Image forming apparatus with a device and a method to increase contact area between a transfer sheet and an image carrier
US6101361A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 21, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 8, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 21, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G15/165
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An image forming apparatus and method in which a transfer device is provided in a position separated from an image carrier. A transfer sheet is conveyed along and contacting a part of a circumferential surface of the image carrier facing the transfer device when transferring a toner image from the image carrier to the transfer sheet. A conveying guide is included to guide and covey the transfer sheet separated from the image carrier to a fixing unit. The conveying guide includes a guiding member to direct the conveying direction of the transfer sheet upward when the leading edge of the transfer sheet contacts the guiding member and to convey the transfer sheet at a part of the conveying guide or the guiding member in a position higher than the position of the leading edge of the transfer sheet contacting the conveying guide or the guiding member, so that the contact area between the transfer sheet and the image carrier increases, and so that the transfer sheet separates from the image carrier without a discharging of a charge on the transfer sheet.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.