Patent ID: 6993279

Claim:
An image heating apparatus for heating an image formed on a recording material, comprising: a flexible sleeve member; a guide member provided in said flexible sleeve member, for guiding a direction of rotation of said flexible sleeve member; a regulating member provided opposed to an end surface of said sleeve member, for regulating movement of said sleeve member in a generatrix direction, said regulating member having a flange portion opposed to the end surface of said sleeve member and a sliding portion opposed to an inner surface of an end portion of said sleeve member; a rotatable member contacting with an outer surface of said sleeve member; a nip portion formed by contacting said flexible sleeve member with said rotatable member, for heating the image formed on the recording material, wherein a plurality of ribs are provided on said guide member at least at a portion upstream of said nip portion with respect the direction of rotation of said sleeve member, and wherein a contour of the sliding portion of said regulating member is larger than a contour of said plurality of ribs.