US Patent 7945197 Image forming apparatus with cushioning to mitigate internal impact

The image forming apparatus has: a unit including a transfer medium that circularly moves; an image forming section provided along a circulation direction of the transfer medium; a movement mechanism that moves the unit in a direction substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of the transfer medium, and enables the unit to move in a first direction so as to bring the unit into contact with the image forming apparatus and in a second direction so as to move the unit apart from the image forming apparatus; and a cushioning component for applying a load in directions opposite to moving directions of the unit when the unit is moved in the first and second directions, respectively, thereby to relax impact caused by motion of the unit.