Patent ID: 8412090

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a housing having a discharge port to discharge a printing medium to a discharge tray; a scanning module located above the discharge tray; a printing unit including a plurality of developing units vertically arranged with respect to each other and a transfer unit arranged between the plurality of developing units and an openable panel located at a front portion of the housing; and a pivotal back cover pivotally attached to a rear portion of the housing and to form a receiving space between a guiding side of the pivotal back cover and a wall disposed adjacent thereto, wherein a printing medium picked up from a paper cassette travels in a first path to move the printing medium in an upward direction through the printing unit and a rearward direction towards the rear portion of the housing, enabling the leading edge of the printing medium to move into the receiving space through an opening formed in a rear portion of the housing, and after the leading edge of the printing medium moves into the receiving space, a moving direction of the printing medium is reversed through the opening such that the printing medium is discharged out of the discharge port to the discharge tray in a state in which a printed side of the printing medium faces downward, wherein a scanned document is discharged by the scanning module in a direction towards one of right or left sides of the housing and the printing medium is discharged out of the discharge port in a direction towards the front portion of the housing.