Patent ID: 6949724

Claim:
A heating method comprising: providing (i) first and second heating members arranged with a sheet material transport path therebetween in such a manner as to be pressed against each other at a contact region of said transport path; (ii) a first heat supplier for supplying heat to the first heating member; (iii) a second heat supplier for supplying heat to the second heating member; (iv) detectors for detecting temperatures of the first and second heating members; and (v) a control device for controlling the operation of the first and second heat suppliers in accordance with detection results by the detectors; transporting a sheet material through said contact region between said first and second heating members; and supplying heat to the second heating member from the second heat supplier such that a heat quantity Q 2 transferred from the second heating member to said sheet material is higher than a heat quantity Q 1 transferred by the first heating member to said sheet material and the heat quantities Q 1 and Q 2 satisfy the following relationship: 0<( Q 2 − Q 1 )/( Q 2 + Q 1 )<0.6.