JP4533301B2 - Sheet conveying apparatus, control method therefor, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus capable of correcting the position of a side edge of a sheet to a reference position on the conveying path, a control method thereof, and an image forming apparatus.

  In recent years, laser beam printers have been widely used as computer output devices. In particular, a laser beam printer having a low printing density (for example, 300 dpi) has the advantages of low cost and compactness, and is widely spread due to this advantage.

  A laser beam printer that performs printing at such a low printing density will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional laser beam printer.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the laser beam printer 500 includes an image controller 200, a printer engine unit 300, and a display unit 350. The image controller 200 receives the code data transmitted from the external host computer 400, and generates page information based on the code data. This page information is transmitted to the printer engine unit 300. The printer engine unit 300 executes an image forming process based on the page information and forms an image on a sheet. Here, the printer engine unit 300 includes an engine control unit 301, a printer engine 302, and an image fixing unit 310. The display unit 350 displays an operation status of the printer based on information from the image controller 200 or the printer engine unit 300.

  The host computer 400 functions as, for example, a word processor by reading and executing application software recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk 600.

  The mechanical configuration of such a laser beam printer will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a mechanical configuration of the laser beam printer of FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of the lateral position control unit 806 of FIG.

  The laser beam printer 500 has a photosensitive drum 512 and a laser scanner 516 as shown in FIG. Around the photosensitive drum 512, a primary charger 514, a developing unit 515, and a transfer roller 513 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 512 to a uniform potential are arranged. The laser scanner 516 emits laser light based on the page information created by the image controller 200. Laser light emitted from the laser scanner 516 is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 512 via the mirror 517. As a result, a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 512. The latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 512 is visualized as a toner image by the toner supplied from the developing device 515. This toner image is transferred onto the surface of the sheet fed between the photosensitive drum 512 and the transfer roller 513 by the transfer roller 513.

  The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is fed toward the nip portion between the fixing roller pair 518 and 519. When the sheet passes through the nip portion between the pair of fixing rollers 518 and 519, the toner image on the sheet is heat-pressed and fixed on the sheet. The fixed sheet is discharged onto a discharge tray 523 through a pair of discharge rollers 520 and 521.

  Sheets are stored in a paper feed cassette 501. The sheets stored in the paper feed cassette 501 are sent out by a feed roller 502 and sent to a pair of registration rollers 507 and 508 through a pair of separation rollers 503 and 504 and a pair of conveyance rollers 505 and 506. The leading edge of the sheet is abutted against the pair of registration rollers 507 and 508 and is temporarily stopped. Thereby, the skew of the sheet is corrected. Then, the sheet is sent out between the photosensitive drum 512 and the transfer drum 513 in synchronization with the image formation start timing by the registration roller pair 507 and 508.

  Further, the sheet can be fed from the manual feed guide 522. In this case, when the sheet is inserted into the manual feed guide 522, the sheet is detected by the manual feed sensor 510. In response to this detection, the roller 509 is lowered to a position where it comes into contact with the sheet. Then, the roller 509 is driven, and the sheet is sent out toward the registration roller pair 507 and 508.

  A sheet sensor 511 is disposed downstream of the registration roller pair 507 and 508. The timing at which the sheet sensor 511 detects the sheet sent out by the registration roller pair 507 and 508 is used as the timing for defining the start of laser beam irradiation from the laser scanner 516. As a result, the leading edge of the sheet coincides with the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 512.

  The laser beam printer 500 having such a configuration is equipped with a duplex unit 800 and a feeding unit 900 as options. The duplex unit 800 is a unit for refeeding the sheet with the back side of the sheet with the image formed on the front side as the image forming surface. A sheet feeding unit 900 is a unit for feeding sheets.

  The duplex unit 800 includes a flapper 801. In the duplex mode, the sheet on which an image is formed on one side is guided into the duplex unit 800 by the operation of the flapper 801. The sheet guided into the duplex unit 800 is temporarily conveyed to the switchback path 809 by the switchback roller pair 802. When the sensor 803 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the switchback roller pair 802 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction. As a result, the seat is switched back. By the switchback, the front and rear ends of the sheet are switched and the front and back sides are reversed. Then, the sheet is conveyed to the lateral position control unit 806 by each of the conveyance roller pairs 804 and 805. In the lateral position control unit 806, an operation of correcting the position of the sheet is performed so that the center position in the direction orthogonal to the sheet transport direction coincides with the center position of the transport path. The sheet whose position has been corrected by the lateral position control unit 806 is sent toward the registration roller pair 507 and 508 via the conveyance roller pair 807 and the conveyance roller pair 505 and 506.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the lateral position control unit 806 is provided with a pair of lateral position correction side plates 811 and 812 that are disposed so as to face each other in a direction B orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction A. . The lateral position correction side plates 811 and 812 are supported by the apparatus main body so as to be movable in a direction B perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A, respectively. Racks 815 and 816 are integrally attached to the lateral position correction side plates 811 and 812, respectively, and the racks 815 and 816 mesh with the pinions 817. When the pinion 817 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), the lateral position correction side plates 812 and 813 are simultaneously moved in the direction B.

  The sheet 700 conveyed to the lateral position control unit 806 is temporarily stopped when the leading edge of the sheet 700 is detected by the refeed sensor 818. Then, the pinion 817 is driven to rotate, and the lateral position correction side plates 811 and 812 are simultaneously moved in a direction B orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction A. The lateral position correcting side plates 811 and 812 are stopped when the guide surfaces 813 and 814 reach a predetermined position corresponding to the sheet size. At this time, both side ends of the sheet 700 are brought into contact with the corresponding guide surfaces 813 and 814, respectively. Thus, the position of the sheet 700 is corrected so that the center position along the direction B of the sheet 700 is aligned with the center position of the conveyance path.

  The sheet feeding unit 900 is a sheet feeding cassette 901 that stores sheets, a feeding roller 902 that feeds out the sheets in the sheet feeding cassette 901, and a sheet that is fed out by the feeding roller 902. Separating roller pairs 903 and 904 are provided.

  However, since the lateral position control unit 806 moves the lateral position correction side plates 812 and 813 at the same time to align the center position of the sheet 700 with the center position of the conveyance path, the number of mechanical components increases and the cost increases. Becomes higher. Therefore, a sheet conveying apparatus for solving such a problem has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Next, this type of sheet conveying apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a configuration of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus. FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically showing the operation of the sheet conveying apparatus of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the sheet conveying apparatus 1001 includes a conveying roller 1002, a plurality of skew feeding rollers 1003, and a refeed roller 1009. Each skew feeding roller 1003 is arranged along a direction B orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction A. Each skew feeding roller 1003 is arranged so that the rotation axis thereof is inclined with respect to the sheet conveying direction A so that the sheet can be conveyed obliquely toward the lateral position correction side plate 1006.

  A lateral position correction side plate 1006 for correcting the position of the sheet is disposed between each skew feeding roller 1003 and the refeed roller 1009. The lateral position correction side plate 1006 is supported by the apparatus main body so as to be movable in a direction B perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A in the drawing by receiving a driving force of a motor (not shown).

  A sheet side end sensor 1004 is mounted on the lateral position correction side plate 1006. The sheet side edge sensor 1004 is a sensor for detecting the approach of the lateral position correction side plate 1006 to the guide surface 1007 at the side edge of the sheet.

  A conveyance roller 1010 for assisting conveyance of a sheet positioned in the vicinity of the lateral position correction side plate 1006 is disposed above the lateral position correction side plate 1006. The conveyance roller 1010 is moved in the direction B in synchronization with the movement of the lateral position correction side plate 1006.

  A refeed sensor 1008 is provided on the upstream side of the refeed roller 1009 to detect a sheet to be refeeded.

The lateral position correction side plate 1006 is normally located at the reference position (home position) (position shown in FIG. 9). Positioning of the lateral position correction side plate 1006 to the home position is performed based on an output of a home position sensor (not shown).
JP-A-8-188300

  In the above-described sheet conveying apparatus, as shown in FIG. 10A, a case where the sheet 1101A is conveyed and a case where the sheet 1101B is conveyed will be described.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 10A, the sheet 1101A is conveyed toward the lateral position correction side plate 1006 by each skew feeding roller 1003 in a state of being positioned closer to the lateral position correction side plate 1006 than the sheet 1101B. Shall be.

  In the case of the sheet 1101A, as shown in FIG. 10B, when the sheet 1101A is detected by the sheet side end sensor 1004, it is determined that the end of the sheet 1101A has reached the guide surface 1007, and the lateral position correction side plate 1006 is obtained. The movement in the direction B is started. On the other hand, in the case of the sheet 1101B, when the sheet 1101A is detected by the sheet side end sensor 1004, the end of the sheet 1101B does not reach the sheet side end sensor 1004. Therefore, the timing at which the sheet 1101B is detected by the sheet side sensor 1004 is delayed as compared with the case of the sheet 1101A. That is, the timing at which the lateral position correction side plate 1006 starts to move in the direction B is delayed as compared with the case of the sheet 1101A. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10C, the sheet 1101B is detected by the re-feed sensor 1008 in a state where the position of the side edge is not corrected so as to be the reference position on the conveyance path, and the re-feed roller There is a possibility that paper will be re-fed by 1009.

  Therefore, in order to correct the sheet so that the position of the side edge of the sheet becomes the reference position on the conveyance path regardless of the variation in the position of the side edge of the sheet, the skew feeding roller 1003 and the refeed sensor are used. It is conceivable to increase the interval (distance) between 1008. However, in this case, the sheet conveyance distance becomes long, and extra time is required for sheet conveyance. In other words, it takes extra time to correct the sheet position.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying apparatus, a control method therefor, and an image forming apparatus capable of reliably correcting the sheet position in a short time and irrespective of variations in the position of the side edge of the sheet. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a position restricting means for restricting the position of the side edge of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path, a moving means for moving the position restricting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, A slant that is disposed at an upstream position of the position restricting means and conveys the sheet obliquely toward the position restricting means so that a side end of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path is in contact with the position restricting means. A sheet conveying apparatus comprising a feeding means and a control means for controlling the moving means and the skew feeding means, wherein the posture of the sheet which is disposed upstream of the skew feeding means and is conveyed on the conveyance path is specified. A posture detecting means for detecting a displacement amount for detecting, a sheet detecting means provided integrally with the position restricting means, and for detecting a sheet conveyed toward the position restricting means by the oblique feeding means; And the control means controls the moving means to move the position restricting means to a standby position corresponding to the amount of displacement detected by the posture detecting means, and the sheet detecting means detects the sheet. And a sheet conveying apparatus that controls the moving means to move the position regulating means from the standby position to a predetermined position where the position of the side edge of the sheet matches the reference position on the conveying path. I will provide a.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a position restricting means for restricting the position of the side edge of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path, a moving means for moving the position restricting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, A slant that is disposed at an upstream position of the position restricting means and conveys the sheet obliquely toward the position restricting means so that a side end of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path is in contact with the position restricting means. A feed unit, an attitude detection unit that is disposed at an upstream position of the skew feeding unit and detects a displacement amount for specifying a posture of a sheet conveyed on the conveyance path, and is provided integrally with the position regulation unit, A sheet conveying apparatus control method comprising: a sheet detecting unit configured to detect a sheet conveyed toward the position regulating unit by the oblique feeding unit, and according to a displacement detected by the posture detecting unit. A step of controlling the moving means to move the position restricting means to a machine position; and when the sheet is detected by the sheet detecting means, the position restricting means is moved from the standby position to the position of the side edge of the sheet. And a step of controlling the moving means so as to move it to a predetermined position that matches a reference position on the conveyance path.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveying device.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably correct the position of the side edge of the sheet in a short time and regardless of variations in the position of the side edge of the sheet.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the case where the sheet conveying apparatus of the present embodiment is used as a lateral position control unit for correcting the position of the side edge of a sheet that is re-fed in the duplex mode in the laser beam printer shown in FIG. explain.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sheet conveying apparatus 100 includes a conveying roller 102, a plurality of skew feeding rollers 103, and a refeed roller 109. Each skew feeding roller 103 is a roller for conveying the sheet conveyed in the sheet conveying direction A in a direction approaching the lateral position correction side plate 106. Each skew feeding roller 103 is arranged such that its rotation axis is inclined with respect to the sheet conveying direction A.

  A lateral position correction side plate 106 for restricting the position of the sheet is disposed at a position between each skew feeding roller 103 and the refeed roller 109. The lateral position correction side plate 106 is supported by the apparatus main body so as to be movable in a direction B perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A in the drawing. The lateral position correction side plate 106 is provided with a rack (not shown) extending along the direction B, and a pinion (not shown) is engaged with the rack. Thereby, when the pinion is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), the lateral position correction side plate 106 is moved in the direction B.

  A sheet side end sensor 104 is mounted on the lateral position correction side plate 106. The sheet side edge sensor 104 is a sensor for detecting whether or not the side edge of the sheet is located in the vicinity of the guide surface 107.

  A conveyance roller 110 for assisting conveyance of a sheet located in the vicinity of the lateral position correction side plate 106 is disposed in the vicinity of the lateral position correction side plate 106. The transport roller 110 is moved in the direction B in synchronization with the movement of the lateral position correction side plate 106 in the direction B.

  A sheet posture detection sensor 101 and a detection sensor 113 are arranged at a position upstream of the conveyance roller 102. The sheet orientation detection sensor 101 is a sensor that detects the end position of the conveyed sheet, and is composed of, for example, a line sensor or an area sensor. The sheet detection sensor 113 is a sensor that detects a sheet, and an output signal when the sheet is detected is used as a signal indicating a timing at which reading of the sheet posture detection sensor 101 is started.

  A skew feeding position detection sensor 111 is disposed at a position between the conveying roller 102 and the skew feeding roller 103. The skew feeding detection sensor 111 is a sensor for detecting a sheet, and an output signal when the sheet is detected is used as a signal indicating the driving timing of the skew feeding roller 103 and the movement timing of the lateral position correction side plate 106. .

  A re-feed sensor 108 for detecting a re-feed sheet is disposed at a position upstream of the re-feed roller 109.

  The output signals of the sensors are input to a control unit (not shown). This control unit corresponds to, for example, the engine control unit shown in FIG. 6, and a description of the configuration thereof is omitted. The control unit controls the driving of the corresponding motor so as to drive the skew feeding roller 103, the lateral position correction side plate 106, the refeed roller 109, and the like at the corresponding timing based on each input output signal. .

  Next, the lateral position correcting operation of the sheet by the sheet conveying apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 are plan views schematically showing the operation of the sheet conveying apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing, in time series, reading positions when the sheet posture detection sensor reads the skewed sheet end. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the sheet conveying apparatus of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when the sheet 112 is detected by the sheet detection sensor 113, the sheet posture detection sensor 101 starts reading at a predetermined cycle. At the same time, the controller starts to rotate the transport roller 102. A signal obtained by reading the sheet posture detection sensor 101 at a predetermined cycle is input to the control unit. The control unit detects the position in the main scanning direction of the end portion of the sheet 112 based on the signal input from the sheet posture detection sensor 101, and holds the position of the detected end portion in the main scanning direction. A method for detecting the position of the end of the sheet 112 in the main scanning direction will be described later.

  Next, the sheet 112 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 102. Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the sheet 112 is detected by the skew feeding position detection sensor 111, the control unit drives the motor of the lateral position correction side plate 106. Then, the lateral position correction side plate 106 is moved in the main scanning direction (direction B) to a position corresponding to the main scanning position of the end portion of the sheet 112 held by the control unit, that is, a standby position.

  When the sheet 112 is detected by the skew feeding position detection sensor 111 and then is conveyed by a predetermined amount by the conveying roller 102, each skew feeding roller 103 is driven by the control unit as shown in FIG. 112 is conveyed toward the lateral position correction side plate 106.

  When the sheet-side edge sensor 104 detects the sheet 112 conveyed by the skew feeding roller 103, the control unit starts driving the conveying roller 110 at the same time as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). The position correction side plate 106 is moved to a predetermined position in the main scanning direction. Here, the predetermined position in the main scanning direction of the lateral position correction side plate 106 is a position where the side edge of the sheet matches the reference position on the conveyance path. For example, the central position along the main scanning direction of the sheet is the conveyance path. The position coincides with the center position along the main scanning direction.

  When the lateral position correction side plate 106 moves to a predetermined position in the main scanning direction, the sheet 112 is conveyed in a state where the side edge thereof is corrected to a position that matches the reference position on the conveyance path. When the sheet 112 is detected by the sheet refeed sensor 108, the sheet refeed roller 109 is driven, and the sheet 112 is conveyed by the sheet refeed roller 109.

  Next, a method for detecting the main scanning position at the end of the sheet 112 will be described.

  The sheet orientation detection sensor 101 starts reading for reading the end portion of the sheet 112 after the conveyed sheet 112 is detected by the sheet detection sensor 113. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the reading position with respect to the sheet 112 by the sheet posture detection sensor 101 immediately after being detected by the sheet detection sensor 113 is a position 101a, and the subsequent reading positions are positions 101b to 101e,. The values read at the respective positions 101a to 101e,... Are defined as f (101a) to f (101e),.

Then, a difference ΔD between values at the preceding and following reading positions is calculated in the reading order. That is, ΔDa = f (101a) −f (101b)
ΔDb = f (101b) −f (101c)
ΔDc = f (101c) −f (101d)
ΔDd = f (101d) −f (101e)
Thus, the difference ΔD is calculated.

  Here, as is apparent from FIG. 4, the polarity changes depending on the differences ΔDb and ΔDc. This is because the relationship f (101b) <f (101c), f (101c)> f (101d) is established.

  Since the reading position at which the polarity of the difference ΔD has changed, that is, the value read at the position 101c includes the value indicating the main scanning direction position of the end portion of the sheet 112, the sheet 112 is based on the value read at the position 101c. The position in the main scanning direction of the end of the is calculated.

  Next, the procedure of the above-described operation will be described with reference to FIG. The procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is executed by the control unit.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit waits for a sheet to be detected by the sheet detection sensor 113 (step S101). When the sheet is detected by the sheet detection sensor 113, the control unit starts driving the conveyance roller 102 (step S102) and controls the sheet posture detection sensor 101 to start reading at a predetermined cycle (step S103). ).

  Next, the control unit detects the position in the main scanning direction of the end portion of the sheet based on the signal obtained by reading the sheet posture detection sensor 101 at a predetermined cycle (step S104). The detected position of the edge of the sheet in the main scanning direction is maintained.

  Next, the control unit drives the motor of the lateral position correction side plate 106 to move the lateral position correction side plate 106 to the standby position in the main scanning direction (direction B) (step S105). This standby position is a position corresponding to the main scanning position of the detected end portion of the sheet. Here, the sheet 112 continues to be conveyed by the conveying roller 102. Then, the control unit waits for the skew feeding position detection sensor 111 to detect the sheet (step S106). When a sheet is detected by the skew feeding position detection sensor 111, the control unit drives each skew feeding roller 103 (step S107). The sheet is conveyed toward the lateral position correction side plate 106 by the skew feeding roller 103.

  Next, the control unit waits for the sheet to be detected by the sheet side end sensor 104 (step S108). When the sheet is detected by the sheet side end sensor 104, the control unit starts driving the conveying roller 110 and simultaneously moves the lateral position correction side plate 106 from the standby position to the predetermined position in the main scanning direction ( Step S109). When the lateral position correction side plate 106 moves to a predetermined position in the main scanning direction, the sheet is conveyed while its side edge is in contact with the guide surface 107 of the lateral position correction side plate 106. As a result, the sheet is conveyed with its side edge corrected to a posture that matches the reference position on the conveyance path.

  Next, the control unit waits for a sheet to be detected by the refeed sensor 108 (step S110). When the sheet is detected by the refeed sensor 108, the control unit drives the refeed roller 109 (step S111). As a result, the sheet is conveyed by the refeed roller 109. Then, the control unit ends this process.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the lateral position correction side plate 106 is moved to the standby position corresponding to the position in the main scanning direction of the end portion of the sheet obtained from the signal of the sheet posture detection sensor 101. When the sheet is detected by the sheet side sensor 104, the lateral position correction side plate 106 is moved from the standby position to a predetermined position in the main scanning direction. As a result, the sheet is conveyed while its side edge is in contact with the guide surface 107 of the lateral position correction side plate 106. That is, the sheet is conveyed in a state where the side edge thereof is corrected to a posture that matches the reference position on the conveyance path. As a result, it is possible to reliably correct the position of the side edge of the sheet regardless of variations in the position of the side edge of the sheet. Further, the position of the side edge of the sheet can be corrected without taking extra time, that is, in a short time.

1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the operation of the sheet conveying apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the operation of the sheet conveying apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a reading position in time series when a sheet posture detection sensor reads an end portion of a skewed sheet. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the sheet conveying apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional laser beam printer. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the mechanical structure of the laser beam printer of FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the horizontal position control part 806 of FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the conventional sheet conveying apparatus. FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically showing the operation of the sheet conveying apparatus in FIG. 9.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Sheet | seat attitude | position detection sensor 103 Slope feeding roller 104 Sheet side edge sensor 106 Lateral position control side plate 107 Guide surface 110 Conveyance roller 111 Slope feeding position detection sensor

Claims (7)

A position restricting means for restricting the position of the side edge of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path; a moving means for moving the position restricting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction; and an upstream position of the position restricting means, A skew feeding means that conveys the sheet in an oblique direction toward the position regulating means so that a side edge of the sheet conveyed on the conveyance path is in contact with the position regulating means; the moving means; and the diagonal feeding A sheet conveying apparatus comprising control means for controlling the means,
A posture detecting means which is disposed at an upstream position of the skew feeding means and detects a displacement amount for specifying a posture of a sheet conveyed on the conveying path;
A sheet detecting means provided integrally with the position restricting means, for detecting a sheet conveyed toward the position restricting means by the skew feeding means;
The control means controls the moving means to move the position restricting means to a standby position corresponding to the amount of displacement detected by the posture detecting means, and when the sheet is detected by the sheet detecting means, A sheet conveying apparatus that controls the moving means to move the position restricting means from the standby position to a predetermined position where the position of the side edge of the sheet matches the reference position on the conveying path.   The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the posture detection unit is a line sensor or an area sensor.   The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position restricting unit includes a guide member that contacts a side edge of the sheet.   The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the skew feeding unit includes a conveying roller disposed so that a rotation axis is inclined with respect to the sheet conveying direction. Provided at an upstream position in the vicinity of the skew feeding means, and has a second sheet detecting means for detecting a sheet,
2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the skew feeding unit to be driven when a sheet is detected by the second sheet detection unit. A position restricting means for restricting the position of the side edge of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path; a moving means for moving the position restricting means in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction; and an upstream position of the position restricting means, A skew feeding unit that conveys the sheet in an oblique direction toward the position regulating unit so that a side end of the sheet conveyed on the conveyance path is in contact with the position regulating unit, and an upstream position of the skew feeding unit And a position detecting means for detecting a displacement amount for specifying the position of the sheet conveyed on the conveying path, and a sheet detecting means provided integrally with the position restricting means for detecting the sheet. A control method for a conveying device,
Controlling the moving means to move the position restricting means to a standby position according to the amount of displacement detected by the posture detecting means;
When the sheet is detected by the sheet detecting means, the moving means is configured to move the position restricting means from the standby position to a predetermined position where the position of the side edge of the sheet matches the reference position on the conveyance path. A control method for the sheet conveying apparatus.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet conveying device according to claim 1.

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