1-10. (canceled)
11. An digital signature generating apparatus, which is provided so as to be communicated to the user authentication apparatus for executing a user authentication in accordance with a user authentication system that has been set in advance upon receipt of a request of the user authentication; generating the first assertion for asserting the user authentication system when a result of this user authentication indicates validity; and outputting the result of the user authentication and the first assertion, the apparatus comprising:
a key management device configured to manage an digital signature generation key in accordance with a key management system that has been set in advance for each generation request source of the digital signature;
an authentication request transmission device configured to transmit a user authentication request for the generation request source of the digital signature to the user authentication apparatus upon receipt of the generation request of the digital signature;
an digital signature generation device configured to generate the digital signature by using the corresponding digital signature generation key in the key management device when a result of this user authentication received from the user authentication apparatus indicates validity;
a second assertion generation device configured to generate the second assertion for asserting the key management system;
means for applying the conversion processing to the digital signature and the first and second assertion and relating the digital signature and the first and second assertion each other by the acquired conversion value; and
an output device configured to output the digital signature, the first and second assertion, and the conversion value.
12. The digital signature generating apparatus according to claim 11, wherein
the conversion processing is an arithmetic processing of the hash function,
the conversion value is a hash value.
13. The digital signature generating apparatus according to claim 11, wherein
the conversion processing is the signature processing using a private key specific to the digital signature generating device,
the conversion value is a second digital signature.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An image fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed toner image formed on a recording medium, comprising:
a fixing rotation member that forms a fixing nip portion through which the recording medium passes; and
a roller having a peripheral surface around which a web is wound, said roller forming a cleaning nip portion for cleaning the fixing rotation member with the web by pressing a portion on which a web is winded up, against the fixing rotation member,
wherein a used portion for cleaning of the web moves from the cleaning nip portion by rotation of the roller, and
wherein during non-cleaning in which the web does not clean the fixing rotation member, said roller leaves the fixing rotation member further than a position of during cleaning so that the web separates from the fixing rotation member.
2. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein said roller is a supplying roller on which an unused portion for cleaning of the web is wound up, and
the supplying roller supplies the unused portion for cleaning of the web to the cleaning nip portion.
3. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller is a winding roller for winding the used portion for cleaning of the web from the cleaning nip portion.
4. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second roller having a peripheral surface around which the web is wound,
wherein the web is stretched between the roller and the second roller, and
wherein when the web is separated from the fixing rotation member during non-cleaning, the web is loosened between the roller and the second roller.
5. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a position of the roller during non-cleaning is a position at which the roller is closer to the second roller than a position during the cleaning so as to allow the web to loosen between the roller and the second roller.
6. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cylindrical fixing film and a heater which comes in contact with an inside surface of the fixing film,
wherein the fixing rotation member is a pressure roller without a heat source therein,
the fixing film which comes in pressing contact with an unfixed toner image bearing surface of the recording medium is nipped between the heater and the fixing rotation member to form the fixing nip portion,
when the recording medium is not in the fixing nip portion, a toner component adhered to the fixing film is transited to the fixing rotation member.
7. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a state where the web roll-up portion is pressed on the fixing rotation member is maintained until the fixing rotation member is rotated at least once after the recording medium passes through the fixing nip portion.
8. An image fixing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a case where a time until a next recording medium passes after the recording medium passes through the fixing nip portion is shorter than a predetermined time, a state where the web roll-up portion is pressed on the fixing rotation member is maintained at a time interval until the next recording medium reaches the fixing nip portion.