Patent ID: 7813684

Claim:
A transferring and fixing apparatus, comprising: a transferring and fixing member; a pressure member forming a transferring and fixing region between the pressure member and the transferring and fixing member, the pressure member including a belt member, a hard pad, a soft pad softer than the hard pad, the hard pad and the soft pad in close and pressing contact with the transferring and fixing member via the belt member, the belt member rotated while sliding on the hard pad and the soft pad, and a second hard pad, harder than the soft pad, disjoined from said hard pad and adjacent to the soft pad, the belt member sliding on the hard pad, the soft pad, and the second hard pad, wherein a fused toner image held and heated by the transferring and fixing member is transferred and fixed in the transferring and fixing region onto a recording paper fed to the transferring and fixing region, and an end portion of the transferring and fixing region where the recording paper is fed is set to have a highest pressure in the transferring and fixing region.