Patent ID: 8489007

Claim:
A fixing device for thermally fixing a developer image transferred onto a recording sheet, comprising: a tubular flexible fusing member which is flexibly deformable; a heating element disposed inside the fusing member; a nip plate disposed on an inner surface of the fusing member, and configured to be heated by the heating element; a backup member configured such that the fusing member is nipped between the backup member and the nip plate to form a nip portion between the fusing member and the backup member; and a stay configured to support first and second portions of the nip plate located in positions upstream and downstream, respectively, with respect to a recording sheet conveyance direction, wherein each of the first and second portions of the nip plate is configured to be a flat plate extending along the recording sheet conveyance direction, the nip plate having a central portion between the first and second portions, wherein the central portion is in a position shifted from those of the first and second portions in a direction perpendicular to flat surfaces of the first and second portions, and wherein at least a portion of the first and second portions of the nip plate are located outside of a region of the nip plate corresponding to the nip portion.