Sheet conveying apparatus with auxiliary guide which accommodates conveyance mechanisms operating at different relative speeds

A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising:

• a decurling mechanism to correct a curl formed on a sheet and including a pair of decurling rollers to convey the decurled sheet while pinching the decurled sheet therebetween;
• a pair of guides including a first guide member and a second guide member arranged to oppose to the first guide member, the pair of guides constituting a conveyance passage to guide the decurled sheet being conveyed by the pair of decurling rollers toward a downstream side in a sheet conveying direction, wherein the conveyance passage is shaped in a curved conveyance passage, and wherein the first guide member is located at the inner side of the curved conveyance passage, and the second guide member is located at the outer side of the curved conveyance passage;
• a pair of conveying rollers disposed at the downstream side of the pair of guides and to convey the decurled sheet while pinching the decurled sheet therebetween, wherein the conveyance passage constituted by the pair of guides has a length to allow the decurled sheet to be pinched simultaneously by both the pair of decurling rollers and the pair of conveying rollers;
• and
• an auxiliary guide arranged to protrude obliquely in the sheet conveying direction from a side of the second guide member toward the first guide member to a predetermined position located close to the first guide member such that the decurled sheet being conveyed by the pair of decurling rollers is guided along the first guide member toward the pair of conveying rollers by the auxiliary guide, and the decurled sheet being conveyed while being pinched both the pair of decurling rollers and the pair of conveying rollers is prevented by the auxiliary guide from being in contact with the second guide member,
• wherein the auxiliary guide includes a sheet-shaped elastic member and is adapted to displace from the predetermined position toward the second guide member by deformation of the sheet-shaped elastic member in response to an acting force received from the sheet.