ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,566,396, issued on March 3, was assigned to TOSHIBA TEC K.K. (Tokyo).
"Fixing belt and fixing device" was invented by Ryota Saeki (Sunto, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fixing device includes a fixing belt formed of a tubular film, a heater configured to heat the fixing belt and including an insulating layer, a roller positioned such that the fixing belt extends between the roller the heater, and a heat conductor in contact with the heater. The heater is positioned such that the insulating layer of the heater extends between the fixing belt and the heat conductor to prevent the heat conductor from contacting the tubular film."
T...