Patent ID: 8953990
Filing Date: 2015-02-10
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image bearing member including an image bearing surface for bearing a toner mage to be transferred to a sheet; a transfer member arranged such that a circumferential surface thereof is in contact with the image bearing surface, a transfer nip portion being formed between the transfer member and the image bearing member; and a guide member arranged near an upstream side of the transfer nip portion in a sheet conveying direction and guiding an under surface side of the sheet being conveyed in a horizontal direction to introduce the sheet to the transfer nip portion; wherein the guide member includes: a rigid restricting member formed of a rigid member and including a guide surface which faces the under surface side of the sheet being conveyed; a cut portion formed by recessing a leading edge part of the guide surface on a downstream side in the sheet conveying direction and in proximity to the leading end part and having a predetermined width along a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction; and a sheet-like elastic restricting member formed of an elastic member and arranged on the guide surface to cover the cut portion; and wherein: the elastic restricting member includes an end edge portion extending straight in the sheet width direction on a downstream side of the elastic restricting member in the sheet conveying direction; a ridge defining the leading edge part of the guide surface is a ridge extending straight in the sheet width direction; the end edge portion of the elastic restricting member is arranged at a position shifted toward an upstream side in the sheet conveying direction from the ridge of the guide surface; a length of the cut portion in the sheet width direction is shorter than a length of the guide surface in the sheet width direction and a center of the cut portion in the sheet width direction coincides with a center of the guide surface in the sheet width direction; the rigid restricting member includes a tip slant connected to the guide surface on a side downstream of the ridge of the guide surface in the sheet conveying direction and is so arranged with respect to the image bearing member that an extended line of the guide surface intersects with the image bearing surface and the tip slant faces the image bearing surface in an end view viewed in the sheet width direction; and a downstream end edge of a bottom surface of the cut portion in the sheet conveying direction is located in the tip slant.