ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,313,992, issued on May 27, was assigned to Canon K.K. (Tokyo).
"Fixing unit and image forming apparatus" was invented by Kouji Yasukawa (Tokyo), Yusuke Nakashima (Kanagawa, Japan) and Ryo Okuzumi (Tokyo).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fixing unit includes a film including a tubular shape and configured to rotate, a heater arranged inside the film and including a heating resistor configured to generate heat by passing alternating current therethrough and an insulator configured to cover the heating resistor, a sliding member arranged between the heater and the film and configured to be in sliding contact with an inner surface of the film...