Patent ID: 7747186

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: plural photoconductive drums aligned side by side for toner images in respective colors to be formed on peripheral surfaces thereof; a transfer belt configured to turn while being stretched over a specific number of rollers for the respective toner images to be transferred thereon by being superimposed one on another as a surface thereof abuts on the peripheral surfaces of the respective photoconductive drums; a transfer roller configured to transfer the toner images having been transferred onto the surface of the transfer belt onto a recording sheet; and a cooling mechanism configured to apply cooling processing to the transfer belt using taken-in outside air, wherein: the transfer belt uses a position at which the transfer roller is disposed as a turning position and is turned to have a first side that moves in a first direction heading for the turning position while abutting on the peripheral surfaces of the respective photoconductive drums and a second side that moves in a second direction opposite to the first direction using the turning position as a starting point; and the cooling mechanism applies the cooling processing to the transfer belt by circulating the taken-in outside air along a surface of the second side.