Patent ID: 7813682

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: an apparatus main body; a conveying member that conveys a recording medium; and a plurality of sets each including a cylindrical photosensitive member and a transfer member, the plurality of sets being disposed in a linear arrangement in the apparatus main body, the photosensitive member and the transfer member of each set sequentially interposing the conveying member therebetween, thereby sequentially transferring a developer image borne on each photosensitive member onto the recording medium conveyed by the conveying member; and a fixing unit including a heating roller and a pressure roller, the heating roller and the pressure roller defining a nip portion through which the recording medium passes, the fixing unit fixing the developer image transferred by the plurality of sets onto the recording medium, wherein a contact distance is defined for each set, the contact distance being a distance from a contact start position at which the photosensitive member starts contacting one of the conveying member and the recording medium to a contact end position at which the photosensitive member separates from the one of the conveying member and the recording medium; wherein the contact distance is greatest for the set farthest downstream in a conveying direction for conveying the recording medium, wherein the transfer member of the farthest downstream set is disposed at a position shifted downstream of the photosensitive member in the conveying direction, thereby increasing the contact distance, and wherein a downstream conveying path for conveying the recording medium farther downstream from the farthest downstream set to the fixing unit is slanted toward the photosensitive member side with respect to the linear arrangement of the plurality of sets, the downstream conveying path extending from the contact end position of the farthest downstream set to the nip portion of the fixing unit.