A formed article according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cylindrical base layer containing a polyimide as a main component, a sliding layer disposed on an inner circumferential surface side of the base layer and containing a polyether ether ketone as a main component, and an outermost layer disposed on an outer circumferential surface side of the base layer and containing a fluororesin as a main component.

A fixing device to fix a toner image formed on a recording medium to the recording medium includes a rotating member, a guide member, a holding member, and a roller. The roller contacts with an outer surface of the rotating member and forms a fixing nip portion together with the guide member between the rotating member and the roller. The fixing device fixes the recording medium toner image to the recording medium while pinching and conveying the recording medium in the fixing nip portion. The guide member is pivotable relative to the holding member about a pivot point that is a shaft substantially perpendicular to a surface of the fixing nip portion. When the rotating member slides on the guide member, the guide member pivots due to a force received from the rotating member so that alignment of the guide member with respect to the holding member is corrected.

A fixing device includes a rotatable endless belt; a planar heat-generating section in which at least a downstream end portion in a movement direction of the belt is in pressure contact with a rotating body via a pressure contact portion and a cross-sectional shape of a downstream edge portion being in contact with an inner surface of the belt is formed in a curved shape having a curvature radius of 0.01 mm or more 0.2 mm or less or in a shape in which the edge portion is cut out over the dimension; and a holding section that is disposed inside the belt and holds the planar heat-generating section to be in pressure contact with the rotating body.

A fixing device includes a movable belt; and a planar heat-generating section that is in contact with the belt and in which, among plural heat-generating portions provided in a movement direction of the belt, a heat-generating portion on an upstream side in the movement direction of the belt has a larger heat generation amount than a heat-generating portion on a downstream side.

A fixing belt includes, in the following order: a resin base material layer; an elastic layer; and a release layer, in which the elastic layer contains an elastic material and an aggregate in which plural fibrous carbons are entangled with each other, and a maximum diameter of the aggregate is 15% or less of a film thickness of the elastic layer.

A fixing belt includes, in the following order: a base material layer containing a resin; an elastic layer containing an elastic material; and a release layer, in which each of the base material layer and the elastic layer further contains an aggregate in which plural fibrous carbons are entangled with each other, a maximum diameter of the aggregate in the base material layer is 50% or less of a film thickness of the base material layer, and a maximum diameter of the aggregate in the elastic layer is 15% or less of a film thickness of the elastic layer.

A fixing device includes a rotatable endless belt; a holding section that is disposed inside the belt and holds a planar heat-generating element so as to bring the belt into pressure contact with a rotating body at a pressure contact portion; and a roughened portion that is provided adjacent to a downstream side in a movement direction of the belt with respect to the pressure contact portion of the holding section and subjected to a roughening treatment for holding abrasion powder on an inner surface of the belt.

A belt device includes a secured member, a belt, a pressure rotator, and lubricant. The belt has an endless shape and slides on a slide surface of the secured member. The belt has an inner portion having an elastic power of 55% or more and a sliding surface sliding on the slide surface of the secured member. The sliding surface has a surface roughness smaller than a surface roughness of the slide surface of the secured member. The pressure rotator presses the secured member via the belt to form a nip between the belt and the pressure rotator. The lubricant is interposed between the sliding surface of the belt and the slide surface of the secured member.

The fixing device includes a fixing member, a heat source, a pressure member, a nip forming member, and a heat equalizing member. The heat equalizing member covers a face of the nip forming member, the face facing the fixing member, and transfers heat in an axial direction of the fixing member. The fixing member includes at least a tubular base made of metal and a sliding layer made of heat resistant resin on an inner circumferential surface of the base. The heat equalizing member made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy includes an alumite layer on a surface facing an inner circumferential surface of the fixing member. A plurality of micropores in the alumite layer is filled with a solid lubricant having a coefficient of friction lower than that of the alumite layer. The alumite layer has a thickness smaller than that of the sliding layer of the fixing member.

A heating device includes a heating roller having a resistance heat-generating layer that generates heat by passage of a current through the resistance heat-generating layer, a pressure rotating body that rotates in such a manner as to press a sheet-shaped heating target that is an object to be subjected to a heating treatment against an outer peripheral surface of the heating roller and in such a manner as to cause the heating target to pass through the outer peripheral surface of the heating roller, and an auxiliary heating unit that supplementarily heats at least an axial end region included in a heat-generating region in which heat is generated by the resistance heat-generating layer of the heating roller.