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:
Aug. 12, 2025
Filed:
Nov. 22, 2023
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Mingguang Zhang, Nagoya, JP;
Tokifumi Tanaka, Komaki, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
A fixing device includes a heating roller and a pressure unit configured to nip a sheet therebetween to thermally fix a toner image onto the sheet. The pressure unit includes: an endless belt; an elastic plate; and a holder having an upstream supporting surface and a downstream supporting surface. The elastic plate has: a nip-forming surface having at least a portion for nipping the endless belt in cooperation with the heating roller to form a nipping region between the nip-forming surface and the heating roller; an upstream supported surface in contact with and supported by the upstream supporting surface; a downstream supported surface in contact with and supported by the downstream supporting surface; an upstream connecting surface connecting the nip-forming surface and the upstream supported surface to each other; and a downstream connecting surface connecting the nip-forming surface and the downstream supported surface to each other.