A cartridge includes a rotating body, a blade that extends in an axial direction of the rotating body and is disposed on the rotating body, a supporting member that is fixed to the blade and configured to support the blade in such a manner that the blade protrudes toward the rotating body in a shorter direction crossing the axial direction, a frame body including a placing surface that supports the supporting member, and a fixed portion that is disposed on the placing surface via the supporting member and fixed to the frame body. The supporting member includes a cut portion extending in the axial direction. The fixed portion includes a deformed portion deformed by given energy, and the deformed portion engages with the cut portion so that movement of the supporting member with respect to the frame body is restricted.

According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a reading unit, a heating unit, and an updating unit. The reading unit reads area designation information for designating an area to be decolored in areas of a sheet on which an image that can be decolored by heating is formed and history information for indicating the number of times of performing decoloration in the past for each area of the sheet from a wireless tag attached to the sheet. The heating unit heats the area based on the area designation information read by the reading unit. The updating unit updates the history information stored in the wireless tag which corresponds to the area heated by the heating unit.

The present invention relates to a binder resin composition capable of giving a toner remarkably excellent in fusing property on polypropylene films, and to a toner for developing electrostatic images that contains the binder resin composition. [1] A binder resin composition for toners, containing an amorphous polyester resin which has a polyester resin-derived constituent moiety that is a constituent moiety derived from a polyester resin and a modified polypropylene polymer A-derived constituent moiety that is a constituent moiety derived from a modified polypropylene polymer A having a carboxylic acid group or a carboxylic anhydride group and in which the polyester resin-derived constituent moiety and the modified polypropylene polymer A-derived constituent moiety bond to each other via a covalent bond, wherein the polymer A is a polypropylene polymer terminally-modified with an unsaturated bond-having carboxylic acid compound or an anhydride thereof, and in the polyester resin, the amount of the polymer A-derived constituent unit is 8 parts by mass or more and 30 parts by mass or less relative to 100 parts by mass of the total of the alcohol component and the carboxylic acid component constituting the polyester resin-derived constituent moiety; and [2] a toner for developing electrostatic images, containing the binder resin composition of [1].

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device, an image reading unit, and a control unit. The fixing device includes a heating elements arranged in a main scanning direction, a band-shaped thin film which slides on the surface of the heating element while in contact with the heating element, and a rotatable body configured to press against a surface of the thin film to cause the thin film to rotate. The fixing device heats the heating elements when an inspection sheet is passed through the fixing device, the inspection sheet having plural images formed by using a decolorable developer, each of the images having an image density that differs in a sub-scanning direction of the image forming apparatus. The image reading unit reads an image of the heated inspection sheet and the control unit determines an operative state of each heating element based on the read image.

A heater of the present invention includes jointed heat generating resistors having a positive temperature characteristic of resistance and provided between a first conductive element and a second conductive element on a substrate in a longitudinal direction of the substrate, and a plurality of heating blocks provided in the longitudinal direction, each of which is a set of the first conductive element, the second conductive element, and the heat generating resistor, and power supplied to at least one of the plurality of heating blocks can be controlled independent of other heating blocks.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a fixing belt having excellent thermal conductivity and capable of suppressing a torque increase in long-term use. The fixing belt of this invention has a base layer including a polyimide resin, a thermal conductive filler, and a wear-resistant filler, the old Mohs hardness of the wear-resistant filler is 5 or more, the thermal conductivity of the base layer is 0.7 W/mK or more, and the inner surface roughness Rz of the base layer in a sliding direction is 2.0 μm or less.

A heater of the present invention includes jointed heat generating resistors having a positive temperature characteristic of resistance and provided between a first conductive element and a second conductive element on a substrate in a longitudinal direction of the substrate, and a plurality of heating blocks provided in the longitudinal direction, each of which is a set of the first conductive element, the second conductive element, and the heat generating resistor, and power supplied to at least one of the plurality of heating blocks can be controlled independent of other heating blocks.

An example print apparatus is described as including a fuser roller, a pressure device that generates wear on a section of the fuser roller surface, and a wear detection engine that identifies a degree of wear on the surface of the fuser roller. An example fuser roller may include a tube, a heating element, and a plurality of layers having a detectable pattern. An example print apparatus may include a wear detection engine having an emitter, a detector, and a controller that identifies a wear pattern based on data provided by the detector in response to activation of the emitter and determines a degree of wear based on the identified wear pattern.

An image forming apparatus includes: a main casing; a photosensitive drum rotatable about an axis extending in a first direction; a developing cartridge; a transfer unit; a solvent cartridge accommodating solvent for dissolving toner; an applicator applying the solvent to the toner on a sheet; and a cover movable between an open position and a closed position. The developing cartridge and the solvent cartridge are detachably attachable to the main casing independently of each other. The developing cartridge and the solvent cartridge are positioned between the applicator and the cover in a second direction crossing the first direction, and the solvent cartridge is positioned closer to the applicator than the developing cartridge is to the applicator in a state where the developing cartridge and the solvent cartridge are attached to the main casing and the cover is at the closed position.

In an image forming apparatus, in a case in which a second toner image to be transferred to a same recording material as a first toner image is to be transferred is formed on the photosensitive member after the first toner image is formed on the photosensitive member and the first toner image is formed on an area of the photosensitive member including at least a part of a position of the second toner image one cycle before with respect to a movement direction of the surface of the photosensitive member, a control unit changes a value of a transfer current at a time of transferring the first toner image to a transfer-receiving member between a first value and a second value of which an absolute value is greater than an absolute value of the first value, based on image information regarding the second toner image.