Patent ID: 7710444

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image carrier having a curved image carrier surface, the image carrier being movable in a direction; a transmissive sliding member having a sliding surface that contacts the curved image carrier surface and a top surface opposite the sliding surface, the sliding surface having a curvature substantially equal to a curvature of the curved image carrier surface, and a side surface and an inclined surface, the inclined surface being disposed between the sliding surface of the transmissive sliding member and the side surface, located on an upstream side, in a rotational direction, of the image carrier, and angled such that an elevation angle between the inclined surface and a tangent of the curved image carrier surface is an acute angle; and light emitting elements fixed to the top surface of the transmissive sliding member, the light emitting elements emitting light to the curved image carrier surface to form a latent image on the image carrier.