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. 04, 2025
Filed:
Oct. 04, 2023
Konica Minolta, Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Taizou Oonishi, Hachioji, JP;
Yu Harashima, Hino, JP;
Masashi Saito, Hachioji, JP;
Kazunori Nishinoue, Kunitachi, JP;
Tsutomu Sakamaki, Yokohama, JP;
KONICA MINOLTA, INC., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus including: an image former that forms an image on a recording material; includes a fixer that has a first fixing member having an elastic layer, a second fixing member that forms a fixing nip with the first fixing member, and an external heater that heats the first fixing member from outside, and fixes the image on the recording material by heating and pressing the conveyed recording material at the fixing nip; and a hardware processor that executes a thermal expansion mode, in which in the thermal expansion mode, the hardware processor causes the external heater to heat the first fixing member to a temperature higher than a temperature during normal printing.