Patent ID: 7945186

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming device including four photoconductive drums to form a toner image and an endless intermediate transfer belt contacted on an upper surface thereof by the photoconductive drums; a heat fixing device provided adjacent the image forming device to fix the toner image onto a recording medium by heat, the heat fixing device including a casing having a casing surface portion that is slanted relative to a horizontal plane and including a heating member having a heater inside thereof to heat the recording medium, and a pressure member configured to apply pressure to the recording medium; and a heat shielding device configured to shield the image forming device from heat radiated from the heat fixing device, and interposed between the image forming device and the heat fixing device to receive the heat radiated from the heat fixing device, the heat shielding device including an upper part, a middle part, and a lower part, the lower part extending at a non-zero angle from a portion of the middle part which faces the heat fixing device, the middle part being slanted at an angle corresponding to the slanted casing of the heat fixing device, and the upper part extending at a non-zero angle from a portion of the middle part which faces the heat fixing device, wherein excluding side walls, the middle part includes at least two walls, and the lower part includes at least three walls which are different from the at least two walls of the middle part; and a fan being located adjacent an end portion of said endless intermediate transfer belt, and wherein the heat fixing device is positioned under the photoconductive drums, wherein the heat shielding device comprises a surface facing the heat fixing device and having a black color or a dark color.