Patent ID: 8109510

Claim:
A sheet inverting and conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of sheet inverting and conveying mechanisms, in which each of said plurality of mechanisms conveys a sheet in a first direction, inverts obverse and reverse sides of the sheet, and then conveys the inverted sheet in a second direction, each of said plurality of mechanisms comprising: a first conveyance section for receiving, at its conveyance face, the reverse side of the sheet, on the obverse side of which a printing process has been performed, and for conveying the sheet in the first direction; a sheet inverting section for receiving, at its bent inner peripheral face, said reverse side of the sheet, and for inverting the sheet while bending the sheet along the bent inner peripheral face; and a second conveyance section for receiving, at its conveyance face, said reverse side of the inverted sheet, and for conveying the sheet in the second direction, wherein the first conveyance section and the second conveyance section are formed so that the sheet is conveyed while being attracted to the conveyance faces, wherein said mechanisms are in combination so that the sheet is conveyed while being repeatedly inverted and the sheet is conveyed in a state in which only the reverse side is allowed to come into contact with the conveyance face of the conveyance section and the bent inner peripheral face of the sheet inverting section, and wherein, in said combination, the second conveyance section of the preceding mechanism serves as the first conveyance section of the subsequent mechanism.