Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Yuusuke Furuichi

Tomoya Adachi

Yukimichi Someya

Kaoru Tada

Daisuke Inoue

Kazuyoshi Kondo

Hiroyuki Shimada

Masahiro Samei

Takayuki Seki

Takamasa Hase

Shigeo Nanno

Jun Okamoto

Yutaka Ikebuchi

Tamotsu Ikeda

Hiroshi Seo

Tomofumi Yoshida

Hiroshi Yoshinaga

Takashi Fujita

Naohiro Kumagai

Kenichi Hasegawa

Osamu Saito

Yoshio Hattori

Haruyuki Honda

Hitoshi Fujiwara

Kenji Ishii

Takuya Seshita

Yoshiki Yamaguchi

Hiromasa Takagi

Kenji Nakamura

Arinobu Yoshiura

Takashi Seto

Toshiyuki Kabata

Hideki Sugiura

Genta Hagiwara

Nobuhiko Kita

Sei Onuma

Ryoh Idehara

Yoshihiro Fukuhata

Satoshi Tohkai

Yumiko Hayashi

Yasuhide Ohkubo

Tomohiko Fujii

Takafumi Miyazaki

Rie Mitani

Ryouhei Ohi

Kiwako Hiroi

Masafumi Takahira

Tadashi Okano

Seiji Saitoh

Kei Saito

Daisuke Hirano

Yasunori Ishigaya

Takayuki Andoh

Hirobumi Ooyoshi

Ryuji Inoue

Tetsumaru Fujita

Kenji Yabe

Kohichi Utsunomiya

Shintaro Yamada

Takumi Waida

Keitaro Shoji

Chikara Hiraoka

Masahiko Ishikawa

Haruo Hashimoto

Tatsuo Fukushima

Kimihiro Tanaka

Kota Shiodera

Toru Hanashima

Yuuki Shiga

Ryohhei Sugiyama

Maiko Koeda

Hidekazu Shono

Keisuke Kawabata

Kei Hasegawa

Tomoyuki Nishikawa

Mitsuko Sugano

Yuma Matsumoto

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 heating device includes a rotator having an internal space, a heater heating the rotator, lubricant applied to the rotator, a rotator support supporting the rotator, and a cover. The rotator support has a first opening communicating with the internal space of the rotator, penetrating through the rotator support, and extending in the longitudinal direction. The cover covers the first opening and has a face facing the first opening and a second opening communicating with the internal space of the rotator and an exterior of the cover. The cover maintains a temperature of the face of the cover at 40° C. or higher.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a rotator (), an opposed rotator (), a heater (), a housing (), a resistor (), a separator (), and a biasing member (). The opposed rotator is opposite the rotator. The heater includes a resistive heat generator (). The heater is in direct contact with the inner circumferential surface of the rotator or in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the rotator via a conductive member () to heat the rotator. The housing is conductive and grounded. The resistor is in the housing. The separator is conductive and is in contact with the rotator. The separator is assembled into the housing via the resistor. The biasing member biases the separator against the rotator. The biasing member is assembled into the housing via the resistor.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same with a biasing member assembled into the housing via a resistor

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device, a power supply, and a transfer device. The fixing device includes a fixing belt grounded via a protective resistor, a heater contacting the fixing belt, and a pressure rotator grounded and facing the fixing belt to form a nip. The power supply applies an alternating current voltage to the heater. The transfer device includes a transferor grounded and an opposed rotator facing the transferor to form a nip. The transferor has a transfer resistance Rt satisfying a following expression, where Rf is a resistance value of the protective resistor, Rp is a resistance value of a recording medium, jXs is an impedance of the fixing belt, and jXh is an impedance of the heater.

Image forming apparatus having transfer member with specific resistance

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a pressure rotator, a planar heater, a holder, a conductor, and a support. The pressure rotator presses the fixing rotator to form a fixing nip between the pressure rotator and the fixing rotator. The planar heater contacts an inner surface of the fixing rotator. The holder holds the heater and guides the fixing rotator. The conductor is grounded and contacts the inner surface of the fixing rotator. The support supports the holder and has a shape of regulating rotation of the conductor.

Fixing device including a conductor contacting an inner surface of a fixing rotator

A heating device includes a planar heater, a heating rotator, a pressure rotator, and one or more charge eliminators. The planar heater includes a base and a resistive heat generator. The heating rotator contacts the heater and includes a conductive layer. The pressure rotator presses the heating rotator and has an outer surface including a conductive material. The one or more charge eliminators contact the conductive layer and the outer surface of the pressure rotator.

A heating device includes a first rotator, a heater including a base having a slide face over which an inner face of the first rotator slides, a second rotator forming an outer face nip between the first rotator and the second rotator and a slide nip between the heater and the inner face, and a lubricant holder disposed between the first rotator and the heater to hold a lubricant. The first rotator, the lubricant holder, and the lubricant satisfy a formula of H×X1×R×G≤A≤V×G, where H is a height of a roughness of the inner face, X1 is a longitudinal length of the first rotator, R is a circumference of the first rotator, G is a specific density of the lubricant, A is an application amount of the lubricant on the slide face or the inner face, and V is a volume of the lubricant holder.

A fixing device includes a belt and a holder that holds a heater. A conductive member contacts an inner face of the belt and pivots. The conductive member includes one end portion in a rotation direction of the belt and an opposed portion that abuts on the one end portion. A support supports the holder and presses the conductive member against the holder. The holder includes a holding portion that holds the one end portion of the conductive member, a pivot restrictor that restricts pivoting of the conductive member about the one end portion, and a mount face from which the pivot restrictor projects in a projecting direction. The pivot restrictor projects farther than the opposed portion of the conductive member in the projecting direction of the pivot restrictor in a state in which the support does not press the conductive member against the holder.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device detachably attachable to an image forming apparatus includes a housing frame having an open front side in an insertion direction in which the fixing device is inserted into the image forming apparatus. The housing frame includes a support plate, as a back side of the housing frame in the insertion direction, and a pair of side plates extending in the insertion direction. The support plate includes an extension extending beyond one of the pair of side plates. The extension includes an engaged portion to be engaged with an engaging portion of the image forming apparatus when the fixing device is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

A fixing device includes a belt that rotates in a rotation direction and a heater that heats the belt. A conductive member contacts an inner face of the belt and pivots. The conductive member includes one end portion in the rotation direction of the belt, a contact portion that contacts the belt, and an outboard portion that is disposed outboard from the contact portion in the rotation direction of the belt. A holding portion holds the one end portion of the conductive member. A pivot restrictor contacts the outboard portion of the conductive member. The pivot restrictor restricts pivoting of the conductive member about the one end portion of the conductive member.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including a pivot restrictor to restrict pivoting of a conductive member

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 to form a nip; a heating source having a heat generation area to heat at least one rotator; temperature sensors to detect a temperature of the heating source, a member in contact with the heating source, or one rotator; and a sheet sensor to detect a sheet passing through the nip. The temperature sensors include: a first temperature sensor closer to one end than a center of the heat generation area in the longitudinal direction; and a second temperature sensor closer to the center than the first temperature sensor is. The second temperature sensor is at a position shifted from the center of the heat generation area toward the first temperature sensor. The sheet sensor is on a side opposite a side on which the first temperature sensor is disposed with reference to the center of the heat generation area.

Heating device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus with a single sheet sensor

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

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Yuusuke Furuichi