Patent ID: 8107856

Claim:
A fixing device comprising: a heating member that includes an internal heating source and is rotatable; a pressing member that presses the heating member into contact therewith; a switching unit that switches a press contact force of the pressing member, which is applied to the heating member; and a container body that accommodates the heating member, the pressing member and the switching unit, wherein the switching unit includes: a drive member that is rotatable and moves the pressing member in a predetermined direction; and an auxiliary drive member that is connected to the drive member and relatively moves with the drive member in a predetermined range, and the auxiliary drive member, in a case where the container body is placed in an image forming apparatus including a lid that is openable and closable, switches between an operative association state where the auxiliary drive member is driven in a predetermined direction in association with opening/closing operation of the lid of the image forming apparatus and a nonoperative association state where the auxiliary driving member is dissociated from opening/closing operation of the lid, the auxiliary drive member including a returning section that returns a tip of the auxiliary drive member to a position crossing a movement trajectory of the lid in the nonoperative association state.