.

Heating device and heating rotary member

A fixing apparatus includes a fixing belt that pressure-thermally fixes unfixed toner images on sheets, and an oil coating roller that holds silicone oil for preventing the offset phenomenon to be coated on the fixing belt. The oil coating roller consists of an inner oil holding layer formed of paper and a surface oil holding layer formed of aramid fibers. The oil diffusing capacity and the oil holding capacity are reduced from the inner oil holding layer toward the surface oil holding layer. Thus, it is possible to suppress the oil coating amount in the initial period of the roller life to a level that does not cause problems such as oil stains, increase the oil coating amount in the final period of the roller life to a level that does not cause problems such as offsets, and prevent image noises.

Fixing apparatus and releasing agent supplying apparatus

The present invention provides a drive device having slip stoppers that can reliably prevent skewed movement of or damage to a belt. The drive device pertaining to the present invention has a roller, a drive roller, a belt that is suspended and moves over these rollers, and slip stoppers that are mounted to the roller and prevent the belt from moving in a skewed fashion. The slip stopper comprises a base into which the roller is inserted, a first wall that is located on the edge of the base that faces the belt and that is essentially perpendicular to the inner surface of the base and a second wall that extends outward continuously from the first wall and is tilted toward the other edge of the base.

Drive device, and fusing device and transfer device including said drive

In an image forming apparatus having an auto power-off function, the durability of a roller of a heat fusing member or the like is improved. Before a lapse of a specified time .DELTA.t from a time T at which an auto power-off timer stops time counting, a fusing roller is driven for the time .DELTA.t. By this operation, the fusing roller is consistently driven within the set time of the auto power-off timer, thereby reducing a continuous stress in a nip portion of the fusing roller.

Image forming apparatus

A fixing device including rollers which rotate in mutual contact, a heating source for heating at least one of the rollers, a temperature sensor placed in contact with a roller heated by the heating source to detect the temperature of the roller, and a collar placed in contact with the temperature sensor to cover the area of contact between the temperature sensor and the heated roller. The fixing device has rollers and a temperature sensor having excellent wear resistance and is capable of inexpensive and stable temperature detection.

Growing community of inventors

Toyokawa, Japan

Yoshifumi Kosagi