Patent ID: 7708263

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a housing that has a sheet member feed-in port, on a side of one side surface thereof, for feeding in a sheet member; a loading tray on which the sheet member to be fed into the sheet member feed-in port is loaded; a sheet member accommodation cassette that is arranged on a bottom side of the housing, a sheet member is accommodated in the sheet member accommodation cassette; a first conveyance passage formed within the housing, the sheet member accommodated in the sheet member accommodation cassette is conveyed in the first conveyance passage while being folded back from the side of the one side surface of the housing to an opposite side; a second conveyance passage extending from the sheet member feed-in port to a downstream end side of the first conveyance passage; a feed-in mechanism disposed in the second conveyance passage, the feed-in mechanism feeding the sheet member from the sheet member feed-in port to a side of a junction point between where the first conveyance passage and the second conveyance passage join; and a process unit that forms an image on the sheet member passed through the junction point, the process unit disposed on a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the sheet member with respect to the junction point; wherein the feed-in mechanism comprises: a feed-in roller that feeds the sheet member loaded on the loading tray into the sheet member feed-in port; a separation member disposed on a downstream side in the conveyance direction of the sheet member with respect to the feed-in-roller; and a separation roller that opposes to the separation member and delivers the sheet member to the side of the junction point; wherein an opposition position between the separation member and the separation roller is located further from the one side surface than a part of the first conveyance passage and is located closer to the one side surface than the junction point; wherein the separation member and the separation roller are in contact with each other at the opposition position; and wherein the second conveyance passage inclines upward from the opposition position toward the junction point.