JP2011175066A - Fixing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fixing device which can stably form a high-quality image for a long time, by performing sufficient surface recovering processing without lowering image forming efficiency to prevent the occurrence of irregular gloss. <P>SOLUTION: The surface recovering processing for recovering surface property of a fixing member is controlled based on temperature of the fixing member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fixing device that heats and fixes a toner image on a recording material, and an image forming apparatus including the fixing device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a fixing device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a multifunction machine having these functions, a heating roller using a heating roller (also referred to as a fixing roller) as a fixing member The system (also called heat fixing roller system) is widely used from low speed machines to high speed machines, from monochrome machines to color machines. The fixing device of the heating roller type is a fixing formed by a fixing roller that is a fixing member maintained at a predetermined temperature and a pressure roller that is a pressure member that has an elastic layer and contacts the fixing roller. The recording material on which an unfixed toner image is formed is heated and pressed while being nipped and conveyed by the nip portion.

  In recent years, an endless fixing belt as a fixing member is stretched between a heating roller and a fixing roller, and a pressure roller is provided as a pressure member that presses the fixing roller via the fixing belt, and is heated. 2. Description of the Related Art Belt fixing devices that heat and press a recording material at a nip portion between the toner and a pressure roller to fix the recording material have been proposed and used.

  However, when the recording material is passed through the fixing device, there is a problem that the surface of the fixing member is damaged due to paper passing, paper dust, offset toner, and the like, and is gradually roughened. As a major cause of the scratches, there are burrs at both ends that occur when the recording material is cut. In particular, when recording materials of the same size are continuously fed, both ends of the recording material of the fixing member, that is, positions where burrs pass are roughened and become damaged. Such fouling or roughness on the surface of the fixing member causes uneven gloss, resulting in image deterioration.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for recovering the surface property of a fixing roller by rubbing with a refresh roller having abrasive particles on the surface. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 proposes that refreshing is performed by a user operation in view of the fact that the surface property recovery is not sufficient only by automatically performing the refresh operation according to the number of image formations.

JP 2008-20790 A

  The surface recovery process for recovering the surface property of the fixing member such as a fixing roller is a process for leveling uneven unevenness formed on the surface of the fixing member by appropriately roughening the surface of the fixing member. There is an appropriate range for such treatment, and when the appropriate range is not reached, uneven roughness on the surface of the fixing member is not eliminated. On the other hand, when the appropriate range is exceeded, the surface of the fixing member is excessively roughened and the image is deteriorated or the life of the fixing member is shortened.

  By the way, the effect of the surface recovery treatment varies depending on the temperature of the fixing member. A resin such as PFA is used as a surface layer for forming the surface of the fixing member, and the hardness of these resins varies depending on the temperature. When the temperature is high, the hardness of the PFA is lowered and the effect of the surface recovery treatment is increased, and at the low temperature, the effect of the surface recovery treatment is reduced.

  For this reason, it is desirable that the surface recovery process be performed at a constant temperature. That is, it is desirable to perform the surface recovery process after the temperature of the heating member reaches the fixing temperature, which is a constant temperature.

  However, when the surface recovery process is executed after reaching the fixing temperature, the image formation is delayed by the time required for the surface recovery process. The surface recovery process requires several tens of seconds to several minutes, but the image formation efficiency is lowered due to the delay in image formation.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a fixing device that avoids a decrease in image formation efficiency due to a surface recovery process that recovers the surface property of a fixing member and performs an appropriate surface recovery process, and an image forming apparatus including such a fixing device. Objective.

  The above object is achieved by the following configuration.

1. A fixing member that heat-fixes the toner image on the recording material;
A pressure member that forms a fixing nip portion that is in contact with the fixing member and into which a recording material bearing a toner image is sandwiched;
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the fixing member;
Surface recovery means for performing a surface recovery process for recovering the surface property of the fixing member by rubbing the surface of the fixing member;
And a controller that controls the surface recovery means based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

  2. 2. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the control of the surface recovery means includes control of an operation time of the surface recovery means.

3. The surface recovery means has a rubbing member that rubs the surface of the fixing member by rotation,
3. The fixing device according to 1 or 2, wherein the control of the surface recovery unit includes control of a difference in moving speed between a surface of the fixing member and a surface of the rubbing member.

  4). The fixing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control of the surface recovery means includes control of a contact pressure between the fixing member and the surface recovery means.

  5. 5. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the surface recovery unit performs the surface recovery process during warm-up.

  6). The fixing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the surface recovery means performs the surface recovery processing during an overshoot time when executing a continuous job.

  7). An image forming apparatus comprising the fixing device according to claim 1.

  In the present invention, the surface recovery process is controlled according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the fixing member. As a result, the surface recovery process can be performed at a time other than the time when the temperature of the fixing device is not constant, that is, the time when the temperature is maintained constant for the image forming process. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a decrease in image forming efficiency due to a delay in the start time.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a fixing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a time chart for explaining a delay in the start time of an image forming process due to a surface recovery process. It is a time chart of control which performs a surface recovery process and an image formation process in an embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram of a control system. It is a figure which shows the control mechanism which controls the contact pressure of a fixing roller and a refreshing roller.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body GH and an image reading apparatus YS. The image forming apparatus main body GH is called a tandem type color image forming apparatus, and includes a plurality of image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, and an intermediate transfer belt 6 that is an endless belt-like intermediate transfer body. A unit 60, a transfer device 70, a paper feed / conveying means and fixing device 80, a paper discharge device 90, and the like.

  An image reading device YS including an automatic document feeder 201 and a document image scanning exposure device 202 is installed on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body GH. The document d placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder 201 is transported by a transport unit, and an image on one or both sides of the document is scanned and exposed by the optical system of the document image scanning exposure device 202, and the line image sensor CCD is scanned. Is read.

  The signal formed by photoelectric conversion by the line image sensor CCD is subjected to analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, and the like in the image processing unit, and then exposure means 3Y, 3M, 3C, 3K. Sent to.

  In the image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow (Y) image, a charging unit 2Y, an exposure unit 3Y, a developing device 4Y, and a cleaning unit 8Y are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1Y. In the image forming unit 10M that forms a magenta (M) color image, a charging unit 2M, an exposure unit 3M, a developing device 4M, and a cleaning unit 8M are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1M. In the image forming unit 10C that forms a cyan (C) color image, a charging unit 2C, an exposure unit 3C, a developing device 4C, and a cleaning unit 8C are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1C. In the image forming unit 10K that forms a black (Bk) image, a charging unit 2K, an exposure unit 3K, a developing device 4K, and a cleaning unit 8K are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1K. The charging unit 2Y and the exposure unit 3Y, the charging unit 2M and the exposure unit 3M, the charging unit 2C and the exposure device 3C, and the charging unit 2K and the exposure device 3K constitute a latent image forming unit.

  The intermediate transfer belt 6 is wound around a plurality of rollers and is rotatably supported.

  The fixing device 80 is supported by a fixing roller 81 which is a fixing member having a heating means inside and a support member (not shown) so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the fixing roller 81, and abuts against the fixing roller 81 to form a fixing nip portion. And a pressure roller 84 that is a pressure member. An auxiliary heating unit 83 for heating the fixing roller 81; a surface recovery unit 82 disposed on the downstream side of the auxiliary heating unit 83 in the rotation direction of the fixing roller 81 to recover the surface property by rubbing the fixing roller 81; Is provided. The fixing device 80 heats and presses the unfixed toner on the recording material P by passing the unfixed toner surface of the recording material P carrying the unfixed image through the fixing nip portion in a direction in contact with the fixing roller 81. To settle.

  Thus, the images of the respective colors formed by the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are sequentially superimposed and transferred onto the rotating intermediate transfer belt 6 by the transfer means 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K (primary transfer). ), An image obtained by combining the color images is formed. The recording material P accommodated in the paper feeding cassette 20 is fed by the paper feeding means 21 and is conveyed to the transfer device 70 through the paper feeding rollers 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, the registration rollers 23, etc. A color image is transferred onto P (secondary transfer). The recording material P to which the color image has been transferred is heated and pressurized in the fixing device 80, and the color image on the recording material P is fixed. Thereafter, the paper is sandwiched between a paper discharge roller 91 of the paper discharge device 90 and a corrugation roller 92 which is a pinch roller and is placed on the paper discharge tray 25 outside the apparatus.

  In double-sided image formation, the recording material P on which the front surface image is fixed is transported downward, switched back in the reverse transport path 26, transported to the transfer device 70 via the refeed path 27, and the back surface image is transferred. . The recording material P to which the back image has been transferred is discharged out of the apparatus by the paper discharge device 90 through the fixing device 80.

  On the other hand, after the color image is transferred to the recording material P by the transfer device 70, the residual toner is removed by the cleaning means 8A from the intermediate transfer belt 6 from which the recording material P is separated by curvature.

  Next, the fixing device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the fixing device 80.

  The fixing device 80 heats and presses the toner image on the recording material P at the fixing nip portion N formed between the fixing roller 81 heated by a heating source and the pressure roller 84 and fixes the toner image on the recording material P. . Here, the fixing roller 81 and the heating source function as a “heating unit”, and the pressure roller 84 functions as a “pressure unit”.

  The pressure roller 84 as a pressure member is provided on a hollow cored bar 841 formed from a pipe of aluminum alloy, carbon steel, stainless steel or the like having a thickness of 5 mm, for example, and an outer peripheral surface of the cored bar 841, and has a rubber hardness. An elastic layer 842 formed of open-cell sponge having an Asker C hardness of 20 to 40 °, a thickness of 3 mm to 10 mm, and a pore size of 0.01 μm to 0.5 mm, and an outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer 842 And a release layer 843 coated with a PFA tube having a layer thickness of 30 μm, and is configured as a soft roller.

  A fixing roller 81 as a fixing member incorporates a halogen heater H as a heating source therein, and has a cylindrical cored bar 811 formed of a metal such as aluminum or iron, and a heat resistant coating that covers the cylindrical cored bar 811. An elastic layer 812 made of high HTV silicon rubber and a release layer 813 made of a fluororesin such as PFA (perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether) or PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) covering the elastic layer 812 are further formed. . In the present embodiment, the fixing roller 81 is formed as a whole with an outer diameter of 65 mm and a width of 360 mm, the cylindrical cored bar 811 is aluminum having a thickness of 5 mm, the elastic layer 812 is silicon rubber having a layer thickness of 1.5 mm, and the mold release. The layer 813 is a PFA tube having a layer thickness of 30 μm.

  The fixing roller 81 is rotationally driven by a motor M1 as a first driving unit.

  The temperature sensor S1 detects the surface temperature of the fixing roller 81, and the control unit CS (see FIG. 5) controls the halogen heater H based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor S1, and maintains the temperature of the fixing roller 81 at the fixing temperature. Perform temperature control.

  The cleaning unit 81A uses a cleaning member, for example, a cleaning brush 81a, to remove and clean toner, paper dust, and the like attached to the surface of the fixing roller 81.

  The auxiliary heating unit 83 includes a cylindrical auxiliary heating roller 831 formed of a metal such as aluminum or iron and having a halogen heater H2 as a heating source therein. The auxiliary heating roller 831 contacts and separates from the fixing roller 81. It is supported by a support member (not shown) as possible.

  The auxiliary heating unit 83 heats the surface of the fixing roller 81 and prevents the surface temperature from decreasing.

  The surface recovery means 82 includes a cylindrical refresh roller 821 that is a rubbing member. The refresh roller 821 is supported by the support member 822 so as to be able to contact and separate from the fixing roller 81. The refresh roller 821 is in contact with the fixing roller 81 during the surface recovery process, and is separated from the fixing roller 81 except during the surface recovery process. The refresh roller 821 is made of metal, such as stainless steel, and the roller surface is blasted to have a surface roughness Ra (JIS centerline average roughness) of 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm.

  M2 is a motor as a second drive unit that rotationally drives the refresh roller 821, and at least rotates the refresh roller 821 so that the surface of the refresh roller 821 moves in a direction opposite to the surface of the fixing roller 81 during the surface recovery process.

  M3 is a motor as a position control unit that controls the position of the refresh roller 821. The refresh roller 821 is normally separated from the fixing roller 81 in the image forming process in which the fixing process is performed, but is driven by the motor M3 and pressed against the fixing roller 81 during the surface recovery process. The displacement of the refresh roller 821 is performed by changing the angle of the support member 822 with a cam that is rotationally driven by the motor M3.

  The surface recovery means 82 is disposed in the vicinity of the auxiliary heating means 83 and on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the fixing roller 81.

  When the recording material P of the same size is continuously passed, both ends of the recording material P of the fixing roller 81, that is, the positions where the burrs pass are roughened and damaged, and toner or paper dust Will adhere and become dirty. Such dirt or roughness on the surface of the fixing roller 81 causes uneven gloss and deteriorates the image.

  On the other hand, the refresh roller 821 abuts against and rubs against the surface of the fixing roller 81, thereby causing fine rubbing scratches on both the rough surface of the fixing roller 81 and the rough surface due to the passage of the recording material P. By attaching a large number, the surface state is made uniform and the surface property of the fixing roller 81 is recovered.

  By such a surface recovery process, uneven gloss due to scratches and dirt on the surface of the fixing roller 81 can be suppressed, and image deterioration can be suppressed.

  This surface recovery treatment is preferably performed when the recording material P is not passed. By performing the process when the sheet is not passed, it is possible to prevent the refresh roller 821 from being stained with offset toner or the like.

  The image forming apparatus executes an image forming process for forming one or a plurality of images in one job. A plurality of received jobs are executed in the order in which jobs are received at time intervals. Further, when a reserved job is received, a plurality of jobs are continuously executed according to the priority order set in the reservation.

  The surface recovery process by the surface recovery means 82 is basically executed between the image forming process and the image forming process. Preferably, the surface recovery process is executed prior to the image forming process in the job.

  The decrease in image formation efficiency due to the surface recovery process will be described using the execution example shown in FIG. 3 of the surface recovery process and the image forming process performed by the surface recovery means 82.

  FIG. 3A shows an example of a job in which a warm-up process, a surface recovery process, and an image forming process are executed. The example of FIG. 3A is an execution example of a single job, not a continuous job.

  When the operation of the image forming apparatus is started, the halogen heater H is turned on, and the temperature of the fixing roller 81 increases with time as indicated by a line L1, and reaches the fixing temperature tp1 at time tm1. After time tm1, as shown by line L2, control is performed to maintain a substantially constant fixing temperature tp1, and fixing becomes possible. Prior to fixing, the surface recovery process is started, and the surface recovery process is executed at an operation time (hereinafter simply referred to as an operation time) du1 of the surface recovery means 82, which is the time from the time point tm1 to the time point tm2.

  The image forming process is executed after time tm2 when the surface recovery process is completed.

  FIG. 3B shows an example in which two jobs are executed in succession.

  The image forming process for job J1 ends at time tm3. Execution of job J2, which is executed next to job J1, is started from time tm5.

  The recording material P does not pass through the fixing device 80 between the job J1 and the job J2. For this reason, the temperature of the fixing roller 81 rises as illustrated in the period from time tm3 to tm4. This temperature rise is called overshoot. As shown in the figure, in the overshoot, the temperature tp3 higher than the fixing temperature tp1 is reached.

  The surface recovery process starts at the time tm4 when the overshoot ends and the temperature of the fixing roller 81 falls to the fixing temperature tp1, and is executed for the operation time du1. The image forming process of job J2 is started from time tm5 when the surface recovery process is completed.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the surface recovery process is executed at a time when the temperature of the fixing roller 81 is constant. This is due to the following reason.

  The release layer 813 of the fixing roller 81 made of PFA changes in hardness depending on the temperature, and the effect of the surface recovery process by rubbing the refresh roller 821 also changes depending on the temperature. That is, when the temperature is high, the same amount of surface recovery treatment is more effective than when the temperature is low.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, by performing the surface recovery process at a constant temperature, control is performed so as to obtain the desired effect of the surface recovery process. Thereby, the effect of the appropriate surface recovery process is achieved.

  When such a surface recovery process is performed, the surface recovery process is executed at a time during which image formation is possible as shown in FIG. 3. Then, the time for the surface recovery process, that is, the surface recovery process is performed. The start time of the image forming process is shifted later by the operation time of the means 82, and the image forming efficiency is lowered.

  FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the job execution process in the embodiment of the present invention in which such a decrease in image forming efficiency is avoided.

  FIG. 4A corresponds to FIG. 3A, and shows a case where the image forming process is executed after warm-up. In FIG. 4A, the surface recovery process is started at the time tm6 during the warm-up before the temperature of the fixing roller 81 reaches the fixing temperature tp1, and ends at the time tm7 before the completion of the warm-up. The image forming process can be started from the time tm1 when the warm-up is completed. Therefore, compared to the case of FIG. 3A, the start time of the image forming process is advanced by the operation time du2, and the efficiency of image formation is improved. Since the operation time is several tens of seconds to several minutes, this time is omitted, and the time from the image formation start command such as turning on the copy button and the print command to the end of the image forming process is shortened. That is, the image forming efficiency is improved.

  FIG. 4B corresponds to FIG. 3B, and shows a case where the image forming process is executed after the overshoot is finished. In FIG. 4B, the surface recovery process is executed in the operation time du3 (tm8 to tm9) in the overshoot. As a result, the image forming process can be executed from the time when the overshoot is completed, and the start time of the image forming process is advanced by the operation time du3 of the surface recovery means 82 as compared with FIG. The efficiency of image formation is improved.

  Since the surface recovery process shown in FIG. 4 is executed during the time when the temperature of the fixing roller 81 changes, the effect of the recovery process changes.

  In order to achieve the desired recovery effect, the following measures are taken.

  In FIG. 4A, the surface temperature of the fixing roller 81 rises linearly from the surface temperature tp4 at the start time tm6 of the surface recovery process. In FIG. 4B, the surface temperature of the fixing roller 81 rises from the surface temperature tp5 at the start time tm8 of the surface recovery process, and then starts to fall. The start time tm6 of the surface recovery process is set as a predetermined time elapsed from the start of warm-up, and the start time tm8 is set as the end time of the preceding job.

  Surface recovery processing is started at the start time points tm6 and tm8, temperature is measured at regular time intervals from the start time points tm6 and tm8, and when the integrated value of the measured temperatures reaches a predetermined value, that is, time point tm7 in FIG. The surface recovery process ends at time tm9 in FIG.

  The control example of the operation time of the surface recovery means 82, that is, the operation time of the refresh roller 821, has been described as the control of the surface recovery means 82, but as the control of the surface recovery means 82, the surface of the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller It is possible to use control of the difference in moving speed with respect to the surface of 81 or control of contact pressure between the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81.

  The surface recovery process of the fixing roller 81 is a roughening action of rubbing the surface of the release layer 813 with a refreshing roller 821 having a rough surface to form uniform unevenness on the surface of the release layer 813.

  The effect of such surface recovery processing is that rotation time for rotating the refresh roller 821 relative to the fixing roller 81, a difference in moving speed between the surface of the refresh roller 821 and the surface of the fixing roller 81, or fixing with the refresh roller 821. It changes by changing the contact pressure between the rollers 81. It is also possible to change the effect of the surface recovery treatment by changing at least any two of the operating time, the moving speed difference, and the contact pressure.

  By controlling the surface recovery process according to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor S1 and achieving the desired surface recovery effect, it is possible to stably perform fixing without causing gloss unevenness or image deterioration.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system for controlling the surface recovery process described above.

  The control unit CS reads the detected temperature tp4 of the temperature sensor S1 after a predetermined time from the image formation start signal such as copy start or print start, that is, the time tm6 during the warm-up in FIG. 3A, and the motors M1, M2, By operating M3, the refresh roller 821 is brought into pressure contact with the fixing roller 81, and the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81 are rotationally driven.

  For example, a surface recovery process is performed in which the fixing roller 81 is rotated at 50 mm / s in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2 and the refresh roller 821 is rotated at 400 mm / s in the clockwise direction so that the contact pressure between the fixing roller 81 and the refresh roller 821 is 7N. Done. After the operation time du2 determined based on the detected temperature tp4 of the temperature sensor S1, the motors M1 and M2 are stopped, the motor M3 separates the refresh roller 821 from the fixing roller 81, and the surface recovery process ends.

  The controller CS starts the image forming process at the time tm1 when the temperature sensor S1 detects the fixing temperature tp1 after the surface recovery process is completed.

  In the continuous job processing shown in FIG. 4B, the control unit CS reads the detected temperature tp5 of the temperature sensor S1 at the end time tm8 of the job J1, and operates the motors M1, M2, and M3 to activate the refresh roller 821. The refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81 are rotationally driven by being brought into pressure contact with the fixing roller 81. Based on the detected temperature tp5, the control unit CS finishes the surface recovery process at the determined time du3 lapse time tm9, and starts the image forming process of the job J2 at the time tm1 when the detected temperature is lowered to the fixing temperature tp1.

  When the difference in the moving speed between the surface of the refresh roller 821 and the surface of the fixing roller 81 is controlled based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor S1, this is done by controlling the rotational speeds of the motors M1 and M2.

  When the contact pressure between the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81 is controlled, the contact pressure is adjusted by controlling the rotation amount of the motor M3 and controlling the angle of the support member 822. FIG. 6 shows a control mechanism for controlling the contact pressure between the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81. A support member 822 that supports the refresh roller 821 is urged by a spring 824 and is rotatable about a shaft 822a. The motor M3 rotationally drives the cam 823 and changes the angle of the cam 823 in accordance with the amount of rotation. Depending on the angle of the cam 823, the refresh roller 821 contacts and separates from the fixing roller 81, and the contact pressure between the refresh roller 821 and the fixing roller 81 is adjusted.

GH Image forming apparatus main body YS Image reading apparatus 10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K Image forming unit 6 Intermediate transfer belt 70 Transfer apparatus 80 Fixing apparatus 81 Fixing roller 82 Surface recovery means 821 Refresh roller 822 Support member 83 Auxiliary heating means 831 Auxiliary heating roller 84 Pressure roller 90 Paper discharge device H, H2 Halogen heater S1 Temperature sensor CS controller M1, M2, M3 Motor

Claims (7)

A fixing member that heat-fixes the toner image on the recording material;
A pressure member that forms a fixing nip portion that is in contact with the fixing member and into which a recording material bearing a toner image is sandwiched;
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the fixing member;
Surface recovery means for performing a surface recovery process for recovering the surface property of the fixing member by rubbing the surface of the fixing member;
And a controller that controls the surface recovery means based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.   The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the control of the surface recovery means includes control of an operation time of the surface recovery means. The surface recovery means has a rubbing member that rubs the surface of the fixing member by rotation,
3. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the control of the surface recovery unit includes control of a moving speed difference between a surface of the fixing member and a surface of the rubbing member.   The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the control of the surface recovery unit includes control of a contact pressure between the fixing member and the surface recovery unit.   The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the surface recovery unit performs the surface recovery process during warm-up.   The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the surface recovery unit performs the surface recovery processing during an overshoot time when executing a continuous job.   An image forming apparatus comprising the fixing device according to claim 1.

Images