Abstract: A heater part of a planar sensor element includes: a heater element containing Pt; an insulating layer covering the heater element; and a heater electrode located on a main surface of the sensor element to be exposed. A portion of the heater part other than the heater electrode is buried in a base part formed of a solid electrolyte. The insulating layer at least contains MgO, MgAl2O4, and Mg4Nb2O9 in a weight percentage of 97 wt % to 100 wt % in total. MgO, MgAl2O4, and Mg4Nb2O9 are contained in weight percentages of 30 wt % to 60 wt %, 30 wt % to 60 wt %, and 0.5 wt % to 15 wt %, respectively. The insulating layer has a porosity of 4% or less.

Abstract: A heater part of a planar sensor element includes: a Pt heater element; and an insulating layer including 90-99.9 wt % of an insulating material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from a solid electrolyte forming a base part of the element. The heater part other than a heater electrode is buried in the base part. The insulating layer includes: a porous portion having a porosity of 20-40%; and a dense portion having a porosity of 4% or less. The heater element is covered with the dense portion. A laminated portion in which the porous portion and the dense portion are laminated has a total thickness of 25-100 ?m. The dense portion has a thickness of 5 ?m or more. A thickness ratio of the dense portion to the porous portion is 0.05 to 2.0.

Abstract: A heater part of a planar sensor element includes: a Pt heater element; and an insulating layer including 90-99.9 wt % of an insulating material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from a solid electrolyte forming a base part of the element. The heater part other than a heater electrode is buried in the base part. The heater element has a thickness of 10-50 ?m and is covered with the insulating layer. The insulating layer has a porosity of 4% or less and a thickness of 50-150 ?m. The distances of the insulating layer from an end portion of the element, from a main surface on which the heater electrode is located, and from a side surface of the element are respectively 0.25-0.75 mm, 0.20-0.60 mm, and 0.20-0.60 mm. The total length of the element is 80.0 mm or less.

Abstract: A voltage-nonlinear resistor element 10 includes a voltage-nonlinear resistor (referred simply as “resistor”) 20 and a pair of electrodes 14 and 16 between which the resistor 20 is interposed. The resistor 20 has a multilayer structure including a first layer 21 composed primarily of zinc oxide, a second layer 22 composed primarily of zinc oxide, and a third layer 23 composed primarily of a metal oxide other than zinc oxide. The second layer 22 is adjacent to the first layer 21 and has a smaller thickness and a higher volume resistivity than the first layer 21. The third layer 23 is adjacent to the second layer 22.

Abstract: A fixing apparatus includes: an endless fixing belt; a pad member having a receiving surface and a supported surface; a pressing rotator pressing the fixing belt against the receiving surface and forming a nip portion between an outer circumferential surface of the fixing belt and the pressing rotator; a supporting member supporting the pad member; and a heating source to heat the fixing belt. The supporting member includes a base abutting on the supported surface of the pad member, and an erected wall erected from the base to partition a space inside the fixing belt into an upstream space and a downstream space. The erected wall is displaced upstream or downstream in a recording-material transport direction, from an intermediate position of the nip portion. The heating source is disposed in a larger one of the upstream space and the downstream space.

Abstract: The honeycomb structure includes a honeycomb structure body made of a zeolite material containing at least a coarse particle zeolite having a large average particle diameter (coarse zeolite particles). A fine particle zeolite having an average particle diameter smaller than that of the coarse particle zeolite (fine zeolite particles), and an inorganic bonding material, the coarse particle zeolite (the coarse zeolite particles) is a chabazite type zeolite in which an average particle diameter of primary particles is 2 ?m or more and 6 ?m or less, and in the fine particle zeolite (the fine zeolite particles), an average particle diameter of primary particles is 0.02 ?m or more and smaller than 2 ?m, and in the zeolite material which is comprised the honeycomb structure body, a ratio of a volume of pores having pore diameters of 0.02 to 0.15 ?m to a volume of all pores is 42% or less.

Abstract: The manufacturing method includes a step of mixing a coarse particle zeolite, a fine particle zeolite, and a raw material of an inorganic bonding material to prepare a zeolite raw material; a step of forming the prepared zeolite raw material into a honeycomb shape to prepare a honeycomb formed body; and a step of firing the prepared honeycomb formed body to prepare the honeycomb structure. In the step of preparing the zeolite raw material, as the coarse particle zeolite, a chabazite type zeolite having a specific average particle diameter, the fine particle zeolite having a specific average particle diameter, the raw material of the inorganic bonding material which includes at least basic aluminum lactate is used.

Abstract: A fixing device is configured to fix a toner image to a sheet by heat and includes: a heating rotator; a pressurizing roller contacting with the heating rotator; a heater configured to heat the heating rotator such that the heat is transferred to the sheet passing through a contact portion between the heating rotator and the pressurizing roller; a plurality of separation claws configured to separate the sheet from the heating rotator such that the sheet passing through the contact portion is not caught in the heating rotator, the separation claws being provided opposite to the heating rotator; and an adjustor configured to adjust positions of the separation claws relative to the heating rotator such that distances between the separation claws and the heating rotator are equal to each other.

Abstract: A voltage-nonlinear resistor element 10 includes a voltage-nonlinear resistor (referred simply as “resistor”) 20 and a pair of electrodes 14 and 16 between which the resistor 20 is interposed. The resistor 20 has a multilayer structure including a first layer 21 composed primarily of zinc oxide, a second layer 22 composed primarily of zinc oxide, and a third layer 23 composed primarily of a metal oxide other than zinc oxide. The second layer 22 is adjacent to the first layer 21 and has a smaller thickness and a higher volume resistivity than the first layer 21. The third layer 23 is adjacent to the second layer 22.

Abstract: The voltage nonlinear resistive element includes a resistor containing a joined body in which a zinc oxide ceramic layer composed mainly of zinc oxide and having a volume resistivity of less than 1.0×10?2 ?cm is joined to a rare-earth metal oxide layer composed mainly of a rare-earth metal oxide, and a pair of electrodes disposed on the resistor such that an electrically conductive path passes through a junction between the zinc oxide ceramic layer and the rare-earth metal oxide layer. In this element, the zinc oxide ceramic layer of the joined body has a lower volume resistivity than before. This can result in a lower clamping voltage in a high electric current region than before.

Abstract: A voltage nonlinear resistive element includes a resistor containing a joined body in which a zinc oxide ceramic layer composed mainly of zinc oxide and having a volume resistivity of 1.0×10?1 ?cm or less is joined to a bismuth oxide layer composed mainly of bismuth oxide, and a pair of electrodes disposed on the resistor such that an electrically conductive path passes through a joint surface between the zinc oxide ceramic layer and the bismuth oxide layer. In this element, the zinc oxide ceramic layer of the joined body has a lower volume resistivity than before. This can result in a lower clamping voltage in a high-current region than before.

Abstract: A fixing device thermally fixing an unfixed image by pressing a recording sheet against a heating rotating body using a resistance heating element as a heat source, comprising: a temperature monitoring unit monitoring temperature in a sheet passing region and in a non-sheet passing region of the heating rotating body; a power supply unit supplying power to the resistance heating element so that the temperature in the sheet passing region is maintained at a target temperature during thermal fixing; a cooling unit cooling the non-sheet passing region; and a control unit controlling cooling so that (i) electrical resistivity of the resistance heating element is lower in a region corresponding to the non-sheet passing region than in a region corresponding to the sheet passing region and (ii) an absolute value of a temperature difference between the sheet passing region and the non-sheet passing region does not exceed an allowable temperature difference.

Abstract: A fixing device having: a fixing member extending in a first predetermined direction; a heating roller extending in the first predetermined direction; a fixing belt stretched between the fixing member and the heating roller and being annular when viewed in a plan view in the first predetermined direction; a heating section heating the heating roller and being provided in the heating roller; a first support section supporting the heating roller in such a manner that the heating roller is movable with respect to the fixing member along a predetermined plane perpendicular to the first predetermined direction; a pressure section exerting a force upon the heating roller in such a direction that the heating roller moves away from the fixing member; and a second support section supporting the heating section in such a manner that the heating section is movable together with the heating roller.

Abstract: A fixing device having: a fixing member extending in a first predetermined direction; a heating roller extending in the first predetermined direction; a fixing belt stretched between the fixing member and the heating roller and being annular when viewed in a plan view in the first predetermined direction; a heating section heating the heating roller and being provided in the heating roller; a first support section supporting the heating roller in such a manner that the heating roller is movable with respect to the fixing member along a predetermined plane perpendicular to the first predetermined direction; a pressure section exerting a force upon the heating roller in such a direction that the heating roller moves away from the fixing member; and a second support section supporting the heating section in such a manner that the heating section is movable together with the heating roller.

Abstract: A belt-drive device includes a roller, a belt, and a meandering prevention member. The roller is rotatable about an axis. The belt is wound on an outer circumferential surface of the roller. The meandering prevention member is attached to an end of the roller and abuts a side of the belt in the direction of the axis. The meandering prevention member is elastically deformable and has an annular shape. The meandering prevention member has an inner circumferential surface whose diameter is less than an outer diameter of the roller before the meandering prevention member is attached to the roller.

Abstract: A fixing device includes: a fixing rotator; a pressure rotator configured to be pressed into contact with the fixing rotator to form a nip portion; a heating section configured to be provided over an outer circumference of the fixing rotator in a non-contact manner with the fixing rotator and heat the fixing rotator; and a power shutdown section configured to shut down power supply to the heating section when temperature becomes higher than a predetermined setting temperature, wherein the heating section includes an infrared heater and a reflection member which covers the infrared heater and whose portion facing the fixing rotator is an opening portion, a longitudinal length of the reflection member is longer than a length in an axis direction of a light emitting unit of the infrared heater, and a temperature detection unit of the power shutdown section is arranged outside the reflection member.

Abstract: A fixing device having: a heating unit; a first rotating member and rotating in a first rotational direction; a second rotating member contacting the first rotating member and thereby forming a nip through which a printing medium passes, wherein the second rotating member rotates in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction; a reflective member provided around the first rotating member and having a reflection surface provided so as to face the first rotating member; and an inhibitory member inhibiting air in a space between the reflective member and the first rotating member from flowing out through a first gap between a downstream end of the reflective member in the first rotational direction and a closest portion of the first rotating member to the downstream end of the reflective member, wherein the inhibitory member overlaps with a part of the first gap.

Abstract: A fixing device having: a fixing member extending in a first predetermined direction; a heating roller extending in the first predetermined direction; a fixing belt stretched between the fixing member and the heating roller and being annular when viewed in a plan view in the first predetermined direction; a heating section heating the heating roller and being provided in the heating roller; a first support section supporting the heating roller in such a manner that the heating roller is movable with respect to the fixing member along a predetermined plane perpendicular to the first predetermined direction; a pressure section exerting a force upon the heating roller in such a direction that the heating roller moves away from the fixing member; and a second support section supporting the heating section in such a manner that the heating section is movable together with the heating roller.

Abstract: A belt-drive device includes a roller, a belt, and a meandering prevention member. The roller is rotatable about an axis. The belt is wound on an outer circumferential surface of the roller. The meandering prevention member is attached to an end of the roller and abuts a side of the belt in the direction of the axis. The meandering prevention member is elastically deformable and has an annular shape. The meandering prevention member has an inner circumferential surface whose diameter is less than an outer diameter of the roller before the meandering prevention member is attached to the roller.

Abstract: A fixing device having: a first rotating member rotating in a first rotational direction; a second rotating member contacting the first rotating member and thereby forming a nip through which a printing medium passes, wherein the second rotating member rotates in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction; a heating unit heating the first rotating member in a heating section not overlapping with the nip when viewed in a plan view in the predetermined direction; and a first reflective member facing at least a part of a portion of the first rotating member that is located on a downstream side in the first rotational direction relative to the heating section but on an upstream side in the first rotational direction relative to the nip, the first reflective member having a reflection surface on the side facing the first rotating member.