An image forming apparatus includes a first transport unit, a second transport unit, a cover, a flap, a drive unit for moving the flap, a first sensor for detecting opening and closing of the cover, a second sensor for detecting a position of a sheet, and a controller. The controller switches the drive unit to move the flap to the second position, upon determining it is necessary to move the flap to the second position, subsequent to determining that the cover is opened based on a detection result by the first sensor. The controller switches the drive unit to move the flap from the second position to the first position, upon determining, based on a detection result by the second sensor, that a leading edge of the sheet reaches a position downstream, in a sheet transport direction, of a swing end portion of the flap at the second position.

A sheet processing apparatus arranged in a space between an image reading section for reading an image and an image formation section for forming an image on a sheet includes a carry-in path guiding a sheet from a carry-in entrance; a relay roller provided in the carry-in path to relay and transport the sheet; a first transport path positioned on a downstream side of the relay roller and having a carry-in roller to transport the sheet from the carry-in path to the first collection tray; and a second transport path branched from the carry-in path and having a branch roller to transport the transported sheet to the second collection tray. The relay roller shifts the sheet in a direction crossing the transport direction while a front end of the sheet enters the first transport path or the second transport path, and arrives at the carry-in roller or the branch roller.

A sheet binding apparatus according to an embodiment includes a tape holding section and a guide section. The tape holding section holds a tape in at least two parts. The guide section guides a sheet bundle to between the two parts of the tape. The tape holding section bends and holds the tape to be convex to a conveying direction downstream side of the sheet bundle.

An image forming system includes an image forming portion, a stack portion, a specific image processing portion, and a setting processing portion. The image forming portion forms an image on a sheet based on image data. The stack portion stores a stack of sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming portion. The specific image processing portion causes the image forming portion to form a specific image on a specific sheet that is discharged to the stack portion before or after one or more sheets on which one or more images have been formed by the image forming portion based on the image data. The setting processing portion sets a specific image formation position on the specific sheet so that the specific image is formed at the specific image formation position.

An image forming system includes: an interface that obtains job information including a plurality of jobs that represent processing contents that are performed on sheets; an image former that forms images on the sheets based on the job information; a plurality of stackers in which the sheets discharged from the image former are stacked so as to be divided for each of the jobs; and a processor that: obtains, from the job information, next processing information of a next processing to be performed on the sheets after the image forming processing, and selects, based on the next processing information, a first stacker among the plurality of stackers for the sheets to be stacked.

A sheet processing apparatus includes a carry-in path for guiding a sheet from a carry-in entrance, a shift roller provided in the carry-in path to relay and transport the sheet, a first transport path positioned on the downstream side of the relay roller to transport the sheet from the carry-in path to a first collection tray, and a second transport path branched off from the carry-in path to transport the transported sheet to a second collection tray. The relay roller shifts the sheet in the direction crossing the transport direction, while the shift by the relay roller is performed after the sheet front end enters the first transport path or second transport path. Thus, it is possible to provide a relatively compact sheet processing apparatus capable of shifting in sorting and shifting sheets, without increasing the carry-in path.

A sheet processing apparatus is provided with a carry-in path for guiding a sheet from a carry-in entrance, a shift roller provided in the carry-in path to transport the sheet, while shifting, a carry-in roller positioned on the downstream side of the shift roller to carry the sheet from the carry-in path toward a collection tray, and a punch shift unit provided on the upstream side of the carry-in roller to process an end portion of the sheet in a processing position. The punch shift unit shifts in the same direction as the shift roller, a shift amount of the punch shift unit is set to be equal to a shift amount of the shift roller or more, and the end portion processing unit is thereby already positioned in an end portion processing position or a position near the processing position after shifting the sheet.

An image forming apparatus includes a main body, a post-printing processing device, and a paper exit part. The main body forms an image on paper. The post-printing processing device is located above the main body and performs post-printing processing on paper. The paper exit part is located on a side surface of the post-printing processing device. Paper is ejected to the paper exit part. The post-printing processing device includes a paper inlet port and a conveyance device. The paper inlet port is located in a rear part of a lower surface of the post-printing processing device. The conveyance device conveys paper conveyed via the paper inlet port into the post-printing processing device in a forward direction thereof to a paper loading tray and conveys the paper therefrom leftward to eject the paper to the paper exit part located on the left side of the post-printing processing device.

According to an example, printed media stack alignment may include actuating a belt and a paddle to shift first and second sheets to a stopper position represented by register of the first and second sheets against a stopper. The stopper may be actuated to shift the first and second sheets to an eject position, where the eject position is intermediate to a sheet deposit position and the stopper position. The belt and the paddle may be actuated to shift the first sheet, the second sheet, and a third sheet received at the sheet deposit position to the stopper position. The stopper may be actuated to shift the first, second, and third sheets to the eject position. Further, an ejector may be actuated to eject a stack including the first, second, and third sheets from the eject position.

A binding device includes a receptacle, an aligner, a moving mechanism, first and second binders, and a guide. The aligner aligns a bundle of recording media in a width direction thereof on the receptacle. The moving mechanism moves the aligner in the width direction. A maximum thickness of the bundle of recording media boundable in the second binder is smaller than that in the first binder. The guide is movable conforming to the maximum thickness of the bundle of recording media boundable in the first binder, and conforming to that in the second binder, to guide and direct the bundle of recording media to a receiving portion of the first binder when the first binder binds the bundle of recording media, and to a receiving portion of the second binder when the second binder binds the bundle of recording media, respectively. The guide is movable in conjunction with the aligner.