Image forming apparatus
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTsutomu Sato
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment includes: a separating mechanism configured to move a transfer belt between a first position in which the transfer belt contacts a photoconductor to a second position, a separating shaft configured to rotate to cause the separating mechanism to move from the first position to the second position. The image forming apparatus further includes a lever configured to be removably mounted on a first end of the separating shaft, and an accommodation section configured to accommodate the lever in a body of the image forming apparatus. A second end of the separating shaft prevents the accommodation of the lever in the accommodation section when the lever is removed and when the separating shaft is in the first rotation position.
Claims20
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a separating mechanism configured to move a transfer belt between a first position in which the transfer belt contacts a photoconductor to a second position in which the transfer belt does not contact the photoconductor;
- a separating shaft configured to rotate from a first rotation position to a second rotation position to cause the separating mechanism to move from the first position to the second position;
- a lever configured to be removably mounted on a first end of the separating shaft;
- and
- an accommodation section configured to accommodate the lever in a body of the image forming apparatus when the lever is removed from the separating shaft and when the separating shaft is in the second rotation position, wherein
- a second end of the separating shaft interferes with the accommodation section and prevents the accommodation of the lever in the accommodation section when the lever is removed from the separating shaft and when the separating shaft is in the first rotation position.
A transfer belt separating mechanism for separating transfer belt from a photoconductor in an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a separating shaft configured to rotate from a first rotation position to a second rotation position to move the transfer belt between a first position in which the transfer belt contacts the photoconductor to a second position in which the transfer belt does not contact the photoconductor;
- and
- a lever configured to be removably mounted on a first end of the separating shaft, wherein
- the lever is configured to be accommodated in an accommodation section of a body of the image forming apparatus when the lever is removed from the separating shaft and when the separating shaft is in the second rotation position, and
- a second end of the separating shaft interferes with the accommodation section and prevents the accommodation of the lever in the accommodation section when the lever is removed from the separating shaft and when the separating shaft is in the first rotation position.
A method for separating a transfer belt from a photoconductor in an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- rotating a shaft separating section from a first rotation position to a second rotation position to move the transfer belt from a first position in which the transfer belt contacts the photoconductor to a second position in which the transfer belt does not contact the photoconductor;
- and
- removing a lever from a first end of the separating shaft;
- and
- inserting the lever in an accommodation section of a body of the image forming apparatus while the lever is removed from the separating shaft and while the separating shaft is in the second rotation position, wherein
- the lever is prevented from being inserted in the accommodation section when the lever is removed from the separating shaft and when the separating shaft is in the first rotation position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.