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US 4,823,689 AGranted
Elastic roller with internal openings for use with image forming apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKazuo Kishino, Takao Tanaka, Michio Shigenobu, Hiromitsu Hirabayashi, Takashi Hibi, Kensaku Kusaka
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Abstract
An elastic rotatable member includes a base member, an elastic layer on the base member, the elastic layer defining a plurality of opening extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings.
Claims42
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic rubber-like layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of openings extending continuously in a longitudinal direction from adjacent one longitudinal end of the elastic rotatable member to adjacent the other end, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings.
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic rubber-like layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of openings extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings;
- said elastic layer including a base layer near said base member, a surface layer remote from the base member and substantially linear post portions connecting said base layer and said surface layer, and wherein said openings are defined by said base layer, said surface layer and adjacent post portions;
- said openings having a dimension measured along a radial direction which is larger than a thickness of said surface layer.
2 more elements
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of openings extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings;
- said elastic layer including a base layer near said base member, a surface layer remote from the base member and post portions connecting said base layer and said surface layer, and wherein said openings are defined by said base layer, said surface layer and adjacent post portions;
- said surface layer having a thickness not less than 0.3 mm;
- and
- said post portions having a thickness not less than 0.2 mm and not more than the thickness of the surface layer.
4 more elements
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of openings extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings;
- said elastic layer including a base layer near said base member, a surface layer remote from the base member and post portions connecting said base layer and said surface layer, and wherein said openings are defined by said base layer, said surface layer and adjacent post portions;
- said openings having a trapezoidal configuration in cross-section.
2 more elements
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic rubber-like layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of identical openings extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings.
A rotatable member usable with an image fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed image of an image carrying member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic rubber-like layer on said base member, said elastic layer defining a plurality of openings extending continuously in a longitudinal direction from adjacent one longitudinal end of the rotatable member to adjacent the other end, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings.
An image fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed image on an image carrying member, comprising:
- a first rotatable member;
- a second rotatable member press-contacted to said first rotatable member to form a nip therebetween, through which the image carrying member bearing an unfixed image is passed to fix the image thereon;
- wherein one of said first and second rotatable members is an elastic rotatable member which is elastically deformed by the pressure contact to the other rotatable member to form an area of press-contact for image fixing, and
- said elastic rotatable member has a base member and an elastic layer having a plurality of openings extending along a longitudinal direction of said rotatable member, and said openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least one of said openings;
- driving means for driving said elastic rotatable member in such a direction that when it is driven, an inclination from a radial line of a portion of the elastic rotatable member between adjacent openings is increased, wherein the other rotatable member press-contacted to the elastic rotatable member is driven by the elastic rotatable member through a frictional engagement at the nip.
2 more elements
An image fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed image on an image carrying member, comprising:
- a first rotatable member;
- a second rotatable member press-contacted to said first rotatable member to form a nip therebetween, through which the image carrying member bearing an unfixed image is passed to fix the image thereon;
- wherein one of said first and second rotatable members is an elastic rotatable member which elastically deforms by the pressure contact to the other rotatable member to form an area of press-contact for image fixing, and
- said elastic rotatable member has a base member and an elastic layer having a plurality of openings extending along a longitudinal direction of said rotatable member, and said openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least one of said openings;
- driving means for driving the other rotatable mark, wherein the elastic rotatable member press-contacted to the other rotatable member is driven by the other rotatable member through a frictional engagement at the nip, said elastic rotatable member is driven such that when it is driven, an inclination from a radial line of a portion of the elastic rotatable member between adjacent openings is increased.
2 more elements
An elastic rotatable member, comprising:
- a base member;
- and
- an elastic layer on said base member, said elastic rubber-like layer defining a plurality of identical continuous openings extending in a longitudinal direction of the elastic rotatable member, the openings being formed by the elastic layer being separated from a mold, wherein the openings are arranged such that any radial line in a cross-section of the elastic rotatable member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, crosses at least two of such openings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.