Image forming apparatus including a fixing apparatus capable of effectively maintaining fixability for an extended period of use
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorAkira Shinshi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a toner image forming mechanism that forms a toner image on a recording medium and a fixing mechanism that fixes the toner image on the recording medium. The fixing mechanism includes a fixing apparatus. The fixing apparatus includes: an elastic roller having a stiffness greater than or equal to 28 Hs and less than or equal to 34 Hs on an Asker C scale and including a sponge-like elastic layer having a density greater than or equal to 0.38 g/cm3; a high-stiffness roller having a stiffness greater than the stiffness of the elastic roller and forms a fixing nip between the elastic roller and the high-stiffness roller; and a heating mechanism that heats the fixing nip.
Claims20
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a toner image forming mechanism configured to form a toner image on a recording medium;
- and
- a fixing mechanism configured to fix the toner image on the recording medium, the fixing mechanism including a fixing apparatus, the fixing apparatus including
- an elastic roller having a stiffness greater than or equal to 28 Hs and less than or equal to 34 Hs on an Asker C scale, and including a sponge-like elastic layer having a density greater than or equal to 0.38 g/cm3;
- a high-stiffness roller having a stiffness greater than the stiffness of the elastic roller, the high-stiffness roller configured to form a fixing nip between the elastic roller and the high-stiffness roller;
- and
- a heating mechanism configured to heat the fixing nip.
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a toner image forming mechanism configured to form a toner image on a recording medium;
- and
- a fixing mechanism configured to fix the toner image on the recording medium, the fixing mechanism including a fixing apparatus, the fixing apparatus including an elastic roller including a sponge-like elastic layer and a metal shaft comprising metal;
- a high-stiffness roller with a stiffness greater than a stiffness of the elastic roller and configured to form a fixing nip between the elastic roller and the high-stiffness roller;
- and
- a heating mechanism configured to heat the fixing nip, wherein
- the stiffness of the elastic roller is greater than or equal to 28 Hs and less than or equal to 34 Hs on an Asker C scale;
- a density of the elastic layer differs in a radial direction of the elastic roller;
- and
- the density of the elastic layer is greater toward the metal shaft.
A fixing mechanism configured to fix the toner image on the recording medium and including a fixing apparatus, the fixing apparatus comprising:
- an elastic roller having a stiffness greater than or equal to 28 Hs and less than or equal to 34 Hs on an Asker C scale and including a sponge-like elastic layer having a density greater than or equal to 0.38 g/cm3;
- a high-stiffness roller having a stiffness greater than the stiffness of the elastic roller and configured to form a fixing nip between the elastic roller and the high-stiffness roller;
- and
- a heating mechanism configured to heat the fixing nip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.