Patent ID: 8385802

Claim:
A fixing device for fixing an unfixed image on a recording sheet by applying heat and pressure to the unfixed image while the recording sheet is passing through a fixing nip, the fixing nip being formed by pressing a pressing member against an inside surface of a rotatable pressure belt via a low friction sheet, so that an outside surface of the pressure belt presses against a rotatable fixing member, wherein the pressing member includes (i) a first pressing part whose front face, which presses the low friction sheet against the pressure belt, is made of an elastic material, and (ii) a second pressing part whose front face presses against a rear face of the first pressing part, the low friction sheet extends from a portion thereof pressed by the front face of the first pressing part against the pressure belt, to an upstream end thereof, along a lateral side of the first pressing part, the upstream end being upstream from the other end of the low friction sheet with respect to a rotation direction of the pressure belt, the upstream end is sandwiched between the rear face of the first pressing part and the front face of the second pressing part, by pressure from the second pressing part and a reaction force from the first pressing part, a reinforcing part is provided on the rear face of the first pressing part, the reinforcing part being harder than the first pressing part, and the upstream end is sandwiched between the reinforcing part and the second pressing part.