US 12,271,129 B2
Intermediate transfer belt assembly with shutter structure
Seongho Park, Seongnam-si (KR); and Wontaek Kim, Seongnam-si (KR)
Assigned to Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Appl. No. 18/572,766
Filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 27, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/065229
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 20, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/282930, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 12, 2023.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2021-0088069 (KR), filed on Jul. 5, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0201618 A1, Jun. 20, 2024
Int. Cl. G03G 15/16 (2006.01)
CPC G03G 15/1615 (2013.01) [G03G 2215/1623 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An intermediate transfer belt assembly comprising:
an intermediate transfer belt;
an intermediate transfer roller located on an inner side of the intermediate transfer belt to support the intermediate transfer belt;
an accommodation portion to accommodate foreign matter, the accommodation portion having an inlet open toward the intermediate transfer belt; and
a shutter to open or close the inlet,
wherein the shutter is located in a closed position when an image-forming operation using the intermediate transfer belt is not performed,
wherein the shutter is configured to automatically move to the closed position in response to completion or stopping of an image-forming operation using the intermediate transfer belt, while the intermediate transfer roller remains positioned on the inner side of the intermediate transfer belt.