Belt device and unit device including belt device and image forming apparatus using the belt device and unit device
US6768891B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 26, 2003 |
| Grant date | Jul 27, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 26, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G2215/0193
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An image forming apparatus suppresses several kinds of inconveniences caused by unnecessary contact of a belt-formed member with opposing members and drives the belt-formed member accurately even when the belt-formed member separated from a part of a plurality of opposing members. In an image forming apparatus having a belt-formed member supported by a plurality of supporting rollers and a plurality of opposing members located side by side in a line to oppose and contact the belt-formed member, a pivot mechanism is employed to temporarily separate the belt-formed member from a part of the opposing members for color image formation. The image forming apparatus also includes a tension roller dive mechanism to increase a relative distance between the tension roller and other supporting rollers to suppress a decrease in a tension of the belt-formed member during the above-described separation of the belt-formed member from the plurality of opposing members.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.