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:
Apr. 08, 2014
Filed:
Nov. 04, 2011
Yuko Sekihara, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroaki Sakai, Mishima, JP;
Hiroyuki Sakakibara, Yokohama, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, and a power control unit. The image forming unit forms an unfixed image on a recording material. The fixing unit includes an endless belt, a heater held in contact with the endless belt, a pressurization roller to form a fixing nip portion for pinching and conveying the recording material together with the heater via the endless belt, and a pressure changing mechanism to effect switching between a pressurization state and a pressure release state. The power control unit controls power to the heater. In response to transitioning from the pressure release state to the pressurization state, the power control unit starts power to the heater during a transition period before the pressurization state is attained and controls power to the heater such that a heater temperature does not exceed a predetermined upper limit temperature during the transition period.