JP2010089925A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device having a structure for preventing problems such as transfer blur and toner splash caused by bounce-up of a rear end of a transfer material by preventing bounce-up with regard to the problems in a transfer guide that guides the transfer material toward a transfer position. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming device comprising an image carrier carrying a toner image on a surface, the transfer device transferring the toner image on the image carrier to the transfer material, and a transfer material guide member 300 guiding the transfer material toward the transfer position in the transfer device, the transfer material guide member 300 has a structure where a guide tip end part is inclined along a width direction to shift the separation timing of the transfer material on one end side in the width direction that is a right angle direction to the movement direction of the transfer material from that on the other end side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a structure that prevents a transfer material from jumping up at a rear end in a moving direction.

  As is well known, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a printing machine, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive member, which is a latent image carrier, is visualized by a developer supplied from a developing device. It is processed.

  The visible image-processed toner image is transferred to a transfer material, and is then fixed by heating and pressurizing with a fixing device so that the toner melts and permeates to form a copy image.

  The toner image formed on the photosensitive member may be transferred to a transfer material as it is, or may be transferred to an intermediate transfer belt used as an intermediate transfer member and then transferred to the transfer material. The latter transfer method is used when full-color images are formed, and each color image is sequentially transferred while the intermediate transfer belt moves through the image forming section where each color image is formed, and the superimposed image is collectively transferred to the transfer material. Transcribed.

  By the way, in the vicinity of the transfer position of the image with respect to the transfer material, there is provided a transport device that transports the transfer material with the resist timing set to the transfer image toward the transfer position. The conveying device is provided with a guide member for guiding the transfer material toward the transfer position, and the transfer material is introduced toward the transfer position with the resist timing set.

  In recent years, downsizing of the apparatus has been promoted. For this reason, the form of the conveyance path from the registration roller to the transfer position may be curved instead of linear to reduce the occupied space in the vertical direction. For this reason, when the transfer material to be conveyed passes through the guide unit of the conveyance device, the traveling direction may be changed by the guide unit. If the moving direction of the transfer material changes in front of the transfer position, the rear end in the transfer direction of the transfer material may jump up. In other words, when the transfer material exits the guide member, the transfer material is released from the curved state in which the rear end in the conveyance direction has been directed by the guide member and jumps back to the original form by the shape restoring force due to the rigidity of the transfer material. Sometimes. In particular, when a thick paper such as a postcard, which is considered to have high bending rigidity, is used, the trailing edge jumping phenomenon becomes remarkable.

  When the rear end of the transfer material in the conveyance direction jumps up, the transfer position between the images is shifted due to the impact force generated at that time, and an abnormal image such as color shift or toner scattering occurs.

  Conventionally, as a configuration for preventing the trailing edge of the transfer material from jumping up, the entrance angle of the transfer material to the transfer position set by a guide member of the transfer material, that is, a so-called conveyance guide member, is varied depending on the bending rigidity of the transfer material. In such a configuration (for example, Patent Document 1), or the amount of protrusion of the conveyance guide member on the downstream side in the conveyance direction is different between the central portion and both end portions in the width direction corresponding to the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the transfer material. In addition, the conveyance guide is divided into a plurality of the width direction of the transfer material so that the entrance angles of the transfer materials having different widths are made different even if the thickness is the same. There exists a structure (for example, patent document 3).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-346738 JP-A-2005-314064 JP2008-39840

However, as a result of higher performance of image forming devices, that is, colorization and diversification of fields of use for creating various documents other than office documents, the types of transfer materials used have diversified and are more rigid than before. In the case of transferring a toner image to a transfer material having a high thickness, the conventional technology cannot completely relieve the jumping force of the trailing edge of the transfer material.
Further, the number of tandem intermediate transfer type image forming apparatuses is increasing due to colorization. However, in an image forming apparatus equipped with an intermediate transfer belt, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the intermediate transfer belt BT and the thickness of the transfer material are used. In some cases, a guide member such as Mylar M, which can change the approach angle by being bent and deformed, is disposed in proximity. In this configuration, it is difficult to sufficiently secure the space Q necessary for the flexible member such as Mylar M to bend, and the jumping force is completely absorbed at the rear end of the transfer material to completely It becomes difficult to relax.

  An object of the present invention is to prevent the transfer blur caused by the jumping up by preventing the trailing edge of the transfer material from jumping up in view of the problem in the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, in particular, the problem in the conveyance guide for directing the transfer material toward the transfer position. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a configuration capable of preventing adverse effects such as toner scattering.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) An image carrier that can carry a toner image on its surface, a transfer device that can transfer the toner image on the image carrier to a transfer material, and a transfer that guides the transfer material toward a transfer position in the transfer device In an image forming apparatus comprising a material guide member,
The transfer material guide member is positioned on the front side in the movement direction of the transfer material and guides the image transfer surface side of the transfer material, and a sub-position located on the rear side of the main guide portion in the movement direction. With a guide part,
The sub guide portion is provided in a cantilever shape by the main guide member, and the transfer material has a rear end in the movement direction at one end side and the other end side in a width direction corresponding to a direction perpendicular to the transfer material movement direction. It has a configuration that varies the separation timing of
As the configuration in which the separation timing is made different, an image forming apparatus is used in which a front end of the sub guide portion located on the front side in the moving direction of the transfer material is inclined along the width direction of the transfer material. .
(2) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the sub guide portion is divided into a plurality of sizes along a width direction of the transfer material according to a width size of the transfer material.
(3) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the sub guide portion in the transfer material guide member is configured by juxtaposing a plurality of identical parts in the width direction.
(4) The image formation according to (1), wherein the main guide portion of the transfer material guide member has a tip end surface in the moving direction inclined along a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the transfer material. apparatus.
(5) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the image carrier is an image carrier using a belt.
(6) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein an intermediate transfer member is used as the image carrier.

  According to the present invention, the separation timing of the rear end in the movement direction of the transfer material can be made different between the one end side and the other end side in the width direction corresponding to the direction perpendicular to the movement direction of the transfer material. Unlike the case where the rear end is simultaneously separated in the entire width direction, the repulsive force at the time of shape restoration can be easily relaxed by gradually separating in the width direction. Accordingly, the trailing edge jumping of the transfer material can be efficiently suppressed regardless of the width size, and adverse effects such as transfer blur and toner scattering caused by the jumping up can be prevented.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
An image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a tandem type image forming apparatus in which a plurality of image forming stations are juxtaposed along an extended surface of an intermediate transfer belt in which an endless belt is used as an image carrier capable of carrying a toner image. It is.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a paper feed bank B that stores a transfer material used as a recording material below the image forming unit A.

  The image forming portion A is provided with an intermediate transfer belt 1 that is wound around a plurality of rollers 2A to 2F, and the intermediate transfer belt 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow by a driving roller indicated by reference numeral 2A. ing.

  In the intermediate transfer belt 1 shown in FIG. 1, a part of the extended surface is detoured toward the inner peripheral surface side by a roller 2F, and a fixing device 10 (to be described later) is disposed in a space generated by the detour, and has a height. The height of the direction can be reduced.

  An image forming station capable of forming an image for each color is juxtaposed on one of the extended surfaces of the intermediate transfer belt 1.

  Each of the image forming stations has the same configuration, and an image forming station (a portion indicated by a symbol K in FIG. 1) as a representative black object will be described as follows. In each image forming station, Y, M, C, and K indicating the meaning of the color are displayed in a photosensitive drum described later, and a suffix is added to each apparatus.

  In the image forming station, a rotatable photosensitive drum 3 is provided. Around the photosensitive drum 3, a charging device 4, a developing device 5 and a cleaning device 6 among the devices that perform image forming processing are provided. Collectively housed in a process cartridge.

  A writing device 7 is disposed above each image forming station, and writing light corresponding to image information is emitted from a built-in laser light source to the photosensitive drum 3 through an optical system. ing.

  In each image forming station, a primary transfer roller 8 constituting a primary transfer device is disposed at a position facing the photosensitive drum 3 with the intermediate transfer belt 1 interposed therebetween.

  On the other hand, a secondary transfer roller 9 corresponding to a secondary transfer member is disposed on the intermediate transfer belt 1 so as to face the transfer back pressure roller 2B disposed at a position passing through each image forming station in the moving direction. ing.

  The secondary transfer roller 9 has a function of collectively transferring the images superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 1 to a transfer material fed out from the paper supply bank B.

  At a position where the transfer material is conveyed from the secondary transfer roller 9, a fixing device 10 for fixing a toner image of the transfer material conveyed by a conveyance device 200 described later is disposed.

The fixing device 10 is configured to use a belt fixing system including a fixing belt 10C wound around the heating roller 10A and the fixing roller 10B, and a pressure roller 10D facing the fixing roller 10B, and has a heat capacity of the belt. The rise time to a predetermined fixing temperature is shortened by utilizing the smallness.
In the fixing device 10, the transfer material is heated and pressurized in the process of nipping and transferring the transfer material between the fixing roller 10 </ b> B and the pressure roller 10 </ b> D to melt and penetrate the toner image carried on the transfer material. It is supposed to be.

  The transfer material after fixing is transported by a transport device toward a discharge tray 100A disposed outside the device or a reversal transport device RP for double-sided copying, although details will not be described.

The intermediate transfer belt 1 after the secondary transfer is cleaned of foreign matters such as residual toner and paper dust by a belt cleaning device 11 provided in the vicinity of the bypass portion.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the belt cleaning device 11 includes a cleaning blade 11 </ b> A that contacts the intermediate transfer belt 1 and a cleaning member that uses a roller, a brush roller 11 </ b> B, and the like. A backup roller 12 disposed on the inner peripheral surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 1 is provided opposite to the cleaning member, so that the cleaning effect of foreign matters by each cleaning member is enhanced.

  On the other hand, the paper feed bank B is provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes B1 and B2, and a feed roller B3 and a feed roller B4 are arranged on the transfer material feed side in each of the paper feed cassettes B1 and B2. ing.

  A registration roller 13 is disposed in front of the secondary transfer portion where the secondary transfer roller 9 is positioned in the transfer path of the transfer material fed from the sheet feeding cassettes B1 and B2, and the registration timing with respect to the image position is set. It is set so that the transfer material can be fed out. In FIG. 1, symbol C indicates a manual sheet feeding unit, and the conveyance path from the manual sheet feeding unit C merges with the conveyance path from the sheet feeding bank on the front side of the registration roller 13. .

  In the image forming apparatus 100 configured as described above, when the photosensitive drum 3 is uniformly charged by the charging device 4 in the image forming station, an electrostatic latent image is formed by the writing light from the writing device 7, and the electrostatic latent image is formed. The visible image is processed with toner supplied from the developing device 5 to form a toner image.

  The toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 3 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 1 by using a transfer bias by the primary transfer roller 8, and the toner image superimposed and transferred at each image forming station is transferred to the secondary transfer roller 9. As a result, the transfer material fed from the paper feed bank B is batch-transferred.

  The transfer material that has been subjected to the secondary transfer is transported toward the fixing device 10 by the transport device 200 described later, and the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 10 and transported toward the discharge tray 100A or the reverse transport device RP.

  The photosensitive drum 3 and the intermediate transfer belt 1 that have undergone the primary transfer are cleaned by a cleaning device 6 provided in the image forming station and a cleaning device 10 provided in a detour portion of the belt, respectively, to form the next image. Prepared for.

  The characteristic part of the present invention will be described below for the image forming apparatus having the above configuration.

  In this embodiment, a transfer material guide member 300 is disposed at a position where the transfer material is fed from the registration roller 13 to the secondary transfer portion.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer material guide member 300 is divided into a plurality of parts along the moving direction (direction indicated by arrow F in FIG. 2) at a position facing the image transfer side surface of the transfer material. The lower guide portion 300C and the main guide portion 300A for directing the transfer material toward the secondary transfer portion at positions facing the guide portion 300A and the sub guide portion 300B and the back surface of the transfer material opposite to the image transfer side surface. A support guide 301 is also provided which faces the image transfer surface side of the transfer material while supporting itself. The support guide 301 has relatively high rigidity and is difficult to be deformed even when a thick transfer material collides.

  The main guide portion 300A of the transfer material guide member 300 is located on the front side of the transfer material in the moving direction and is opposed to the image transfer surface side of the transfer material, and the sub guide portion 300B is on the rear side of the transfer material in the moving direction. Positioned and opposed to the image transfer surface side of the transfer material, the rear end of the transfer material in the moving direction comes into contact when passing through the transfer guide member 300.

The main guide portion 300A and the sub guide portion 300B have different easiness of bending.
That is, the main guide portion 300A and the sub-guide portion 300B are both made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and the sub-guide portion 300B is more easily bent than the main guide portion 300A as the bending rigidity in each portion. Yes. As a configuration for setting the ease of bending, the thickness of the material or the length of the support span in the case of a beam shape is used.

The sub guide portion 300B of the transfer material guide member 300 is supported in a cantilever shape with respect to the main guide portion 300A, and the tip extends in the vicinity of the secondary transfer portion, and the tip extends in the width direction of the transfer material. The separation timing of the rear end of the transfer material is made different along the transfer material.
That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the separation timing is varied along the width direction of the transfer material corresponding to the direction perpendicular to the transfer material movement direction. It is inclined so as to obtain a gradient amount h, and the timing at which the rear end of the transfer material is separated from the inclined front end is made different at one end side and the other end side in the width direction of the transfer material.
The gradient amount h in this case corresponds to a height at which the transfer material can be successively separated from the tip of the sub guide portion 300B from one end side to the other end side in the width direction of the transfer material. Thus, the rear end of the transfer material can be prevented from being separated at the same time in the entire width direction.

  Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, the transfer material that has been fed out from the paper supply bank B and has been subjected to conveyance movement after the registration timing is set by the registration rollers 13 reaches the conveyance guide member 300.

  The transfer material that moves the conveyance guide member 300 contacts the main guide portion 300A of the transfer material guide member 300, then moves while contacting the sub guide portion 300B, and is introduced into the secondary transfer portion.

  The sub guide portion 300B is a member that is more flexible than the main guide portion 300A, and further, the separation timing of the transfer material in the width direction is different between the one end side and the other end side in the width direction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the rear end of the transfer material is curved (the state indicated by the symbol P in FIG. 4), the original shape (the state indicated by the symbol P ′ in FIG. 4) is returned. The rear end is gradually separated along the width direction, not the entire width direction at the same time. Thereby, the rear end of the transfer material does not generate a strong repulsive force at the moment when it is separated from the guide portion as in the case where the entire width direction is simultaneously separated, and gradually from the one end side to the other end side in the width direction. As a result, the rebound is relieved by suppressing the jumping up. In particular, the repulsive force of the transfer material can be reduced with a simple configuration in which the edge of the sub guide member 300B has an inclined surface as a configuration in which the separation timing is different.

  In the present embodiment, as the ease of bending of the sub guide part 300B, the bending rigidity is set for a thick paper that is most likely to be flipped up, such as a postcard. Thereby, in the case of a transfer material that is thinner than the postcard and has a weak shape restoring force that acts as a flip-up force, the flip-up suppression becomes significant.

  In the above-described configuration, the sub guide portion 300B and the main guide portion 300A are provided as separate members so that the sub guide portion 300B is more easily bent than the main guide portion 300A. A configuration in which a portion having characteristics corresponding to the sub guide portion is formed at the tip of the portion 300A, or a configuration in which a plurality of sub guide portions 300B are overlapped and the tips are shifted from each other may be employed.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The present embodiment is characterized in that the sub guide portion 300B is divided so as to fit the size of the transfer material along the width direction of the transfer material.

Before describing the specific configuration of the present embodiment, the reason for the above characteristics will be described.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, by providing a guide portion having different easiness of bending and by varying the separation timing of the rear end of the transfer material in the width direction of the transfer material, the rigidity of the cardboard or the like is increased. Even with a high transfer material, it is possible to prevent the trailing edge from being flipped up and to prevent the occurrence of an abnormal image due to the jumping up.

  However, the sub guide part 300B is often set in accordance with the maximum sheet passing width of the transfer material in the image forming apparatus. For this reason, when the width of the transfer material is narrow, that is, when the width is less than the maximum sheet passing width, a sufficient effect may not be obtained. This is not a state in which the setting of the separation timing in the width direction is sufficiently different, and as shown in FIG. 9, the sub guide portion (indicated by reference numeral 300B0 ′ for convenience) is uniform in the width direction of the transfer material. This is because the rear end of the transfer material is almost simultaneously separated in the width direction, similar to the case where the length is extended.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the sub guide portion 300B is configured in accordance with the width of the transfer material, thereby solving the above-described problem and more effectively after using the configuration shown in FIGS. The occurrence of abnormal images is prevented by eliminating edge jumping. The configuration will be described below.
FIG. 5 shows a configuration in which the sub guide portion is divided into a state that occupies a plurality of regions in the width direction of the transfer material.
The sub-guide section 400 shown in the figure includes a wide sub-guide section 400A for a wide transfer material close to the maximum sheet passing width, and a narrow sub-guide for a narrow transfer material such as a postcard. Part 400B. The front ends of these width guide portions 400A and 400B are formed with side portions that are inclined along the width direction of the transfer material, as in the case shown in FIG.

  In such a configuration, when a wide transfer material is targeted, the transfer material moves across the wide auxiliary guide portion 400A, and the rear end of the transfer material is separated as in the case shown in FIG. Are supposed to be different. In addition, when a transfer material with a narrow width is targeted, the transfer material can move through the sub guide portion 400B corresponding to the width, so even when the separation timing in the width direction is varied, the sub guide portion 400B can be moved. It can be different within the width region.

  Accordingly, regardless of whether the transfer material is wide or narrow, the trailing edge of the transfer material can be prevented from jumping up by making the sub guide portions 400A and 400B different in flexibility and separation timing. .

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the same member is used for the wide auxiliary guide portion 400A located at both ends in the width direction of the transfer material, and the tip position is the same as that shown in FIG. In order to form an inclined piece, the installation position of the piece facing the end edge of the lower guide member indicated by reference numeral 300C in FIG. 5 is shifted. Thereby, since it is possible to use a common part without making the wide auxiliary guide portions 400A different parts, costs such as part management can be reduced.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration in which, among the sub guide portions used for varying the separation timing of the transfer material, at least the sub guide portion disposed in the vicinity of the position where the separation timing is the slowest. .

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a narrow transfer material such as a postcard is provided on one side corresponding to an earlier separation timing with respect to the center in the width direction of the transfer material, with the center in the width direction of the transfer material as a reference. And a sub-guide portion (indicated by reference numeral 500 for convenience) that includes both width direction one end regions of the wide transfer material and the other corresponding to the side where the separation timing is delayed with reference to the center in the width direction of the transfer material. On the side, a narrow-width sub-guide portion (designated by reference numeral 400B 'for convenience) intended for a narrow-width transfer material such as a postcard and a wide-width sub-guide portion targeted for wide-width transfer material (designated for convenience) 400A ′) is used.

  The wide sub-guide portion 400A 'is configured to guide a wide transfer material by using the same member as the adjacent one. Also in this case, the leading end of the widening sub-guide portion 400A 'and the narrowing sub-guide portion 400B' is formed with a piece that is inclined along the width direction of the transfer material.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration in which the sub guide portions are divided and provided at positions corresponding to the width of the transfer material over the entire width direction of the transfer material. Among the sub-guide portions shown in the figure, the narrow sub-guide portion (indicated by reference numeral 400B1 ′ for convenience) is an inclined piece having an inclination angle larger than the inclination angle of the tip of the wide sub-guide portion 400A ′. Has been.

  As a result, even when the number of narrow-width sub-guide portions 400B1 ′ contacting the narrow-width transfer material is small, the separation timing of the transfer material passing through the narrow-width sub-guide portion 400B1 ′ can be remarkably varied. . In addition, even if a sub-guide portion for a wide transfer material is provided, the sub-guide portion for a narrow transfer material has an independent bend that can absorb jumping up for a narrow transfer material. Can be awakened.

  By the way, the divided sub guide portions have different distances from the front end of the main guide portion because the front end protruding from the main guide portion is inclined. When the main guide portion is supported in a cantilever shape, the span length of the beam affects the ease of bending.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the divided sub guide portion is used, the tip 300A1 of the main guide portion 300A is also inclined in the width direction of the transfer material, as shown in FIGS.
The inclination angle in this case corresponds to the inclination angle set at the tip of the sub guide portion.
Thereby, the amount of protrusion of the sub guide portion from the main guide portion is the same at each divided position, and even when the sub guide portion is formed of the same member, it is possible to ensure the ease of bending of the sub guide portion with respect to the main guide portion. it can.

Note that a plurality of auxiliary guide portions may be provided in an overlapping manner, and FIG. 8 shows this case. That is, in FIG. 8, the sub guide portions 400B ′ and 400C are provided on the front and back surfaces in the thickness direction of the main guide portion 400A ′.
Also in this case, the tips of the sub guide portions 400B ′ and 400C are inclined pieces.

  In this embodiment, not only a wide transfer material but also a narrow transfer material, a sub guide part dedicated to the narrow sub transfer material is used, so the trailing edge of the narrow sub transfer material is flipped up. It can be suppressed by setting the bending deformation and the separation timing.

  Although not shown, when only the sub guide portion is provided with respect to the guide support member 301 (see FIG. 2), the guide support member 301 corresponds to the tip of the sub guide portion being inclined. By tilting the tip, the same effects as those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can be obtained. In addition, when the bending deformation of the sub guide portion becomes large, the sub guide portion may be peeled off from the main guide portion due to the bending deformation. In this case, in the bending deformation direction of the sub guide portion. You may make it provide a main guide part and a guide support member.

1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of a transfer material transport unit used in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a main part of a transfer material transport unit shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 2 for explaining the operation of the transfer material transport unit shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3 for explaining another embodiment relating to a sub guide portion used in the transfer material conveying portion shown in FIG. 2. It is a top view equivalent to FIG. 3 which shows the principal part modification in another embodiment shown in FIG. It is a top view equivalent to FIG. 3 which shows another modification of the principal part in another embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the configuration shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3 for describing a conventional example relating to a configuration for preventing the trailing edge of the transfer material from jumping up. It is a schematic diagram showing a conventional structure for preventing the trailing edge jump of the transfer material in the transfer material transport unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intermediate transfer belt 9 Secondary transfer roller 300 Transfer material conveyance guide member 300A Main guide portion 300A1 Front end of main guide portion 300B, 400, 400B ′ Sub guide portion 300C Lower guide portion 301 Guide support member

Claims (6)

An image carrier that can carry a toner image on its surface, a transfer device that can transfer a toner image on the image carrier to a transfer material, and a transfer material guide member that guides the transfer material toward a transfer position in the transfer device In an image forming apparatus comprising:
The transfer material guide member is positioned on the front side in the movement direction of the transfer material and guides the image transfer surface side of the transfer material, and a sub-position located on the rear side of the main guide portion in the movement direction. With a guide part,
The sub guide portion is provided in a cantilever shape by the main guide member, and the transfer material has a rear end in the movement direction at one end side and the other end side in a width direction corresponding to a direction perpendicular to the transfer material movement direction. It has a configuration that varies the separation timing of
As the configuration in which the separation timing is made different, an image forming apparatus is used in which a front end of the sub guide portion located on the front side in the moving direction of the transfer material is inclined along the width direction of the transfer material. .   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sub guide portion is divided into a plurality of sizes along a width direction of the transfer material in accordance with a width size of the transfer material.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sub guide portion of the transfer material guide member is configured by juxtaposing a plurality of identical parts in the width direction.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main guide portion of the transfer material guide member has a tip end surface in the moving direction inclined along a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the transfer material.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image carrier is an image carrier using a belt.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an intermediate transfer member is used as the image carrier.

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