A control method is provided for a booklet manufacturing apparatus that manufactures booklets by performing thermocompression bonding on a printing material with a bonding agent image formed at a predetermined site by a bonding agent with thermoplasticity. The method comprises performing thermocompression bonding of the predetermined site of the printing material placed in a stacking unit using a thermocompression bonding unit; and before the printing material is placed in the stacking unit, in a case where a predetermined condition of a temperature of a pressing member being equal to or less than a threshold is satisfied, performing control of the thermocompression bonding unit and performing preliminary heating on the pressing member.

A booklet forming device includes a sheet support portion, and a bonding unit including a pressurizing member and configured to form a bonding layer. In a case of forming a first booklet including a first number of sheets, the bonding unit is operated under a first operation condition so that a thickness of the bonding layer positioned closest to the pressurizing member in the first booklet becomes a first thickness. In a case of forming a second booklet including a second number of sheets more than the first number of sheets, the bonding unit is operated under a second operation condition different from the first operation condition so that the thickness of the bonding layer positioned closest to the pressurizing member in the second booklet becomes a second thickness larger than the first thickness.

An image forming apparatus comprises a rotationally driven photosensitive body, a charging device that charges a surface of the photosensitive body, an exposure light source that forms an electrostatic latent image by exposing the surface of the photosensitive body to light, a developing device that forms a toner image by developing the electrostatic latent image using toner, a transfer member that transfers the toner image to a sheet, a first memory that stores a cumulative image formation amount for each one of N exposure regions, and a control circuit that controls the exposure light source.

In a case where a region of a heating pressurization unit in a longitudinal direction of the heating pressurization unit where the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes a sheet of a maximum size is a first region, and a region of the heating pressurization unit in the longitudinal direction where the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes a sheet of a minimum size is a second region, and a region of the heating pressurization unit inside the first region and outside the second region in the longitudinal direction is a third region, the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes the sheet of the maximum size with a pressurization force profile having a minimum value in the longitudinal direction at a position in the third region or a position of an end portion of the second region adjacent to the third region.

A perfect-bound booklet includes a sheet set that is a stack of multiple sheets and multiple adhesive layers provided at an end of each sheet in the sheet set and interposed between the sheets and peelably bonding the sheets together, the multiple adhesive layers containing a thermoplastic adhesive agent, and the amount of the thermoplastic adhesive agent in the multiple adhesive layers changes from each of a first surface side and a second surface side of the booklet toward the middle of the booklet in the thickness direction.

An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus having a stacking unit, a moving unit, and a thermal compression bonding unit. The stacking unit includes a stack of plural sheet having an adhesive layer for bonding the plural sheets together. The thermal compression bonding unit includes a heating member having a heat generation area. In a case where a length of the adhesive layer regarding a longer-side direction of the heating member is greater than a length of the heat generation area, an entire area of the adhesive layer on the plural sheets is heated and pressed by applying heat and pressure to the adhesive layer more than once while changing, via the moving unit, a relative position of the plural sheets having been conveyed onto the stacking unit and the heat generation area regarding the longer-side direction of the heating member.

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer member, a fixing unit, a binding unit, and a control unit for producing a product including a double-page spread. The control unit causes transfer of a first image onto the first surface before the first sheet passes through the fixing unit for a first time, fixing the first image on the first sheet, transfer of a second image onto the second surface before the second sheet passes through the fixing unit for a first time, fixing the second image on the second sheet, and binding of the first sheet and the second sheet by the binding unit such that the first surface and the second surface face each other.

An image forming apparatus at least comprising: first image forming means for forming a first adhesive layer of a first toner on a sheet; and second image forming means for forming a second adhesive layer of a second toner on the first adhesive layer, adhesive image patterns are formed from the first and the second adhesive layer, the image forming apparatus further comprising specific booklet bonding means, wherein at least both the first and the second adhesive layer are formed on one of a first sheet and a second sheet that face each other in the sheet bundle, at least the first adhesive layer is formed on the other of the first sheet and the second sheet, and G1>G2 is satisfied, where G1 denotes a storage elastic modulus of the first toner, and G2 denotes a storage elastic modulus of the second toner.

In a case where a region of a heating pressurization unit in a longitudinal direction of the heating pressurization unit where the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes a sheet of a maximum size is a first region, and a region of the heating pressurization unit in the longitudinal direction where the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes a sheet of a minimum size is a second region, and a region of the heating pressurization unit inside the first region and outside the second region in the longitudinal direction is a third region, the heating pressurization unit heats and pressurizes the sheet of the maximum size with a pressurization force profile having a minimum value in the longitudinal direction at a position in the third region or a position of an end portion of the second region adjacent to the third region.

A sheet processing apparatus includes: a conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet to a loading board; a bonding unit configured to execute bonding processing for bonding together a plurality of loaded sheets loaded on the loading board, with use of an adhesive image formed on the plurality of loaded sheets; and a control unit configured to control the bonding processing executed by the bonding unit in order to create a bundle of sheets from a designated number of sheets designated by a job, wherein the control unit is further configured not to execute the bonding processing with respect to the plurality of loaded sheets in a case where a thickness of the plurality of loaded sheets exceeds a first threshold.