Color image forming apparatus

A color image-forming apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of image carriers;
• a plurality of latent image forming devices to form electrostatic latent images on said image carriers;
• a plurality of developing devices to develop said electrostatic latent images with toner to form visible toner images on said image carriers;
• an intermediate transfer member to bear a color toner image formed by superimposing said toner images, which are sequentially transferred onto said intermediate transfer member from said image carriers;
• and
• a transferring device to transfer said color toner image formed on said intermediate transfer member onto a transfer sheet;
• wherein at least said intermediate transfer member and said image carriers are integrated into a rack, and said rack is drawable in substantially a horizontal direction in respect to a mainframe of said color image-forming apparatus.

A color image-forming apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of image carriers;
• a plurality of latent image forming devices to form electrostatic latent images on said image carriers;
• a plurality of developing devices to develop said electrostatic latent images with toner to form visible toner images on said image carriers;
• an intermediate transfer member, a longitudinal direction of which is arranged at substantially a vertical direction, and onto which said toner images formed on said image carriers are sequentially transferred in such a manner that said toner images overlap relative to each other so as to form a color toner image on said intermediate transfer member;
• a sheet feeding section to store a transfer sheet and to feed said transfer sheet stored;
• a first sheet conveyance path, through which said transfer sheet, fed from said sheet feeding section, is conveyed to said intermediate transfer member;
• a transferring device to transfer said color toner image formed on said intermediate transfer member onto said transfer sheet;
• a reversing device to reverse a front side back of said transfer sheet, onto a first surface of which said color toner image is already transferred;
• and
• a second sheet conveyance path, through which said transfer sheet, reversed by said reversing device, is conveyed to a confluent position with said first sheet conveyance path, so that said transfer sheet re-enters said first sheet conveyance path from said confluent position;
• wherein said confluent position, at which said second sheet conveyance path joins said first sheet conveyance path, is located at substantially a center of said sheet feeding section and at substantially a lower position of said image carriers.

A color image-forming apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of image carriers;
• a plurality of latent image forming devices to form electrostatic latent images on said image carriers;
• a plurality of developing devices to develop said electrostatic latent images with toner to form visible toner images on said image carriers;
• an intermediate transfer member, a longitudinal direction of which is arranged at substantially a vertical direction, and onto which said toner images formed on said image carriers are sequentially transferred in such a manner that said toner images overlap relative to each other so as to form a color toner image on said intermediate transfer member;
• a sheet feeding section to store a transfer sheet and to feed said transfer sheet stored;
• a first sheet conveyance path, through which said transfer sheet, fed from said sheet feeding section, is conveyed to said intermediate transfer member;
• and
• a transferring device to transfer said color toner image formed on said intermediate transfer member onto said transfer sheet;
• wherein said intermediate transfer member is located at substantially a upper position of said sheet feeding section, and said transferring device is shaped in a roller and contacts a lower portion of said intermediate transfer member.