# US 10,120,304 B2 · Belt device including support portions and an adjuster to adjust positions of the support portions > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,120,304 B2 - Document ID: US10120304B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/673,492 - Filed: 2017-08-10 - Published: 2018-02-15 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-08-12 - Assignees: Ricoh Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Junpei Fujita; Naohiro Kumagai; Seiichi Kogure; Kazuki Yogosawa; Kenji Sugiura; Yuuji Wada - Inventors: Junpei Fujita; Naohiro Kumagai; Seiichi Kogure; Kazuki Yogosawa; Kenji Sugiura; Yuuji Wada - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120304B2 ## CPC - G03G 15/1615: {relating to the driving mechanism for the intermediate support, e.g. gears, couplings, belt tensioning} - G03G 15/1685: {Structure, details of the transfer member, e.g. chemical composition} - G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY ## Abstract A belt device includes a belt unit including a plurality of rotators and a belt looped around the plurality of rotators. The belt device further includes a frame including a plurality of support portions to support the belt unit, a biasing member to bias the belt unit supported by the frame in a predetermined direction, and an adjuster to adjust a position of at least one of the plurality of support portions. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A belt device comprising: a belt unit including: a plurality of rotators; and a belt looped around the plurality of rotators; a frame including a plurality of support portions to support the belt unit; a biasing member to bias the belt unit supported by the frame in a predetermined direction; and an adjuster to adjust a position of at least one of the plurality of support portions. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The belt device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of support portions includes a main reference and a sub-reference, and wherein the adjuster is disposed at the sub-reference and on a front side of the belt device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearer to bear a toner image; and the belt device according to claim 1, wherein the belt is a transfer belt pressed against the image bearer, and wherein the toner image is transferred from the image bearer onto the belt in a transfer nip between the image bearer and the belt. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image bearer is an intermediate transferor, and wherein the belt is a secondary transfer belt. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a sensor to detect the toner image; and a bracket on which the sensor is mounted, wherein a position of the bracket is determined with respect to the belt unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sensor is opposed to one of the plurality of rotators via the belt, and wherein the position of the bracket is determined with respect to a shaft of the one of the plurality of rotators. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a bracket support to support the bracket, wherein the adjuster is to adjust a position of the at least one of the plurality of support portions and a position of the bracket support. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the bracket support is a support shaft, and wherein the bracket is pivotable on the support shaft. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the support shaft is attached to the frame supporting the belt unit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a frame shaft disposed at a position of the image forming apparatus different from the support shaft being the bracket support, wherein the frame is pivotable on the frame shaft. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the bracket support is a support shaft, and wherein the frame and the bracket are pivotable on the support shaft. ### Claim 12 A belt device comprising: a belt unit including: a plurality of rotators; and a belt looped around the plurality of rotators; a frame including a plurality of support portions to support the belt unit; a biasing member to bias the belt unit supported by the frame in a predetermined direction; and an adjuster to adjust a twist of the belt unit relative to the frame. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearer to bear a toner image; and the belt device according to claim 12, wherein the belt is a transfer belt pressed against the image bearer, and the toner image is transferred from the image bearer onto the belt in a transfer nip between the image bearer and the belt. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a sensor to detect the toner image; and a bracket on which the sensor is mounted, wherein a position of the bracket is determined with respect to the belt unit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the sensor is opposed to one of the plurality of rotators via the belt, and wherein the position of the bracket is determined with respect to a shaft of the one of the plurality of rotators. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a bracket support to support the bracket, wherein the adjuster is to adjust a position of at least one of the plurality of support portions and a position of the bracket support. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the bracket support is a support shaft, and wherein the bracket is pivotable on the support shaft. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the support shaft is attached to the frame supporting the belt unit. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a frame shaft disposed at a position of the image forming apparatus different from the support shaft, the frame shaft to support the frame pivotably on the frame shaft. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the bracket support is a support shaft, and wherein the frame and the bracket are pivotable on the support shaft.