Patent ID: 8342507

Claim:
A sheet conveying device, comprising: an attraction belt arranged to face the upper surface of a sheet stack; multiple rollers around which the attraction belt is wound, to keep the attraction belt taut, wherein the multiple rollers include two rollers including an upstream roller and a downstream roller in the sheet conveying direction, and a charging device to charge a surface of the attraction belt, located in proximity to the attraction belt; and a contacting and separating device to contact the attraction belt with and then separate from the sheet stack, with different tensions on the attraction belt at a contact position in contact with the uppermost sheet of the sheet stack and at a separation position separate from the sheet stack, wherein tension of the attraction belt at the contact position in contact with the uppermost sheet of the sheet stack is relatively lower than tension of the attraction belt at the separation position separate from the sheet stack, wherein the contacting and separating device includes a side plate swingably supported around a fulcrum positioned upstream of the upstream roller in the sheet conveying direction, the side plate rotatably supporting the two rollers and supporting the upstream roller to be movable in upward and downward directions within a range with respect to the upper surface of the sheet stack, and wherein the upstream roller is configured to move by its own weight, away from the downstream roller, thereby relatively increasing the tension of the attraction belt.