Patent ID: 7127195

Claim:
An image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image formed on a circumferential surface of a photoconductive element included in said image forming apparatus to a recording medium, said image forming apparatus comprising: a casing enclosing a body of said image forming apparatus; an image forming unit including a cleaning device arranged around said photoconductive element; an image transfer unit mounted on said body in said casing and integrally supporting at least one photoconductive element and an image transfer member associated with said at least one photoconductive element, said image transfer unit being removable from said casing independently of said image forming unit; a slide mechanism configured to allow said image transfer unit to be pulled out of the body; a first handle mounted on one end face of said image transfer unit perpendicular to an axis of said at least one photoconductive element and provided to allow said image transfer unit to be slid by hand; and a second handle mounted on a surface of said image transfer unit parallel to the axis of said at least one photoconductive element and provided to allow said image transfer unit to be removed from the body.