Patent ID: 7769330

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of image forming units, each of the plurality of image forming units having an image carrier; an image bearing belt configured to carry a toner image transferred from the plurality of the image forming units; a first roller configured to support the image bearing belt; a second roller configured to transmit driving force to the image bearing belt while supporting the image bearing belt; a third roller located above the second roller in a vertical direction of the image forming apparatus and configured to support the image bearing belt; and a transfer roller configured to press the third roller and to form a transfer portion for electrostatically transferring the toner image on the image bearing belt onto the conveyed recording material, wherein the plurality of image forming units are located opposing the surface of the image bearing belt between the first roller and the second roller, wherein the first roller is located at a higher place than the third roller, the surface of the image bearing belt to extend around the second roller and the third roller is located at an angle within a range of ±15° in the vertical direction of the image forming apparatus, and a diameter of the second roller is larger than a diameter of the third roller.