Importance

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Abstract

An electrophotographic printing apparatus which eliminates overheating of the fuser belt when narrow gauge print media is utilized is disclosed. In this apparatus, a detection means determines whether a sheet of narrow gauge recording medium is being fed into the printer. When it is, the fuser heater is deactivated turned to a present lower temperature or is turned off when the narrow gauge recording medium exits the fusing nip. A preferred apparatus additionally contains means which measures the temperature of the heater once it is deactivated at predetermined intervals and, for each measurement, determines the amount of time required to bring the heater back up to the optimum fusing temperature. The preferred embodiment also includes a means for determining the amount of time it will take for the next piece of print media to travel from its current position to the fuser nip. This preferred embodiment then reactivates the heater when the time required to bring it back up to the fusing temperature is greater than or equal to the amount of time it will take the next piece of print medium to enter the fusing nip. This apparatus prevents overheating of the fuser belt which can accompany the use of narrow gauge print media. The application also discloses a method for fixing images using this apparatus.

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First Claim