Provided is an electrophotographic member including: a substrate having electroconductivity; and a monolayer surface layer formed on the substrate. The surface layer has a matrix containing a crosslinked resin as a binder, and holds at least one particle containing an inorganic layered compound having an ion exchange capacity so that at least a part of the at least one particle is exposed from an outer surface of the surface layer. An elastic modulus of the matrix, measured in a region of a section in a thickness direction of the surface layer from the outer surface of the surface layer to a depth of 0.1 μm, is 200 MPa or more.

A transfer device includes: a transfer drum that has a groove-like recess extending in an axial direction in an outer circumferential portion thereof, rotates about an axis thereof, and comes into contact with a medium being transported at a portion thereof on an upstream side of the recess in a rotation direction; a nip member, the nip member and the transfer drum forming therebetween a nip part where the medium is nipped; an application member that applies a voltage to the nip part where the medium is nipped, so that an image is transferred to the medium; and a contact mechanism that causes the nip member to come into contact only with a portion on the upstream side of the recess in the transfer drum in the rotation direction at a transfer-start time when the transfer of the image to the medium starts.

A transport device includes a rotating member that rotates; a circulating member that is loop-shaped and wrapped around the rotating member, the circulating member being circulated by rotation of the rotating member; a pair of pinching members attached to the circulating member and circulated together with the circulating member, the pair of pinching members changing from a separated state, in which the pair of pinching members are separated from each other, to a closely positioned state to pinch a transport object that has entered a space between the pair of pinching members in the separated state; and a guide unit positioned to overlap the pair of pinching members in the separated state when viewed in one direction along a rotational axis direction of the rotating member, the guide unit guiding the transport object into the space between the pair of pinching members in the separated state.

An intermediate transfer member (ITM) (210, 310, 320, 330, 400, 410, 420, 430, 500, 520, 540, 600, 700, 802) configured for receiving ink droplets to form an ink image thereon and for transferring the ink image to a target substrate (226), the TTM (210, 310, 320, 330, 400, 410, 420, 430, 500, 520, 540, 600, 700, 802) includes one or more layers (273, 277, 373, 379, 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 704, 706, 708, 712) and one or more markers (33, 333, 335, 392, 408, 418, 428, 448, 458, 612, 710, 804, 806) integrated with at least one of the one or more layers (273, 277, 373, 379, 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 704, 706, 708, 712) at one or more respective marking locations along the ITM (210, 310, 320, 330, 400, 410, 420, 430, 500, 520, 540, 600, 700).

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.

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 a case where a transfer roller is viewed from a direction orthogonal to a rotation axis direction of a shaft, the shaft includes in a longitudinal direction a first contact portion which is provided on an end portion side of an elastic portion and in which the shaft and the elastic portion are in contact with each other and a second contact portion which is provided on a more inner side than the first contact portion and in which the shaft and the elastic portion are in contact with each other. The transfer roller includes a void between the first contact portion and the second contact portion in the longitudinal direction, and the void is arranged at least on a more inner side than an end portion of a transfer material having a maximum size.

An electrophotographic roller includes: a mandrel and an elastic layer on the mandrel, and having a crown shape in which a diameter decreases from a central position O in a longitudinal direction of the mandrel toward an end portion. When a position of the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the elastic layer is defined as X2, a position between the O and the X2 is defined as X1, a distance between the O and the X1 is defined as L1, and a distance between the X1 and the X2 is defined as L2, L1=0.6×(L1+L2). When outer diameters of the electrophotographic roller at O, X1 and X2 are defined as Do, DX1 and DX2, respectively, and Z1=(Do−DX1)/2 and Z2=(DX1−DX2)/2 are defined, Z1, Z2, L1 and L2 satisfy (Z2/L2)<1.931×(Z1/L1).

A cylindrical shaft of a roller has facing surfaces which form a depression-protrusion-shaped portion of a joint of the cylindrical shaft and which face or make contact with each other and moreover which extend in a direction non-parallel to an axial direction of the cylindrical shaft, and the facing surfaces are inclined at a predetermined engagement angle with respect to a circumferential direction. A generating line of a circumferential surface of a coating layer that coats an outer circumference of the cylindrical shaft and a generating line of a circumferential surface of a photosensitive drum cross each other at a crossing angle smaller than the engagement angle.

A relationship 150≦Rs (Ω)/Rm (Ω)≦4000 is established in an environment of a temperature of 15° C. and a humidity of 10% in a case where a surface resistance of a transfer roller is Rs (Ω) when a current is fed between a pair of electrodes facing each other in an axial direction of the transfer roller and arranged on a surface of the transfer roller with an interval of 5 mm therebetween, the electrodes having a width of 20 mm in a circumferential direction of the transfer roller in a state of being arranged on the transfer roller, and in a case where a combined resistance of a first layer and a second layer is Rm (Ω) when the current is fed from a core portion to an outer peripheral surface of the second layer.