Patent ID: 7942416

Claim:
An image forming apparatus which turns back a sheet from a first conveying direction toward the outside of the apparatus to a second conveying direction toward the inside of a reversal conveyance path to reverse a front side and a back side of the sheet, the apparatus comprising: an intermediate conveyance unit and an outer conveyance unit, the intermediate conveyance unit being positioned upstream from the reversal conveyance path in the second conveying direction and midway in a sheet conveyance path on which the sheet is conveyed during the conveyance involving the turning back, the intermediate conveyance unit being configured to be pulled out of the apparatus together with a portion of the sheet conveyance path, the outer conveyance unit being positioned adjacent to the intermediate conveyance unit upstream from the intermediate conveyance unit in the second conveying direction; a roller which conveys the sheet within the sheet conveyance path in the second conveying direction; a sheet length determining section which determines whether or not the sheet to be turned back is long enough in a sheet conveying direction so as to extend into the outer conveyance unit during the conveyance of the sheet involving the turning back; and a conveyance control section which controls the roller such that the sheet to be turned back and directed into the reversal conveyance path is caused to wait until the sheet can be conveyed into the reversal conveyance path, the conveyance control section setting, as a standby position of the sheet while the sheet is caused to wait, a position such that an upstream end portion in the second conveying direction of the sheet to be directed into the reversal conveyance path does not extend for a predetermined length or longer into the outer conveyance unit, and causing the sheet to wait at the standby position only if the sheet length determining section determines that the sheet is long enough so as to extend into the outer conveyance unit during the conveyance involving the turning back.