A lubricant replacement case for an image forming apparatus includes a housing including a plurality of storage compartments to accommodate at least one lubricant unit. The plurality of storage compartments include at least one storage compartment for unused lubricant to be inserted into the image forming apparatus and at least one storage compartment for used lubricant to be retrieved from the image forming apparatus.

A fixing device includes a rotator, a secured member, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The rotator has flexibility and a sleeve form. The rotator includes an inner portion having a sliding surface. The inner portion has an elastic power of 55% or more. The secured member is disposed inside a loop of the rotator and has a slide surface on which the sliding surface of the rotator slides. The slide surface has a larger hardness than a hardness of the sliding surface of the rotator. The pressure rotator presses the rotator against the secured member and forms a nip between the rotator and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is provided between the rotator and the secured member.

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator, a pressure rotator, and a cleaning device. The cleaning device cleans a surface of at least one of the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The cleaning device includes a cleaning web, a web holder, a winder, a cleaning pressure rotator, a pressure applier, and a temporary holder. The cleaning web slides over and cleans the at least one of the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The web holder holds and sends out the cleaning web. The winder winds the cleaning web. The cleaning pressure rotator presses the cleaning web against the at least one of the fixing rotator and the pressure rotator. The pressure applier presses against the cleaning web along a width direction of the cleaning web perpendicular to a direction in which the cleaning web is wound. The temporary holder temporarily holds the pressure applier.

A fixing device includes a nip formation pad, an endless fixing rotator, a pressure rotator, and a lubricant transfer portion. The endless fixing rotator has an inner circumferential surface adhered with a lubricant. The pressure rotator is pressed against the nip formation pad via the fixing rotator to form a nip through which an image is fixed on a recording medium. The lubricant transfer portion transfers the lubricant toward a center side in a width direction perpendicular to a rotational direction of the fixing rotator.

A fixing device includes: a fixing belt of an endless shape wound to pass over a heating-side member and a nip forming member; and a pressing roller driven to rotate in a state of being brought into tight contact with the nip forming member through the fixing belt, wherein a toner image is fixed to a recording medium at a nip portion at which the fixing belt and the pressing roller are brought into tight contact with each other by causing the pressing roller to be in tight contact with the fixing belt and driving the pressing roller to rotate, a guide member guiding the fixing belt to a space between the nip forming member and the heating-side member is disposed to be separate from the nip forming member, and a sliding member is disposed at least in a contact portion between the nip forming member and the fixing belt.

An image forming apparatus includes a heating rotary member, a pressure rotary member, a nip portion formed by the rotary members, a temperature adjustment control section controlling a temperature of the heating rotary member to a target temperature, a cleaning web removing toner adhering to the heating rotary member, and a controller selectively executing one of a cleaning mode and a non-cleaning mode. A first basis weight and a second basis weight greater than the first predetermined basis weight are set, in a job that mixedly uses recording media with the first and second basis weights. When the controller executes the non-cleaning mode, the temperature adjustment control section sets a target temperature of a recording medium with a basis weight less than or equal to the first basis weight to a temperature lower than a target temperature of the recording medium in the cleaning mode.

An image forming apparatus includes first and second image forming portions provided with first and second image bearing member, respectively. A controller controls a first operation in which the image to be transferred to the recording material is formed only in the first image forming portion, a second operation in which the image to be transferred is formed in the first and second image forming portions, and a supplying operation in which a lubricant is attached to the second image bearing member and supplied to a contacting portion of the second image bearing member. In a case that stopping time exceeds a predetermined threshold when a start instruction of the first operation is input in a stopping state of the first and second image bearing members, the controller controls to execute the supplying operation during from a current start instruction of the first operation is input until a next start instruction of the first or second operation is input.

A fixing apparatus includes a fixing belt that is rotatable and endless, a pad, a pressing rotary member, and a scraping member. The pad contacts an inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt. The pressing rotary member contacts the pad via the fixing belt to form a nip portion. In cooperation with the fixing belt, the pressing rotary member fixes a toner image to a recording material by applying heat and pressure to the recording material at the nip portion. A lubricant is applied to the inner circumferential surface of the fixing belt. The scraping member includes an inclined portion inclined downward toward an outer side of the fixing belt and contacting an edge portion of the fixing belt to scrape the lubricant. The inclined portion is in contact with the edge portion of the fixing belt in an area where an outer surface of the fixing belt faces upward.

A fixing device includes a fixing film, a heater for heating the fixing film, a heater holder including a heater holding portion holding the heater, and a pressing roller forming a nip between itself and the fixing film to be heated by the heater. In the nip, a toner image carried on a recording material is fixed. The heater holder includes an opposing surface which is provided on a side upstream of the heater holding portion with respect to a recording material feeding direction and which opposes the pressing roller, a lubricant holding portion provided on the opposing surface, for supplying a lubricant to between the fixing film and the heater, and a projected portion provided on the side upstream of the heater holding portion with respect to the recording material feeding direction and projecting toward the pressing roller from the opposing surface.

The fixing device includes a fixing member, a heat source, a pressure member, a nip forming member, and a heat equalizing member. The heat equalizing member covers a face of the nip forming member, the face facing the fixing member, and transfers heat in an axial direction of the fixing member. The fixing member includes at least a tubular base made of metal and a sliding layer made of heat resistant resin on an inner circumferential surface of the base. The heat equalizing member made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy includes an alumite layer on a surface facing an inner circumferential surface of the fixing member. A plurality of micropores in the alumite layer is filled with a solid lubricant having a coefficient of friction lower than that of the alumite layer. The alumite layer has a thickness smaller than that of the sliding layer of the fixing member.