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. 13, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 20, 2004
Hiroyuki Inoue, Tokyo, JP;
Takemasa Ishikuro, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Asaba, Tokyo, JP;
Oki Data Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming section forms a visible image on a charged surface of an image bearing body. A transfer section transfers the visible image onto a recording medium. A fixing unit fixes the visible image on the recording medium. A temperature detecting section outputs a signal indicative of a temperature of the image bearing body. A controller performs a cooling operation in which the temperature of the image bearing body is lowered when the signal is higher than a first predetermined value. When the controller performs the cooling operation, the controller turns on and off the heater of the fixing unit with a first duty cycle. When the controller does not perform the cooling operation, the controller turns on and off the heater of the fixing unit with a second duty cycle higher than the first duty cycle. During the cooling operation, the controller may drive the medium-transporting mechanism to rotate in an idling mode in which no printing is performed.