Patent ID: 8272730

Claim:
A fixing processing apparatus, comprising: a conveyance device which conveys a recording medium in a prescribed conveyance direction along a conveyance path, a desired image having been recorded in an image formation region on an image formation surface of the conveyed recording medium; a control system that selects between a pressing process and a non-pressing process; a heat and pressure fixing device which is arranged in the conveyance path and carries out heat and pressure fixing process in which the image formation surface of the recording medium is subjected to the selected process between the pressing process and the non-pressing process when the recording medium is conveyed along the conveyance path, wherein in the pressing process, the heat and pressure fixing device is configured to apply pressure to the image formation region while making contact with the image formation surface at a contact position in the conveyance path, and in the non-pressing process, the heat and pressure fixing device is configured to apply no pressure to the image formation region; a switching device which switches between pressing and separation of the heat and pressure fixing device with respect to the recording medium; a switching control device, included in said control system, which controls the switching device in such a manner that the recording medium and the heat and pressure fixing device are mutually separated in the non-pressing process; and a setting device, included in said control system, which sets a heating process temperature of the heat and pressure fixing device to be higher in the non-pressing process than in the pressing process applied when the recording medium is conveyed along the conveyance path.