Patent ID: 7447478

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, including: a first sheet conveying member arranged on an upstream side of a sheet conveying path; a second sheet conveying member arranged on a downstream side of said sheet conveying path; a guide member which is provided between said first and said second sheet conveying members and guides a sheet material conveyed from said first sheet conveying member to said second sheet conveying member; a movable portion which is movably provided in said guide member, wherein said movable portion has an abutment portion against which the sheet material conveyed toward to said second sheet conveying member by said first sheet conveying member is abutted, and said abutment portion is adjusted by movement of said movable portion so that the tip of the sheet material guided by said guide member is in parallel to a sheet width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction, and a path-length limitation member limiting an added value within a preset value, wherein a movement direction of said abutment portion by a movement of said movable portion is a direction perpendicular to a tangential line to an ellipsoidal orbit which said abutment portion passes, it is assumed that each of the nip portions of said first and said second sheet conveying members is one of two focal points for an ellipsoidal orbit, wherein said added value is obtained by adding a straight line distance connecting said abutment portion in said movable portion and said first sheet conveying member to a straight line distance connecting said abutment portion and said second sheet conveying member, wherein said path-length limitation member is shaped like wire, and the both ends of the wire are fastened to the rotation axes of said first and said second sheet conveying members, respectively, and the wire is caught in the middle by a location in said movable portion without causing interference with said abutment point in said movable portion in such a way that the middle of the wire can be displaced.