Patent ID: 8023861

Claim:
A fixing device, which uses a pair of opposing fixing members to grip a recording medium, and which fixes a toner image onto the recording medium by applying heat and/or pressure, the fixing device comprising: a pressure-applying lever which rotates about a support, the pressure-applying lever for causing one of the pair of fixing members to apply pressure to the other one of the pair of fixing members; a pressure-releasing lever that is rotationally supported on the pressure-applying lever; a locking member, which has one end rotationally attached to the pressure-releasing lever; and an elastic member, which engages with the other end of the locking member, and which pulls the locking member in a locking direction, wherein the rotation of the pressure-releasing lever displaces the location of the locking member, thereby enabling switching between a pressure-applying position, in which one of the pair of fixing members presses against the other one of the pair of fixing members via the pressure-applying lever, and a pressure-releasing position, in which one of the pair of fixing members moves away from the other one of the pair of fixing members, at the pressure-applying position, the pressure-applying lever and the locking member, which are fastened together at a location at one end of the pressure-applying lever opposite the support, are pulled in the locking direction by the elastic member, and the pressure-applying lever has multiple support positions about which the pressure-applying lever can rotate, such that different non-zero pressures for gripping the recording medium between the pair of fixing members are applied when the pressure releasing lever is in the pressure-applying position depending on which of the multiple support positions are used.