Patent ID: 9448514
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: G03G

Claim Text:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an endless fixing belt rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation; a first heater disposed opposite and heating at least a center of the fixing belt in an axial direction thereof; a second heater disposed opposite and heating at least a lateral end of the fixing belt in the axial direction thereof; a power supply connected to the first heater and the second heater to supply power to the first heater and the second heater; a guide separably contacting an inner circumferential surface of the lateral end of the fixing belt in the axial direction thereof to guide the fixing belt as the fixing belt rotates; and a controller operatively connected to the power supply to control the power supply, the controller including a calculator to calculate an elapsed time elapsed after at least one of the first heater and the second heater starts heating the fixing belt, the controller to control the power supply to supply a non-zero amount of power to the first heater and a non-zero amount of power to the second heater such that a power density of the second heater is greater than a power density of the first heater when the elapsed time calculated by the calculator is smaller than a predetermined time, wherein after the predetermined time, the controller controls the power supply to change the amount of non-zero power supplied to the first heater, and to change the amount of non-zero power supplied to the second heater.