Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same
US8903296B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 15, 2011 |
| Grant date | Dec 2, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 12, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G2215/2035
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fixing device includes a thermal conductor disposed inside a flexible endless fixing belt formed into a loop and configured to conduct heat from a heater to the fixing belt. The thermal conductor includes a center heating portion heated by the heater and disposed at a center of the thermal conductor in a longitudinal direction thereof orthogonal to a conveyance direction of a recording medium conveyed to the fixing belt and lateral end non-heating portions disposed at lateral ends of the thermal conductor in the longitudinal direction thereof and contiguous to the center heating portion. The center heating portion having a first diameter conducts heat from the heater to the fixing belt. The lateral end non-heating portions having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter of the center heating portion minimize conduction of heat from the heater to the fixing belt.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.