A printing apparatus, including a sheet conveyer unit with a first roller unit, a printer unit, and a controller, is provided. The controller executes a first-face printing process, wherein an image is printed on a first face of a sheet; a switchback process, wherein the sheet after the first-face printing process is conveyed in a reverse direction by the first roller unit; a second-face printing process, wherein the image is printed on a second face of the sheet; a first ink amount determining process to determine whether an ink amount discharged in the first-face printing process at an end area of the sheet is one of greater than and equal to a first threshold amount; and a switchback setting process, wherein, if the ink amount is smaller than the first threshold amount, a rotation speed of the first roller unit is set at a higher rotation speed.

A printing apparatus, including a sheet conveyer unit with a first roller unit, a printer unit, and a controller, is provided. The controller executes a first-face printing process, wherein an image is printed on a first face of a sheet; a switchback process, wherein the sheet after the first-face printing process is conveyed in a reverse direction by the first roller unit; a second-face printing process, wherein the image is printed on a second face of the sheet; a first ink amount determining process to determine whether an ink amount discharged in the first-face printing process at an end area of the sheet is one of greater than and equal to a first threshold amount; and a switchback setting process, wherein, if the ink amount is smaller than the first threshold amount, a rotation speed of the first roller unit is set at a higher rotation speed.

A removable media handling module includes a body that is horizontally slidable into and removable from an imaging apparatus. The media handling module includes a lower media guide extending between a front and a rear of the body. With the media handling module inserted into the imaging apparatus, the lower media guide is positioned parallel to and spaced from a corresponding upper media guide mounted in the imaging apparatus to form at least a portion of a duplex media path therebetween. A drive mechanism including a clutched gear is operably connected to a feed roll assembly of the media handling module. The clutched gear is freely rotatable in a first direction that causes the feed roll assembly to rotate in a media process direction for feeding a printed media sheet along the duplex media path and is restrained from rotating in a second direction opposite the first direction.

A removable media handling module includes a body that is horizontally slidable into and removable from an imaging apparatus. The media handling module includes a lower media guide extending between a front and a rear of the body. With the media handling module inserted into the imaging apparatus, the lower media guide is positioned parallel to and spaced from a corresponding upper media guide mounted in the imaging apparatus to form at least a portion of a duplex media path therebetween. A drive mechanism including a clutched gear is operably connected to a feed roll assembly of the media handling module. The clutched gear is freely rotatable in a first direction that causes the feed roll assembly to rotate in a media process direction for feeding a printed media sheet along the duplex media path and is restrained from rotating in a second direction opposite the first direction.

A removable media handling module includes a body that is horizontally slidable into and removable from an imaging apparatus. The media handling module includes a lower media guide extending between a front and a rear of the body in a direction of insertion of the body into the imaging apparatus. With the media handling module inserted into the imaging apparatus, the lower media guide is positioned parallel to and spaced from a corresponding upper media guide mounted in the imaging apparatus to form at least a portion of a duplex media path therebetween. The media handling module includes a media feed through channel extending from a bottom of the body to an entrance of a simplex media path to allow media to be fed from a media tray below the media handling module and into the simplex media path when the media handling module is installed in the imaging apparatus.

A removable media handling module includes a body that is horizontally slidable into and removable from an imaging apparatus. The media handling module includes a lower media guide extending between a front and a rear of the body in a direction of insertion of the body into the imaging apparatus. With the media handling module inserted into the imaging apparatus, the lower media guide is positioned parallel to and spaced from a corresponding upper media guide mounted in the imaging apparatus to form at least a portion of a duplex media path therebetween. The media handling module includes a media feed through channel extending from a bottom of the body to an entrance of a simplex media path to allow media to be fed from a media tray below the media handling module and into the simplex media path when the media handling module is installed in the imaging apparatus.

A sheet conveyance device includes a conveyance roller to convey a sheet, an ejection roller to eject the sheet from the sheet conveyance device, a conveyance relay roller disposed between the conveyance roller and the ejection roller, a driven roller disposed in contact with the conveyance relay roller to form a nip, and an openable portion to open and close relative to a housing of the sheet conveyance device. A pivotable roller holder to pivot relative to openable portion is attached to the openable portion. The pivotable roller holder holds the conveyance relay roller and the driven roller to maintain a nip pressure between the conveyance relay roller and the driven roller when the openable portion is opened.

An image forming apparatus includes: a reconveying unit including a reconveying roller; and a second transmission mechanism. The second transmission mechanism transmits a drive force to the reconveying roller and includes: an input gear; an output gear; an intermediate gear including first and second gears; and first and second swinging gears. The first toothless part of the first gear and the second toothless part of the second gear are provided at such a position that, when the intermediate gear is rotated by a drive force transmitted from the input gear through the second swinging gear while the second swinging gear meshes with the second toothed part of the second gear and the output gear meshes with the first toothed part of the first gear, the first toothless part reaches a position confronting the output gear and then the second toothless part reaches a position confronting the second swinging gear.

An image forming apparatus is configured such that in a case where images are to be formed on a first surface of a preceding sheet, on a first surface of a succeeding sheet fed to the first conveyance path succeeding to the preceding sheet and on a second surface of the preceding sheet, a first conveyance member is stopped without reversing the preceding sheet to a second conveyance path in a case where the image has been formed on the first surface of the preceding sheet and permission of preparing the image to be formed on the first surface of the succeeding sheet is not issued yet. The first conveyance member restarts conveyance of the preceding sheet to the second conveyance path based on timing when an image forming unit starts preparing the image to be formed on the first surface of the succeeding sheet.

An image forming apparatus, in which a method of positional adjustment performed in image forming, includes an image bearer, a transfer device to transfer an image formed on the image bearer onto a recording medium having a first side and a second side, a recording medium conveying path along which the recording medium travels to the transfer device, a first detector and a second detector to detect positional information of the recording medium on or near the recording medium conveying path, in which the first detector being disposed closer to the transfer device than the second detector to the transfer device in a sheet conveying direction on the recording medium conveying path, and an adjuster to adjust a position of the image based on at least one of former positional information obtained by the first detector and current positional information obtained by the second detector.