A printing apparatus is described comprising a photoconductor for receiving an electrostatic charge pattern corresponding to an image, and one or more developers for applying a colorant to the photoconductor representative of the image. The apparatus further comprises a transfer member for transferring the image from the photoconductor onto a substrate, wherein the transfer member has a substantially grounded potential.

An image forming method includes forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image bearer, developing the electrostatic image with a toner to form a visible image, transferring the visible image onto a recording medium, and fixing the transferred visible image on the recording medium. The toner includes toner base particles each including a binder resin, a release agent, and particles of an inorganic antibacterial antiviral agent, and satisfies conditions (1) to (3) below. The image forming method satisfies a relationship of 2.0X (micrometers)?Z?2.5X (micrometers). Conditions (1) the number average particle diameter X of the particles of the inorganic antibacterial antiviral agent is 1.5 (micrometers)?X?2.5 (micrometers), (2) 3X (micrometers)?Y?4X (micrometers), and (3) an amount of the inorganic antibacterial antiviral agent in the toner is 2.8% by mass or greater, but 5.0% by mass or less.

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier to carry a toner image, intermediate, primary, and secondary transfer members, and a voltage application member. The voltage application member applies a voltage to the image carrier. The secondary transfer member is in contact with an outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer member. The toner image carried on the image carrier is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer member in a state where the voltage application member applies the voltage to the image carrier. The intermediate transfer member has a volume resistivity from 5?10.sup.7 ?.Math.cm to 2?10.sup.11 ?.Math.cm inclusive. A relation ?s1/?s2?1.5 is satisfied, where ?s1 denotes a surface resistivity which is measured from the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer member and ?s2 denotes a surface resistivity which is measured from an inner circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer member.

A transfer unit includes first and second rollers, a roller switching mechanism, and upstream-side and downstream-side guides. The second roller is arranged downstream of the first roller in the conveyance direction of the recording medium. The roller switching mechanism selectively arranges the first or second roller at a reference position to form a transfer nip. The upstream-side and downstream-side guides are respectively arranged upstream and downstream of the transfer nip in the conveyance direction of the recording member. When the first roller moves to the reference position by the roller switching mechanism, the second roller moves to a first retracted position behind the downstream-side guide, and when the second roller moves to the reference position by the roller switching mechanism, the first roller moves to a second retracted position behind the upstream-side guide.

A chute is located between a transfer roller and a fuser in a direction crossing both a first direction along a drum axis direction and a second direction crossing the first direction. The chute causes a sheet having passed through a transfer nip to be directed toward a fixing nip. The chute is movable in the second direction between a first position and a second position shifted from the first position toward one side in the second direction. The chute located at the second position is farther away from an imaginary plane passing through the nips than the chute located at the first position. A reciprocating mechanism is located on an other side of the chute in the second direction. The reciprocating mechanism reciprocates by drive force from the drive source and presses the chute to move between the first position and the second position.

An image forming device of an intermediate transfer method of transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier to a sheet of paper through an intermediate transfer body, the image forming device including a transfer roller which is disposed facing the image carrier across the intermediate transfer body, and which forms a nip part with the image carrier; a movement mechanism which moves the transfer roller in a direction along a movement direction of the intermediate transfer body; a pressure varying mechanism which changes a pressing force of the transfer roller on the intermediate transfer body; and a hardware processor which controls the movement mechanism and the pressure varying mechanism, and which sets a contact position and the pressing force of the transfer roller on the intermediate transfer body based on paper information of the sheet of paper as an image formation target.

A printing apparatus is described comprising a photoconductor for receiving an electrostatic charge pattern corresponding to an image, and one or more developers for applying a colorant to the photoconductor representative of the image. The apparatus further comprises a transfer member for transferring the image from the photoconductor onto a substrate, wherein the transfer member has a substantially grounded potential.

Provided is an image forming apparatus that inhibits an occurrence of downtime or shortens the downtime even in a case where a mode for performing image formation and a position of, for example, a primary transfer member does not match. The image forming apparatus includes photosensitive drums each configured to bear a toner image, primary transfer members, an intermediate transfer belt, an abutment/separation mechanism configured to move the primary transfer members, and a controller. The controller brings the primary transfer member into contact with the photosensitive drum in a full-color mode, separates the primary transfer member from the photosensitive drum in a monochrome mode, and sets the position of the primary transfer member to a predetermined position between the full-color mode and the monochrome mode in a standby mode.

A rubber composition capable of forming a foam such as a roller main body which has a low rubber hardness and is soft in a state in which an average cell diameter thereof is small is provided. The rubber composition includes NBR whose Mooney viscosity is 15 to 50 having a proportion being 10 parts by mass or more in 100 parts by mass of the total amount of rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber whose Mooney viscosity is 5 to 35 having a proportion being 10 parts by mass or more in 100 parts by mass of the total amount of rubber, and 10 parts by mass or less of carbon black and 7 parts by mass or less of a foaming agent with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total amount of rubber, and has a Mooney viscosity of 35 or less.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a transfer member, an acquiring portion, an applying portion, and a controller. When a transfer voltage is subjected to constant-voltage control so that the transfer voltage applied to the transfer member by the applying portion is substantially constant, in a case that the transfer voltage, when a toner amount used for a toner image is a first toner amount, is a first voltage, the controller controls the applying portion so that the transfer voltage is a second voltage lower in absolute value than the first voltage in a case that the toner amount is a second toner amount greater than the first toner amount. The acquiring portion acquires toner amount information on the toner amount for each toner image transferred onto a single recording material.