Image forming apparatus having a recording material transporting path

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a recording material transporting path that extends in a direction from bottom to top of a body of the image forming apparatus and transports a recording material;
• a fixing device provided on the recording material transporting path, comprising a rotatable fusing roller that has an internal heat source and a rotatable pressure roller, whose center is positioned approximately vertically above a horizontal plane passing through a center of the fusing roller, that forms a nip area with the fusing roller by being located in contact with and pressed against the fusing roller to nip the recording material for carrying out a fixing process;
• and
• a plurality of ribs each of which has a guide surface formed to intersect, at a position downstream and near the nip area, a tangent line of the fusing roller at the most downstream point of the nip area, the guide surface intersecting the tangent line at an obtuse angle.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a recording material transporting path that extends in a direction from bottom to top of a body of the image forming apparatus and transports a recording material;
• a fixing device provided on the recording material transporting path, comprising a rotatable heating member that has an internal heat source and a rotatable pressure member that forms a nip area with the heating member by being located in contact with and pressed against the heating member, to nip the recording material for carrying out a fixing process;
• and
• a plurality of ribs each of which has a guide surface formed to intersect, at a position downstream and near the nip area, a tangent line of the fusing roller at the most downstream point of the nip area, the guide surface intersecting the tangent line at an obtuse angle.