Patent ID: 7398044

Claim:
A fixing device for fixing a developer image onto a fixing medium, the device comprising: a heating member extending in its axial direction and having a heating surface, the heating surface having a temperature; a pressure member in pressure contact with the heating member; a temperature detecting portion disposed confronting the heating surface for detecting the temperature of the heating surface; and at least one guide member disposed adjacent to the heating surface with a predetermined space therebetween and spaced away from the temperature detecting portion in the axial direction, thereby guiding, along the heating surface, the fixing medium that has not been separated from the heating surface and has been conveyed into the vicinity of the temperature detecting portion, wherein: the heating member and the pressure member confront each other at a nip portion; the fixing medium enters the nip portion at a first position and comes out of the nip portion at a second position; and the temperature detecting portion is located closer to the second position than to the first position.