Paper conveyance apparatus

A paper conveyance apparatus comprising:

• a stacking portion on which paper can be stacked;
• a feeding mechanism portion configured to extract the paper stacked on said stacking portion one sheet at a time and to feed said paper;
• an intermediate conveyance portion configured to convey said paper fed from said feeding mechanism portion to a vicinity of a feeding port faced by a main body feeding table of a feeding portion, or a main body feeding device of said feeding portion, on an image forming apparatus main body side, the intermediate conveyance portion comprising a plurality of paper conveyance devices disposed at intervals from an upstream side to a downstream side of an intermediate conveyance path;
• a plurality of paper detecting devices disposed at intervals from the upstream side to the downstream side of the intermediate conveyance path, each paper detecting device being configured to detect at least a leading edge of said paper being conveyed from among said leading edge and a trailing edge of said paper being conveyed, wherein said plurality of paper detecting devices includes a first paper detecting device located at said upstream side of said intermediate conveyance path, a second paper detecting device located 96 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said first paper detecting device, a third paper detecting device located 52 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said second paper detecting device, a fourth paper detecting device located 52.5 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said third paper detecting device, a fifth paper detecting device located 48 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said fourth paper detecting device, a sixth paper detecting device located 39.5 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said fifth paper detecting device, a seventh paper detecting device located 32.5 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said sixth paper detecting device and an eighth paper detecting device located 48.5 mm on said downstream side of said of said intermediate conveyance path from said seventh paper detecting device;
• a braking force applying device, disposed on said intermediate conveyance path between said eighth paper detecting device and a paper detecting device disposed one device further toward said upstream side than said eighth paper detecting device, and configured to apply a braking force to said paper being conveyed;
• and
• a control device configured to reduce a paper conveyance speed of said plurality of paper conveyance devices when the leading edge of said paper is detected by said paper detecting device disposed at least one device further toward said upstream side than said eighth paper detecting device, which is disposed furthest downstream of said plurality of paper detecting devices and nearest to said main body feeding device,
• wherein said braking force applying device is constituted by an elastic member, and said elastic member is provided in a paper guiding member disposed in said intermediate conveyance path, and
• wherein said elastic member takes a substantially linear form to a paper conveyance direction and an upward crescent form in the vicinity of a site of contact with said paper.