Fixing device and image forming apparatus using the same
AssigneeKonica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
InventorsKosuke Sasaki, Toru Kasamatsu, Tadayuki Ueda, Yoshihito Sasamoto, Satoshi Miyajima
Life of this patent
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Abstract
To enhance the fixing quality of a fixing device to continuously fix sheets of a plurality of sizes, a carbon nanotube sheet 75, in which a plurality of carbon nanotubes are arranged such that the longitudinal directions thereof are oriented in the same direction, is provided on the surface of a heating roller 70 so that the carbon nanotube sheet ranges from the position a predetermined distance inside and the position a predetermined distance outside of the position through which each of the both edges of a sheet P2 with smaller width dimension than a sheet P1 of the largest width dimension to be fixed passes.
Claims9
A fixing device comprising:
- a pair of fixing circular members for conveying a sheet while pinching the sheet between a fixing nip formed between the fixing circular members, and fixing, by heating, an unfixed toner image formed on the sheet onto the sheet, at least one of the circular member being a circular heating member on an outer circumferential surface of which is provided with a first carbon nanotube group which is made of a plurality of carbon nanotubes oriented in one of the following direction:
- a rotation axis direction of the circular heating member;
- a circumferential direction of the circular heating member, and a combined direction of the rotation axis direction and the circumferential direction.
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a photoreceptor for carrying thereon an electrostatic latent image;
- a developing section for developing the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor with toner to form a toner image;
- a transfer section for transferring the toner image onto a sheet;
- a fixing device for fixing the toner image onto the sheet, the fixing device including:
- a pair of fixing circular members for conveying the sheet while pinching the sheet between a fixing nip formed between the fixing circular members, and fixing, by heating, the toner image formed on the sheet onto the sheet, at least one of the circular member being a circular heating member on an outer circumferential surface of which is provided with a first carbon nanotube group which is made of a plurality of carbon nanotubes oriented in one of the following direction:
- a rotation axis direction of the circular heating member;
- a circumferential direction of the circular heating member, and a combined direction of the rotation axis direction and the circumferential direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.