FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately and precisely detect occurrence of an abnormality such as a flaw in a resistance heat generating layer.

SOLUTION: A fixing device forms a nip part by pressing a pressing roller on the peripheral surface of a heating belt provided with a resistance heat generating layer and performs thermal fixing by passing a recording sheet on which an unfixed image is formed through the nip part. The device is provided with temperature sensors which respectively measure temperatures of a plurality of areas dividing the outer peripheral surface of the heating belt in the direction of a rotary shaft. A control unit samples measured temperatures by the temperature sensors in a timing which allows measurement of temperatures of the outer peripheral surface of the heating belt over the entire periphery in the circumferential direction for each of the areas while rotating the heating belt and supplying a predetermined power to the resistance heat generating layer (S11), and determines whether an abnormality occurs in the resistance heat generating layer in the circumferential direction on the basis of the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the measured temperatures which are sampled (S12 to S15).

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