Patent ID: 7209697

Claim:
A fusing device, comprising: a roller; a fusing belt that is heated and driven along a circumference of said roller; a pressure member disposed outside said fusing belt and arranged in pressurized contact with said roller through said fusing belt; and a pushing member disposed inside said fusing belt and arranged on an upstream side of said roller relative to a driving direction of said fusing belt, and being in pressurized contact with said pressure member via said fusing belt; wherein said fusing belt and said pressure member form a contact area through which a recording medium passes; wherein a pushing force for causing said pushing member to be in pressurized contact with said pressure member is set less than a pushing force for causing said pressure member to be in pressurized contact with said roller; and wherein said pushing member has a pressurized contact portion disposed in front of an area at which said pressure member is in pressurized contact with said roller.