Fuser with pressure pad and image forming device having the same

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an imaging unit forming a toner image on an image carrier;
• a transfer unit transferring the toner image onto a sheet;
• and
• a fuser unit applying heat and force to the surface of the sheet with the toner image transferred to fix the toner image on the surface of the sheet, the fuser unit comprising:
• an endless fuser belt;
• a fuser rotator extending along a rotation axis;
• a pressure pad forming a nip, along with the fuser rotator, with the fuser belt between the pressure pad and an outer peripheral surface of the fuser rotator;
• a holding member elongated in an axial direction of the fuser rotator and holding the pressure pad;
• a heater unit applying heat to one of the fuser belt and the outer peripheral surface of the fuser rotator;
• and
• a pusher unit applying a force of variable strength between the outer peripheral surface of the fuser rotator and the pressure pad,
• the pressure pad comprising
• a pressure face to be in contact with the fuser belt at the nip, having profiles at edges of cross sections of the pressure pad apart from the nip with the pusher unit removing the force;
• the cross sections being intersections with virtual planes normal to a rotation axis of the fuser rotator;
• the profiles each including:
• a reference section to be the first to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the fuser rotator with the fuser belt in between when the pusher unit applies the force and the pressure pad forms the nip;
• and
• a boundary section being located at a threshold distance from the reference section in the width direction of the nip, and being, relative to the reference section, more largely displaced in the opposite direction to the direction of the fuser rotator in one of the profiles located at a larger distance from a center portion of the pressure pad in the axial direction of the fuser rotator.