Patent ID: 7304273

Claim:
A method for heating a detection object, for use in a fixing apparatus, comprising: determining that a detected temperature of a center of a detection object is higher than a predetermined temperature; determining whether or not the detected temperature of the center of the detection object is higher than a detected temperature of each of both side portions of the detection object, which are located on both sides of the detection object with respect to the center of the detection object; and controlling power supplied to a coil provided for the center of the detection object to cause the power to be larger in amount than power supplied to each of coils provided for the side portions of the detection object, when it is determined that the detected temperature of the center of the detection object is not higher than the detected temperature of said each of both side portions of the detection object, and controlling the power supplied to said each of the coils provided for the side portions of the detection object to cause the power to be larger in amount than the power supplied to the coil provided for the center of the detection object, when it is determined that the detected temperature of the center of the detection object is higher than the detected temperature of said each of the side portions of the detection objects, the controlling of the power supplied to the coil provided for the center of the detection object and the controlling of the power supplied to the coils provided for the side portions being carried out asynchronously, wherein the powers supplied to the coil for the center of the detection object and said each of the coils for the end portions of the detection object are controlled in amount by changing time for which the power is supplied to the coil for the center of the detection object and time for which the power is supplied to said each of the coils for the end portions thereof.