An image forming apparatus that forms a toner image on a printing object (paper) is disclosed. The image forming apparatus has a structure in which a toner image is formed in a transfer unit, the toner image is transferred onto a printing object supplied from a paper feeding unit to the transfer unit, and the toner image is fixed on the printing object in a fixing unit. The fixing unit includes a heating roller including a heat source, and a pressure roller that is opposed to the heating roller and applies pressure to the printing object. The fixing unit holds a printing object between the rollers and applies heat and pressure thereto to melt the toner and fix the image on the printing object.
Generally, the width of the heating roller is larger than the width of the printing object. For this reason, the heating roller includes a contact region that contacts the printing object and is located close to the center, and non-contact regions that do not contact the printing object and are located outside.
Another image forming apparatus has a structure in which a roller filled with a latent heat storage material is disposed at an outlet of the fixing unit, and the roller absorbs heat of the printing object to make the temperature of the printing object uniform.