Patent classifications
G03G15/6576
IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
An image forming apparatus, comprising a conveyance path configured to convey an image receiving medium; a fixing device configured to fix an image formed on the image receiving medium; a first roller arranged at the downstream side of a conveyance direction of the image receiving medium with respect to the fixing device, the first roller comprising an axis; a second roller configured to face the first roller and an end thereof of which protrudes towards a central part of the conveyance path with respect to an end of the first roller at the central part of the conveyance path in a first direction substantially parallel to the axis; and a protrusion arranged at the second roller side to protrude towards the first roller side from the second roller side and a protruding amount of which is greater than that of the second roller.
Media conditioning
In some examples, a conditioner system for a media printed by a printing system includes a media conditioning assembly comprising a heater, the media conditioning assembly to receive the media printed by the printing system after the media has been heated by a dryer in the printing system after printing has occurred on the media. Responsive to a determined moisture content of the media, the heater of the media conditioning assembly controls a temperature of the media, and the media conditioning assembly controls a speed of the media through the media conditioning assembly.
Image forming apparatus
An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device to transfer an image to a recording sheet; a fixing device to feed the recording sheet and fix the image onto the recording sheet; a branching device to switch between an ejection path to eject the recording sheet fed downstream of the fixing device, to outside the apparatus, and a reversing path for duplex printing; and a back curl correction structure disposed in a sheet feeding path between the fixing device and the branching device. The back curl correction structure includes a drive roller; a driven roller; an auxiliary nip portion; a guide member; and a guide moving device to move the guide member to a first position and a second position depending on the condition of the recording sheet.
Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same
A fixing device has a flexible endless fixing member; a heater to heat the fixing member; a nip forming member to contact the fixing member directly or via a slide member; a pressure member, rotatably disposed opposite the fixing member and the nip forming member; and a back curl correction structure that includes a drive roller disposed on a side where a back curl appears in the recording sheet; a driven roller disposed opposite the drive roller; an auxiliary nip portion to feed the recording sheet; a guide member to guide the recording sheet fed out from the auxiliary nip portion to bend in a direction opposite a curled direction of the back curl of the recording sheet. A driving connection between the drive roller and the pressure member is performed by a connection between a drive roller side connection gear and a pressure member side connection gear.
Fixing device and image forming apparatus
A fixing device includes a device body, a fixing unit, a pair of decurling units, and an open/close unit. The fixing unit is disposed on the device body to perform a fixing operation on a recording medium, and includes a removal assistance unit to assist removal of the recording medium. The pair of decurling units are disposed on the device body to correct a curl of the recording medium by holding the recording medium therebetween. The open/close unit is openably and closeably disposed on the device body to separate, when opened, the removal assistance unit from the fixing unit and one of the decurling units from the other decurling unit.
IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND SHEET FEEDING DEVICE
An image forming apparatus includes a main assembly; an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet; an openable member rotatably supported by the main assembly; a first feeding guide provided on the openable member; a second feeding guide provided in the main assembly, wherein when the openable member is closed, a sheet feeding path for feeding the sheet is formed by the first and second feeding guides; a hole provided in the first feeding guide; and an illumination device, provided on the openable member, for illuminating at least a part of the second feeding guide through the hole when the openable member is open.
FIXING DEVICE
In a fixing device, an endless belt is nipped between a roller and a nip-forming member, and a sheet is conveyed through a first nip region formed between the endless belt and the roller by the nip-forming member. A pair of conveyor rollers located downstream of the first nip region in a sheet conveyance direction are configured to convey the sheet through a second nip region formed therebetween. A sheet guide located between the roller and the pair of conveyor rollers includes a first guide which in a plane perpendicular to a rotation axis of the roller, intersects with a line tangent to an outer cylindrical surface of the roller at a downstream end of the first nip region, while an extension line of the first guide intersects with a line segment connecting the downstream end of the first nip region to an upstream end of the second nip region.
SHEET POST-PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM INCLUDING SHEET POST-PROCESSING APPARATUS
A sheet post-processing apparatus includes a sheet introducing unit, a first sheet discharge unit, a second sheet discharge unit, a sheet processing unit, a sheet conveyance unit, and a control unit. The first and the second sheet discharge unit are configured to be able to discharge a sheet to an outside. The sheet conveyance unit includes a sheet conveyance path arranged between the first sheet discharge unit and the second sheet discharge unit. The control unit controls the sheet conveyance unit to convey the sheet along the sheet conveyance path toward the first sheet discharge unit to a predetermined position at which the sheet is not discharged from the first sheet discharge unit to the outside, then convey the sheet along the sheet conveyance path in an opposite direction toward the second sheet discharge unit, and discharge the sheet from the second sheet discharge unit.
Curl correcting device and image forming apparatus including this
A curl correcting device includes a pair of fixed guides and a change-over guide. The pair of fixed guides composes a curved part of a conveyance path. The change-over guide is provided to be contactable with a sheet from a radial outer side of the curved part. An outer guide includes a pair of side pressing parts and a bulge part. The pair of side pressing parts is formed at both ends in a width direction. The bulge part is formed between the pair of side pressing parts so as to bulge toward the radial outer side of the curved part. The change-over guide is configured to move to a first correcting position when the sheet curled along the conveyance direction is conveyed through the conveyance path and to move to a second correcting position when the sheet curled along the width direction is conveyed through the conveyance path.
Decurling device and image forming apparatus
A decurling device includes: a first transport unit including a transport roller, the first transport unit that sandwiches a transported sheet and transports the transported sheet further downstream; and a second transport unit including an endless belt that is in contact with the transport roller. The transport roller has an elasticity that, when the belt is pressed against the transport roller, allows the belt to bite into the transport roller by a bite amount corresponding to a pressing force, the second transport unit includes an abutting member disposed inside the belt, the abutting member pressing the belt from an inside of the belt and causing the belt to abut against the transport roller, and a guide member, the abutting member includes an upstream protrusion, an downstream protrusion, the upstream protrusion and the downstream protrusion being provided at positions away from each other at an upstream portion and a downstream portion in a sheet transport direction, each of the upstream protrusion and the downstream protrusion protruding toward an inner surface of the belt, and a recess provided in an intermediate portion between the upstream protrusion and the downstream protrusion in the sheet transport direction, the recess being recessed away from a straight line connecting a top portion of the upstream protrusion and a top portion of the downstream protrusion, the guide member includes a contact surface that is in contact with the inner surface of the belt, the contact surface defining a part of a circulation track of the belt, and the upstream protrusion protrudes beyond a virtual circle that is tangent to the contact surface.