Fuser assemblies, xerographic apparatuses and methods of fusing toner on media
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsAugusto E. Barton, Anthony S. Condello, Donald Bott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Fuser assemblies, xerographic apparatuses, and methods of fusing toner on media in xerographic apparatuses are disclosed. An embodiment of the fuser assemblies includes a fuser belt having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, at least a first roll and a second roll supporting the fuser belt, and a radiant heater facing the inner surface of the fuser belt. The radiant heater is adapted to emit radiant heat onto the inner surface of the fuser belt to increase the temperature of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the inner surface heated by the radiant heater.
Claims20
A fuser assembly for a xerographic apparatus, comprising:
- a fuser belt including an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface;
- at least a first roll and a second roll supporting the fuser belt, at least one of the first roll and second roll being adapted to heat the fuser belt;
- and
- a radiant heater spaced from and facing the inner surface of the fuser belt;
- wherein the radiant heater is adapted to emit radiant heat onto the inner surface of the fuser belt to directly heat the inner surface to increase the temperature of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the inner surface heated by the radiant heater.
A fuser assembly for an imaging system, comprising:
- a fuser belt including an inner surface, an outer surface opposite the inner surface, a width and a length perpendicular to the width, the fuser belt having a length of about 500 mm to at least about 1000 mm;
- at least a first roll and a second roll supporting the fuser belt;
- and
- a radiant heater facing the inner surface of the fuser belt, the radiant heater comprising a plurality of flash lamps which extend parallel to each other along the width of the fuser belt with adjacent ones of the flash lamps spaced from each other along the length of the fuser belt, the flash lamps including an upstream-most flash lamp and a downstream-most flash lamp separated from each other by a distance of about 60 mm to about 120 mm along the length of the fuser belt;
- wherein the radiant heater is adapted to emit radiant heat onto the inner surface of the fuser belt to increase the temperature of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the inner surface heated by the radiant heater.
A fuser assembly for a xerographic apparatus, comprising:
- a fuser belt including an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface;
- at least a first roll and a second roll supporting the fuser belt, the first roll and second roll being adapted to heat the fuser belt;
- a third roll;
- a nip defined between the second roll and third roll;
- and
- a radiant heater spaced from the inner surface of the fuser belt, the radiant heater including a plurality of flash lamps facing the inner surface between the first roll and second roll;
- wherein the flash lamps are adapted to emit radiant heat onto the inner surface of the fuser belt to directly heat the inner surface to increase the temperature of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the inner surface heated by the flash lamps.
A method of fusing toner onto a medium in a xerographic apparatus comprising at least a first roll and a second roll supporting a fuser belt including an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, at least one of the first roll and second roll being adapted to heat the fuser belt, the method comprising:
- heating at least a portion of the inner surface of the fuser belt using a radiant heater spaced from the inner surface that emits radiant heat onto the inner surface to directly heat the inner surface;
- and
- contacting a first medium having a first toner thereon with a portion of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the portion of the inner surface heated by the radiant heater so as to heat the first toner to a first temperature effective to fuse the first toner onto the first medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.