Patent ID: 8449210
Filing Date: 2013-05-28
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an apparatus main body having a housing structure and equipped with a plate-shaped frame; a unit accommodated in the apparatus main body and having a bottom surface; and a drawer mechanism that allows the unit to be pulled out from the apparatus main body in a pull-out direction, wherein the drawer mechanism includes: a first roller and a second roller disposed in a rotatable manner on a surface of the frame at a specific interval, each roller including a guide peripheral surface formed in an outer peripheral portion in a radial direction and a lower surface opposing the surface of the frame at a specific interval; a rail having a mount surface on which the bottom surface of the unit is mounted, the rail being movable between a first state where the rail is mounted on the surface of the frame within the apparatus main body and a second state where a part of the rail is pulled out from the apparatus main body in the pull-out direction, the rail including a first pinched portion and a second pinched portion extending linearly in the pull-out direction and pinched between the surface of the frame and one of the lower surfaces and the guide peripheral surfaces of the first roller and the second roller, respectively; first and second guide grooves perforated in the mount surface of the rail and extending along the pull-out direction; at least one first pin and at least one second pin protruding from the bottom surface of the unit, the first and second pins being guided respectively along the first and second guide grooves; a first protrusion formed on the surface of the frame; and a second protrusion provided to the rail so as to interfere with the first protrusion; wherein a first clearance between the surface of the frame and one of the lower surfaces and the guide peripheral surfaces of the first roller and the second roller has a distance to form a second clearance with the first and second pinched portions being pinched therebetween, so that the rail is inclinable diagonally up with respect to the frame, and a protruding length of the second protrusion is set at a length not to interfere with the first protrusion when the rail is inclined diagonally up with respect to the frame.