Patent ID: 7945198

Claim:
A fixing device comprising: a fixing belt that performs an endless motion while stretched by a plurality of stretching members and is heated by a heating arrangement, said fixing belt having a multilayer structure including a base layer, an elastic layer on the base layer, and a surface layer on the elastic layer, wherein the base layer, elastic layer, and surface layer are formed of different materials, the surface layer being a fluorine resin layer; and a pressing instrument for pressing said fixing belt, wherein said fixing belt heated in a heating region in which said heating arrangement heats said fixing belt performs an endless motion to a pressing portion in which said pressing instrument presses said fixing belt, and a recording body carrying an unfixed toner image passes through said pressing portion such that said unfixed toner image is fixed onto said recording body by heat from said fixing belt and pressure from said pressing instrument, on a non-heated belt surface, which is a surface of said fixing belt on a rear side of a heated belt surface facing said heating arrangement, a temperature difference between a surface temperature of said non-heated belt surface at an upstream end of said heating region in a fixing belt endless motion direction and said surface temperature of said non-heated belt surface at a downstream end of said heating region in said fixing belt endless motion direction is no more than 5 (° C.), and said surface temperature of said non-heated belt surface at an upstream end of said pressing portion in said fixing belt endless motion direction is higher than said surface temperature of said non-heated belt surface at said upstream end of said heating region in said fixing belt endless motion direction.