The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 14, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 21, 2006
Haruyuki Honda, Ibaraki, JP;
Masahiko Saito, Ibaraki, JP;
Masanari Fujita, Ibaraki, JP;
Masashi Yamamoto, Ibaraki, JP;
Yasuo Takuma, Ibaraki, JP;
Haruyuki Honda, Ibaraki, JP;
Masahiko Saito, Ibaraki, JP;
Masanari Fujita, Ibaraki, JP;
Masashi Yamamoto, Ibaraki, JP;
Yasuo Takuma, Ibaraki, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A multicolor image forming apparatus includes: a photosensitive belt unit comprising; a driving roller; a driven roller; a photosensitive belt having a joint, and a charger charging a surface of the photosensitive belt; an exposure device forming an electrostatic latent image, based on image information of each color, on the photosensitive belt; a plurality of developing devices storing different color developers, and an intermediate transfer unit performing a first transfer by sequentially superimposing each color developer image formed on the photosensitive belt. The photosensitive belt is suspended around the driving roller and the driven roller and is rotated and driven by the driving roller. Each developing device contacts and retracts from the photosensitive belt so as to develop the electrostatic latent image into a visible image using each color developer. At least one developing device can retract from the photosensitive belt at a region other than an image region.