US 9,851,669 B2Granted

Fixing device

AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsJiro Moriya, Hideki Ohta, Takayuki Mizuta, Naoto Tsuchihashi, Eiji Uekawa, Hiroshi Kataoka, Keisuke Mochizuki

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A fixing device includes first and second members, a frame supporting the second member, and two pressure mechanisms provided on either end of the first member. The mechanism includes a lever having one end supported by the frame in a rotatable manner in a pressure direction, and a helical compression spring disposed between a first spring support provided on the other end of the lever and a second spring support on the frame. At least one of the first and second spring supports includes a first area and a second area closer to the spring in the axial direction than the first area, the first area is in contact with an area of the spring close to a winding end of the spring, and the second area is in contact with an area of the spring farther away from the winding end in a winding direction than the first area.

A fixing device for fixing a toner image onto a recording medium by conveying and heating the recording medium on which the toner image is formed at a nip portion, comprising:

a first fixing member;
a second fixing member configured to form the nip portion together with the first fixing member;
a frame configured to support the second fixing member;
and
a pair of urging mechanisms provided on either end of the first fixing member in a longitudinal direction of the first fixing member, the pair of urging mechanisms urging the first fixing member against the second fixing member,
wherein each of the pair of urging mechanisms includes
a lever movable with respect to the frame in an urging direction in which the first fixing member is urged, and
a helical compression spring disposed in a compression state between a first spring support portion of the lever and a second spring support portion of the frame, the spring including a first winding end portion and a second winding end portion opposite to the first winding end portion in a compression direction of the spring,
wherein the first fixing member is urged against the second fixing member via the lever by an elastic force of the spring, and
wherein at least one of the first spring support portion and the second spring support portion includes,
a protruding portion protruding toward the spring and inserted into an inner diameter side of the spring, and
a supporting surface supporting the first winding end portion of the spring, the supporting surface being provided outside the protruding portion in a radial direction of the spring,
and
wherein the supporting surface includes a first supporting area and a second supporting area closer to the second winding end portion of the spring— in the urging direction than the first supporting area, a portion of the first winding end portion of the spring with which the second supporting area of the supporting surface contacts is located downstream of a portion of the first winding end portion of the spring with which the first supporting area of the supporting surface contacts, in a winding direction of the spring from the first winding end portion to the second winding end portion.

11 more elements

Facts

Application

15/008,287Filed 27 Jan 2016

Priority

JP 2015-01574929 Jan 2015

Published

US 2016/0223971 A14 Aug 2016

Granted

26 Dec 2017

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G03G 15/2064
Using contact heat: combined with pressure
G03G 15/206
Using contact heat: structural details or chemical composition of the pressure elements and layers thereof
G03G 2215/2035
Heating belt: the fixing nip having a stationary belt support member opposing a pressure member
G03G
Electrography

Abstract

Claims13