A sheet folding apparatus includes: a conveying roller conveying a sheet in a predetermined conveying direction; a folding roller pair disposed downstream of the conveying roller in the conveying direction and rotating while nipping a predetermined position of the sheet to form a fold; a conveying path for conveying the sheet in the conveying direction from the conveying roller to the folding roller pair; an abutting member moving downstream in the conveying direction and abutting against the predetermined position of the sheet to bend the sheet downstream; and a loop space where the sheet is bent between the conveying roller and folding roller pair in a direction crossing the conveying direction. The folding roller pair stops while nipping a front end of the sheet fed from to form a loop of the sheet in the loop space, and the abutting member moves to abut against the loop.

A paper sheet S is intermittently transported by a transport mechanism 6 and each processing unit 7, 8 operates while the transport mechanism pauses the transport operation. An information acquisition unit 9 obtains paper information from the paper sheet. A control unit 10 stores the paper information of the paper sheet to be processed for each processing unit, updates the data of the memory in a manner such that the paper information of the paper sheet associated with the previous processing unit is associated with the next processing unit every time the transport mechanism transports, and configures the settings of each processing unit for the next processing operation based on the paper information every time the processing operation of the processing unit is completed.

A postprocessing device performs postprocessing on sheets received from an image forming apparatus. The postprocessing device includes a pair of folding rollers, a folding blade, a transport device, a drive portion, and a drive controller. The drive controller controls the drive portion to match moving speed of a tip portion of the folding blade with moving speed of a circumferential surface of the folding rollers, at a time point that the sheaf of the sheets makes contact with the circumferential surface of the folding rollers, when the image forming apparatus forms the image by ink jet printing, and to match the moving speed of the tip portion of the folding blade with the moving speed of the circumferential surface of the folding rollers, at a time point that the sheaf of the sheets reaches the nip region between the folding rollers.

A post-processing device (200) includes a circulation conveyance path, a zeroth conveyer (R0), and a controller (50). The circulation conveyance path includes a first conveyance path (W1), a second conveyance path (W2), a third conveyance path (W3), a first conveyer (R1), a second conveyer (R2), and a third conveyer (R3). The first and second conveyers convey a preceding sheet (P1) along the first and second conveyance paths. The third conveyer conveys it from the third conveyance path to the first conveyance path. The zeroth conveyer conveys a following sheet (P2) toward the first conveyer. The controller controls the third conveyer to stop the preceding sheet, subsequently controls the zeroth conveyer and the third conveyer to overlay the preceding sheet with the following sheet to form a sheet bundle (Q) having a shift amount (G) between a leading edges of the preceding sheet and the following sheet and strike the leading edges of the preceding sheet and the following sheet against the first conveyer.

A post-processing device (200) includes a circulation conveyance path, a zeroth conveyer (R0), and a controller (50). The circulation conveyance path includes a first conveyance path (W1), a second conveyance path (W2), a third conveyance path (W3), a first conveyer (R1), a second conveyer (R2), and a third conveyer (R3). The first and second conveyers convey a preceding sheet (P1) along the first and second conveyance paths. The third conveyer conveys it from the third conveyance path to the first conveyance path. The zeroth conveyer conveys a following sheet (P2) toward the first conveyer. The controller controls the third conveyer to stop the preceding sheet, subsequently controls the zeroth conveyer and the third conveyer to overlay the preceding sheet with the following sheet to form a sheet bundle (Q) having a shift amount (G) between a leading edges of the preceding sheet and the following sheet and strike the leading edges of the preceding sheet and the following sheet against the first conveyer.

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.

A sheet folding processing apparatus performs folding processing on continuously conveyed sheets without lowering productivity. A sheet folding processing apparatus includes a conveyance roller pair, a folding roller pair forming a plurality of fold lines by bending a sheet conveyed from the conveyance roller pair in Z-shape, an additional folding roller and a lower folding guide arranged downstream of the folding roller pair to face each other and pressing the fold line of the sheet in corporation with each other, and a controller controlling operation of the above. The controller controls the folding roller pair to convey the sheet with the fold line downstream in a conveyance direction until the fold line passes through the additional folding position by a predetermined conveyance amount, to return the sheet upstream by reversely rotating the folding roller pair, and to position the fold line to the additional folding position for additional folding processing.

A sheet folding processing apparatus performs folding processing on continuously conveyed sheets without lowering productivity. A sheet folding processing apparatus includes a conveyance roller pair, a folding roller pair forming a plurality of fold lines by bending a sheet conveyed from the conveyance roller pair in Z-shape, an additional folding roller and a lower folding guide arranged downstream of the folding roller pair to face each other and pressing the fold line of the sheet in corporation with each other, and a controller controlling operation of the above. The controller controls the folding roller pair to convey the sheet with the fold line downstream in a conveyance direction until the fold line passes through the additional folding position by a predetermined conveyance amount, to return the sheet upstream by reversely rotating the folding roller pair, and to position the fold line to the additional folding position for additional folding processing.

An object of the present invention is to ensure rigid formation of the folds of the protrusions of the paper sheet and smooth conveyance of the folding-processed paper sheet to the downstream side of the folding position in the paper conveyance direction without causing the problems such as jamming. A folding unit includes a lower guide plate arranged at a position facing a folding plate at the folding position, and an arrangement position of a turning shaft of the folding plate is vertically movable with respect to the lower guide plate.

Folder systems and related methods are provided for accurately and efficiently folding a paper carrier that has a card attached without bending or dislodging the card from the carrier. A movable fold chute receives a portion of the carrier with the card attached and allows the carrier to fold while protecting the card portion of the carrier. The fold chute moves between different positions which allow the carrier to enter and exit through folding rollers along a generally straight paper path without forcing the cards around small radii, thereby preventing damage to the cards or causing them to separate from the carrier sheet.