Patent ID: 8910587

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising an application device, the application device having an application roller to apply a treatment liquid onto a recording medium with the treatment liquid carried on a surface of the application roller before an image is formed on the recording medium; a conveyance roller disposed opposite the application roller, to convey the recording medium; a pan to store the treatment liquid; and a squeeze roller disposed to squeeze the treatment liquid in the pan to supply the treatment liquid to the application roller, wherein the squeeze roller and the application roller are disposed in contact with, and adjacent to, each other in a horizontal or lateral direction, and with the treatment liquid retained on a surface of the application roller, the application roller, from above the recording medium, applies the treatment liquid onto an image formation face of the recording medium, and wherein the application roller has a core member serving as a rotation shaft of the application roller and an elastic surface member disposed around the core member, the core member has a plurality of convex ring portions formed around a circumferential surface of the core member and a plurality of concave portions formed between the plurality of convex ring portions, and the plurality of convex ring portions and the plurality of concave portions are alternately arranged in an axial direction of the core member, wherein pitches between adjacent ones of the plurality of convex ring portions in the axial direction of the core member are gradually smaller from each end portion of the core member to a middle portion in the axial direction of the core member.