Patent ID: 8371582

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body having a side wall in which an opening is formed; a cover pivotally supported at its lower portion on the main body and configured to open and close the opening; an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording sheet; a first sheet-output passage configured to guide the recording sheet, which is conveyed from the image forming unit toward the opening along a recording sheet conveyance direction, to a sheet-output tray positioned outside the main body; a return passage connected to the first sheet-output passage and configured to guide the recording sheet from the first sheet-output passage back to a position upstream from the image forming unit as viewed in the recording sheet conveyance direction; and a guide member for guiding the recording sheet, and configured to switch between the first sheet-output passage and the return passage and arranged between the first sheet-output passage and the return passage and facing the closed cover, wherein the guide member is pivotally supported at its lower portion on the main body, wherein the guide member has a first side facing the cover and a second side opposite the first side, and the recording sheet passes the guide member on the second side when being conveyed along the first sheet-output passage and on the first side when being conveyed along the return passage; wherein when the cover is being opened and the guide member is pivoted around the lower portion as a pivot axis so that an upper portion of the guide member is tilted toward the opened cover and into a lying-back position, a second sheet-output passage is formed which extends from the image forming unit toward the opened cover, such that a recording sheet is configured to pass over the second side of the guide member, and wherein the guide member is configured to be movable to a position away from the opened cover when it is in the lying-back position.