Belt drive device and image forming apparatus equipped with said device
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorsSeiichi Munenori, Hiroki Yamashita, Hideyuki Kurahashi, Tetsuya Onuki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A belt drive used in image forming apparatuses which minimizes the transverse movement of the belt across the length of a roller and prevents the riding up of the belt onto the roller. The belt drive device has a belt equipped with elastic guide members mounted on each edge or on the back surface of the belt near each edge. The belt is suspended over two or more rollers and driven by the drive belt. At least one of the rollers is a drive roller having a rotating member mounted between the elastic guide member and the roller end area such that the rotating members rotate independently of the roller.
Claims22
A belt drive device comprising:
- a continuous belt;
- a plurality of rollers which suspends the belt;
- a guide member which is mounted on an edge of at least one side of the belt to regulate a lateral shifting of the belt along the plurality of rollers;
- and
- a support member which is disposed between an end surface of at least one roller of the plurality of rollers and the guide member,
- wherein a friction between the end surface and the support member is smaller than a friction between the support member and the guide member.
A belt drive device adapted to be equipped on an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a belt which has a hook portion on one of its sides;
- a roller which suspends the belt;
- and
- a buffer which is located between said hook portion and an end surface of said roller,
- wherein a frictional resistance between said buffer and said hook portion is less than a frictional resistance between said buffer and end surface of said roller, said buffer capable of rotating independently of said roller.
A belt drive device adapted to be equipped on an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a belt which has a hook portion on each of its sides;
- a first roller which suspends the belt;
- and
- a buffer which is disposed between said hook portion and each end surface of said roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.