Patent ID: 6922538

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming device including at least one image carrier, configured to form a toner image on the at least one image carrier and transfer the toner image onto a recording medium from the at least one image carrier; a heat fixing device provided adjacent to 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 a heat shielding device configured to shield the image forming device from the 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, a portion of the heat shielding member being arranged adjacent and substantially parallel to the casing surface portion at a predetermined distance away, at least one heat transferring member attached to the heat shielding member on the side of the image forming device to transfer the heat received by the heat shielding member to one end portion of the at least one heat transferring member, at least one heat radiating fin device provided at the one end portion of the at least one heat transferring member to radiate the heat transferred by the at least one heat transferring member, a fan configured to supply air to the at least one heat radiating fin device to cool the at least one heat radiating fin device, and a duct configured to cover the heat shielding member, the at least one heat transferring member, the at least one heat radiating fin device, and the fan, the duct including a portion positioned between the image forming device and the heat shielding member, wherein the fan produces a flow of air in a space formed between the duct and the heat shielding member.