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:
Nov. 16, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 17, 1998
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image fixing apparatus for thermally fixing images on an image receiving material at a predetermined image fixing temperature, comprising an image fixing device comprising a core member, and an exothermic phase transition layer provided on said core member, comprising an exothermic phase transition material which is capable of performing reversible phase transition from an amorphous solid state to a crystalline state with liberation of crystallization heat therefrom, and vice versa, and has a melting point higher than said predetermined image fixing temperature, a heating device which maintains the temperature of at least an outer surface of said image fixing device at said predetermined image fixing temperature, a first phase transition device which heats said exothermic phase transition layer, thereby having said exothermic phase transition material perform phase transition from said amorphous state to said crystalline state for liberation of crystallization heat therefrom, a second phase transition device which has said exothermic phase transition material perform phase transition from said crystalline state to said amorphous solid state and a pressure application device which rotates in pressure contact with the outer surface of said image fixing device with the application of a predetermined pressure thereto.