Fixing Electrophotographic Toner Particles by Microwave Heating

抄録

We focused on uniformly fixing electrophotographic toner particles on paper by microwave heating. The advantage of this method is that it provides non-contact direct heating of toners on paper. We propose uniform toner fixing equipment with an evaporation heat recovery mechanism in which the water molecules contained in paper are evaporated by microwave radiation. As a result, the fixing speed doubled. The fixed state of toner particles on paper was also evaluated. Toner particles were uniformly fixed by the microwave fuser and adhered strongly to paper. In contrast, the outer region for toner particles pressed by rollers became flat. Moreover, in the depths of paper, toner particles maintained the form of a particle.