Patent ID: 8270875

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a toner image carrying member to carry a toner image and move endlessly; an image transfer device to transfer the toner image from the toner image carrying member to a recording medium at a transfer position, the transfer position being set between the toner image carrying member and the image transfer device; a fixing device, being disposed at a downstream side of the transfer position, to fix the toner image, transferred by the image transfer device on the recording medium, on the recording medium at a fixing position; a registration unit to transport the recording medium to the transfer position at a given timing, the registration unit being disposed at an upstream side of the transfer position; a guide member to guide movement of the recording medium, the guide member being shaped to facilitate movement of the recording medium; an elastic biasing member; an upstream-side transportation member, disposed at an upstream side in a transport direction of the recording medium with respect to the guide member to move the recording medium; an upstream-side transportation unit including the upstream-side transportation member; a downstream-side transportation member, disposed at a downstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium with respect to the guide member to move the recording medium; and a downstream-side transportation unit including the downstream-side transportation member, wherein the upstream-side transportation unit includes an upstream-side positioning member to position the guide member to the upstream-side transportation member, wherein the downstream-side transportation unit includes a downstream-side positioning member to position the guide member to the downstream-side transportation member, wherein the guide member, disposed between the upstream-side transportation unit and the downstream-side transportation unit, is positioned by the upstream-side positioning member and the downstream-side positioning member, wherein each of the upstream-side transportation member and the downstream-side transportation member includes a rotatable member to rotate to move the recording medium, wherein the guide member includes an upstream end side and a downstream end side with respect to the transport direction of the recording medium, wherein at least one of the upstream end side and downstream end side of the guide member is positioned at a rotary shaft of the rotatable member, and wherein the end side of the guide member that is not positioned at the rotary shaft of the rotatable member is positioned at one of the upstream-side positioning member and the downstream-side positioning member by using the biasing member to apply a biasing force to one of the upstream-side positioning member and the downstream-side positioning member.