Patent ID: 8447219
Filing Date: 2013-05-21
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. A fixing device comprising: a fixing roll that is rotated; a non-end fixing belt that is rotated in contact with the fixing roll; a pressing member that contacts with a back side of the fixing belt and that forms a fixing portion by pressing the fixing belt against the fixing roll from the back side of the fixing belt, a fixing target passing through the fixing portion; a pressurizing mechanism that makes the pressing member to press against the fixing roll through the fixing belt; a changing mechanism that displaces a contact portion of the pressing member against the fixing roll so that the contact portion is displaced from a first area including a first position to a second area including a second position, the second position being on a downstream side in a passage direction of the fixing target in the fixing portion, and the changing mechanism that decreases or releases a predetermined pressure at the contact portion when the contact portion is at the second area, wherein the pressure applied at the first area is the predetermined pressure; a switching mechanism that switches into either a state in which the contact portion of the pressing member is placed in the first area or a state in which the contact portion is placed in the second area through the changing mechanism; and a regulating mechanism, as the switching mechanism switches from the state in which the contact portion is placed in the second area to the state in which the contact portion is placed in the first area, (i) that regulates the contact portion of the pressing member through the fixing belt in a state in which the fixing belt is detached from the fixing roll or a state in which the pressure is reduced so that the fixing belt is detach from or contacts with the fixing roll during the contact portion is moved from the second area to the first area, and (ii) that transitions into a state in which the pressing member presses against the fixing roll through the fixing belt at the predetermined pressure at the first area.