SHEET CONVEYING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME

To provide a sheet conveying device capable of conveying sheets at a high speed without setting a space between the sheets to secure a targeted space between the sheets in front of a conveyance destination with high accuracy by a mechanism which is small-sized and easy to control.SOLUTION: Delivery parts (12P, 12F, 12G) continuously deliver a first sheet (PSH) with a rear end (RRE) thereof being overlapped with a front end (LDE) of a second sheet (NSH). A first conveying force (F) applied to a front end (LDE) of the first sheet while a preceding part of the first sheet which is not overlapped with the second sheet is stronger than a second conveying force (F) applied to the front end (LDE) of the second sheet while a subsequent part of the first sheet which is overlapped with the second sheet is delivered together with the second sheet. When abutted with the front ends of the respective sheets, a gate (60) is pushed away from a route to allow the front end to be advanced when a force applied by the front end is equal to the first conveying force and stays in the route to retard the front end to be advanced when it is equal to the second conveying force.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4 【課題】紙間を空けずに高速に搬送し、搬送先の手前において目標の紙間を高精度に確保することを、小型でかつ制御の簡単な機構により実現可能なシート搬送装置を提供する。【解決手段】送出部（１２Ｐ、１２Ｆ、１２Ｇ）が第１シート（ＰＳＨ）の後端（ＲＲＥ）に第２シート（ＮＳＨ）の先端（ＬＤＥ）を重ねて連続して送り出す。第２シートが重なっていない第１シートの先行部分が送り出される間に第１シートの先端（ＬＤＥ）に与えられる第１搬送力（ＦC1）は、第２シートが重なった第１シートの後続部分が第２シートと共に送り出される間に第２シートの先端（ＬＤＥ）に与えられる第２搬送力（ＦC2）よりも強い。各シートの先端に突き当てられたときにゲート（６０）は、その先端から受けた力が第１搬送力に等しい場合は経路から押し退けられてその先端の進行を許し、第２搬送力に等しい場合は経路に留まってその先端の進行を阻む。【選択図】図４