Patent ID: 8528898

Claim:
A sheet conveying apparatus which superimposes and conveys a plurality of sheets, comprising: a common conveying route configured to convey a sheet in a first direction; a reverse conveying route which branches off from the common conveying route and receives the sheet conveyed from the common conveying route in a second direction opposite to the first direction, to make the sheet waiting in the reverse conveying route; a conveying portion which conveys the sheet in the first direction or in the second direction along the common conveying route or the reverse conveying route; a switch member which is provided at a branch portion between the common conveying route and the reverse conveying route, which can be switched between a first position for guiding the sheet conveyed along the common conveying route from upstream to downstream of the branch portion in the first direction and a second position for guiding the sheet conveyed in the second direction from downstream of the branch portion in the first direction, and which has a first guide face and a second guide face, located on a back of the first guide face, to guide the sheet; and a controlling portion which controls operations of the conveying portion and the switch member, so that a preceding sheet, conveyed in the second direction to wait in the reverse conveying route, is guided by the first guide face of the switch member switched from the first position to the second position, and so that a following sheet, conveyed along the common conveying route from upstream of the branch portion in the first direction to be superimposed with the preceding sheet waiting in the reverse conveying route, is guided by the second guide face of the switch member while the switch member is maintained at the second position so as to meet the preceding sheet guided from the reverse conveying route by the first guide face of the switch member at a position downstream of the switch member in the first direction.