Fixing device and image forming apparatus
View Patent ↗A fixing device includes a transport member that transports a recording medium in a first direction, the recording medium having on one side thereof an image formed of an image forming material that is to be fixed by absorbing light; a first chip that has a first light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally; and a second chip that has a second light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally. A gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at an angle with respect to the first direction, and a portion of the first light-emitting area and a portion of the second light-emitting area overlap each other in the first direction.
1. A fixing device comprising:
a transport member that transports a recording medium in a first direction, the recording medium having on one side thereof an image formed of an image forming material that is to be fixed by absorbing light;
a first chip that has a first light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally; and
a second chip that has a second light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally,
wherein a gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at a non-orthogonal angle with respect to the first direction, and a portion of the first light-emitting area and a portion of the second light-emitting area overlap each other in the first direction,
wherein the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area each have a substantially rectangular shape,
wherein the substantially rectangular shape has first-length sides and second-length sides
wherein the second-length sides are angled by about 45 degrees with respect to the first direction,
wherein the gap corresponds to an area extending between one of the second-length sides of the first light-emitting area and one of the second-length sides of the second light-emitting area that faces the one second-length sides of the first light-emitting area,
wherein a positive side in the first direction corresponds to a downstream side toward which the recording medium is transported,
wherein a positive side in the second direction corresponds to a side of the first chip nearer to the second chip,
wherein one of four vertices of the first light-emitting area whose coordinate in the first direction is the smallest and one of four vertices of the second light-emitting area whose coordinate in the first direction is the smallest have the same coordinate in the first direction,
wherein one of the four vertices of the first light-emitting area whose coordinate in the first direction is the largest and one of the four vertices of the second light-emitting area whose coordinate in the second direction is the smallest have the same coordinate in the second direction, and
wherein the ratio of a length that is the sum of a length of the gap in a direction parallel to the first-length sides and a length of each of the first-length sides to a length of each of the second-length sides is 1:2.
2. The fixing device according to claim 1 , wherein the intensity of light that accumulates in the first direction during a predetermined period of time has a distribution within a specific range in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction, the light being applied to the one side of the recording medium from the light-emitting elements of the first chip and the second chip.
3. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a transfer unit that transfers an image on a recording medium; and
the fixing device according to claim 1 .
4. A fixing device comprising:
a transport member that transports a recording medium in a first direction, the recording medium having on one side thereof an image formed of an image forming material that is to be fixed by absorbing light;
a first chip that has a first light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally; and
a second chip that has a second light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally,
wherein a gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at an angle with respect to the first direction, and a portion of the first light-emitting area and a portion of the second light-emitting area overlap each other in the first direction,
wherein the quantity of light emitted per unit area is larger in the portions of the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area that overlap each other in the first direction than in other portions of the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area that are staggered from each other in the first direction.
5. The fixing device according to claim 4 ,
wherein the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area each have a substantially parallelogrammatic shape,
wherein the substantially parallelogrammatic shape has first-length sides and second-length sides, and
wherein one of the second-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the first chip resides adjacent to one of the second-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the second chip, and each of the first-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the first chip and a corresponding one of the first-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the second chip are in one straight line.
6. The fixing device according to claim 4 , wherein the gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at a non-orthogonal angle with respect to the first direction.
7. A fixing device comprising:
a transport member that transports a recording medium in a first direction, the recording medium having on one side thereof an image formed of an image forming material that is to be fixed by absorbing light;
a first chip that has a first light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally; and
a second chip that has a second light-emitting area in which a plurality of light-emitting elements that emit light toward the one side of the recording medium are arranged two-dimensionally,
wherein a gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at an angle with respect to the first direction, and a portion of the first light-emitting area and a portion of the second light-emitting area overlap each other in the first direction,
wherein the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area each have a substantially parallelogrammatic shape,
wherein the substantially parallelogrammatic shape has first-length sides and second-length sides, and
wherein one of the second-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the first chip resides adjacent to one of the second-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the second chip, and each of the first-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the first chip and a corresponding one of the first-length sides of the substantially parallelogrammatic shape of the second chip are in one straight line.
8. The fixing device according to claim 7 , wherein the gap between the first light-emitting area and the second light-emitting area extends at a non-orthogonal angle with respect to the first direction.