Patent ID: 8320783

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of image carriers on which different colors of toner images are formed respectively; an intermediate transfer belt; a plurality of primary transfer sections, disposed respectively to correspond to the plurality of the image carriers, to transfer each color of toner images formed on the plurality of the image carriers onto the intermediate transfer belt for forming an overlapped color toner image, wherein the primary transfer sections press the intermediate transfer belt from a back side so that the intermediate transfer belt comes in pressure contact with the image carriers so as to create transfer nips between the intermediate transfer belt and the image carriers; a secondary transfer section to transfer the overlapped color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt onto a sheet; a pressure contact release section to drive and switch the plurality of the primary transfer sections between a pressure contact state where the intermediate transfer belt is in pressure contact with the image carrier and a release state where the intermediate transfer belt is released from the image carrier; a plurality of drive motors to drive rotation of the image carriers and the intermediate transfer belt independently and respectively, capable of varying each moving speed thereof; and a control section to control the pressure contact release sections and the drive motors, wherein a moving speed difference is a moving speed Vb of the intermediate transfer belt minus a moving speed Vd of the image carrier, where Vb>Vd, and the control section controls the pressure contact release sections so as to execute a first mode to form a toner image wherein at least one primary transfer section is in the pressure contact state, and a second mode to form the toner images wherein a greater number of the primary transfer sections than that in the first mode are in the pressure contact state, and the control section controls the drive motors in accordance with the modes so that the moving speed difference of the image carrier(s) of the primary transfer sections that are in the pressure contact state in the first mode is greater than that in the second mode.