Transfer Roll Assembly for an Electrophotographic Image Forming Device

An electrophotographic image forming device, comprising:

• a housing;
• an intermediate transfer member in an interior portion of the housing positioned to receive a toned image from each of a plurality of photoconductive drums at a series of first transfer nips and to convey the toned images received from the plurality of photoconductive drums at a second transfer nip formed between the intermediate transfer member and a transfer roll;
• an access door on the housing manually movable between a closed position and an open position permitting access to the intermediate transfer member;
• an inner door frame on an inner portion of the access door having a first side and a second side;
• a carriage mounted on the inner door frame, the transfer roll being rotatably mounted to the carriage, the transfer roll forming the second transfer nip with the intermediate transfer member when the access door is in the closed position and being spaced away from the intermediate transfer member when the access door is in the open position, the carriage being free to move relative to the access door and being biased away from the access door toward the intermediate transfer member;
• a first upper pivotal arm and a first lower pivotal arm on the first side of the inner door frame, a second upper pivotal arm and a second lower pivotal arm on the second side of the inner door frame, the first upper pivotal arm and the first lower pivotal arm being connected by a first spring, the second upper pivotal arm and the second lower pivotal arm being connected by a second spring;
• a first guide member positioned to guide the movement of one of the first upper arm and the first lower arm as the access door is opened and closed and a second guide member positioned to guide the movement of one of the second upper arm and the second lower arm as the access door is opened and closed;
• and
• a first pivotal guide lever and a second pivotal guide lever, the first pivotal guide lever being actuatable by the other of the first upper arm and the first lower arm and the second pivotal guide lever being actuatable by the other of the second upper arm and the second lower arm to clamp the transfer roll against the intermediate transfer member to form the second transfer nip as the access door is closed and unclamp the transfer roll from the intermediate transfer member as the access door is opened.

A carriage mountable to an inner portion of an access door of an image forming device, comprising:

• a body having a first end and a second end, a first side, a second side, a top and a bottom extending between the first end and the second end;
• a roll rotatably mounted on the first end of the body unobstructed for forming a nip with a corresponding member in the image forming device, the roll being free to flex toward and away from the first end of the body and being biased away from the first end of the body;
• and
• a first guide member on the first side of the body and a second guide member on the second side of the body, the first and second guide members being positioned to guide end-to-end movement of the body.