Fixing device with presser component including a recess and image forming apparatus including the same

A fixing device comprising:

• a heating rotatable body that is heated;
• a rotatable endless belt having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface that is disposed facing the heating rotatable body;
• and
• a presser component having a first presser portion, a second presser portion, and a recess, the first presser portion being provided within the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt and pressing the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt onto the heating rotatable body in an opposed area where the endless belt and the heating rotatable body are opposed to each other so as to form a fixation nip between the endless belt and the heating rotatable body and through which a recording medium bearing an image passes, the second presser portion guiding the recording medium by pressing the endless belt toward the heating rotatable body at an upstream side of the fixation nip in a transport direction of the recording medium so as to bring the recording medium into contact with the heating rotatable body at the upstream side of the fixation nip in the transport direction of the recording medium, the recess being spaced apart from the endless belt and located upstream of the first presser portion in the transport direction of the recording medium and downstream of the second presser portion in the transport direction of the recording medium,
• wherein hardness of the second presser portion of the presser component is higher than hardness of the heating rotatable body,
• wherein the first presser portion, the second presser portion and the recess are made by the same material, and
• wherein the first presser portion, the second presser portion and the recess are integrally formed.

A fixing device comprising:

• a heating rotatable body that is heated;
• a rotatable endless belt having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface that is disposed facing the heating rotatable body;
• and
• a presser component having a first presser portion, a second presser portion, and a recess, the first presser portion being provided within the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt and pressing the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt onto the heating rotatable body in an opposed area where the endless belt and the heating rotatable body are opposed to each other so as to form a fixation nip between the endless belt and the heating rotatable body and through which a recording medium bearing an image passes, the second presser portion guiding the recording medium by pressing the endless belt toward the heating rotatable body at an upstream side of the fixation nip in a transport direction of the recording medium so as to bring the recording medium into contact with the heating rotatable body at the upstream side of the fixation nip in the transport direction of the recording medium, the recess being spaced apart from the endless belt and located upstream of the first presser portion in the transport direction of the recording medium and downstream of the second presser portion in the transport direction of the recording medium,
• wherein a portion of the endless belt contacting the second presser portion does not directly or indirectly contact the heating rotatable body,
• wherein the first presser portion, the second presser portion and the recess are made by the same material, and
• wherein the first presser portion, the second presser portion and the recess are integrally formed.