Patent ID: 8041245

Claim:
An apparatus useful in printing, comprising: a belt including a first surface; at least one heat source for heating the first surface; a roll including a second surface, wherein the roll does not include an internal heat source for heating the second surface and the apparatus does not include an external cooling device for cooling the second surface; a temperature sensor positioned to measure a temperature of the second surface; and a roll positioning device coupled to the roll for positioning the second surface of the roll in contact with the first surface of the belt to form a nip and increase the temperature of the second surface, and for positioning the second surface out of contact with the first surface to decrease the temperature of the second surface, in response to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor, wherein the roll positioning device comprises: an arm supporting the roll, the arm being rotatable in first and second directions wherein the roll is coupled to the arm so that the ends of the roll are not enclosed by the arm in a manner that allows the roll to be easily rotatable and removable; a cam; and at least one spring positioned to resiliently bias the arm and the cam; wherein the cam is selectively rotatable to cause the arm to rotate in the first direction which moves the roll toward the belt, or to cause the arm to rotate in the second direction which moves the roll away from the belt, and includes a contoured surface having a plurality of settings including at least: a first setting at which the second surface is positioned to contact the first surface and form the nip having a first width in a process direction of the apparatus; a second setting at which the second surface is positioned to contact the first surface and form the nip having a second width larger than the first width in the process direction; a third setting at which the second surface is positioned out of contact with the first surface; and a fourth setting that provides the smallest width during heating and cooling of the roll to produce less stress on the belt, the roll, and the roll positioning device.