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:
Dec. 08, 2015
Filed:
Jan. 23, 2015
Susumu Momma, Kanagawa, JP;
Koji Masuda, Kanagawa, JP;
Hidemasa Suzuki, Kanagawa, JP;
RICOH COMPANY, LTD., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A fixing apparatus for fixing a toner image borne on a sheet-like recording medium onto the sheet-like recording medium, including: a fixing member relatively moving in a first direction with respect to the sheet-like recording medium, and having a surface in contact with the toner image during a fixing operation; a surface-information-detecting device for obtaining surface information of the fixing member; a surface-condition-changing device arranged to abut on and separate from the fixing member, and abrading the surface of the fixing member in contact with the fixing member; and a surface-condition-change controller for controlling an abutting and separating of the surface-condition-changing device with respect to the fixing member according to a detection result of the surface-information-detecting device. The surface-condition-change controller controls the surface-condition-changing device according to the detection result of the surface-information-detecting device with a criteria which varies before and after the surface-condition-changing device abrades the fixing device.