Patent ID: 9321606
Filing Date: 2016-04-26
CPC Classification: B65H

Claim Text:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a discharge tray having a supporting surface supporting a recording medium; a discharge mechanism which has a discharging slot through which the recording medium on which an image is formed is discharged along a conveying path, and is provided to discharge the recording medium from the discharging slot in a discharge direction which is a direction toward a space vertically above the supporting surface of the discharge tray; and a press down unit which is configured to relatively move toward and away from the supporting surface with respect to the discharge tray, the press down unit being relatively moved away from the supporting surface as the press down unit contacts with a downstream end in the discharge direction of the recording medium discharged onto the discharge tray by the discharge mechanism, and the press down unit applying a weight to the downstream end of the recording medium when the recording medium is supported by the supporting surface of the discharge tray; wherein the press down unit is configured to be rotatable so that a downstream end in the discharge direction of the press down unit moves toward and away from the supporting surface; wherein the press down unit includes a pair of arms which are directly connected to each other at a central area of the conveying path in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the discharge direction, and which diverge from each other on opposite sides of the central area of the conveying path toward the downstream in the discharge direction; and wherein, as the recording medium discharged from the discharging slot by the discharge mechanism floats toward the downstream of the discharge direction of the recording medium, a contact position between each of the arms and the recording medium moves outward from a central part in the orthogonal direction of the recording medium.