Abstract: A thermally conductive pipe includes a pipe of which both end portions are closed, a working liquid that is sealed inside the pipe and vaporizes and liquefies, and a liquid transfer unit that exists along a longitudinal direction inside the pipe and transfers the liquefied working liquid at least in the longitudinal direction, in which the liquid transfer unit has, in a case of being viewed in a cross section of the pipe, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, a first liquid transfer unit that is in contact with at least a partial range of an inner wall surface of the pipe and a second liquid transfer unit that is not in contact with the inner wall surface of the pipe and the first liquid transfer unit.

Abstract: A fixing device includes a belt member that cyclically moves, a pressing unit that comes into contact with the belt member and presses a recording medium moving between the belt member and the pressing unit, and a heat source that includes a base material, a resistance heating element disposed on a surface of the base material along a longitudinal direction of the base material, and an insulator covering the resistance heating element and that comes into contact with the pressing unit via the belt member to heat an inner surface of the belt member, in which the insulator is formed to cover a corner portion of the base material in a direction of movement of the belt member.

Abstract: An apparatus for preheating and charging scrap material includes a throat section (38) having at one end thereof a material charging inlet (37) connected to a furnace shell (2), the throat section extending laterally and upwardly obliquely, a heat exchanger section (39) connected to the other end of the throat section (38) and extending upwardly, a sealing section (42) above the heat exchanger section (39), a material supply (43) for supplying the scrap material into the sealing section (42), an exhaust duct (53) formed at the heat exchanger section (39) just below the sealing section (42) and connected to an exhaust system (58) and a material delivery device (46) disposed at the other end of the throat section (38) for delivering the scrap material (13) from the heat exchanger section (39) to the material charging inlet (37). The scrap material (13) is substantially continuously charged into the furnace shell (2) while preheated by the high-temperature exhaust gases from the furnace shell (2).