Endless belt for image-forming apparatus, endless belt unit, image-forming apparatus, and method for forming image

1. An endless belt for an image-forming apparatus, comprising, as an outermost layer, a resin layer having substantially hemispherical protrusions distributed over an outer surface thereof,

wherein the resin layer and the hemispherical protrusions contain carbon black, the protrusions having a lower carbon black content (% by mass) than the resin layer.

2. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the hemispherical protrusions contain a fluoropolymer resin.

3. The endless belt according to claim 2 , wherein the fluoropolymer resin is a fluorinated polyimide.

4. The endless belt according to claim 3 , wherein the resin layer contains a thermosetting resin.

5. The endless belt according to claim 2 , wherein the resin layer contains a thermosetting resin.

6. The endless belt according to claim 1 , wherein the resin layer contains a thermosetting resin.

7. An endless belt unit attachable to and detachable from an image-forming apparatus, the endless belt unit comprising:

the endless belt according to claim 1 ; and

a plurality of rollers about which the endless belt is entrained under tension.

8. An image-forming apparatus comprising:

an image carrier having a surface;

a charging unit that charges the surface of the image carrier;

a latent-image forming unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the image carrier;

a developing unit that contains a developer containing toner particles and that develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image carrier with the developer to form a toner image;

the endless belt according to claim 1 , the toner image being transferred from the surface of the image carrier to the outer surface of the endless belt;

a first transfer unit that transfers the toner image from the surface of the image carrier to the outer surface of the endless belt;

a second transfer unit that transfers the toner image from the outer surface of the endless belt to a recording medium; and

a fixing unit that fixes the toner image to the recording medium.

9. A method for forming an image, comprising:

charging a surface of an image carrier;

forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged surface of the image carrier;

developing the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image carrier with a developer containing toner particles to form a toner image;

transferring the toner image from the surface of the image carrier to the outer surface of the endless belt according to claim 1 ;

transferring the toner image from the outer surface of the endless belt to a recording medium; and

fixing the toner image to the recording medium.