Patent ID: 8909121

Claim:
An image forming apparatus including: a plurality of support rollers including a backup roller; a transfer belt that is stretched on the plurality of support rollers in a loop-like manner and has an outer surface for carrying thereon a toner image; and a transfer roller that is brought into pressurized contact with the backup roller across the transfer belt and forms a transfer nip with the transfer belt, the image forming apparatus configured to allow a sheet to pass through the transfer nip to thereby transfer the toner image carried on the transfer belt to the sheet, the image forming apparatus comprising: a restriction member that is placed upstream of the transfer nip in a sheet conveying direction so as to be switchable between a first state in which the restriction member is brought closer to an inner surface of the transfer belt and a second state in which a distance of the restriction member from the inner surface of the transfer belt is larger than that in the first state; and a control section that switches a state of the restriction member to one of the first state and the second state in accordance with the sheet used for image formation.