Sheet conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus conveying a sheet and to an image forming apparatus.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a color laser beam printer of an embodiment.

#FIG. 2A illustrates a condition in which front and rear end parts of a sheet are curled upward.

#FIG. 2B illustrates a condition in which the front and rear end parts of the sheet are curled downward.

#An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a color laser printer, i.e., one exemplary image forming apparatus, including a sheet conveying apparatus of the embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 1, the color laser printer 100 includes a color laser printer body (referred to simply as a ‘printer body’ hereinafter) 101. The printer body 101 includes an image forming portion 102 forming an image on a sheet S, an intermediate transfer portion 103, a fixing apparatus 12, and a sheet feeding unit 104 feeding the sheet S to the image forming portion 102.

#The image forming portion 102 includes four process stations 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K (referred to simply as ‘process stations 4Y through 4K’ hereinafter) disposed substantially in a horizontal direction and respectively forming four color toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk). The image forming portion 102 also includes scanner units 1Y through 1K.

#Here, the process stations 4Y through 4K include photosensitive drums 2Y through 2K, i.e., image bearing members, respectively bearing the toner images of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black and driven by a stepping motor not shown. The process stations 4Y through 4K also include charging rollers 3Y through 3K, developing portions 5Y through 5K, and cleaner portions 6Y through 6K cleaning the photosensitive drums 2Y through 2K. Then, these charging rollers 3Y through 3K, the developing portions 5Y through 5K, the cleaner portions 6Y through 6K, and others are disposed respectively around the photosensitive drums 2Y through 2K in a rotation direction thereof.