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US 8,301,060 B2Granted
Image forming apparatus with a belt unit and a mark sensor
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorHirotaka Mori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image forming apparatus with a detachable belt unit and supporting frame are described. The detachable belt unit is positioned in the supporting frame. One or more mark sensors are positioned on the supporting frame and are configured to detect alignment marks deposited on an endless belt of the belt unit.
Claims10
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image formation device configured to form an image by transferring a plurality of colors of developers;
- an apparatus body including the image formation device and a supporting member;
- a belt unit configured to be attached to and removed from the apparatus body, the belt unit including:
- a drive roller and a non-drive roller spaced apart from each other;
- an endless belt extending around the drive roller and the non-drive roller, the endless belt being configured to face the image formation device and rotate in connection with an image formation operation of the image formation device when the belt unit is attached to the apparatus body;
- and
- a belt frame to which the drive roller and the non-drive roller are disposed;
- and
- a mark sensor configured to detect a registration mark on the endless belt,
- wherein the supporting member of the apparatus body includes:
- a first positioning portion and a second positioning portion opposed to the first positioning portion, the first and second positioning portions being configured to support and position the belt unit at a predetermined position in the apparatus body;
- and
- a connection portion configured to support the mark sensor thereon and integrally formed with the first and second positioning portions such that the connection portion connects the first and second positioning portions.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.