Patent ID: 7469120

Claim:
An image heating apparatus comprising: a cylindrical film; a heating member which contacts an internal periphery of said cylindrical film; and a drive roller which forms a nip portion with said heating member through the cylindrical film; wherein a recording material bearing an image is heated while the recording material is nipped and conveyed by the nip portion, and wherein a distance between a position at which said film starts contacting with the recording material in a conveyance direction of the recording material and a position at which said film starts contacting with the drive roller in the conveyance direction of the recording material is equal to or less than 3.5 mm over a longitudinal direction of the nip portion, and a line formed by connecting positions at which said film is separated from the recording material in the conveyance direction has a substantially arc shape which is most expanded to a downstream side of the conveyance direction in a proximity of a recording material conveyance reference in the longitudinal direction of the nip portion.