Fixing device and image forming apparatus
US10082751B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 6, 2017 |
| Grant date | Sep 25, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 6, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G2215/2035
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fixing device includes a belt, a pressure rotator disposed opposite the belt, and a nip formation unit that forms a fixing nip between the belt and the pressure rotator. The nip formation unit includes a guide face disposed upstream from the fixing nip in a rotation direction of the belt and contoured to separate from the pressure rotator in a direction opposite the rotation direction of the belt. The guide face is adhered with a lubricant moved from an inner circumferential surface of the belt. The belt rotates in the rotation direction when an outer circumferential surface of the belt has a temperature lower than a fixing temperature at which the belt fixes a toner image on a recording medium. The belt rotating in the rotation direction brings the lubricant adhered to the guide face into contact with the belt.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.