US Patent Issued to RICOH on June 3 for "Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same" (Japanese Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4 -- United States Patent no. 12,321,112, issued on June 3, was assigned to RICOH COMPANY LTD. (Tokyo).

"Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same" was invented by Keisuke Kubota (Kanagawa, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fixing device includes a belt having a loop, a nip formation pad inside the loop, a pressure rotator, a supplier, and a holder. The pressure rotator presses the belt against the nip formation pad to form a fixing nip. The supplier is at a position above and upstream from the nip formation pad in the traveling direction to supply lubricant to an inner face of the belt. The holder holds the lubricant adhered to the inner face...