Patent ID: 7570901

Claim:
A roller spacing apparatus of an image forming device, the apparatus comprising: a first rotatable roller member comprising a first shaft; a second rotatable roller member comprising a second shaft, the second rotatable roller member being rotatable in close contact with the first roller member under a predetermined pressure; and at least one spacing part to space the first and the second roller members apart from each other by a predetermined gap such that the first and the second roller members are not in contact with each other when the first and the second roller members are not in use, the at least one spacing part comprising: a bushing member that has a bushing to rotatably support at least one of the first and second shafts, and a lever positioned at the bushing to rotate the bushing, the bushing having an outer diameter part and an inner diameter part to support at least one of the first and second shafts, the inner and outer diameter parts being non-concentric circles such that a center point of the inner diameter part is at a different location from a center point of the outer diameter part; a stopping member to restrict an operation range of the lever; and a position holding member to hold the lever such that the bushing is in a first position to bring the first and the second roller members into contact with each other or a second position to space the first and the second roller members apart from each other by the predetermined gap, wherein the position holding member comprises a position holding protrusion, the position holding protrusion being elastically movable between a up-position, in which the position holding protrusion is located within a moving path of the lever, and a down-position, in which the position holding protrusion is located outside of the moving path of the lever.