US Patent Issued to RICOH on Dec. 16 for "Heating device, frame device, and image forming apparatus" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,498,659, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to RICOH COMPANY LTD. (Tokyo).

"Heating device, frame device, and image forming apparatus" was invented by Shigeo Nanno (Kyoto, Japan), Yutaka Ikebuchi (Kanagawa, Japan), Hitoshi Fujiwara (Tokyo), Hiromasa Takagi (Tokyo) and Yuusuke Furuichi (Kanagawa, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A heating device includes a first rotator and a second rotator that contacts the first rotator to form a nip between the first rotator and the second rotator. A heater heats at least one of the first rotator or the second rotator. A first support frame supports one lateral end of the first rotator and the second ...