Patent ID: 7822379
Filing Date: 2010-10-26
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body discharge tray disposed in a main body of the image forming apparatus and having a sheet placing surface onto which a sheet with an image recorded thereon is discharged; a main body discharge member that comprises a main body discharge roller discharging the sheet onto the main body discharge tray; a reverse path transport roll that is located in the main body discharge member and located in a substantial-opposite side of the main body discharge roller; an optional discharge device disposed above the main body discharge member, the optional discharge device having an optional transport path through which the sheet, on which an image has been recorded in the image forming apparatus main body, passes wherein the optional discharge device comprises: a common transport roller that is provided at a protruding portion of the optional discharge device and that transports the sheet to bring the sheet from the main body discharge member into the optional discharge device; a face-down discharge roller that is disposed inside the optional discharge device and that is configured to discharge the sheet having passed through the optional transport path to an upper portion of a postprocessing transport device disposed above the main body discharge tray; a face-up discharge roller that is disposed inside the optional discharge device and in a substantial opposite side of the face-down discharge roller and, that is configured to discharge the sheet having passed through the optional transport path to an optional tray; a sheet reversing device that is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus to perform double-sided printing; a postprocessing device that performs postprocessing of the sheet on which an image has been recorded, wherein the postprocessing device is disposed on the opposite side of the sheet reversing device; and wherein the postprocessing transport device has: a lower portion which is supported on the sheet placing surface of the main body discharge tray; an upper portion on an upper surface of which the sheet discharged from the optional discharge device is placed; and a postprocessing transport path formed between the lower portion and the upper portion, the postprocessing transport path transporting the sheet discharged from the main body discharge member to the postprocessing device, the postprocessing transport path has a substantially horizontal linear shape, the postprocessing transport path is level with the main body discharge member, and wherein the face-down discharge roller, the common transport roller and the reverse path transport roll cooperate to transport the sheet for performing the double-sided printing.