Belt stretcher and color image formation apparatus incorporating the same

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner image onto either the belt member or a recording medium held on the belt member;
• and
• a cleaning blade, abutted against a part of the belt member wound on the drive roller for removing toner remained on the belt member after the toner image transfer is performed,
• wherein a friction coefficient of an outer peripheral surface of the drive roller is larger then a friction coefficient of an inner surface of the looped belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner image onto either the belt member or a recording medium held on the belt member;
• and
• a cleaning blade, abutted against a part of the belt member wound on the drive roller for removing toner remained on the belt member after the toner image transfer is performed,
• wherein the driven roller serves as a regulation roller, which moves in a direction other than a direction in which the driven roller initially stretches the belt member to regulate meander action of the belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• and
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner image onto either the belt member or a recording medium held on the belt member, wherein:
• the driven roller serves as a regulation roller, which moves in a direction other than a direction in which the driven roller initially stretches the belt member such that a part of the belt member at which a transferring member closest to the driven roller is provided is separated from the associated image former, in order to regulate meander action of the belt member;
• and
• the transferring member closest to the driven roller is provided as a first transfer roller for urging the belt member toward the associated image former with an urging force greater than a force produced when the driven roller regulates the meander action of the belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner image onto either the belt member or a recording medium held on the belt member;
• and
• a positioning member disposed between the driven roller and a transferring member closest to the driven roller, the positioning member being abutted against an inner surface of the looped belt member, wherein:
• the driven roller serves as a regulation roller, which moves in a direction other than a direction in which the driven roller initially stretches the belt member such that a part of the belt member at which the transferring member closest to the driven roller is provided is separated from the associated image former, in order to regulate meander action of the belt member;
• and
• a friction coefficient of an abutting surface of the positioning member is less than a friction coefficient of the inner surface of the looped belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller having a first diameter;
• a driven roller having a second diameter larger than the first diameter;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for primarily transferring the toner image onto the belt member;
• and
• a first transfer roller, which urges the belt member toward the drive roller to transfer the toner image on the belt member onto a recording medium placed therebetween.

A belt stretcher, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• and
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound,
• wherein the driven roller serves as a regulation roller, which moves in a direction other than a direction in which the driven roller initially stretches the belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• and
• a plurality of transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner inmage onto either the belt member or a recording medium held on the belt member;
• wherein the driven roller serves as a regulation roller, which moves in a direction other than a direction in which the driven roller initially stretches the belt member to regulate meander action of the belt member.

A color image formation apparatus, comprising:

• a drive roller;
• a driven roller;
• a looped belt member, which is stretched by the drive roller and the driven roller and circulated therearound;
• a plurality of image formers, each forming a toner image associated with each single color constituting a color image;
• and
• a plurality of primary transferring members, disposed on a circulating path of the belt member, each primary transferring member being associated with each image former for transferring the toner image onto the belt member, wherein:
• the drive roller serves as a secondary transferring member which transfers the toner image from the belt member onto a recording medium, together with a transferring roller;
• and
• a diameter of the driven roller is larger than a diameter of the drive roller.