Patent ID: 7711298

Claim:
A toner transfer apparatus in an image forming device, comprising: a transfer belt; a first roller adapted to receive a toner image and transfer the toner image to the transfer belt, the toner image including a first electrical charge; and a second roller able to conduct an electrical current; the first roller positioned on a first side of the transfer belt and in contact with the transfer belt at a first area, the second roller positioned on a second side of the belt and in continuous contact with the transfer belt at a second area, the first and second areas offset from one another by a predetermined distance such that a line drawn from a center point on a longitudinal axis of the first roller to a center point on a longitudinal axis of the second roller intersects the transfer belt at a point further downstream than a most downstream point of the transfer belt in contact with the first roller, a line on the first roller in the first area in contact with the transfer belt that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first roller being substantially in the same horizontal plane as the longitudinal axis of the second roller, the predetermined distance defining a section of the transfer belt between the first and second areas, the section having a resistivity such that an electrical field develops within the section of the transfer belt with a second electrical charge, the second electrical charge being more positively charged than the first electrical charge such that the toner image transfers from the first roller to the transfer belt.