Patent ID: 8249468
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: B65H,G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: at least one image carrier to carry an image on a surface thereof; a recording medium conveyor disposed at least partly facing a first image carrier of the at least one image carrier to form a transfer nip therebetween, at least one of the first image carrier and the recording medium conveyor conveying a recording medium in the transfer nip for transferring the image formed on the surface of the at least one image carrier onto the recording medium thereat; a conveyance member disposed closest to the transfer nip on an upstream side of the transfer nip in a direction of conveyance of the recording medium to provide a conveyance force to convey the recording medium to the transfer nip; and a conveyance control mechanism located proximal to the conveyance member to control movement of the conveyance member, the conveyance control mechanism shifting the conveyance member to an inactive state to deactivate the conveyance member so that the conveyance member stops providing the conveyance force to move the recording medium after a leading edge of the recording medium has entered the transfer nip and before a trailing edge of the recording medium passes a point of force application where the conveyance member applies the conveyance force to the recording medium, the conveyance member remaining in the inactive state until the recording medium passes the point of force application, the conveyance force remaining unapplied to the recording medium at an upstream side of the conveyance member in the direction of conveyance of the recording medium from when the conveyance control mechanism deactivates the conveyance member to when the trailing edge of the recording medium passes the transfer nip, the image forming apparatus further comprising: a first image forming part located downstream from the conveyance member and comprising the first image carrier of the at least one image carrier and the recording medium conveyor, the first image forming part forming a single color image to be transferred onto the recording medium at a first transfer nip formed between the first image carrier and the recording medium conveyor while providing the conveyance force to the recording medium; an intermediate transfer member held in contact with the recording medium conveyor to transfer an image onto the recording medium; and a second image forming part disposed downstream from the conveyance member and comprising multiple second image carriers other than the first image carrier of the at least one image carrier, the second image forming part forming a composite color image on the intermediate transfer member to be transferred onto the recording medium at a second transfer nip formed between the intermediate transfer member and one of the recording medium conveyor and a transfer member other than the recording medium conveyor while providing the conveyance force to the recording medium, the conveyance control mechanism shifting the conveyance member to the inactive state to deactivate the conveyance member so that the conveyance member stops providing the conveyance force to move the recording medium after the leading edge of the recording medium has entered the further-upstream of the first transfer nip and the second transfer nip in the direction of conveyance of the recording medium and before the trailing edge of the recording medium passes the point of force application.