Patent ID: 7965966

Claim:
A transfer unit for transferring developer images from a plurality of image carrying members of an image forming apparatus to a print medium, comprising: a belt configured to rotate in a loop; a plurality of transferring rollers disposed inside the loop to each contact the belt, the plurality of transferring rollers including an upper transferring roller positioned at an upstream end of the belt with respect to a rotational direction of the belt, a lower transferring roller positioned at a downstream end opposite to the upstream end of the belt with respect to the rotational direction of the belt and one or more middle transferring rollers positioned between the upper and lower transferring rollers; and a support unit configured to support the plurality of transferring rollers such that rotational axes of the upper and lower transferring rollers define a first plane, and such that rotational axes of the one or more middle transferring rollers define a second plane substantially parallel to, but not coplanar with, the first plane, wherein a distance between the first plane and the second plane is in a range from about 0.5 millimeters to 2 millimeters.