Patent ID: 8918002

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming section configured to form an image on a medium with a decolorizable toner; a fixing and decolorizing section configured to fix the image formed on the medium and to decolorize the image on the medium selectively; a heat generating section configured to heat the fixing and decolorizing section to a first temperature during the fixing and to heat the fixing and decolorizing section to a second temperature higher than the first temperature during the decolorizing; a count section configured to count time during which the image forming section doesn't perform an image forming after the image formation on the medium is finished through the fixing; and a control section configured to control the heat generating section to heat the fixing and decolorizing section to the second temperature, after the time counted by the count section reaches a predetermined threshold time, wherein, the apparatus includes an energy saving mode for maintaining the fixing and decolorizing section at a third temperature lower than the first temperature, and the apparatus enters the energy saving mode after the completion of image formation, and after a predetermined period of time in the energy saving mode, the control section cancels the energy saving mode and starts the heating of the fixing and decolorizing section with the heat generating section.