A sheet sorting device includes a plurality of trays, a tray shifter, a tray stop position detector, and circuitry. The plurality of trays is disposed in multiple stages in a vertical direction and configured to stack a sheet. The tray shifter is configured to move the plurality of trays separately in a tray shift direction. The tray stop position detector is configured to detect stop positions of the plurality of trays separately. The circuitry is configured to cause the tray shifter to move the plurality of trays to home positions in an initial operation, at least one tray having a home position opposite to a home position of another tray in the tray shift direction. The circuitry is configured to, while moving the plurality of trays at a same time in the initial operation, cause the tray shifter to move the trays in directions opposite to each other.

A sheet cooling apparatus includes: a fixing device that fixes a toner image on a sheet; an ejection section that ejects the sheet on which the toner image has been fixed; a stacking section that stacks the sheet ejected by the ejection section; an air blowing device that blows air; a first air blowing path that guides the air from the air blowing device so that the air passes through the ejection section; and a second air blowing path that guides the air so as to suppress inflow of the air into the stacking section in a state where the first air blowing path is blocked by the sheet ejected by the ejection section.

An image forming system includes: an image former that forms an image; a stacker that stacks a recording medium on which an image has been formed by the image former and which has been discharged from the image former; a lifter that raises or lowers the stacker between a stacking position where the recording medium is stacked and a lower position located below the stacking position; a recording medium detector that detects the recording medium stacked on the stacker; and a hardware processor that controls driving of the lifter so as to lower the stacker from the stacking position to the lower position when it is determined that the recording medium is on the stacker on the basis of a detection result of the recording medium detector within start-up time from a time when power is switched on to a time of shifting to an image formable state.

A control apparatus includes a processor and a memory to control a system having an image forming apparatus and a sheet discharge apparatus. Executing a memory store program causes the control apparatus to receive configuration information of the system and generate a system configuration image, receive stacking state information and generate a sheet bundle image, display a screen, receive job identification information of an image forming job of sheets to be picked up, and display a thumbnail image. The stacking state information includes a stacking amount of sheets stacked on a sheet stacking tray. The sheet bundle image represents the sheets stacked on a sheet stacking tray based on the stacking state information. The system configuration image and the sheet bundle image are combined in the screen. The thumbnail image is based on receiving the job identification information.

An image forming system which reduces the number of sheets invalidated upon detection of an image defect, without an escape area. The image forming system includes an image forming section, an image reading section, a post-processing section, and a controller. When the controller detects an image defect on a sheet, if the number of sheets from the spoilage sheet to the sheet in the first bunch of sheets on the border of the bunch is smaller than the number of sheets from the spoilage sheet to the last sheet, the controller continues the process to make sheet bunches up to the sheet bunch including the last sheet. Then, the controller starts recovery operation for copies (bunches) remaining to be made as requested by job information plus a copy equivalent to the sheet bunch including the spoilage sheet.

A printing system executes printing of a plurality of copies of a document, and includes first and second paper eject trays. The printing system ejects a plurality of paper sheets of the document to the first or second paper eject tray; detects a full state or a near full state being a predetermined number of paper sheets less than the full state; and ejects the paper sheets of a next copy to the first paper eject tray until the first paper eject tray is full and subsequently to the second paper eject tray, in response to detecting that a total ejectable paper sheet number is greater than or equal to the number of paper sheets of the next copy, the total ejectable paper sheet number being obtained by adding together the numbers of paper sheets that can be ejected to the first and second paper eject trays.

An example printing device may comprise a first bin to receive print media, where the first bin is a non-finishing bin, a second bin to receive print media, where the second bin is a finishing bin, a finishing device, and a controller to determine a total number of finishing device failures and redirect a print job from the second bin to the first bin in response to a determination that the total number of finishing device failures exceeds a threshold value.

In accordance with an embodiment, an image processing system comprises a discharge section, a first tray, a second tray, and a controller. The discharge section discharges a processed sheet. The first tray and the second tray vertically move to load the sheet discharged from the discharge section. The controller drives either one or both of the first tray and the second tray to carry out control to discharge a sheet to which an image forming processing is executed to one of the first tray and the second tray and carries out control to discharge a sheet to which a decoloring processing is executed to the other tray according to a type of a job received by a reception section.

According to one embodiment, a post-processing apparatus includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a control unit. The first sensor detects an object in a predetermined area in which a predetermined post-process is performed on a sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus. The second sensor detects an object at a position closer to an opening in the area than the position of the first sensor with respect to the opening through which the sheet passes when the post-processed sheet is discharged from the area. When the second sensor detects an object before the first sensor detects the object, the control unit performs a predetermined process for preventing the occurrence of a failure.

In a printing system capable of supplying a sheet of a job having undergone print processing by the printing unit of a printing apparatus to a post-processing unit capable of executing at least a specific type of post-processing among a plurality of types of post-processes, when the target job requires the specific type of post-processing, the printing apparatus is inhibited from executing print processing of the job without explicitly determining a sheet necessary for the print processing of the job by a user using a user interface unit. When the target job does not require the specific type of post-processing, the printing apparatus is permitted to execute print processing of the job without explicitly determining a sheet necessary for the print processing of the job by the user using the user interface unit.