Patent ID: 9195181
Filing Date: 2015-11-24
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus forming an image on a recording medium while conveying said recording medium, said image forming apparatus comprising: a developing mechanism developing a toner image on an image carrier by a developer containing toner particles and a carrier solution; a transfer mechanism transferring the toner image developed on said image carrier onto said recording medium; a fixing unit having a noncontact heating device heating said toner image without contacting said toner image transferred onto said recording medium, and a pressurizing and heating mechanism disposed downstream of said noncontact heating device in a direction in which said recording medium is conveyed and capable of pressurizing and heating said toner image by causing said recording medium to pass through a nip portion formed by a heating member and a pressurizing member pressed in contact with each other; an obtaining unit obtaining gloss level information of the recording medium to be conveyed; and a control unit controlling an operation of each of said noncontact heating device and said pressurizing and heating mechanism, said control unit controlling the operation of each of said noncontact heating device and said pressurizing and heating mechanism such that, when the gloss level information of said recording medium obtained in said obtaining unit shows high gloss, said recording medium is heated by said noncontact heating device and caused to pass through said nip portion so as to be pressurized and heated by said pressurizing and heating mechanism, and such that, when the gloss level information of said recording medium shows low gloss, said recording medium is heated by said noncontact heating device and caused to pass through said fixing unit without being pressurized and heated by said pressurizing and heating mechanism, and assuming that a temperature of said recording medium after being heated by said noncontact heating device is defined as T1 [° C.], a temperature of said recording medium after being pressurized and heated by said pressurizing and heating mechanism is defined as T2 [° C.], and a toner concentration of said toner image after being heated by said noncontact heating device is defined as Tc1 [weight %] when the gloss level information of said recording medium shows high gloss, and assuming that a temperature of said recording medium after being heated by said noncontact heating device is defined as T3 [° C.] and a toner concentration of said toner image after being heated by said noncontact heating device is defined as Tc2 [weight %] when the gloss level information of said recording medium shows low gloss, the following equations (1), (2) and (3) being satisfied: