A belt driving device includes an adjustment roller to stretch and rotate an endless belt; an inclination adjuster including a cam to adjust inclination of the roller to control deviation of the belt; a belt position detector to detect a belt position in a direction orthogonal to a movement direction of the belt; a stepping motor to rotate the cam; and a control output adjuster to adjust a control output to be supplied to the motor based on the belt position. When obtaining a rotation angle less than one step of the motor, the control output adjuster supplies the control output to the motor for a time corresponding to the rotation angle less than the one step out of a supply time of the control output for obtaining a rotation angle of the one step, and stops supplying the control output for a remaining time out of the supply time.

An imaging system includes a belt roller extending in an axial direction, an endless belt to rotate about the belt roller, a steering roller located inside the endless belt and extending in the axial direction, a steering roller actuator located at an end portion of the belt roller in the axial direction to contact the endless belt, and a support. The steering roller actuator is displaceable in the axial direction in response to a shifting of the endless belt so as to tilt the steering roller with respect to the axial direction. The support supports the endless belt in a gap formed between the belt roller and the steering roller actuator when the steering roller actuator is displaced in the axial direction.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, a belt, a plurality of stretching rollers including an inner roller and an upstream roller, an outer member, an urging member, a first position changing mechanism, a storing portion, a controller, and an operating portion. The controller controls the first position changing mechanism on the basis of a kind of a recording material on which an image is formed, first set information stored in the storing portion, and first input information for changing setting of a position of the urging member inputted to the controller through the operating portion.

A transfer device includes a transfer roller and a transfer counter roller. The transfer roller has an elastic layer, contacts with and separates from an image bearer including a belt-shaped elastic body, and nips a recording medium with the image bearer. The transfer counter roller has an elastic layer, is disposed facing the transfer roller, and nips the image bearer with the transfer roller. The transfer counter roller or the transfer roller is applied with a bias to transfer the toner image. Each of the elastic layers of the transfer roller and the transfer counter roller has an Asker C hardness of 75 or less. A difference in thickness between the elastic layers of the transfer roller and the transfer counter roller is ±3% or less.

An electrophotographic member comprising a base layer and an elastic layer on the base layer. The elastic layer comprises a silicone rubber, at least one first cation selected from the group consisting of a cation of Structural Formula (1-1) and a cation of Structural Formula (1-2), at least one second cation selected from the group consisting of a cation of Structural Formula (2-1) and a cation of Structural Formula (2-2), and an anion.

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An intermediate transfer belt that can bear a toner image includes a first layer and a second layer. The first layer includes a first surface located on an outer peripheral surface side of the first layer. The second layer is provided on a side of the first surface, transmits light, and includes a second surface. The first surface includes first grooves that (i) extend in a first direction in a circumferential direction of the intermediate transfer belt and (ii) are arranged in a width direction of the intermediate transfer belt that is orthogonal to the circumferential direction. The second surface is located on an outer peripheral surface side of the second layer, contacts a toner image, and includes second grooves that extend in a second direction in the circumferential direction. The first grooves includes 80 or more grooves per 1-mm length in the width direction in the first surface.

Provided is an electrophotographic electroconductive member including an electroconductive support and an electroconductive layer on the support, an electroconductive member is used, in which an electroconductive layer has a matrix comprising a first rubber, and domains dispersed in the matrix, the domains each comprising a second rubber and an electronic electroconductive agent, and for impedance measured by applying an AC voltage with an amplitude of 1 V to the electroconductive layer while varying frequencies between 1.0×10.sup.−2 Hz to 1.0×10.sup.7 Hz under a specific environment, when a double logarithmic plot with a frequency on an abscissa and an impedance on an ordinate is obtained, a slope on a high frequency side is −0.8 or more and —0.3 or less, and the impedance a low frequency side is from 1.0×10.sup.3 to 1.0×10.sup.7Ω.

In an example of the disclosure, service rotation of a drum along a longitudinal axis of the drum is caused. The service rotation is to apply a centrifugal force upon a liquid held by the drum. The centrifugal force pushes gas bubbles in the drum away from a curved surface of the drum and towards the longitudinal drum axis. The gas bubbles evacuate from the drum via an outlet tube positioned adjacent to the longitudinal drum axis. A production rotation of the drum is caused after the service rotation.

An electrophotographic belt includes a biaxially stretched cylindrical film as a base layer, wherein the biaxially stretched cylindrical film includes crystalline polyester, amorphous polyester and carbon black, a content of the carbon black with respect to the biaxially stretched cylindrical film is 2.0% by mass or more, and a surface resistivity measured on the surface of the biaxially stretched cylindrical film in an environment of 23° C. and 50% RH is 1×10.sup.3 Ω/square or higher and 1×10.sup.13 Ω/square or lower, and A/B is 3.00 or smaller, where A (Q/square) represents a surface resistivity of the biaxially stretched cylindrical film after the film is left to stand for 24 hours in an environment of 23° C. and 50% RH, and B (Ω/square) represents a surface resistivity of the biaxially stretched cylindrical film after the film is left to stand for 24 hours in an environment of 30° C. and 80% RH.

Method and system for thermal transfer printing are disclosed. The system includes a transfer member having an imaging surface on the front side, a coating station at which a monolayer of particles made of, or coated with, a thermoplastic polymer is applied to the imaging surface, an imaging station at which electromagnetic radiation (EM) is applied via the rear side of the transfer member to selected regions of the particles-coated imaging surface to render the particles thereon tacky within the selected regions, and a transfer station at which only the regions of the particles coating that have been rendered tacky are transferred to a substrate. The transfer member includes on its rear side a body transparent to EM radiation and on its front side an EM radiation absorbing layer, the imaging surface being formed on, or as part of, the absorbing layer.