A sheet discharge device includes a discharge member and a control part. When a sheet is discharged to a first offset position, the control part shifts the discharge member to a first reception position separated from a home position in a second direction by a second distance shorter than a first distance, and shifts the discharge member to a first discharge position separated from the first reception position in the first direction by the first distance after the sheet is received. When the sheet is discharged to a second offset position, the control part shifts the discharge member to a second reception position separated from the home position in the first direction by the second distance, and shifts the discharge member to a second discharge position separated from the second reception position in the second direction by the first distance after the sheet is received.

A sheet post-processing device includes a folding portion, a discharge portion, a stacking tray, a shift unit, a pair of alignment members, and a controller. The pair of alignment members include first and second alignment members at one and the other side of sheets stacked on the stacking tray. When a sheet bundle sorted and stacked on the stacking tray includes a folded sheet, executes a second alignment mode in which it performs, for sheets shifted to a first position at one side on the stacking tray, alignment with only the first alignment member and, for sheets shifted to a second position at the other side, alignment with only the second alignment member, or does not perform alignment process.

An image forming apparatus comprises a printing module, a transporting mechanism and a sorting module. The printing module prints data on media in order. The transporting mechanism transports the media past the printing module. The sorting module is disposed downstream of the transporting mechanism, and comprises an output mechanism, a rack and a driving pinion. The output mechanism transports the media out in a first direction. The rack is connected to the output mechanism. The driving pinion meshing with the rack drives the rack and the output mechanism to reciprocate in a second direction, different from the first direction, to sort the media into stacks. Thus, the sorting function can be achieved without providing a larger space and moving a discharge tray, and this is advantageous to the miniaturization of the image forming apparatus.

A sorting device includes a base portion and a tray portion. The tray portion is supported on the base portion to be reciprocatable between a first shift position, where the tray portion is located at one side in the sheet width direction, and a second shift position, where the tray portion is located at the other side in the sheet width direction. The tray portion has a cutout portion. The cutout portion is formed by cutting away, with a predetermined width, an end part of the tray portion in the sheet width direction inward across the tray portion. With the tray portion at the second shift position, the cutout portion is located below one side end edge of the sheet in the sheet width direction, of sheets stacked on the tray portion.

A sheet stacking apparatus including a control portion is configured to execute: a first mode in which the control portion causes a bundle forming portion to form a bundle of sheets including a sheet supported by a first placement portion and a sheet placed on a second placement portion; and a second mode in which a downstream end portion of a bundle of sheets formed in the second mode is positioned upstream of a downstream end portion of a bundle of sheets to be formed in the first mode, and wherein the control portion sets a maximum number of sheets constituting a bundle of sheets which the control portion causes the bundle forming portion to form in the second mode to be smaller than a maximum number of sheets constituting a bundle of sheets which the control portion causes the bundle forming portion to form in the first mode.

A belt replacement device may include: a base portion having a belt placed thereon, the belt being wound in a roll shape; a rotating portion mounted on the base portion, and rotating the belt wound in a roll shape; a transporting portion holding and transporting the belt passed through the rotating portion; a guide portion guiding the belt discharged through the transporting portion; and a loading portion to which the belt dropped from the guide portion is loaded, and the belt replacement device can improve winding workability for the belt.

A sheet discharge device includes a discharge member and a control part. When a sheet is discharged to a first offset position, the control part shifts the discharge member to a first reception position separated from a home position in a second direction by a second distance shorter than a first distance, and shifts the discharge member to a first discharge position separated from the first reception position in the first direction by the first distance after the sheet is received. When the sheet is discharged to a second offset position, the control part shifts the discharge member to a second reception position separated from the home position in the first direction by the second distance, and shifts the discharge member to a second discharge position separated from the second reception position in the second direction by the first distance after the sheet is received.

An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus, a sheet processing device, and control circuitry. The image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet. The sheet processing device performs post-processing on the sheet. The sheet processing device includes a first conveyance path through which the sheet is conveyed and subjected to the post-processing and a second conveyance path through which the sheet is conveyed without the post-processing. In response to an instruction of print jobs including both a print job of one or N copies subjected to the post-processing and a print job not subjected to the post-processing, the circuitry executes the job not subjected to the post-processing during execution of an M-th copy of the job subjected to the post-processing and causes the sheet to be conveyed through the second conveyance path, where N is two or greater and M satisfies 1≤M<N.

A sheet discharge apparatus includes a first tray for stacking sheets, and a sheet bundle forming unit that forms a sheet bundle on the first tray. The sheet bundle forming unit forms a first sheet bundle on the first tray, and forms a second sheet bundle on the first sheet bundle to be offset from the first sheet bundle. When forming each of the first sheet bundle and the second sheet bundle on the first tray, the sheet bundle forming unit divides sheets constituting each of the sheet bundles into a plurality of sets and discharges the sheets in a plurality of times for each sheet bundle. A number of sheets included in a first sheet set of the first sheet bundle is set smaller than a number of sheets included in a first sheet set of the second sheet bundle.

A sheet post-processing device includes a folding portion, a discharge portion, a stacking tray, a shift unit, a pair of alignment members, and a controller. The pair of alignment members include first and second alignment members at one and the other side of sheets stacked on the stacking tray. When a sheet bundle sorted and stacked on the stacking tray includes a folded sheet, executes a second alignment mode in which it performs, for sheets shifted to a first position at one side on the stacking tray, alignment with only the first alignment member and, for sheets shifted to a second position at the other side, alignment with only the second alignment member, or does not perform alignment process.