Heater member for the fuser assembly of an electrophotographic imaging device

Abstract

A fusing apparatus includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, the second surface being opposite the first surface on the substrate, a first resistive trace and a second resistive trace, the first and second resistive traces being disposed adjacent each other along the first surface of the substrate in a length-wise direction thereof. A resistance of the first resistive trace is less than a resistance of the second resistive trace. The fusing apparatus further includes a plurality of thermistors disposed along the second surface of the substrate, including a first thermistor disposed on the second surface of the substrate opposite the first resistive trace in a central location along the length of the first resistive trace, a second thermistor disposed on the second surface of the substrate opposite the second resistive trace in a central location along the length of the second resistive trace, and a third thermistor disposed on the second surface of the substrate opposite a first area of the second surface, the third thermistor being closer to a first length-wise end of the substrate than the second resistive trace and a first length-wise end of the first resistive trace being closer to the first length-wise end of the substrate than the third thermistor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.