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:
Mar. 21, 2017
Filed:
Jul. 10, 2015
Yoshiki Hozumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naomi Sugimoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuchika Saeki, Kanagawa, JP;
Yasufumi Takahashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naoki Iwaya, Tokyo, JP;
Masaharu Furuya, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshiki Hozumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naomi Sugimoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuchika Saeki, Kanagawa, JP;
Yasufumi Takahashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naoki Iwaya, Tokyo, JP;
Masaharu Furuya, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a toner image forming device to form a toner image on a rotatable toner image bearer, a looped belt to carry a recording medium, a support roller to rotate the belt, a pressing member to press the belt against the toner image bearer, a transfer electric field generator to form an electric field to transfer the toner image onto the recording medium, and a contact member to contact an end surface of the belt as the belt moves to one side in a belt width direction. The belt includes a first portion pressed against the toner image bearer by the pressing member and a second portion adjoining the first portion. A relative position of the support roller relative to the toner image bearer and the pressing member is determined such that the second portion of the belt contacts the toner image bearer.