Sheet conveying device having a corrugation member and image forming apparatus therewith

A sheet conveying device, comprising:

• a housing;
• a pair of conveying rollers including
• a first roller which is rotatably supported on the housing,
• a shaft which rotatably supports the first roller, and
• a second roller which follows the first roller to rotate, the pair of conveying rollers forming between the first and second rollers a nip portion through which a sheet passes;
• a sheet stacking portion on which sheets conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers are stacked;
• a driver which rotates the first roller selectively either in a first rotation direction, in which the pair of conveying rollers conveys the sheet toward the sheet stacking portion, or in a second rotation direction, which is opposite to the first rotation direction;
• a corrugation member which corrugates the sheet by making contact with a sheet face of the sheet passing through the nip portion;
• a moving mechanism which moves, according to a rotation direction of the first roller, the corrugation member between a first position, where the corrugation member makes contact with the sheet face, and a second position, where the corrugation member is located away from the nip portion, wherein
• the moving mechanism includes
• a rotary gear which is penetrated through by the shaft and which rotates together with the shaft, and
• a rack gear which is provided in the corrugation member and which has, along a direction of movement of the corrugation member, a plurality of cogs that mesh with the rotary gear,
• when the first roller is rotated in the first rotation direction, meshing of the rotary gear with the rack gear causes the corrugation member to move to the first position and, when the first roller is rotated in the second rotation direction, the meshing of the rotary gear with the rack gear causes the corrugation member to move to the second position.