Patent ID: 7831173
Filing Date: 2010-11-09
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an apparatus main body having a housing structure; a conveyance path provided in the apparatus main body for conveying a transfer material, to which an image is to be transferred; an opening/closing member attached to the apparatus main body and displaceable between a closed position and an opened position where the conveyance path is exposed; an image bearing member arranged in the apparatus main body to face the conveyance path and adapted to bear the image to be transferred to the transfer material; an image bearing member cover having such a size as to cover the image bearing member, made of a flexible sheet material, set in a protecting state to cover a part of the image bearing member facing the conveyance path when the opening/closing member is at the opened position and set in a retracted state to be retracted from the conveyance path when the opening/closing member is at the closed position; a cover moving mechanism for sliding the image bearing member cover between the protecting state and the retracted state; a front frame and a rear frame movably held by the cover moving mechanism and respectively attached to front and rear edge portions of the image bearing member cover in a sliding direction; and a tension applying mechanism for applying a tension acting in the sliding direction to the image bearing member cover via the front and rear frames during a sliding movement of the image bearing member cover, wherein the cover moving mechanism includes a first guide portion vertically extending on a side facing the conveyance path of the image bearing member, and a second guide portion horizontally extending above the image bearing member, and the front frame is vertically guided by the first guide portion, and the rear frame is horizontally guided by the second guide portion, whereby the cover moving mechanism retracts the image bearing member cover above the image bearing member when the image bearing member cover is in the retracted state, and slides the image bearing member cover so as to cover the image bearing member on the side facing the conveyance path of the image bearing member when the image bearing member cover is in the protecting state.