According to an aspect of the invention, a fixing member includes a base material; an elastic layer that is provided on the base material and is made from a cured material of a silicone rubber composition containing a heat active catalyst and an ultraviolet ray active catalyst; and a surface layer provided on the elastic layer.

A fixing member includes a base material, an elastic layer that is provided on the base material, and contains a cured material of a composition including thermosetting type silicone rubber, an adhesion layer that is provided on the elastic layer, and contains a cured material of a composition including an ultraviolet ray curing type silicone rubber and a surface layer provided on the adhesion layer.

A housing includes at least one openable cover and at least one adjacent cover. The at least one openable cover swings on a hinge to separate an interior of the housing from an exterior of the housing. The at least one openable cover has a first side edge on a side of the hinge. The at least one adjacent cover is adjacent to the at least one openable cover. The at least one adjacent cover has a second side edge neighboring the first side edge of the at least one openable cover across a gap. One of the at least one openable cover and the at least one adjacent cover includes at least one projection projecting into the gap and another one of the at least one openable cover and the at least one adjacent cover includes a recess that accommodates the at least one projection in the gap.

An image forming apparatus includes a sheet transport path that transports a sheet on which an image has been recorded, the sheet transport path including a first guide surface and a second guide surface opposed to the first guide surface, an image reading unit disposed on the same side as the first guide surface of the sheet transport path to read the image, and a rotary element disposed on the same side as the second guide surface, the rotary element being rotatably disposed with a gap between the rotary element and the first guide surface.

According to one embodiment, a belt positioning structure includes a belt roller around which an endless belt is wound. The belt comprises a belt-side positioning component curbing position aberration from the belt roller in a roller shaft direction. The belt roller comprises a roller-side positioning component curbing position aberration of the belt in a belt shaft direction. The roller-side positioning component comprises a regulation plate formed along a virtual tapered surface that has a diameter on one side in the roller shaft direction larger than a diameter on an opposite side of the regulation plate. The regulation plate comprises a movement regulation component that regulates movement of the belt-side positioning component to the one side of the belt-side positioning component in the roller shaft direction and strengthens a movement regulation force to the one side of the belt-side positioning component in the roller shaft direction.

A housing includes at least one openable cover and at least one adjacent cover. The at least one openable cover swings on a hinge to separate an interior of the housing from an exterior of the housing. The at least one openable cover has a first side edge on a side of the hinge. The at least one adjacent cover is adjacent to the at least one openable cover. The at least one adjacent cover has a second side edge neighboring the first side edge of the at least one openable cover across a gap. One of the at least one openable cover and the at least one adjacent cover includes at least one projection projecting into the gap and another one of the at least one openable cover and the at least one adjacent cover includes a recess that accommodates the at least one projection in the gap.

A deviation detection device to detect a deviation of a rotator includes a contact member disposed in contact with the rotator and configured to move, following a deviation of the rotator in a width direction of the rotator. The deviation detection device further includes a deviation detector configured to detect a direction of the deviation and a deviation amount of the rotator based on a displacement of the contact member, and a wear detector configured to detect a state in which an amount of wear of the contact member has reached a threshold.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device, an image position detector, and an image density detector. The image forming device forms an image on a surface of a recording medium. The image position detector detects a position of the image. The image density detector detects a density of the image. The image forming device forms a position detection image on a surface of a first recording medium. The image position detector detects a position of the position detection image on the surface of the first recording medium. The image forming device forms a density detection image on a second recording medium. The image density detector detects a density of the density detection image on the surface of the second recording medium.

There is provided an image forming apparatus that includes a color image former that forms a color image with a plurality of process color toners, a spot color image former that forms a spot color image with a spot color toner, a transfer unit that transfers the formed color image and the formed spot color image onto a recording material, a fixing unit that fixes the transferred color image and the transferred spot color image onto the recording material, and a hardware processor that selects a first mode or a second mode depending on whether or not a type of the recording material and an amount of toner to be attached onto the recording material satisfy a predetermined condition. The number of times of image transfer and fixation onto an identical surface of the recording material is two or more predetermined times in the first mode. The number of times of image transfer and fixation onto an identical surface of the recording material is less than the predetermined times in the second mode. When images are formed on both surfaces of the recording material, the predetermined condition differs between a first surface and a second surface of the recording material.

An image forming apparatus includes image forming devices, image output devices, an endless conveyor, a transfer device, holders, a detector, and circuitry. The image forming devices include image bearers. The image output devices form latent images on the image bearers. The image forming devices form visible images from the latent images. The transfer device transfers the visible images onto the endless conveyor that conveys the visible images in an image conveyance direction. The holders hold the image forming devices interchangeable at holding positions aligned in the image conveyance direction. The detector detects the visible images. The circuitry compares a first visible image of the visible images formed at a specific holding position of the holding positions with a second visible image of the visible images formed at another holding position of the holding positions on the endless conveyor, to correct misalignment between the first and second visible images.