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. 08, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 07, 2003
Motoi Noya, Kanagawa, JP;
Yutaka Nogami, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshio Kanesawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus having dimensions comparable to or smaller than those of conventional color image forming apparatus and adapted to produce a hard copy of photographic image quality. The image forming apparatus of the present invention has a first fixing device that fixes a toner image transferred to a recording medium, a second fixing device that re-fixes the toner image fixed on the recording medium by the first fixing device, and a switch section that selects the first route or the second route for the recording medium to be discharged. The first route passes through the first fixing device and allows the recording medium to be discharged immediately thereafter without passing through the second fixing device. The second route passes through the first fixing device and subsequently the second fixing device, and then allows the recording medium to be discharged.