Patent ID: 8121527

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image carrier on which a toner image is formed; a transfer belt that is an endless belt member having either one of a single-layer structure and a multilayer structure, the transfer belt forming a transfer nip by abutting against the image carrier while being supported by a plurality of supporting members to make an endless movement; a transfer bias member that applies a transfer bias to the transfer belt, while abutting against an internal surface of the transfer belt at a position of the transfer nip; and a neutralizing member that applies a voltage of same polarity as that of a toner or an electric current of same polarity as that of the toner to the transfer belt, wherein a first end of the neutralizing member is fixed to a main unit of the image forming apparatus, and a second end of the neutralizing member makes a contact with the internal surface of the transfer belt, and at least a surface layer or a sub-layer of the neutralizing member having a contact with the transfer belt is made of a material having a volume resistivity higher than one tenth of a volume resistivity of a member forming the internal surface of the transfer belt.