The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 18, 2020
Filed:
Nov. 08, 2018
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Kenichi Tanaka, Ushiku, JP;
Taiya Hirayama, Moriya, JP;
Takeshi Kozuma, Tokyo, JP;
Atsushi Ishigami, Kashiwa, JP;
Koji Takematsu, Abiko, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion that forms a toner image on a recording material, and a first rotatable member and a second rotatable member, which form a nip therebetween in which the toner image, formed on the recording material by the image forming portion, is heated. A belt unit includes an endless belt that externally heats the first rotatable member, and a supporting mechanism rotatably supporting the endless belt. A moving mechanism moves the belt unit so as to be movable between a contact position and a spaced position. In addition, a controller executes a process in which one of the belt unit with a new endless belt and a new belt unit with a new endless belt is moved to the contact position, and then, the new endless belt is rotated for a predetermined time by the first rotatable member.