Patent ID: 7176952

Claim:
A fixing device comprising: a heating member which is installed in an image forming apparatus, which is arranged in a housing for defining the fixing device, and which heats a recording medium onto which a toner image has been transferred to fix the image; a pressing member which is brought into press contact with the heating member; a first conveyance path which is formed in the housing and on which the recording medium, on which the image is fixed by the heating member and the pressing member, is conveyed; a second conveyance path which is formed in the housing, which has a path different from the first conveyance path, and on which the recording medium, on which the image is fixed by the heating member and the pressing member, is conveyed; and a switching member which switches a destination of the recording medium to either one of the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path, the switching member placed downstream of the pressing member and the heating member in a conveyance direction of the recording medium, and formed to branch apart the conveyance direction of the recording medium from the pressing member and the heating member.