Fixing device with pulling rollers

Claim 1

A device for fixing a toner image on an image-receiving surface of a sheet formed of paper or plastic, in an image forming apparatus, said device comprising: a fixing roller rotating at a peripheral speed; a pressing roller disposed beneath and in pressing contact with said fixing roller whereby, when a sheet having a toner image is conveyed through a contact point between said fixing roller and said pressing roller, an image recovering surface bearing a toner image thereon is brought into contact with said fixing roller; a pair of pulling rollers being brought into contact with each other, said pulling rollers being disposed downstream of said fixing roller in a direction in which said sheet is conveyed so that the image receiving surface bearing said toner image thereon is brought into contact with an upper roller of said pulling rollers, said pulling rollers rotating at a peripheral speed higher than that of said fixing roller, the upper roller of said pulling rollers being a rigid roller and a lower roller being an elastic roller having a hardness of 20° to 80°, wherein a contact portion between said pair of pulling rollers is disposed lower than a tangent line passing through a contact portion between said fixing roller and said pressing roller, whereby said pair of pulling rollers pull said sheet downwardly to separate said image receiving surface bearing said toner image from said fixing roller.

Claim 2

A device for fixing a toner image on an image-receiving surface of a sheet formed of paper or plastic, in an image forming apparatus, said device comprising: a fixing roller rotating at a peripheral speed; a pressing roller disposed beneath and in pressing contact with said fixing roller whereby, when a sheet having a toner image is conveyed through a contact point between said fixing roller and said pressing roller, an image recovering surface bearing a toner image thereon is brought into contact with said fixing roller; a pair of pulling rollers being brought into contact with each other, said pulling rollers being disposed downstream of said fixing roller in a direction in which said sheet is conveyed so that the image receiving surface bearing said toner image thereon is brought into contact with an upper roller of said pulling rollers, said pulling rollers rotating at a peripheral speed higher than that of said fixing roller, the upper roller of said pulling rollers being a rigid roller and a lower roller being an elastic roller having a hardness of 20° to 80°, wherein a contact portion between said pair of pulling rollers is disposed lower than a tangent line passing through a contact portion between said fixing roller and said pressing roller, whereby said pair of pulling rollers pull said sheet downwardly to separate said image receiving surface bearing said toner image from said fixing roller.

Claim 8

A device for fixing a toner image on a sheet in an image forming apparatus, wherein said sheet comprises either paper or plastic, said device comprising; a fixing roller rotating at a peripheral speed; a pressing roller being brought into contact with said fixing roller, wherein a sheet having a toner image thereon is conveyed through a contact portion between said fixing roller and said pressing roller; and a pair of pulling rollers disposed downstream of said fixing roller in a direction in which said sheet is conveyed, said pair of pulling rollers being rotated at a peripheral speed higher than that of said fixing roller, wherein said pulling rollers are driven through a torque limiter to allow a torque within a range of 0.2 to 4.0 kgcm to be transmitted.

Claim 9

A device for fixing a toner image on a sheet in an image forming apparatus, wherein said sheet comprises either paper or plastic, said device comprising; a fixing roller rotating at a peripheral speed; a pressing roller being brought into contact with said fixing roller, wherein a sheet having a toner image thereon is conveyed through a contact portion between said fixing roller and said pressing roller; and a pair of pulling rollers disposed downstream of said fixing roller in a direction in which said sheet is conveyed, said pair of pulling rollers being rotated at a peripheral speed higher than that of said fixing roller, wherein said pulling rollers are driven through a torque limiter to allow a torque within a range of 0.2 to 4.0 kgcm to be transmitted.