Patent ID: 8644720

Claim:
A method for fusing a heat curable toner to a carrier sheet having the toner placed thereon and controlling its gloss characteristic, said heat curable toner having a first glass transformation temperature, said method comprising: sandwiching the heat curable toner between said carrier sheet and a movable fuser belt provided with a surface characteristic representing a desired gloss; heating the heat curable toner to a first temperature by a first means, which first temperature is above the first glass transformation temperature; and keeping the heat curable toner at an elevated temperature for a time period between approximately 1 second and approximately 10 seconds by a second means, which elevated temperature is above the first glass transformation temperature, thereby crosslinking polymer chains of the heat curable toner and raising the glass transformation temperature of the heat curable toner to a second glass transformation temperature, said second glass transformation temperature being higher than the first glass transformation temperature and below the elevated temperature so that the cured toner image has a gloss characteristic caused by the surface characteristic of the surface of the movable fusing belt.