Patent ID: 9372448
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: G03G

Claim Text:
1. An image heating apparatus comprising: (i) first and second rotatable members configured to form a nip for heating a toner image on a recording material therebetween; (ii) an external heating unit including: (iii) a moving mechanism configured to move said external heating unit between a first position in which said external heating belt contacts said first rotatable member and a second position in which said external heating belt is positioned away from said first rotatable member, wherein said temperature detecting element is cantilevered by said holding mechanism so as to interpose said external heating belt between itself and said first supporting roller, by which the positional relationship between said temperature detecting element and said first supporting roller is different between when said external heating unit is in the first position and when said external heating unit is in the second position, and wherein said temperature detecting element is disposed such that in a state that the temperature of said external heating belt is maintained at a predetermined temperature, the detected temperature at a predetermined position between the first position and the second position is higher than the detected temperatures at the first position and the second position.