Sheet conveying apparatus

A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising:

• a conveyance belt conveying a sheet;
• a plurality of spheres disposed in a conveyance direction of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance belt, the spheres rotating by contacting the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance belt and being provided at positions facing the conveyance belt through the sheet;
• a conveyance roller pair disposed upstream with respect to the conveyance belt in the conveyance direction and conveying the sheet to the conveyance belt;
• a first guide disposed to shift between a first retract position and a first guide position, the first guide position being a position closer to the conveyance belt than the first retract position in a width direction of the conveyance belt crossing the conveyance direction, and guiding one end on one side of the sheet in the width direction in a state the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance belt while contacting the spheres;
• a second guide disposed on a side opposite to the first guide with respect to the conveyance belt in the width direction, the second guide being disposed to shift between a second retract position and a second guide position, the second guide position being a position closer to the conveyance belt than the second retract position in the width direction, and guiding another end on another side opposite to the one side of the sheet in the width direction in a state the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance belt while contacting the spheres;
• a control unit configured to control movements of the first guide and the second guide such that the first guide moves from the first retract position toward the first guide position and the second guide moves from the second retract position toward the second guide position in a state that a front end of the sheet being conveyed by the conveyance belt is located in the sheet width direction between the first guide and the second guide, and the second guide arrives at the second guide position after a predetermined time since the first guide arrives at the first guide position in a state that a rear end of the sheet passes the conveyance roller pair;
• a first motor driving the first guide;
• and
• a second motor driving the second guide,
• wherein the first motor and the second motor are arranged at a rear side in a front-rear direction of the sheet conveying apparatus relative to the first guide and the second guide, the first guide is arranged at a front side more than the second guide in the front-rear direction, and a distance from the first retract position of the first guide to the first guide position is shorter than a distance from the second retract position of the second guide to the second guide position.