Patent ID: 8837998

Claim:
A fixing device comprising: a case, including, a rotary fixing member, a heater to heat the rotary fixing member, and a pressure roller that presses against the rotary fixing member to form a fixing nip where the pressure roller presses against the rotary fixing member and through which a recording medium is conveyed to fix an image on the recording medium; a front-side guide member attached to the case to guide the recording medium transported through a recording media transport pathway to the fixing nip, disposed upstream from the fixing nip in a direction in which the recording medium is transported and facing an unfixed-image side of the recording medium, the front-side guide member including a guide face located on a side of the recording media transport pathway, the guide face including a first guide face and a second guide face, the second guide face being located where at least a trailing edge of the recording medium approaches the front-side guide member as the recording medium is transported through the recording media transport pathway and which is inclined with respect to the first guide face away from the recording media transport pathway; a back-side guide member attached to the case and being arranged opposite to the front-side guide member to guide the recording medium through the recording media transport pathway, the back-side guide member being disposed upstream from the fixing nip and facing a back-side of the recording medium; and a first spur rotatably provided on the front-side guide member and projecting into the recording media transport pathway from a connection portion between the first guide face and the second guide face, the connection portion including an apex between the first guide face and the second guide face, the first spur having a fixed axis of rotation, and a projection amount of the first spur projecting from the second guide face into the recording media transport pathway such that the projection amount is shorter than a radius of the first spur, an upstream end portion of the front-side guide member being located upstream from the first spur in the direction in which the recording medium is transported, the upstream end portion of the front-side guide member covering a bottommost part of the first spur, wherein the back-side guide member and the front-side guide member extend a distance from an outer surface of the case such that front-side guide member and the back-side guide member support the fixing device when the fixing device is placed on a load surface.