Patent ID: 7239835

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a belt-shaped image carrier, adapted to support a toner image thereon; a transfer roller; a contact/separation mechanism, operable to bring the transfer roller into contact with the image carrier to transfer the toner image from the image carrier onto a recording medium, and operable to separate the transfer roller from the image carrier after the toner image is transferred onto the recording medium; and a rotation applier, operable to apply a first rotation to the transfer roller when the transfer roller is separated from the image carrier, wherein the rotation applier and the transfer roller are separated from each other mechanically after the transfer roller is in contact with the image carrier; and wherein the first rotation is so applied that the contact/separation mechanism brings the transfer roller into contact with the image carrier under a condition that a circumferential speed of the transfer roller is made coincident with a circumferential speed of the image carrier.