Patent ID: 8444135

Claim:
A sheet conveyance device comprising: a loading section to accommodate multiple sheets stacked one on another; a first conveyance member disposed facing a top sheet of the multiple sheets set in the loading section to apply a transport force to the top sheet of the multiple sheets; a separation section disposed downstream in a sheet conveyance direction from the first conveyance member to separate at a separation position one by one the multiple sheets transported by the first conveyance member; a first sheet length detector to detect whether a length of the sheet placed in the loading section is equal to or greater than a predetermined detection length (D 1 ) in the sheet conveyance direction, the predetermined detection length (D 1 ) slightly longer than a specific sheet size in the sheet conveyance direction; a trailing-edge detector disposed downstream from the separation section in the sheet conveyance direction to detect a trailing edge of the sheet; a leading-edge detector to detect a leading edge of the sheet, disposed downstream from the trailing-edge detector a distance smaller than the specific sheet size and downstream from the first conveyance member a distance longer than the specific sheet size in the sheet conveyance direction; and a controller to control sheet conveyance in accordance with detection of the first sheet length detector, wherein in a case in which the first sheet length detector detects that the length of the sheet placed in the loading section is equal to or greater than the predetermined detection length (D 1 ) in the sheet conveyance direction, the controller starts feeding a subsequent sheet when the trailing-edge detector detects the trailing edge of a preceding sheet, and in a case in which the first sheet length detector detects that the length of the sheet placed in the loading section is smaller than the predetermined detection length (D 1 ) in the sheet conveyance direction, the controller starts feeding the subsequent sheet when either the leading-edge detector detects the leading edge of the preceding sheet or the trailing-edge detector detects the trailing edge of the preceding sheet.