Abstract: A fixing unit includes an endless belt, a heating unit configured to heat the belt, a pressure rotary member configured to form a fixing nip portion that nips and conveys a recording material with the belt, a pad configured to press the belt toward the pressure rotary member, a sliding sheet provided on the pad and configured to slide against the belt, a plate-like member configured to fix the sliding sheet to the pad, the sliding sheet being fixed in a manner sandwiched between the plate-like member and the pad, and fixing tools configured to fix the plate-like member at a plurality of positions along a longitudinal direction of the plate-like member. A width of the sliding sheet is wider than a width of the fixing nip portion and narrower than a width of the plate-like member in the longitudinal direction.

Abstract: A fixing unit includes an endless belt, a heating unit configured to heat the belt, a pressure rotary member configured to form a fixing nip portion that nips and conveys a recording material with the belt, a pad configured to press the belt toward the pressure rotary member, a sliding sheet provided on the pad and configured to slide against the belt, a plate-like member configured to fix the sliding sheet to the pad, the sliding sheet being fixed in a manner sandwiched between the plate-like member and the pad, and fixing tools configured to fix the plate-like member at a plurality of positions along a longitudinal direction of the plate-like member. A width of the sliding sheet is wider than a width of the fixing nip portion and narrower than a width of the plate-like member in the longitudinal direction.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus including first and second rotatable members, first and second cooling fans, an air blowing port, a shutter member, a shutter controller, and a fan controller. The first cooling fan is provided at a position opposing a first region which is a part of an end portion region of the first rotatable member on one end side. The second cooling fan is provided at a position opposing a second region which is part of the end portion region. The second region is adjacent to the first region with respect to the longitudinal direction. The shutter controller is configured to control a position of the shutter member depending on a width size of a recording material. The fan controller is configured to independently control an operation of the first cooling fan and an operation of the second cooling fan depending on the width size of the recording material.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a first rotary member, a second rotary member a retaining portion, and a regulating portion. An end portion of the first rotary member abuts against the regulating portion and the regulating portion regulates movement of the first rotary member to the sheet width direction. The regulating portion comprises a curved surface shape having a radius of curvature of 10 mm or greater and 500 mm or smaller and protruding toward the first rotary member. An apex portion of the curved surface shape is, when viewed in the sheet width direction, positioned in an area outside of the retaining portion and on a side of the first rotary member from a tangent of the first rotary member at the nip portion. The apex portion is positioned in an area upstream in the sheet conveyance direction of a straight line that is orthogonal to the tangent.

Abstract: A fixing unit includes an endless belt, a heating unit configured to heat the belt, a pressure rotary member configured to form a fixing nip portion that nips and conveys a recording material with the belt, a pad configured to press the belt toward the pressure rotary member, a sliding sheet provided on the pad and configured to slide against the belt, a plate-like member configured to fix the sliding sheet to the pad, the sliding sheet being fixed in a manner sandwiched between the plate-like member and the pad, and fixing tools configured to fix the plate-like member at a plurality of positions along a longitudinal direction of the plate-like member. A width of the sliding sheet is wider than a width of the fixing nip portion and narrower than a width of the plate-like member in the longitudinal direction.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes first and second rotatable members for forming a nip for heating a toner image on a recording material while feeding the recording material; first and second cooling fans for cooling an end portion region of the first rotatable member on one end side, the first cooling fan being provided at a position opposing a first region which is a part of the end portion region, and the second cooling fan being provided at a position opposing a second region which is a region being a part of the end portion region and being adjacent to the first region with respect to the longitudinal direction and which is closer to an end portion of the first rotatable member on the one end side than the first region is; an air blowing port for sending air by the first and second cooling fans toward the first rotatable member; a shutter member capable of changing an opening width of the air blowing port; a shutter controller for controlling a position of the shutter member depending on a width size o

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a first rotary member, a second rotary member a retaining portion, and a regulating portion. An end portion of the first rotary member abuts against the regulating portion and the regulating portion regulates movement of the first rotary member to the sheet width direction. The regulating portion comprises a curved surface shape having a radius of curvature of 10 mm or greater and 500 mm or smaller and protruding toward the first rotary member. An apex portion of the curved surface shape is, when viewed in the sheet width direction, positioned in an area outside of the retaining portion and on a side of the first rotary member from a tangent of the first rotary member at the nip portion. The apex portion is positioned in an area upstream in the sheet conveyance direction of a straight line that is orthogonal to the tangent.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable intermediary transfer belt; first and second rotatable photosensitive members, arranged along a rotational moving direction of the belt, for carrying toner images; first and second electroconductive transfer rollers; first and second current detectors; an executing portion for executing a detection mode operation in which a first detection voltage is applied to the first roller and a current is detected by the first detector, and a second detection voltage is applied to the second roller and a current is detected by the second detector; and a controller for applying first and second transfer voltages to the first and second rollers in an image forming operation, based on detection results.

Abstract: A maintenance system for image forming apparatuses, which make it possible to acquire appropriate maintenance information even when an exceptional trouble has occurred in an image forming apparatus, to thereby reduce maintenance time and maintenance costs. When an abnormal image occurs in an image forming apparatus connected to a host computer via a network, the image forming apparatus transmits image data of the abnormal image together with supplementary information. The host computer receives the abnormal image data and the supplementary information, and adds these to a database in an HDD. When a transmission request is received from the image forming apparatus, the host computer transmits abnormal image data and supplementary information stored in the HDD to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus receives the abnormal image data and the supplementary information, and displays these on a display unit.

Abstract: A maintenance system for image forming apparatuses, which make it possible to acquire appropriate maintenance information even when an exceptional trouble has occurred in an image forming apparatus, to thereby reduce maintenance time and maintenance costs. When an abnormal image occurs in an image forming apparatus connected to a host computer via a network, the image forming apparatus transmits image data of the abnormal image together with supplementary information. The host computer receives the abnormal image data and the supplementary information, and adds these to a database in an HDD. When a transmission request is received from the image forming apparatus, the host computer transmits abnormal image data and supplementary information stored in the HDD to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus receives the abnormal image data and the supplementary information, and displays these on a display unit.

Abstract: To provide an image forming apparatus including: an image forming unit for forming an image on an image bearing member; a transfer unit for electrostatically transferring the image on the image bearing member onto a transfer medium in a transfer portion, the transfer unit including a transfer member that is capable of nipping the transfer medium in a space with the image bearing member and a voltage application unit for applying a voltage to the transfer member; a control unit for performing a detection operation that detects a voltage-current characteristic concerning the transfer member at the time of a non-transfer operation of the transfer unit and determining a transfer voltage at the time of a transfer operation based on a detection result of the detection operation; and a potential changing unit that is capable of changing a potential of a surface of the image bearing member on which the image has been formed by the image forming unit and which does not yet reach the transfer portion, in which the cont

Abstract: To provide an image forming apparatus including: an image forming unit for forming an image on an image bearing member; a transfer unit for electrostatically transferring the image on the image bearing member onto a transfer medium in a transfer portion, the transfer unit including a transfer member that is capable of nipping the transfer medium in a space with the image bearing member and a voltage application unit for applying a voltage to the transfer member; a control unit for performing a detection operation that detects a voltage-current characteristic concerning the transfer member at the time of a non-transfer operation of the transfer unit and determining a transfer voltage at the time of a transfer operation based on a detection result of the detection operation; and a potential changing unit that is capable of changing a potential of a surface of the image bearing member on which the image has been formed by the image forming unit and which does not yet reach the transfer portion, in which the cont

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming portion for forming an image; a transferring material conveying belt for conveying a transferring material toward the image forming portion; a driving roller for driving the transferring material conveying belt; a driven roller over which the transferring material conveying belt is looped; and a transferring portion for transferring the image formed by the image forming portion to the transferring material. The transferring material conveying belt is wound and stretched between the driven roller and the driving roller. A rotational axis of the driven roller is different from a rotational axis of the driving roller. Further, a surface of the driven roller includes a layer which has a coefficient of friction lower than a coefficient of friction of a surface of the driving roller.

Abstract: An apparatus including: an image forming portion; a recording-material transporting member; a cleaning portion; a fixing portion equipped with a fixing member coated with a mold release agent; and a controller. The apparatus can perform two-sided copying by transferring and fixing an image on a first surface of recording material, and then transferring and fixing an image on an opposite surface. A cleaning blade in the cleaning portion abuts the recording material transport means and a normal line of a surface of the cleaning blade is substantially directed to a gravity direction, and faces an upstream side of an abutting portion of the cleaning blade in a transportation direction of the recording-material transporting member, wherein the surface of the cleaning blade facing an upstream side of an abutting position in a transportation direction faces a direction opposite to the gravity direction.

Abstract: Disclosed is an image forming apparatus which applies a curl to a transfer material to prevent the transfer material from winding around an image bearer. The apparatus comprises control means that reduces the transfer current to the rear end portion of the transfer material in order to curl the transfer material.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming portion for forming an image; a transferring material conveying belt for conveying a transferring material toward the image forming portion; a driving roller for driving the transferring material conveying belt; a driven roller over which the transferring material conveying belt is looped; and a transferring portion for transferring the image formed by the image forming portion to the transferring material, wherein the surface of the driven roller has a layer whose coefficient of friction is lower than that of the surface of the driving roller.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus wherein a sheet can be easily separated from a photosensitive drum both when an image is formed on one surface of a sheet and when an image is formed on the other surface, the image forming apparatus including an image forming device for using a photosensitive member to form an image on a sheet that is guided and fed along a sheet feeding path leading from a sheet stacking device, an initial curling device, positioned along the sheet feeding path, for processing the sheet so that the sheet curls away from the photosensitive member when the sheet is moved past the photosensitive member, a sheet conveying path along which the sheet, on one surface of which an image has been formed by the image forming device, is guided to the sheet feeding path, a surface reversing device, positioned along the route of the sheet conveying path, for reversing the surfaces of the sheet, and a recurling device, for processing the sheet so that the widthwise ends of the sheet curl away from the photosensi

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: an image forming portion for forming a toner image; a recording-material transporting member for bearing and transporting the recording material; a cleaning portion equipped with a cleaning blade abutting against a surface of the recording-material transporting member; and a fixing portion equipped with a fixing member on which a mold release agent is coated, the apparatus being capable of forming an image on a surface of the recording material, a fixing operation of which has been performed by the fixing portion, the surface of the recording material being opposite to a surface thereof on which the toner image is transferred, wherein the cleaning blade is arranged such that a normal line of a surface of the cleaning blade, which is close to an abutting portion against the recording-material transporting member and faces to an upstream side of the abutting portion in a transportation direction of the recording-material transporting member, is substantially directed to a g

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer for bearing a toner image, transfer device for transferring the toner image on the image bearer to a recording medium, a separating charger for facilitating separation of the recording medium from the image bearer, a detector for detecting an image amount in a predetermined area on the image bearer, the predetermined area corresponding to a predetermined downstream side area from a leading edge of the recording material, and a controller for controlling an application voltage to the separating charger from a leading edge to a trailing edge of the recording material on the basis of the image amount in the predetermined area detected by the detector.

Abstract: There is related to an image forming apparatus for forming a two-color toner image on a photosensitive body and transferring a batch of the image to a transfer material. The apparatus has a rotating and moving electrophotographic photosensitive body. Successively along a rotating direction of the photosensitive body arranged are a first developing device using a two-component developing agent constituted of a magnetic carrier and a nonmagnetic toner and a second developing device using a one-component magnetic developing agent different in color from the nonmagnetic toner. The apparatus also has a control circuit for stopping an image forming operation when a trouble occurs in an apparatus body.