Image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025258461-A1
Application number	US-202519010710-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 6, 2025
Priority date	Feb 13, 2024
Publication date	Aug 14, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus including: a door configured to open a conveying path between a transfer portion for forming a toner image on a recording material and a fixing portion for fixing the toner image, the door facing a surface of the recording material traveling through the conveying path; a duct provided on the door, the duct having an intake inlet and an exhaust outlet; a fan provided inside the duct, which generates the air flow travelling from the intake inlet to the exhaust outlet; and a filter provided detachably attachable to the duct, which collects particles with a predetermined particle diameter, wherein the filter has a width that is equal to or greater than an image width of a recording material with a maximum width passing through a fixing nip portion in a widthwise direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the recording material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, comprising:
a transfer portion configured to form a toner image on the recording material using toner containing release agent; a fixing portion configured to fix the toner image formed on the recording material by the transfer portion by nipping and conveying the recording material at a fixing nip portion formed with a pair of rotating members; a door configured to open a conveying path between the transfer portion and the fixing portion, the door being opposed to a surface of the recording material traveling through the conveying path; a duct provided on the door, the duct having an intake inlet for taking in air and an exhaust outlet for exhausting the air taken in from the intake inlet outside the image forming apparatus, the duct forming a closed space for an air flow travelling from the intake inlet to the exhaust outlet; a fan provided inside the duct, the fan being configured to generate the air flow travelling from the intake inlet to the exhaust outlet; and a filter provided detachably attachable to the duct, the filter being configured to collect particles with a predetermined particle diameter that are caused by the release agent, wherein the filter has a width that is equal to or greater than an image width of a recording material with a maximum width passing through the fixing nip portion in a widthwise direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the recording material.

2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the intake inlet of the duct has a width equal to or greater than the maximum width of the recording material passing through the fixing nip portion in the widthwise direction.

3 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the filter is provided on the intake inlet.

4 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the door is configured to be openable and closable such that the door is in a closed position in which the conveying path is covered by the door and an opened position in which the conveying path is opened by the door, and wherein when the door is in the opened position, the filter is exposed.

5 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the intake inlet is provided between the fixing nip portion and the transfer portion.

6 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the filter is a collecting member configured to collect fine particles included in the air passing the filter.

7 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a spatial distance between the filter and the fan inside the duct is equal to 10 [mm] or greater and equal to 100 [mm] or less.

8 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the shortest distance between the filter and the fixing nip portion is equal to 5 [mm] or greater and equal to 100 [mm] or less.

9 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the pair of the rotating members of the fixing portion includes: a first rotating member configured to heat the recording material bearing an image; and a second rotating member forming a fixing nip portion by abutting on the first rotating member.

10 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the first rotating member is an endless belt.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Bando Yoshimasa

Classifications

• G03G2221/0015

  Width of cleaning device related to other parts of the apparatus, e.g. transfer belt width · CPC title

• G03G21/1628

  Clamshell type (G03G21/1638 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G03G15/657

  Feeding path after the transfer point and up to the fixing point, e.g. guides and feeding means for handling copy material carrying an unfused toner image · CPC title

• G03G2221/169

  Structural door designs · CPC title

• G03G2221/0094

  Suction · CPC title