US Patent Issued to RICOH on Sept. 23 for "Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,422,766, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to RICOH COMPANY LTD. (Tokyo).

"Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same" was invented by Hiroshi Yoshinaga (Chiba, Japan), Takashi Seto (Kanagawa, Japan), Ryohhei Sugiyama (Kanagawa, Japan), Ryohei Matsuda (Kanagawa, Japan) and Yoshiki Yamaguchi (Kanagawa, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a heater, a pressure rotator, a nip formation pad, and a slide aid sheet. The fixing rotator is rotatable in a rotation direction. The heater heats the fixing rotator. The pressure rotator contacts an outer circumferential face of the fixing ro...