Sheet conveyance device and image forming apparatus equipped with sheet conveyance device

Abstract

A sheet conveyance device capable of reducing occurrence of creases on a sheet includes first conveyance rollers that nip and convey a sheet, second conveyance rollers arranged downstream that convey the sheet, registration rollers arranged further downstream that nip and convey the sheet after correcting skew of the sheet, a switching portion that switches a state of the second conveyance rollers between contact and separated states, and a control unit that controls the rollers and the switching mechanism. The control unit switches between first and second conveyance operations. In both conveyance operations, the registration rollers start rotating to convey the sheet of which the skew has been corrected by the first conveyance rollers and the registration rollers and the second conveyance rollers are in the separated state. In the first conveyance operation, a sheet conveyance speed by the registration rollers is higher than that by the first conveyance rollers, whereas in the second conveyance operation, the sheet conveyance speed by the registration rollers is lower than that by the first conveyance rollers.