Patent ID: 7418217

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming device including four photoconductive drums to form a toner image and an endless intermediate transfer belt contacted on an upper surface thereof by the photoconductive drums; a heat fixing device provided adjacent the image forming device to fix the toner image onto the recording medium by heat, the heat fixing device including a casing having a casing surface portion that is slanted relative to a horizontal plane and including a heating member having a heater inside thereof to heat the recording medium, and a pressure member configured to apply pressure to the recording medium; and a heat shielding device configured to shield the image forming device from heat radiated from the heat fixing device, the heat shielding device including a heat shielding member interposed between the image forming device and the heat fixing device to receive the heat radiated from the heat fixing device, said heat shielding member being concave in shape in a direction towards said photoconductive drums, and wherein the heat fixing device is positioned under the photoconductive drums.