Patent ID: 7388595

Claim:
A fixing apparatus comprising: a heat-producing element that heat-fixes an unfixed image on a recording medium onto the recording medium; a heating apparatus that heats said heat-producing element; a cooling apparatus that cools an entire paper passage area of said heat-producing element; a heating width changing apparatus that changes a heating width of said heat-producing element so that, when a recording medium of smaller size than a maximum heating width of said heat-producing element is passed through, a paper passage width of the small-size recording medium is made to produce heat; and a control section that performs uniformizing control that directs said heating apparatus and also directs said cooling apparatus so that the recording medium is not passed through, and heating of a heating width that causes a paper passage area of the small-size recording medium to produce heat is maintained and an entire paper passage width of said heat-producing element is cooled, until the paper non-passage area of said heat-producing element is at or below a temperature at which fixing is possible.