Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating the same

A fixing device comprising:

• a stationary member;
• a fixing roller including a heater configured to heat the fixing roller;
• an endless belt stretched over the stationary member and the fixing roller;
• a pressure rotator disposed opposite the stationary member via the endless belt to form a fixing nip between the pressure rotator and the endless belt on the stationary member;
• and
• a lubricant applicator comprising:
• a switching rotation shaft;
• and
• a felt assembly coupled to the switching rotation shaft and including a plurality of discrete heat resistant felts disposed at intervals in a circumferential direction of the felt assembly and configured to uniformly apply a lubricant to the fixing roller,
• wherein each of the discrete heat resistant felts is configured, based on a stepwise locked rotation of the felt assembly, to contact the fixing roller over an entire length of the fixing roller in an axial direction of the fixing roller, the fixing roller contacting an inner surface of the endless belt and having an axial length equal to or greater than an axial length of the stationary member,
• wherein the switching rotation shaft is stepwise lock rotatable in a predetermined arc range to replace one of the discrete heat resistant felts with another of the discrete heat resistant felts.