Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Yukimichi Someya

Yuusuke Furuichi

Tomoya Adachi

Hisashi Kikuchi

Katsuhiro Echigo

Atsushi Nakafuji

Shigeo Kurotaka

Hiroyuki Kunii

Toshihiko Baba

Daisuke Inoue

Hiroyuki Shimada

Takashi Fujita

Yasuo Katano

Tsuneo Kurotori

Masahiro Samei

Fuminari Kaneko

Kohji Ue

Yuko Arizumi

Shigeo Takeuchi

Satoshi Tohkai

Yumiko Hayashi

Takayuki Seki

Naomi Sugimoto

Hidenori Tomono

Takuma Nakamura

Hidekazu Yaginuma

Takamasa Hase

Shigenobu Hirano

Takahiko Matsumoto

Eiichi Ohta

Misaki Shimizu

Takuro Sekiya

Toshihiro Ishii

Shohji Tanaka

Yoshihiko Iijima

Kenji Ishii

Hiroshi Yoshinaga

Masami Tomita

Satoshi Muramatsu

Kenichi Hasegawa

Toshimitsu Danzuka

Makoto Komatsu

Tadashi Hayakawa

Tsukuru Kai

Shigeo Nanno

Shunichi Abe

Yoshihiro Takada

Hiromitsu Takagaki

Kunihiko Tomita

Sadayuki Iwai

Masafumi Yamada

Daichi Yamaguchi

Kohji Takeuchi

Yuichi Aoyama

Tetsurou Sasamoto

Hirohmi Tamura

Hisayoshi Ohshima

Shinji Tezuka

Kohji Matsuoka

Katsushi Hara

Toshiyuki Iseki

Kenshi Hata

Mitsuko Sugano

Katsufumi Kumano

A heating device includes a rotator, a pressure rotator, a heater, a holder, and lubricant. The heater inside the rotator forms a sliding nip between the rotator and the heater. The heater includes a resistive heat generator inside the sliding nip. The lubricant is applied to the inner surface of the rotator and a sliding surface of the heater. The lubricant is held in a lubricant holding region outside the sliding nip and between the rotator and the heater. An application quantity P of the lubricant satisfies the following.1×where A is a height of irregularities on the inner surface of the rotator, X1 is a longitudinal length of the rotator, B is a circumferential length of the rotator, C is a specific weight of the lubricant, and D is a volume of the lubricant holding region.

Heating device including a lubricant holding region, a fixing device including the same, and an image forming apparatus including the same

A nip forming device includes an endless belt that is flexible and rotates. A nip formation pad is disposed opposite an inner circumferential face of the endless belt. A pressure rotator rotates and presses against the nip formation pad via the endless belt to form a nip between the endless belt and the pressure rotator, through which a conveyed object is conveyed. A housing supports the pressure rotator. A separator is disposed downstream from the nip in a conveyance direction in which the conveyed object is conveyed. The separator separates the conveyed object from the endless belt. The separator moves toward and away from the endless belt. A restrictor restricts motion of the separator that moves toward the endless belt. The restrictor is mounted on the housing.

Nip forming device including a separator for separating a conveyed object having passed through a nip from an endless belt, fixing device including the nip forming device, and image forming apparatus including the nip forming device

A fixing device includes a fixing belt heated by a heater. A pressure roller presses against the fixing belt to form a nip therebetween, through which a recording medium is conveyed. A holding portion is disposed opposite an inner circumferential face of the fixing belt at each lateral end of the fixing belt in a longitudinal direction thereof. The holding portion rotatably holds the fixing belt. A separator separates the recording medium from the fixing belt. The separator includes a contact portion that contacts the fixing belt and is disposed outboard from a recording medium conveyance region in the longitudinal direction of the fixing belt. The recording medium is conveyed over the fixing belt in the recording medium conveyance region. The contact portion is disposed opposite the holding portion via the fixing belt. The separator further includes a biasing member that presses the contact portion toward the fixing belt.

Fixing device including separator with contact portion and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a pair of rotators, a heater, a temperature sensor, a conductor, a conductor support, and a component supporting the conductor. The pair of rotators is in contact with each other to form a nip through which a sheet passes. The heater heats at least one of the pair of rotators. The temperature sensor detects a temperature of the heater. The conductor has flexibility and is coupled to the temperature sensor. The conductor support supports the conductor such that a distance from the conductor to at least one position of the heater outside a predetermined region of the heater in a width direction of the sheet is larger than a distance from the conductor to a position of the heater inside the predetermined region in the width direction. The component has a first side facing the heater and a second side opposite the first side.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus including conductor support

A fixing device includes a first rotator, a second rotator, a heater, a nip formation pad, and a separator. The second rotator contacts an outer circumferential surface of the first rotator to form a nip between the first rotator and the second rotator. The heater includes a resistive heat generator to heat the first rotator. The nip formation pad contacts an inner circumferential surface of the first rotator to form the nip. The separator separates a recording medium passing through the nip from the first rotator. The separator includes a separating surface and a contact. The separating surface is separated from the outer circumferential surface of the first rotator and separates the recording medium from the first rotator. The contact contacts the outer circumferential surface of the first rotator at a position where the first rotator is pinchable between the contact and the nip formation pad.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A nip forming device includes an endless belt that is flexible and rotates and a nip former that is disposed opposite an inner circumferential face of the endless belt. A pressure rotator presses against the nip former via the endless belt to form a nip between the endless belt and the pressure rotator, through which a conveyed object is conveyed. A separator is disposed downstream from the nip in a conveyance direction of the conveyed object. The separator separates the conveyed object from the endless belt. The separator includes a non-contact portion separated from the endless belt and a contact portion that contacts the endless belt. The contact portion retains a gap having a predetermined size between the non-contact portion and the endless belt.

Nip forming device and image forming apparatus

A heating device includes a heater, a holder, a device frame, a primary positioner, a secondary positioner, and a tertiary positioner. The heater includes a heat generator. The holder holds the heater. The device frame is configured to support the holder. The primary positioner is configured to position the heater and the holder in a longitudinal direction of the heater. The secondary positioner is configured to position the holder and the device frame in the longitudinal direction of the heater. The tertiary positioner is configured to position the device frame and a body of an image forming apparatus in the longitudinal direction of the heater. The primary positioner and one of the secondary positioner and the tertiary positioner are disposed on an identical side defined by a center of the heat generator in the longitudinal direction of the heater.

Heating device, belt heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A nip forming device includes an endless film and a pressure rotator that presses against a heater via the endless film. A driver drives and rotates the pressure rotator to cause the pressure rotator to drive and rotate the endless film. A controller controls the driver to drive and rotate the pressure rotator, based on a temperature of the pressure rotator, that is detected by a detector, in a forward direction to convey a conveyed object and to interrupt forward rotation of the pressure rotator. In response to a determination that the temperature of the pressure rotator is higher than a predetermined temperature when a job of the nip forming device is finished, the controller controls the driver to drive and rotate the pressure rotator for a predetermined time in a backward direction opposite to the forward direction and to interrupt backward rotation of the pressure rotator.

A belt device includes a secured member, a belt, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The belt has an endless shape and slides on a slide surface of the secured member. The belt has an inner portion having an elastic power of 55% or more and a sliding surface sliding on the slide surface of the secured member. The sliding surface has a surface roughness smaller than a surface roughness of the slide surface of the secured member. The pressure rotator presses the secured member via the belt to form a nip between the belt and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is interposed between the sliding surface of the belt and the slide surface of the secured member.

Belt device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A belt device includes a belt, a secured member, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The belt is rotatable and has an endless shape. The belt includes an inner portion having an inner circumferential surface. The inner portion has an elastic power of 55% or more. The inner circumferential surface of the belt slides on the secured member. The pressure rotator includes a porous elastic body and presses the secured member via the belt to form a nip between the belt and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is interposed between the inner circumferential surface of the belt and the secured member.

A pressing device includes a rotator, a secured member, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The rotator has flexibility and a sleeve form and includes an inner portion having a sliding surface. The inner portion has an elastic power of 55% or more. The secured member is inside a loop of the rotator and has a slide surface on which the sliding surface of the rotator is to slide. The slide surface has a smaller surface roughness than a surface roughness of the sliding surface. The pressure rotator presses the rotator against the secured member and forms a nip between the rotator and the pressure rotator. The lubricant between the rotator and the secured member has a consistency of 275 or less.

Pressing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A fixing device includes a rotator, a secured member, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The rotator has flexibility and a sleeve form. The rotator includes an inner portion having a sliding surface. The inner portion has an elastic power of 55% or more. The secured member is disposed inside a loop of the rotator and has a slide surface on which the sliding surface of the rotator is to slide. The slide surface has a smaller surface roughness in a sliding direction of the rotator than a surface roughness of the sliding surface in the sliding direction of the rotator. The pressure rotator presses the rotator against the secured member and forms a nip between the rotator and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is provided between the rotator and the secured member.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A planar heater includes a base, a resister pattern, a conductor pattern, a power supply electrode, and a base pattern. The base includes a surface portion made of an insulative material. The resistor pattern is on the base. The conductor pattern is on the base and electrically coupled to the resistor pattern. The power supply electrode is electrically coupled to the conductor pattern. The base pattern is on the base and made of a material different from a material of the surface portion of the base to print visible identification information.

Planar heater, fixing device, image forming apparatus, and method of manufacturing planar heater

A fixing device includes a rotator, a secured member, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The rotator has flexibility and a sleeve form. The rotator includes an inner portion having a sliding surface. The inner portion has an elastic power of 55% or more. The secured member is disposed inside a loop of the rotator and has a slide surface on which the sliding surface of the rotator slides. The slide surface has a larger hardness than a hardness of the sliding surface of the rotator. The pressure rotator presses the rotator against the secured member and forms a nip between the rotator and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is provided between the rotator and the secured member.

Pressing device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus incorporating fixing device

A heating device () includes a heater (), a holder (), a device frame (), a primary positioner (A), a secondary positioner (B), and a tertiary positioner (C). The heater includes a heat generator (). The holder holds the heater. The device frame is configured to support the holder. The primary positioner is configured to position the heater and the holder in a longitudinal direction of the heater. The secondary positioner is configured to position the holder and the device frame in the longitudinal direction of the heater. The tertiary positioner is configured to position the device frame and a body of an image forming apparatus in the longitudinal direction of the heater. The primary positioner and one of the secondary positioner and the tertiary positioner are disposed on an identical side defined by a center of the heat generator in the longitudinal direction of the heater.

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Saitama, Japan

Yukimichi Someya