Patent ID: 8374526

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a main body frame; an image carrying body supported on the main body frame, the image carrying body having a surface on which to support an image; and a transfer unit coupled to the main body frame, the transfer unit comprising: an intermediate transfer belt configured to receive the image from the image carrying body; a transfer roller configured to move between a first position at which the image from the image carrying body is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt and a second position at which the transfer roller is further away from the image carrying body than when the transfer roller is at the first position; an elastic member elastically biasing the transfer roller toward the first position; and a guide assembly configured to guide a movement of the transfer roller in such a manner opposing an elastic force of the elastic member so as to cause the transfer roller to contact the image carrying body with a reduced force of impact when the transfer roller moves from the second position to the first position, the guide assembly reducing a movement speed at which the transfer roller moves from the second position to the first position.