Patent ID: 9488937
Filing Date: 2016-11-08
CPC Classification: G03G

Claim Text:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image carrier that carries an electrostatic latent image; a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image using a toner; an intermediate transfer body onto which a toner image developed by the developing unit is transferred once or a plurality of times and which carries the toner image; a secondary transfer member that comes in contact with a surface of the intermediate transfer body on which the toner image is carried, to form a transfer nip; a power supply that outputs a voltage for transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer body onto a recording member put in the transfer nip; and a first protective agent supply unit that applies or attaches a protective agent including at least both of zinc stearate and boron nitride onto a surface of the image carrier, wherein the voltage is alternatively switched in a transfer direction and an opposite direction when the toner image on the intermediate transfer body is transferred to the recording member, the voltage in the transfer direction enabling transfer of the toner image from the intermediate transfer body to the recording member, and the voltage in the opposite direction including polarity opposite to polarity of the voltage in the transfer direction, the apparatus has a first transfer mode for alternatively switching the voltage in the transfer direction and in the opposite direction, and a second transfer mode for applying only the voltage in the transfer direction, and a distance between a first recording member and a next recording member is set longer in the first transfer mode than in the second transfer mode.