Patent ID: 6266510
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
An image-fixing apparatus comprising:a concave heater which is stationary in use mounted in a concave heater frame;a film slideable on said heater;a driven cylindrical roller having a substantially uniform diameter, said frame pressing against said roller to form a nip, with said film being interposed between said backup member and said heater, wherein an image carried on a recording medium is heated through said film while in the nip by heat from said heater;wherein said nip is saddle-shaped, being wider at its ends than at its center such that as the recording medium moves through the nip the velocity of the recording medium through the nip is greater at the ends of the nip than at the center of the nip, thereby providing a lateral force, from the center of the nip toward the ends of the nip, which is normal to its direction of travel through the nip.