Granted Patent B2

US 12,235,599 · App. 18/381,827 · Granted Feb 25, 2025

Inventors: Yoshihiro Yoshikawa (Sakai, JP); Hideshi Izumi (Sakai, JP)

Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA

G03G15/1615

Abstract

Claims (36)

1. An image forming device comprising:

a first image carrier on which a monochrome toner image is formed;

a plurality of second image carriers, each provided for one of different colors, on which toner images are formed in the different colors;

a transfer belt that transfers the toner images, each formed on one of the first image carrier and the plurality of second image carriers;

a first presser that presses the transfer belt against the first image carrier and a plurality of second pressers that presses the transfer belt against each of the plurality of second image carriers to transfer the monochrome toner image and the toner images formed in the different colors onto the transfer belt; and

a switching mechanism that switches a position of each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers according to a rotation angle of a cam, wherein

the switching mechanism switches each of the first presser and the plurality of the second pressers to stop at one of a first position that presses the transfer belt against each of the first image carrier and the plurality of second image carriers, a second position that separates from the first image carrier and the plurality of second image carriers, and a third position that is a position separating from the first image carrier and the plurality of second image carriers and having a smaller separation distance from each of the first image carrier and the plurality of second image carries than the second position,

the switching mechanism has:

the cam provided rotatably about a rotating shaft, and having a center and an outer periphery such that a distance from the center to the outer periphery varies according to a position of the outer periphery,

a link member that makes contact with the cam, the link member being movable along the transfer belt according to a rotation of the cam, and

a first swing member and a plurality of second swing members each of which is a member formed into a letter-L shape, the first swing member and the plurality of second swing members being rotatably supported by a frame that holds the transfer belt, the first swing member having an end provided with the first presser, and the plurality of second swing members each having an end provided with one of the plurality of second pressers,

when the cam rotates, the link member moves to rotate the end included in the first swing member and provided with the first presser and the end included in each of the plurality of the second swing members and provided with each of the plurality of second pressers, such that the position of each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers changes, and

at the third position, a distance between each of the plurality of second pressers and a corresponding one of the plurality of second image carriers is equal to a distance between the first presser and the first image carrier.

2. The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein

the switching mechanism, when setting a position of each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers to the first position, switches each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers from the third position to the first position.

3. The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein

the second position is a position of each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers when each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers is detached from the image forming device.

4. The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein

the third position is a position of each of the first presser and the plurality of second pressers when the image forming device is in a print standby state.

5. The image forming device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the switching mechanism, during monochrome printing, switches a position of the first presser to the first position, and also switches a position of each of the plurality of second pressers to the third position.

6. The image forming device according to claim 5 , wherein

the cam includes a first cam and a second cam that rotate by the same rotating shaft, and

the switching mechanism switches the position of the first presser according to a rotation angle of the first cam, and also switches the position of each of the plurality of second pressers according to a rotation angle of the second cam.

7. The image forming device according to claim 5 , wherein

the outer periphery of the cam includes a first peripheral edge and a second peripheral edge, and

the switching mechanism switches the position of the first presser based on a position of the first peripheral edge according to the rotation angle of the cam, and also switches the position of each of the plurality of second pressers based on a position of the second peripheral edge according to the rotation angle of the cam.

8. The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein

the cam is disposed between the plurality of second pressers and the first presser that are disposed along a movement direction of the transfer belt, and

the cam rotates to cause the plurality of second pressers to move in order to make contact with, and separate from, the plurality of second image carriers, and to cause the first presser to move in order to make contact with, and separate from, the first image carrier.

9. The image forming device according to claim 1 , wherein

the link member includes:

a first link member to cause the first swing member to rotate, and

a second link member to cause the plurality of second swing members to rotate,

the cam is disposed between the first link member and the second link member disposed in a line along the transfer belt, and

the cam rotates to cause both the first link member and the second link member to move.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (17)