Sheet treating apparatus and image forming apparatus therewith

Abstract

A sheet treating apparatus including a sheet discharging device for discharging a sheet, a first stacking tray for receiving the sheets discharged by the sheet discharging device, an aligning device for aligning a sheet bundle on the first stacking tray by a pinching movement effected by a first and second aligning members shiftable independently in a direction perpendicular to a sheet discharging direction, and a transferring device for transferring the sheet bundle on the first stacking tray to a second stacking tray, wherein, in the first stacking tray, alignment positions of the respective sheet bundles are offset by shifting the alignment positions by a predetermined amount to first and second aligning positions alternately by the first and second aligning members, and wherein the first and second aligning positions of the first stacking tray are opposite directions transverse to the sheet discharging direction with respect to the position of the sheet discharged.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a sheet treating apparatus, and more particularly, it relates to a sheet treating apparatus used with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser beam printer and the like and having a first treating means (referred to as “treating tray” hereinafter) for effecting treatment such as stapling or sorting sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus and a second treating means (referred to as “stack tray” hereinafter).[0003]2. Related Background Art[0004]In the past, various techniques regarding a combination of a treating tray for stapling a sheet bundle if desired and a stack tray for receiving each sheet bundle and for containing the sheet bundle have been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2-144370.FIG. 27 is a sectional view showing an example of such a technique.[0005]In FIG. 27, the reference numeral 501 denotes a treating tray; ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention relates to a device for aligning and stacking sheets of paper. The device has two stacking means, and an alignment member that can be moved independently to align the sheets on the first stacking means. The sheets are then transferred to the second stacking means and stacked in an alternating pattern to prevent offsetting. This allows for a more compact and efficient device, and prevents damage or folding to the sheets during the offsetting process. Additionally, the device can use a smaller amount of sheet shifting on the first stacking means to achieve the required alignment, which makes the device more compact and efficient.

Problems solved by technology

Further, when the stack tray 502 is shifted in a condition that non-stapled sheets are stacked on the tray, if the stacking condition is unstable due to curl in the sheets or the like, the shifting movement of the tray may cause misalignment of the sheets.

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