An inadvertent swing of a steering roller is restricted with a versatile configuration. A belt conveying device includes a belt member configured to be stretched around a steering roller and a roller member, and a movement mechanism configured to move the roller member. The roller member is movable to a first position and a second position where the roller member is moved further inward on an inner peripheral side of the belt member than the first position by the movement mechanism. In the movement mechanism, a restriction portion capable of restricting a swinging range of the steering roller more in a case where the roller member is at the second position than in a case where the roller member is at the first position is provided.

A belt driving apparatus includes a driving pulley r a driven pulley and an endless toothed belt. Each of the driving pulley and the driven pulley includes an outer circumference surface provided with a plurality of teeth. The toothed belt, wound around the driving pulley and the first driven pulley, includes an inner surface provided with a plurality of teeth arranged to mesh with the teeth of the driving pulley and the first driven pulley. The belt driving apparatus also includes an idler pulley having a belt contact surface coming into contact with the outer surface of the toothed belt. As viewed along the width direction of the belt contact surface, the idler pulley includes a center portion and two end portions sandwiching the center portion. The center portion of the idler pulley is greater in diameter than each of the two end portions.

A medium transporting apparatus includes an endless conveyor belt having an outer surface to which a sheet P adheres, at least two rollers, which are a first roller and a second roller, around which the conveyor belt extends. The second roller is located downstream of the first roller in a medium transporting direction. The medium transporting apparatus also includes a backing plate that supports an inner surface of the conveyor belt at a position between the first roller and the second roller. In the medium transporting apparatus, the backing plate includes a hollow-containing portion that is formed at an upstream end of the backing plate in the medium transporting direction. The hollow-containing portion has a plurality of hollows formed therein in a width direction that intersects the medium transporting direction. The plurality of hollows are formed in a support surface that supports the conveyor belt.

A belt control device includes a holder to movably support a rotation shaft of at least one of the plurality of rotators around which a belt is looped, a contact part to contact an end of the belt as the belt moves in a belt width direction, a stationary frame part disposed facing the holder, a shaft moving device to move the rotation shaft as the belt moves, and at least one projection disposed on one of the stationary frame part and the holder. The projection is to contact the other of the stationary frame part and the holder. The projection includes a long projection having a contact portion extending in a shaft moving direction in which the rotation shaft moves, and the contact portion is contactable with the other of the stationary frame part and the holder.

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, an endless belt, a plurality of through holes for flashing, a droplet receiver, and an anti-floating member. In the recording head, a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting droplets onto a recording medium are arranged. The endless belt conveys the recording medium toward a position where an image is to be formed on the recording medium by the recording head. The through holes are formed in the endless belt. The droplet receiver receives flashing droplets having been ejected from the nozzles by flashing without contributing to formation of the image and having passed through the through holes. The anti-floating member prevents floating of end portions of the endless belt in a widthwise direction of the endless belt.

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles that each eject a liquid droplet to a recording medium, the nozzles being arranged in an array, a transport device including an endless belt that transports the recording medium toward an image forming position where the recording head forms an image, a plurality of through holes formed in the endless belt, to be used for a flushing operation, a liquid droplet receptacle that receives a flushing liquid droplet, which has been ejected from the nozzle and passed through the through hole, without being involved in image forming, a skew detection device that detects whether the endless belt is running straightly or skewing so as to shift in a belt width direction, and a levelness adjustment device that adjusts levelness of the transport device.

A belt step conveyor system includes a moving belt gripper mounted on a linear movement system to convey the conveyor belt rotating about a plurality of pulleys in successive distance movements while the moving belt gripper engages the conveying belt and the moving belt gripper is moved from a home position to an end position by linear movement system. The conveyor belt is stagnant by engaging a stagnating belt gripper while the moving belt gripper moves back to its home position, else the stagnating belt gripper releases the conveyor belt.

A glass sheet processing apparatus includes a glass sheet processing station including a laser cutting assembly that includes an optical arrangement positioned in a beam path of the laser providing a laser beam focal line that is formed on a beam output side of the optical arrangement. A glass holding conveyor belt carries a glass sheet by the laser cutting assembly so that the laser beam focal line is positioned on the glass sheet with the glass sheet on the glass holding conveyor belt. The glass holding conveyor belt is configured to carry multiple glass sheets to the laser cutting assembly for cutting the multiple glass sheets on the glass holding conveyor belt in a repeated fashion.

An image forming apparatus includes a belt configured to convey a sheet, a plurality of rollers over which the belt is stretched, the plurality of rollers including a drive roller to which a drive force is to be applied, a support portion configured to support at least one of the plurality of rollers in a manner that allows the at least one of the plurality of rollers to rotate, an ejection portion configured to eject ink onto the sheet conveyed by the belt, a movable member placed in a movable manner on an inner circumferential surface side of the belt in order to adjust a distance between the ejection portion and an outer circumferential surface of the belt at a position opposed to the ejection portion, a cam configured to displace a position of the movable member.

A printing system includes an endless metal transport belt for transporting sheets in a transport direction, wherein the metal transport belt comprises multiple through holes through which an underpressure or overpressure may be applied on the sheets, a sheet separation system for separating the sheets from the metal transport belt by applying a local overpressure, and a sheet separation guide which guides the separated sheets away from the metal transport belt. The sheet separation system includes a stationary sliding surface, wherein the metal transport belt slides over the stationary sliding surface, wherein the stationary sliding surface includes a number of blow holes which define the overpressure zone, and wherein the blow holes are configured to apply a local overpressure in the overpressure zone through the metal transport belt onto the underside of the sheets. The overpressure zone is formed in the curved part of the stationary sliding surface, wherein the overpressure zone has an upstream end and a downstream end, which are defined by the location of the blow holes, and wherein the sheet separation guide directly adjoins the overpressure zone at the downstream end thereof.