Abstract: A rotatable feeding member for feeding a recording material includes a surface layer formed of a resin material, and a character portion including characters selected from alphabetical and numeral characters made visible by recessing the surface layer, wherein the characters are arranged along a circumferential direction of the rotatable feeding member. The characters are slanted with respect to a longitudinal direction of the rotatable feeding member.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion for forming a toner image on a sheet; a rotatable heating member and a rotatable pressing member for fixing, at a nip, the toner image formed on the sheet by the image forming portion; an executing portion for executing cleaning mode for cleaning the rotatable heating member by introducing, into the nip, the sheet on which a predetermined toner image is formed by the image forming portion; and a changing mechanism for making positional relationships of a first sheet and a second sheet relative to the rotatable heating member different from each other with respect to a widthwise direction of the rotatable heating member when the first sheet and the second sheet are successively introduced into the nip in the cleaning mode.

Abstract: A rotatable feeding member for feeding a recording material includes a surface layer formed of a resin material, and a character portion including characters selected from alphabetical and numeral characters made visible by recessing the surface layer, wherein the characters are arranged along a circumferential direction of the rotatable feeding member. The characters are slanted with respect to a longitudinal direction of the rotatable feeding member.

Abstract: An electrophotographic member includes a rubber layer having a lightness of 15 or less and including a marked portion formed so as to have a depth of 35 ?m or more and 100 ?m or less, a fluorine-based resin layer having a light transmittance of 60% or more, and an adhesive layer disposed between the rubber layer and the fluorine-based resin layer. The adhesive layer has a lightness of 60 or more and has a thickness of 3 ?m or more and 10 ?m or less in a portion surrounding the marked portion.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming device configured to form a toner image on a sheet; a fixing device configured to fix the toner image formed on the sheet by the image forming device at a nip; an executing portion configured to execute an operation in a cleaning mode for cleaning the fixing device by forming a predetermined toner image on a sheet using the image forming device and then by introducing the sheet into the nip; and a notifying device for notifying an operator that a maximum-width sheet usable in the image forming device is to be used in the operation in the cleaning mode.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device for forming an image on a sheet; a fixing device for fixing an image formed on a sheet; a detector for detecting a temperature of the fixing device, and a controller for controlling an image formation start timing in accordance with an output of the detector. In an operation of continuously forming images on a plurality of predetermined sheets, when a number of image formations is not less than a predetermined number, the start of the image formation is delayed until a temperature of the fixing device rises up to a first temperature, and when the number of image formations is less than the predetermined number, the image formation is started when the temperature of the fixing device rises up to a second temperature which is lower than the first temperature.

Abstract: An electrophotographic member includes a rubber layer having a lightness of 15 or less and including a marked portion formed so as to have a depth of 35 ?m or more and 100 ?m or less, a fluorine-based resin layer having a light transmittance of 60% or more, and an adhesive layer disposed between the rubber layer and the fluorine-based resin layer. The adhesive layer has a lightness of 60 or more and has a thickness of 3 ?m or more and 10 ?m or less in a portion surrounding the marked portion.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes: an image heating roller in a nip; a nip forming member; a heating roller rubbing roller; a moving mechanism for moving the rubbing roller between a spaced position and a rubbing position; and a controller for executing operations in first and second modes. In the first mode, the heating roller is rotated with the rubbing roller in the spaced position and the heating roller in contact with the nip forming member with a target temperature of the heating roller higher than that of the nip forming member. In the second mode, the rubbing roller is contacted with the heating roller, rubbing the surface of the heating roller. The temperature difference in the first mode between the target temperature of the heating roller and that of the nip forming member is larger than the temperature difference when the toner image is heated by the nip.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: heating and pressing rollers for fixing a toner image; a contacting and spacing portion for contacting and spacing between the rollers; an air feeder for cooling the pressing roller during a job; a guide for the sheet having been subjected to an image fixing process; an acquiring portion for acquiring the temperature of the guide: and an executing portion for executing a warming-up process of the heating roller and the pressing roller to raise the temperatures of the heating roller and the pressing roller. The executing portion controls the contacting and spacing portion and the air feeder so that the air is fed toward the guide through between the heating roller and the pressing roller at least in a part of the warming-up process, when the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature upon activation of a main voltage source.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating roller; a nip forming member for forming the nip with the roller; a sheet jam sensor; a first controller for interrupting a heating operation when the sensor detects the sheet jamming, and for resuming the heating operation after the jamming is cleared; a rubbing member for rubbing a heating roller surface; a moving mechanism for moving the rubbing member to a position for spacing the rubbing member from the roller to a position for rubbing the roller surface; and a second controller for executing an operation of moving the rubbing member to the rubbing position to rub the heating roller surface when a predetermined condition is reached, wherein the second controller delays, when the condition is reached during a period in which a predetermined count of sheets pass the nip after the jam clearance, the moving operation to after the period.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; fixing means for fixing an image formed on a sheet; detecting means for detecting a temperature of the fixing means; and controlling means for controlling an image formation start timing in accordance with an output of the detecting means, wherein in an operation of continuously forming images on a plurality of predetermined sheets, when a number of image formations is not less than a predetermined number, start of the image formation is delayed until a temperature of the fixing means rises up to a first temperature, and when the number of image formations is less than the predetermined number, the image formation is started when the temperature of the fixing means rises up to a second temperature which is lower than the first temperature.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming device configured to form a toner image on a sheet; a fixing device configured to fix the toner image formed on the sheet by the image forming device at a nip; an executing portion configured to execute an operation in a cleaning mode for cleaning the fixing device by forming a predetermined toner image on a sheet using the image forming device and then by introducing the sheet into the nip; and a notifying device for notifying an operator that a maximum-width sheet usable in the image forming device is to be used in the operation in the cleaning mode.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes heating and pressing rollers for fixing a toner image; a contacting and spacing portion for contacting and spacing between the rollers; an air feeder for cooling the pressing roller during a job; a guide for the sheet having been subjected to an image fixing process; an acquiring portion for acquiring the temperature of the guide: and an executing portion for executing a warming-up process of the heating roller and the pressing roller to raise temperatures of the heating roller and the pressing roller, wherein the executing portion controls the contacting and spacing portion and the air feeder so that the air is fed toward the guide through between the heating roller and the pressing roller at least in a part of the warming-up process, when the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature upon activation of a main voltage source.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating roller; a nip forming member for forming the nip with the roller; a sheet jam sensor; a first controller for interrupting a heating operation when the sensor detects the sheet jamming, and for resuming the heating operation after the jamming is cleared; a rubbing member for rubbing a heating roller surface; a moving mechanism for moving the rubbing member to a position for spacing the rubbing member from the roller to a position for rubbing the roller surface; and a second controller for executing an operation of moving the rubbing member to the rubbing position to rub the heating roller surface when a predetermined condition is reached, wherein the second controller delays, when the condition is reached during a period in which a predetermined count of sheets pass the nip after the jam clearance, the moving operation to after the period.

Abstract: With a fixing apparatus, a shape of a folded portion on the side of a pressure roller of a sliding contact sheet is folded along a shape of the pressure roller, thereby uniformizing a longitudinal pressure distribution and preventing an uneven-gloss image due to pressure reduction.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating roller; a nip forming member for forming the nip with the roller; a sheet jam sensor; a first controller for interrupting a heating operation when the sensor detects the sheet jamming, and for resuming the heating operation after the jamming is cleared; a rubbing member for rubbing a heating roller surface; a moving mechanism for moving the rubbing member to a position for spacing the rubbing member from the roller to a position for rubbing the roller surface; and a second controller for executing an operation of moving the rubbing member to the rubbing position to rub the heating roller surface when a predetermined condition is reached, wherein the second controller delays, when the condition is reached during a period in which a predetermined count of sheets pass the nip after the jam clearance, the moving operation to after the period.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes image forming means for forming an image on a sheet; fixing means for fixing an image formed on a sheet; detecting means for detecting a temperature of the fixing means; and controlling means for controlling an image formation start timing in accordance with an output of the detecting means, wherein in an operation of continuously forming images on a plurality of predetermined sheets, when a number of image formations is not less than a predetermined number, start of the image formation is delayed until a temperature of the fixing means rises up to a first temperature, and when the number of image formations is less than the predetermined number, the image formation is started when the temperature of the fixing means rises up to a second temperature which is lower than the first temperature.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating roller; a belt forming a heating nip; a heating device for heating the heating roller; a controller for controlling a temperature of the heating roller at temperature depending on thickness of sheet; an air feeding device for feeding air to the belt; an executing portion capable of executing an operation in a mode in which the air feeding device feeds the air into between the belt and the heating roller while the belt is spaced from the heating roller with the belt and the heating member being rotating. When a thin sheet is fed following a thick sheet, the executing portion executes the operation in the mode after the thick sheet passes through the nip and before the thin sheet is fed into the nip.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable heating member for heating an image on a recording material in a nip; a nip-forming member for forming the nip together with the heating member; a rotatable rubbing member for rubbing the heating member; a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the heating member; a moving mechanism for moving the rubbing member from a position where it is spaced from the heating member to a position where it rubs a surface of the heating member; and a controller for executing, by moving the rubbing member to the position where it rubs the surface of the heating member, a rubbing operation such that the rubbing member rubs the surface of the heating member. The controller executes the rubbing operation depending on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor when the recording material passes through the nip.

Abstract: A fixing device includes: a rotatable fixing member configured to fix at a nip a toner image formed on recording paper; a rotatable pressing member configured to form the nip between itself and the rotatable fixing member; and a controller configured to control a temperature of the rotatable pressing member depending on smoothness of the recording paper.