Patent ID: 8177321

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transport belt configured to transport a recording medium on a surface thereof when driven; a voltage applying unit configured to apply a voltage to the transport belt and to charge the transport belt; a leak judging unit configured to judge a charge leak on the surface of the transport belt; a recovery operation unit configured to perform a charge leak recovery operation in which the transport belt is driven in a state where the voltage applying unit applies no voltage to the transport belt, when the leak judging unit judges that the charge leak is generated on the surface of the transport belt; and a recovery selecting unit configured to judge whether to accept a selection selecting the charge leak recovery operation to be performed by the recovery operation unit, wherein the leak judging unit again judges whether the charge leak is generated on the surface of the transport belt after the recovery operation unit performs the charge leak recovery operation, and wherein the recovery operation unit performs the charge leak recovery operation when the recovery selecting unit accepts the selection.