Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Noboru Onodera

Yuji Suzuki

Hirokazu Ishii

Satoshi Takano

Hiroshi Saitoh

Itaru Matsuda

Ryoh Tanoue

Eiji Shimojo

Hiroshi Akema

Haruki Morikawa

Hidenori Nihei

Masamune Koyanagi

An image forming apparatus in which a visible image is transferred to a transfer material includes a pre-transfer exposing unit that makes only a portion of a latent image carrier that corresponds to a leading edge of the transfer material expose, and a transfer-bias applying unit that applies a bias for transferring the visible image. The transfer-bias applying unit starts applying the bias to the transfer material, at least step-by-step, when a predetermined time is passed from a point of time at which the leading edge of the transfer material comes into a contact with the latent image carrier by controlling the pre-transfer exposing unit and a bias applying timing of the transfer-bias applying unit.

Image forming apparatus with improved separability of transfer material

Image forming apparatus with improved separatability of transfer material

An image forming apparatus including an image carrier for forming a toner image thereon. A conveyor conveys a synthetic resin sheet. An image transferring device transfers the toner image from the image carrier to the synthetic resin sheet being conveyed by the conveyor. A fixing device is located downstream of the image carrier in a direction of sheet conveyance for fixing the toner image transferred to the synthetic resin sheet. The fixing device includes a heat roller capable of contacting the synthetic resin sheet. The heat roller is freely rotatable and caused to rotate by the synthetic resin sheet being conveyed by the conveyor when the sheet contacts the heat roller.

Image forming apparatus for synthetic resin sheets

A printer or similar electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on an optical disk or similar synthetic resin sheet is disclosed. The apparatus of the present invention exerts a preselected pressure for each of image transfer and image fixation to thereby insure high quality images. Further, the apparatus matches the moving speed of the surface of a synthetic resin sheet and the peripheral speed of an image carrier or that of a fixing member. In addition, the apparatus protects the image carrier and fixing member from damage and prevents a parting agent from depositing on at least the image forming range of the image carrier.

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on an optical disk or similar synthetic resin sheet is disclosed. The image forming apparatus feeds and collects the synthetic resin sheet from a conveyance path at the same position. A single space therefore suffices for both of the feed and collection of the synthetic resin sheet, promoting the compact configuration of the apparatus. The conveyance path is inclined relative to the horizontal plane and therefore saves space to thereby promote the efficient use of a limited floor area.

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Miyagi, Japan

Noboru Onodera