Patent ID: 6968136
Filing Date: 2005-11-22
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: transfer means for transferring an image to a sheet at a specified transferring speed; fixing means capable of changing a fixing speed; and conveyor means for conveying the sheet from said transfer means to said fixing means, wherein said conveyor means includes a plurality of conveyor units which convey the sheet at the transferring speed in a case that the transferring speed and the fixing speed are equal, wherein said conveyor means is so controlled in a case that the fixing speed is lower than the transferring speed that, while a downstream conveyor unit is conveying a sheet being fixed by said fixing means at the same speed as the fixing speed, an upstream conveyor unit may convey the succeeding sheet at the same speed as the transferring speed, and that the downstream conveyor unit having ended the conveyance of the sheet being fixed is accelerated to the same speed as the transferring speed, and wherein said conveyor means is so controlled that a spacing between a preceding sheet and the succeeding sheet in said fixing means in a case that the fixing speed is lower than the transferring speed is narrower than that in a case that the transferring speed and the fixing speed are equal.