# US 10,481,531 B2 · Image forming apparatus having a switching member, a detachable unit, and a retracting member that retracts the switching member in a course of dismounting the unit > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,481,531 B2 - Document ID: US10481531B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/118,230 - Filed: 2018-08-30 - Published: 2019-03-07 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-09-06 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Tsuyoshi Nagasaki; Satoshi Murasaki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10481531B2 ## CPC - G03G 15/2028: {with means for handling the copy material in the fixing nip, e.g. introduction guides, stripping means} - G03G 15/0865: {Arrangements for supplying new developer} - G03G 15/1615: {relating to the driving mechanism for the intermediate support, e.g. gears, couplings, belt tensioning} - G03G 15/2035: {for maintenance purposes, e.g. for removing a jammed sheet} - G03G 15/2064: {combined with pressure} - G03G 15/602: {for transporting} - G03G 21/1638: {directed to paper handling or jam treatment} - G03G 15/234: {by inverting and refeeding the image receiving material with an image on one face to the recording member to transfer a second image on its second face, e.g. by using a duplex tray; Details of duplex trays or inverters} - G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY ## Abstract An image forming apparatus including an apparatus main body including an image forming device that forms an image on a recording material, a unit detachably mounted in the apparatus main body, a switching member pivotably provided in the apparatus main body, wherein while in a state in which the switching member has entered into the unit mounted in the apparatus main body, the switching member selectively switches a route through which the recoding material is guided, and a retracting member provided in the apparatus main body, wherein in a course of dismounting the unit from the apparatus main body, the retracting member retracts the switching member to an outside of a mount area of the unit. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An image forming apparatus comprising: an apparatus main body including an image forming device that forms an image on a recording material; a unit detachably mounted in the apparatus main body; a switching member pivotably provided in the apparatus main body, wherein while in a state in which the switching member has entered into the unit mounted in the apparatus main body, the switching member selectively switches a route through which the recording material is guided; and a retracting member provided in the apparatus main body, wherein in a course of dismounting the unit from the apparatus main body, the retracting member retracts the switching member to an outside of a mount area of the unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the retracting member is provided so that the retracting member can be abutted against or separated from the switching member, the retracting member being biased to a direction that retracts the switching member to the outside of the mount area of the unit, and wherein in a course of mounting the unit in the apparatus main body, the retracting member is abutted against the unit and, countering biasing force, is separated from the switching member. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in a course of dismounting the unit from the apparatus main body, the abutment between the retracting member and the unit is released, and the retracting member abuts against the switching member with the biasing force and retracts the switching member to the outside of the mount area of the unit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in a state in which the unit is mounted in the apparatus main body, the retracting member is separated from the switching member even when the switching member has been switched. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a switching mechanism that selectively switches, in a state in which the unit is mounted in the apparatus main body, the switching member to a route through which the recording material is guided is provided separate from the retracting member. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming device included in the apparatus main body is configured to form a toner image on a recording material, and the unit is a fixing device that fixes a toner image on a recording material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the fixing device is configured to perform fixing of a toner image on a recording material by pinching and conveying the recording material with a heating rotation member and a pressing rotation member while heating the recording material. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the switching member is capable of being switched between a first guiding position that guides a recording material that has passed between the heating rotation member and the pressing rotation member to a first direction, and a second guiding position that guides the recording material to a direction different from the first direction. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: a discharging member provided downstream of the fixing device in a conveyance direction of a recording material, the discharging member discharging the recording material; and a reversing member provided downstream of the fixing device in the conveyance direction of the recording material, the reversing member reversing a rotation direction to convey the recording material in a reversed manner, wherein the recording material that has passed between the heating rotation member and the pressing rotation member is guided in a discharging member direction with the switching member switched to the first guiding position, and is guided in a reversing member direction with the switching member switched to the second guiding position. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein in a case in which an image is formed on each of the two surfaces of the recording material, the recording material that has passed between the heating rotation member and the pressing rotation member is guided in the reversing member direction with the switching member switched to the second guiding position and, subsequently, is guided towards the image forming device once more by switching the switching member to the first guiding position and by reversing the rotation direction of the reversing member. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein in a course of mounting the fixing device in the apparatus main body, a front end of the switching member enters into the fixing device, and in a state in which the fixing device is mounted in the apparatus main body, the switching member is switched from the first guiding position to the second guiding position so that an amount of the front end entering the fixing device is the largest.