Patent ID: 7918449

Claim:
A double-sided image forming device for forming an image on a first side of a paper sheet, and for subsequently reversing the paper sheet and conveying the paper sheet to an image forming section again, thereby forming an image also on a second side of the paper sheet, the double-sided image forming device comprising: a paper feeding section for feeding a paper sheet; an image forming section for forming an image on the paper sheet; a first conveyance route for conveying a fed paper sheet to a paper discharge section via the image forming section; and a second conveyance route for receiving, on its conveyance surface, the paper sheet, on the first side of which an image has been formed, from the first conveyance route, and for conveying the paper sheet while reversing it, thereby conveying the paper sheet to the upstream side of the image forming section in the conveyance direction of the first conveyance route, wherein the second conveyance route has: a forward guide section for guiding the paper sheet to the second conveyance route so that the second side of the paper sheet conveyed by the first conveyance route is received on the conveyance surface of the second conveyance route; a reverse conveyance route for receiving, on its conveyance surface, the second side of the paper sheet, and for conveying the paper sheet while reversing it; and a diverting guide for guiding the paper sheet to the first conveyance route so that the first side of the paper sheet conveyed via the reverse conveyance route is received on a conveyance surface of the first conveyance route, and wherein the reverse conveyance route is formed by a combination of a plurality of reverse mechanisms each comprising: a first conveyance section for linearly conveying the paper sheet by attracting the second side of the paper sheet to a conveyance surface; a reverse section for receiving, on its conveyance surface formed by a curved inner peripheral surface, the second side of the paper sheet conveyed by the first conveyance section, and for reversing the paper sheet while bending it along the curved inner peripheral surface; and a second conveyance section for linearly conveying the paper sheet by attracting the second side of the reversed paper sheet to a conveyance surface, and the continuous reverse mechanisms are combined so that the second conveyance section of the preceding reverse mechanism also serves as the first conveyance section of the subsequent reverse mechanism.