Patent ID: 8412085

Claim:
A fixing device comprising: a plurality of laser beam irradiation units each of which includes a plurality of laser beam sources and emits a plurality of laser beams, generated by plurality of the laser beam sources, to a surface of a recording medium, and a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium and/or plurality of the laser beam irradiation units such that regions on the recording medium irradiated with the plurality of laser beams are moved relative to the conveyed recording medium in a conveying direction, wherein adjacent two of the plurality of laser beam irradiation units are disposed with a gap therebetween in the conveying direction of the recording medium and the plurality of laser beams emitted from one of the laser beam irradiation units is spatially independent from the plurality of laser beams emitted from the other of the laser beam irradiation units, wherein when the plurality of laser beams is emitted to a toner image formed on the recording medium so as to fix the toner image to the recording medium, the plurality of laser beams satisfies the following conditions: (A) the plurality of laser beams has substantially the same beam power and substantially the same width in the conveying direction in the irradiated regions, and (B) the plurality of laser beams is independently emitted to the toner image, and, (C) when the toner image includes a plurality of toner layers, toner temperature of interfacial portions between the toner image and the surface of the recording medium reaches toner fixing temperature in the irradiation except for the irradiation of a first laser beam among the plurality of laser beams, and wherein each of the plurality of laser beam irradiation units includes a plurality of laser beam generating elements lined up along a direction crossing the conveying direction.