A fixing station and a method for fixing toner images on a carrier material.
The
fixing station has an arrangement for moving a carrier material in a first direction
and in a second direction opposite the first direction, a heat radiation source,
which heats the carrier material to fix a toner thereon, and a covering device
which is arranged between the carrier material and the heat radiation source and
is movable parallel to the direction of the carrier material between an opened
and closed position, so that while in the closed position, it blocks radiation
from reaching the carrier device and in an opened position allows the radiation
to heat the carrier material. The method includes delaying the opening and closing
of the covering device so that a previously fixed area of the carrier material
is not subjected to additional radiation from the heat radiation source.