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:
Jun. 07, 2016
Filed:
Jul. 17, 2015
Seiichi Kogure, Kanagawa, JP;
Naohiro Kumagai, Kanagawa, JP;
Junpei Fujita, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuki Yogosawa, Tokyo, JP;
Kenji Sugiura, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuuji Wada, Kanagawa, JP;
Yusuke Mitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Seiichi Kogure, Kanagawa, JP;
Naohiro Kumagai, Kanagawa, JP;
Junpei Fujita, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuki Yogosawa, Tokyo, JP;
Kenji Sugiura, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuuji Wada, Kanagawa, JP;
Yusuke Mitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer on which a toner image is formed, an intermediate transfer belt onto which the toner image transferred from the image bearer, a secondary transfer member, a guide assembly, and a biasing device. The secondary transfer member meets the intermediate transfer belt to form a secondary transfer nip in which the toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt onto a recording sheet. The guide assembly disposed upstream from the secondary transfer member in a transport direction of the recording sheet guides the recording sheet at a position lower than the secondary transfer nip such that a leading end of the recording sheet contacts the secondary transfer member before entering the secondary transfer nip. The biasing device biases the secondary transfer member to move the secondary transfer member in one of a direction of bias and a vertical direction.