Patent ID: 7787813

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming mechanism configured to form a toner image; a toner image carrier configured to carry the toner image; a transfer unit including, a transferor opposing the toner image carrier to form a transfer nip at which the toner image on the toner image carrier is transferred onto a recording medium, a pre-transfer guide that guides the recording medium to the transfer nip and that is disposed on an upstream side from the transfer nip relative to a recording medium conveyance direction, a post-transfer guide that guides the recording medium away from the transfer nip and that is disposed on a downstream side from the transfer nip relative to the recording medium conveyance direction, and a pivot around which the transfer unit is configured to rotate; and a contact-separate mechanism configured to move the transfer unit such that each of the transferor, the pre-transfer guide and the post-transfer guide move together as a single unit from a first position in which the transferor contacts the toner image carrier to a second position in which the transferor is separated from the toner image carrier, the contact-separate mechanism including an elongate hole which engages with the pivot of the transfer unit and through which the pivot is movable in a longitudinal direction of the elongate hole.