Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an intermediate transfer member, a reinforcing member, and a collection unit having a contact member and a support member. The contact member extends in a longitudinal direction that is orthogonal to an intermediate transfer member movement direction. One end of the contact member is fixed to the support member and the other end is in contact with the intermediate transfer member as a free end. When a maximum region in the longitudinal direction where an image is formable on a transfer medium having a maximum size that is supported by the image forming apparatus is defined as an image forming region, at least part of the reinforcing member is located outside the image forming region and, on one end side of the contact member, the reinforcing member is provided on an inner side than the end of the contact member.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an intermediate transfer belt, and a contact member. The intermediate transfer belt includes a base layer, a surface layer formed on an outside of the base layer, and an inner surface layer formed on an inner side of the base layer. A position at which the contact member and the intermediate transfer belt contact is arranged on a downstream side of the intermediate transfer belt in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt. Rv>Rs1 and Rs2>Rs1, and Rs2/Rv?40 are satisfied where Rv (?) is a volume resistance value of the intermediate transfer belt in a thickness direction, Rs1 (?) is a first surface resistance value of the inner surface layer side in a surface direction, and Rs2 (?) is a second surface resistance value on the surface layer side in a surface direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a transfer member, a supplying member for supplying a protective agent applied onto a surface of the transfer member, and a controller capable of controlling the supplying member. In a state in which the transfer member contacts the image bearing member during non-image formation other than during image formation in which the toner image is transferred from the image bearing member onto the recording material, the controller carried out control so that an operation in an application mode in which the protective agent supplied from the supplying member is applied onto the surface of the transfer member is executed.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus receive light from an intermediate transfer member or correction pattern. The pattern includes an overlapping pattern on which a first monochromatic toner image is formed as a lower layer and a second monochromatic toner image having a smaller area than the first monochromatic toner image is formed as an upper layer. The image forming apparatus controls a plurality of image forming units to form the overlapping pattern such that a dynamic range becomes less than 1.0 and larger than 0.5.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a charging member, an exposing unit, a developing member, an intermediary transfer member and a voltage applying portion. A controller controls a primary transfer contrast which is a difference between a transfer voltage applied by the voltage applying portion in a nip and a potential of a part exposed by the exposing unit on the photosensitive member. By applying the transfer voltage to the intermediary transfer member, the controller transfers the toner image from the photosensitive member to the intermediary transfer member by flowing a current in a circumferential direction. The controller controls the primary transfer contrast by controlling the transfer voltage based on information on a usage state of toner related to a number of printed sheets. The controller controls so that the transfer voltage becomes lower as the number of printed sheets is larger.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an endless belt including a base layer and an electroconductive layer positioned on an inner peripheral surface side of base layer and forming an inner peripheral surface of the belt, and a roller provided on the inner peripheral surface side of the belt and including a roller portion around which the belt is wound and which is formed of a metal material. The electroconductive layer contains a binder resin, an electroconductive agent, and a copper compound, and has surface resistivity of 5.0×106?/? or less. The roller portion includes a base material of a first metal material comprising a first metal, and a coating layer which forms a surface contacting the electroconductive layer formed of a second metal material comprising a second metal. A difference in standard potential between the second metal and copper is smaller than that between the first metal and copper.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an intermediate transfer belt, and a contact member. The intermediate transfer belt includes a base layer, a surface layer formed on an outside of the base layer, and an inner surface layer formed on an inner side of the base layer. A position at which the contact member and the intermediate transfer belt contact is arranged on a downstream side of the intermediate transfer belt in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt. Rv>Rs1 and Rs2>Rs1, and Rs2/Rv?40 are satisfied where Rv(?) is a volume resistance value of the intermediate transfer belt in a thickness direction, Rs1(?) is a first surface resistance value of the inner surface layer side in a surface direction, and Rs2(?) is a second surface resistance value on the surface layer side in a surface direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is used, including a rotary member, on which a developer image by a developer is formed, a collection unit for collecting the developer by a blade member from a surface of the rotary member, and a control unit for controlling an image forming operation on the surface of the rotary member and a supply operation for supplying the developer to a contact portion between the rotary member and the blade member, wherein, assuming that the supply operation for supplying the developer to inside of a printable area is a first supply operation and the supply operation for supplying the developer to outside the printable area is a second supply operation, the control unit controls such that the first supply operation and the second supply operation are performed at different timing.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a belt, a development unit having a development member in contact with the image bearing member to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member using toner, and a collection unit having a contacting member in contact with the belt to collect toner remaining on the belt adjacent to the contacting member. If condensation is detected inside the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus performs predetermined control to separate the development member from the image bearing member and drive the belt in such a manner that the belt moves at a second surface speed different from a first surface speed while driving the image bearing member in such a manner that the image bearing member rotates at the first surface speed in a state where the image bearing member is in contact with the belt.

Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an endless belt including a base layer and an electroconductive layer positioned on an inner peripheral surface side of the belt than the base layer and forming an inner peripheral surface of the belt, and a roller provided on the inner peripheral surface side of the belt and including a roller portion around which the belt is wound and which is formed of an aluminum material. The electroconductive layer contains a binder resin, an electroconductive agent, and a copper compound, and has surface resistivity of 5.0×106?/? or less. The roller includes an alumite layer forming a surface contacting the electroconductive layer.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an exposure unit, a developing member, and a control unit. The exposure unit exposes a surface of the image bearing member to light to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing member develops the electrostatic latent image by using toner to form a toner image. In image formation based on input image data, the control unit uses the exposure unit to control a maximum gradation value of the toner image to be formed on the image bearing member surface, based on a repetition length of a dither pattern. The control unit performs control so that the maximum gradation value is larger in a case where a first dither pattern having a first length as the repetition length is used than where a second dither pattern having a second length longer than the first length as the repetition length is used.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an endless belt including a base layer and an electroconductive layer positioned on an inner peripheral surface side of the belt than the base layer and forming an inner peripheral surface of the belt, and a roller provided on the inner peripheral surface side of the belt and including a roller portion around which the belt is wound and which is formed of an aluminum material. The electroconductive layer contains a binder resin, an electroconductive agent, and a copper compound, and has surface resistivity of 5.0×106?Q/? or less. The roller includes an alumite layer forming a surface contacting the electroconductive layer.

Abstract: Toner contains toner base particles and an organosilicon polymer on the surface of the toner base particles. After a toner image is transferred from an intermediate transfer belt to a transfer material, residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt is collected into a belt cleaning device by a blade. A CPU executes supply control of supplying toner from a developing device toward the blade via a photosensitive drum and via the intermediate transfer belt on the basis of a counter accumulated value that correlates with an amount of organosilicon polymer adhering to the blade.

Abstract: A detection unit executes correction control of an image formation condition on a basis of a detection result of reflected light when infrared light is radiated to a test patch, which is transferred from a photosensitive drum to an intermediate transfer belt, and the intermediate transfer belt, wherein the intermediate transfer belt has a base layer which is thickest among a plurality of layers forming the intermediate transfer belt in a thickness direction of the intermediate transfer belt and to which an ion conductive agent is added, and an inner surface layer which has a light transmittance lower than that of the base layer.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an endless belt including a base layer and an electroconductive layer positioned on an inner peripheral surface side of the belt than the base layer and forming an inner peripheral surface of the belt, and a roller provided on the inner peripheral surface side of the belt and including a roller portion around which the belt is wound and which is formed of an aluminum material. The electroconductive layer contains a binder resin, an electroconductive agent, and a copper compound, and has surface resistivity of 5.0×106?Q/? or less. The roller includes an alumite layer forming a surface contacting the electroconductive layer.

Abstract: A surface roughness Rz of an outer peripheral surface of an intermediate transfer belt is 0.05 ?m or more, and toner contains toner base particles and an organosilicon polymer on the surface of the toner base particles. After residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt is collected by a blade into a belt cleaning device, the blade has a coating layer on its surface facing the intermediate transfer belt, the coating layer containing the organosilicon polymer.

Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an exposure unit, a developing member, and a control unit. The exposure unit exposes a surface of the image bearing member to light to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing member develops the electrostatic latent image by using toner to form a toner image. In image formation based on input image data, the control unit uses the exposure unit to control a maximum gradation value of the toner image to be formed on the image bearing member surface, based on a repetition length of a dither pattern. The control unit performs control so that the maximum gradation value is larger in a case where a first dither pattern having a first length as the repetition length is used than where a second dither pattern having a second length longer than the first length as the repetition length is used.

Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.