A fixing device includes: a holding part that extends in a width direction of a recording medium being transported and that holds the recording medium; a pair of circulating parts that are attached to both ends of the holding part and that circulate to transport the recording medium; and a heating member that heats the recording medium in a non-contact manner and that is located in a space between the pair of circulating parts in the width direction.

Provided is an image forming device including: a conveying unit configured to convey a recording medium while rotating, in a state of being in contact with a back surface of the recording medium having a front surface on which a toner image is transferred; a main heating unit configured to heat the conveyed recording medium to fix the toner image on the recording medium; and a preheating unit disposed upstream of the main heating unit in a conveying direction of the recording medium and configured to heat, in a non-contact state, the recording medium being conveyed by the conveying unit, a portion of the conveying unit that is in contact with the recording medium being formed of a material that makes a maximum temperature of the portion be equal to or lower than a temperature of the recording medium when the recording medium is heated by the preheating unit.

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a first guide to guide a conveyed sheet and a second guide to face the first guide and to form a sheet conveyance path together with the first guide, with the second guide being pivotable between a first position in which the sheet conveyance path is formed and a second position in which the sheet conveyance path is opened. A cover is movable between a closed position in which it covers the second guide and an open position in which the second guide is manipulatable, and an abutting portion is provided on the cover to abut the second guide. In a state where the second guide is held at the second position by the holding portion and the cover moves to the closed position from the open position, the abutting portion abuts the second guide to release the second guide held by the holding portion.

A fixing apparatus can include a heater roller, a tension roller, a belt movable from the heater roller to the tension roller, a pressure roller to make pressure contact with the heater roller via the belt to form a fixing nip, and a blower member including a first opening to direct air toward the belt and a second opening to direct air toward the heater roller.

An image forming apparatus includes an image fixing unit to pass a sheet carrying an unfixed toner image on a first side. The image fixing unit includes: a first fixing section adjacent to the first side of the sheet; a first heating section to heat the first fixing section; a second fixing section adjacent to a second side opposite to the first side of the sheet; and a second heating section to heat the second fixing section. The image forming apparatus further includes: sheet feeding trays holding sheets; a storage unit storing fixing temperatures of the fixing sections preset for each type of the sheets in the sheet feeding trays; and a controller to select standby temperatures from the fixing temperatures, based on temperature profiles of the fixing sections, and to instruct the heating sections to respectively maintain the fixing sections at the selected standby temperatures during a standby mode.

A heating device according to an embodiment generally includes heat generating parts and temperature sensors. The heat generating parts are divided into a plurality of blocks, so that the plurality of heat generating parts are arranged with a gap therebetween on a substrate in each block. With a temperature detection region provided in each block, the temperature sensors are provided corresponding to the heat generating parts with the gaps being avoided. The temperatures of the heat generating parts are detected by the temperature sensors that are less in number than the plurality of heat generating parts.

According to one embodiment, a heater includes an insulator substrate, a heat generating section in which a plurality of divided regions are formed in a longitudinal direction on a first surface of the insulator substrate, electrodes formed at both end portions of the heat generating section to correspond to the plurality of divided regions, and electric conductors connected to at least one of the electrodes and formed over a surface different from the first surface of the insulator substrate.

A heater according to an embodiment generally includes resistive members and a first pole-side electrode. The plurality of resistive members are arranged in a first direction. The first pole-side electrode is connected to one ends of the resistive members in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and configured to divide the plurality of resistive members into a plurality of blocks and to cause the plurality of resistive members to generate heat by the block. The first pole-side electrode includes a first pole-side first electrode provided in a first block including the resistive members arranged successively in the first direction, extending across the one ends of the resistive members in the first block, and connected to the one ends.

A preheating device includes two first inverting members disposed at different positions while obliquely intersecting a feeding direction of a continuous recording medium on which an unfixed image is formed, the first inverting members inverting the recording medium by passing a back surface of the recording medium, on which the unfixed image is not formed, therealong before a fixing operation, and at least one heating rotating body disposed at a position further on an outside than a side edge portion of the recording medium in the feeding direction to preheat the recording medium before the fixing operation by passing a portion of the back surface of the recording medium present between the two first inverting members so that the portion of the back surface is wound around the heating rotating body.

A heating device according to an embodiment generally includes heat generating parts and temperature sensors. The heat generating parts are divided into a plurality of blocks, so that the plurality of heat generating parts are arranged with a gap therebetween on a substrate in each block. With a temperature detection region provided in each block, the temperature sensors are provided corresponding to the heat generating parts with the gaps being avoided. The temperatures of the heat generating parts are detected by the temperature sensors that are less in number than the plurality of heat generating parts.