Patent ID: 8472853

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming portion for forming an unfixed toner image on a recording material; and a fixing portion for fixing the unfixed toner image on the recording material while conveying the recording material at a fixing nip, said fixing portion including a first rotatable member contactable to the unfixed toner image, and a second rotatable member contacted to the first rotatable member to form the fixing nip between the second rotatable member and the first rotatable member, wherein said image forming apparatus is capable of setting a cleaning mode in which said fixing portion is cleaned by a cleaning sheet while conveying the cleaning sheet at the fixing nip, and wherein when the cleaning mode is set, the image forming apparatus executes the following operations in a period in which a single cleaning sheet passes through the fixing nip: preparation of the cleaning sheet carrying the unfixed toner image for cleaning by using said image forming portion, a first cleaning operation in which the cleaning sheet is conveyed while heating the unfixed toner image for cleaning, and a second cleaning operation, when an area of the cleaning sheet not carrying the unfixed toner image for cleaning is nipped at the fixing nip, of repeating a fixing nip heating operation and a fixing nip cooling operation in a stop state of the conveyance of the cleaning sheet while intermittently conveying the cleaning sheet.