Sheet conveying device capable of preventing paper jam, image reading apparatus, sheet conveying method

A sheet conveying method performed by a sheet conveying device, the sheet conveying device comprising:

• a first conveyance member configured to come into contact with a sheet conveyed in a conveying direction set in advance to convey the sheet downstream in the conveying direction;
• a separation member disposed to face the first conveyance member with a first position therebetween and biased toward the first position, the first conveyance member coming into contact with the sheet at the first position, the separation member being configured to separate a first sheet that is in contact with the first conveyance member from a second sheet that is different from the first sheet, the sheet being one of a plurality of sheets conveyed in the conveying direction, the plurality of sheets including the first and second sheets and being conveyed to the first position;
• a second conveyance member configured to come into contact with the sheet at a second position downstream of the first position in the conveying direction to convey the sheet downstream in the conveying direction;
• and
• a third conveyance member configured to come into contact with the sheet at a third position downstream of the second position in the conveying direction to convey the sheet downstream in the conveying direction,
• the sheet conveying method comprising:
• a determination step of determining whether or not a length of the sheet in the conveying direction is shorter than or equal to a specific distance based on a distance of a section from the first position to the third position on a conveyance route of the sheet;
• and
• a drive control step of stopping driving the first conveyance member after a leading edge of the sheet in the conveying direction reaches the second position and before a trailing edge of the sheet in the conveying direction passes through the first position in a case where it is determined that the length is shorter than or equal to the specific distance in the determination step, and stopping driving the first conveyance member after the leading edge reaches the third position and before the trailing edge passes through the first position in a case where it is determined that the length exceeds the specific distance in the determination step.