Sheet processing device and image forming device

Abstract

To provide a sheet processing device capable of dropping a sheet onto a processing tray and delivering the sheet switched back on the processing tray to a staple-less binding inlet of a staple-less binding unit even when a structure having a rotation center on the downstream side of a before-process roller in the sheet conveying direction and extending toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction is used as a rear end dropping member.SOLUTION: In a sheet processing device, a rear end dropping member 250B drops a sheet conveyed by a before-process roller onto a processing tray 220 by moving from an upper position to a lower position. In a state where the rear end drop member 250B is at a guide position lower than the upper position, a guide part 2510 is disposed on the downstream side of the nip point of the before-process roller in the second conveying direction and below the nip point in the vertical direction. The guide part delivers the sheet to a staple-less binding inlet 503 when the sheet after the start of conveyance by a second conveyance part comes into contact with it.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 22

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs a binding process on sheets, and an image forming system that includes the sheet processing apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a configuration having a stapler and a staple-less binding unit has been known as a sheet processing apparatus. When performing staple processing or staple-less binding processing, a sheet conveyed by a conveying roller is dropped onto a processing tray, and the sheet on the processing tray is switched back and conveyed to position the sheet at a binding position of the stapler or staple-less binding unit. Then, staple processing or staple-less binding processing is performed according to the application.

[0003] Also, as such a sheet processing device, a configuration has been proposed in which a guide section is provided to guide a sheet to a sheet receiving section that receives a sheet that has been switched back on the processing tray to a stapleless binding position when performing stapleless binding processing (Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, this guide section is extended from below the transport roller toward the sheet receiving section.

[0004] Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, a sheet dropper is provided for dropping the sheet onto the processing tray when the sheet is transported from the transport roller to the processing tray. If the sheet transported on the processing tray in a switchback manner is curled, the sheet is delivered to the guide section by the sheet dropper.

[0005] On the other hand, a sheet dropping section has been disclosed that has a rotation center downstream in the sheet transport direction of a transport roller that transports the sheet toward the processing tray, and extends from this rotation center toward the upstream side in the sheet transport direction (Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-124084 A [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2023-20999 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In a configuration having a guide section as described in Patent Document 1, if a sheet drop section is adopted that has a rotation center downstream of the conveying rollers in the sheet conveying direction and extends from this rotation center toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction as described in Patent Document 2, there is a risk that the tip of the sheet drop section (the upstream end in the sheet conveying direction) will interfere with the guide section when the sheet conveyed from the conveying rollers is dropped onto the processing tray by the sheet drop section.

[0008] The present invention aims to provide a sheet processing device and an image forming system that can drop a sheet onto a processing tray even when a sheet drop section has a rotation center downstream of the conveying roller in the sheet conveying direction and extends toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, and can deliver a sheet that has been switched back on the processing tray to a sheet receiving section of a stapleless binding unit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The sheet processing apparatus of the present invention includes a first transport unit having a pair of transport rollers that transport a sheet in a first transport direction, a placement unit on which a sheet transported by the first transport unit is placed, a sheet drop unit having a rotation center provided downstream of the pair of transport rollers in the first transport direction and extending upstream in the first transport direction from the rotation center, the sheet drop unit being rotatable about the rotation center to an upper position that allows the sheet to drop onto the placement unit when the sheet is transported by the first transport unit and a lower position that is lower in the vertical direction than the upper position, and dropping the sheet transported by the first transport unit onto the placement unit by moving from the upper position to the lower position, an abutment unit against which an upstream end in the first transport direction of a sheet placed on the placement unit is abutted, and the sheet transported by the first transport unit is abutted against the abutment the sheet receiving section for receiving the sheets transported by the second transport section and for performing a staple-free binding unit that performs a staple-free binding process on the sheet stack placed on the stacking section and received in the sheet receiving section without using staples; and a guide section that is provided in the sheet drop section and is positioned downstream in the second transport direction of a nip point of the pair of transport rollers and lower in the vertical direction than the nip point when the sheet drop section is in a guide position lower than the upper position, and that delivers the sheet to the sheet receiving section when the sheet contacts the sheet after transport by the second transport section is started when the sheet drop section is in the guide position. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, even if a sheet dropping section is used that has a rotation center downstream of the conveying roller in the sheet conveying direction and extends toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, the sheet can be dropped onto the processing tray and the sheet that has been switched back on the processing tray can be delivered to the sheet receiving section of the stapleless binding unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment with the upper cover removed. [Figure 4] 5A is a diagram of an alignment plate on a processing tray as viewed from the width direction, FIG. 5B is a diagram of the alignment plate as viewed from the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, and FIG. 5C is a perspective view of the alignment plate according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 2A is a perspective view of the periphery of a processing tray, and FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment, in a home position thereof. [Figure 7] 1A is a diagram showing a state of a discharge roller, a state of a pick-up paddle, and a state of a trailing end drop-off member in a home position of a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment, as viewed from the width direction. [Figure 8] 1A is a perspective view of the periphery of a processing tray when the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment discharges a sheet, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sheet processing apparatus. [Figure 9] 1A is a diagram showing a state of a discharge roller, a state of a pick-up paddle, and a state of a trailing end drop-off member when a sheet is discharged from a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment, as viewed from the width direction. [Figure 10] 1A is a perspective view of the periphery of a processing tray when the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment picks up a sheet, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sheet processing apparatus. [Figure 11] 1A is a diagram showing a state of a discharge roller, a state of a pick-up paddle, and a state of a trailing end drop-off member when a sheet is picked up by the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment, as viewed from the width direction. [Figure 12] 4 is a table showing the correspondence between each motor and each component of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. [Figure 13]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment, seen from above with a portion of the sheet processing apparatus omitted. [Figure 15] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of an inlet for a sheet stack of the staple-free binding unit according to the embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the trailing end dropping member according to the embodiment, as viewed from below. [Figure 17] 1 is a diagram of the processing tray and its periphery before a sheet stack is moved toward a stapleless binding unit in a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment, as viewed from the upstream side in a first transport direction. [Figure 18] 11 is a diagram of the processing tray and its periphery in a state in which a sheet stack has been moved toward a staple-less binding unit, as viewed from the upstream side in the first transport direction, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 19] 4 is a cross-sectional view of the processing tray and its surroundings in a state in which the trailing end dropping member is in an upper position in the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 20] 4 is a cross-sectional view of the processing tray and its surroundings in a state in which a trailing end dropping member is in a lower position in the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 21] In a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment, (a) is a view of the processing tray periphery when the trailing end drop member is in an upper position, as viewed from the upstream side in the first transport direction, and (b) is a view of the processing tray periphery when the trailing end drop member is in a lower position, as viewed from the upstream side in the first transport direction. [Figure 22] 13 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of an inlet for a sheet stack of the staple-free binding unit according to the embodiment, as viewed from the upstream side in the first transport direction. FIG. [Figure 23] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus at a home position for stapleless binding processing according to an embodiment, as viewed from above, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Figure 24] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus when receiving sheets for stapleless binding processing according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Diagram 25]1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus when a sheet is picked up in a stapleless binding process according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Figure 26] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus when a sheet is abutted against a trailing end regulating member in stapleless binding processing according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Figure 27] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus when a sheet stack is moved toward a staple-free binding unit in a staple-free binding process according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Figure 28] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of the sheet processing apparatus when a sheet stack is slightly transported in a first transport direction in stapleless binding processing according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration. [Figure 29] 1A is a schematic diagram of a main part of a sheet processing apparatus when a staple-free binding process is performed on an embodiment and a staple-free binding process is performed on a stacking tray; FIG. [Diagram 30] 1A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a trailing end dropping member is in an upper position in a sheet processing apparatus according to Comparative Example 1, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the trailing end dropping member is in a lower position. [Diagram 31] 11A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a trailing end dropping member is in an upper position in a sheet processing apparatus according to Comparative Example 2, and FIG. 11B is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the trailing end dropping member interferes with a guide portion when moving to a lower position in a sheet processing apparatus according to Comparative Example 2. [Diagram 32] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of a sheet processing apparatus according to another embodiment, as viewed from above. [Diagram 33] 13A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a trailing end dropping member is in an upper position, and FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the trailing end dropping member is in a lower position, in a sheet processing apparatus according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 31. First, the schematic configuration of an image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[0013] [Image formation system] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to the present embodiment. The image forming system 1000 includes an image forming apparatus 100 and a sheet processing apparatus 200. The image forming apparatus 100 may be a copier, printer, facsimile, or a multifunction machine having a plurality of these functions, and forms an image on a sheet such as paper or a plastic sheet. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is an electrophotographic printer, and a sheet on which a toner image has been formed is discharged from a discharge port 101. The image forming apparatus 100 may be an inkjet image forming apparatus.

[0014] The image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus main body 110 and an image reading device 120 arranged above the image forming apparatus main body 110. In the image forming apparatus main body 110, a toner image is formed on a sheet in an image forming section 103. The image forming section 103 of this embodiment forms a full-color toner image using toner of four colors, yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (k). For this reason, the image forming section 103 has a plurality of image forming stations that form toner images of each color. The configuration of the image forming stations of each color is the same except that the colors of the toner are different.

[0015] In the image forming station for each color, the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is charged by a charging member 11 and exposed to light by an exposure device (not shown), thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10. This electrostatic latent image is then developed into a toner image by a developing device 12 using a developer. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 10 is primarily transferred onto an intermediate transfer belt 14 by a primary transfer roller 13. Residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after the primary transfer is removed by a drum cleaner 15.

[0016] This cycle of charging, exposing, developing, primary transfer and drum cleaning is repeated in the same way at each image forming station, and the yellow, magenta, cyan and black toner images are transferred in sequence onto the intermediate transfer belt 14, forming a full-color toner image.

[0017] Meanwhile, the image forming apparatus 100 has a plurality of cassettes 20 for storing sheets. The sheets stored in each cassette 20 are conveyed to a sheet conveying path 22 by the rotation of a feed roller 21, and reach a registration roller 23. The registration roller 23 feeds the sheet to a secondary transfer section 17 formed by the intermediate transfer belt 14 and a secondary transfer roller 16 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14. The multi-color toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt 14 are secondarily transferred collectively onto the sheet in the secondary transfer section 17. Residual toner and paper powder remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 14 after the secondary transfer are removed by a belt cleaner 18.

[0018] The sheet that has passed through the secondary transfer unit 17 is transported to the fixing device 30, which serves as an image heating device. The fixing device 30 has a heating roller 31 and a pressure roller 32, which form a heating nip portion that sandwiches and transports the sheet between them. The sheet transported to the fixing device 30 is heated and pressurized in the heating nip portion, and the unfixed toner image is fixed onto the sheet. The sheet with the fixed toner image is transported through the discharge transport path 24 and is discharged by the discharge rollers 25 from the discharge port 101 to the outside of the machine, completing a series of image forming operations.

[0019] As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes the image forming apparatus main body 110 and the image reading device 120. The image reading device 120 reads an image on a document placed on the platen glass 122 by the image reading unit 121, and sends a read image signal to the image forming apparatus main body 110. In addition, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 123 that transports the document to the image reading unit 121 is disposed above the image reading device 120. The image reading device 120 can also read an image on a document fed by the automatic document feeder 123.

[0020] The image forming apparatus main body 110 has a first housing section 111 in which the image forming section 103 and the like are arranged, and a second housing section 112 in which the discharge conveying path 24 and the discharge rollers 25 are arranged, and the second housing section 112 is provided above the first housing section 111. The image reading device 120 is provided above the second housing section 112. In addition, the second housing section 112 is provided with an operation panel (not shown) so that a user can input instructions (printing conditions, mode settings, etc.) to the image forming apparatus 100 and the sheet processing apparatus 200.

[0021] In this embodiment, with such a configuration, there is an internal space 130 surrounded by the first housing 111, the second housing 112, and the image reading device 120. The image forming apparatus is configured so that a sheet is discharged from the discharge port 101 of the image forming apparatus main body 110 into the internal space 130. Also, a sheet processing device 200 and the like are detachably attached to this internal space 130. In this embodiment, the image forming system 1000 is configured by installing the sheet processing device 200, but other devices that perform sheet processing may also be installed.

[0022] The sheet processing apparatus 200 is connected to the discharge port 101 and receives the sheets discharged from the discharge port 101. Although the details will be described later, the sheet processing apparatus 200 can perform predetermined processing such as binding processing on the sheets.

[0023] [Sheet processing device] The configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2 to Fig. 11(c). First, the overall configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. In the following description, the front side (front (F) side) is one side (the near side in Fig. 2, the near right side in Fig. 3) in the sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, and is the side where an operator operates the image forming system 1000, for example, the side where an operation panel is installed. The rear side (rear (R) side) is the opposite side to the front side, and is the other side (the far side in Fig. 2, the far left side in Fig. 3) in the sheet width direction.

[0024] [Overall configuration of sheet processing device] The sheet processing apparatus 200 includes a conveying path 210A, a first conveying section 211 having pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A as a pair of conveying rollers, a processing tray 220 as a placement section, an upper discharge roller (nip member) 230A and a lower discharge roller 230B as a pair of discharge rotating bodies (discharge section), a pick-up paddle 240A as a second conveying section, trailing end drop members 250A and 250B as sheet drop sections, an alignment section 270A as a first and second shift sections, a return member 280, a trailing end regulating member 290 as a butting section, a stacking tray 300 as a stacking section, and a discharge sheet pick-up paddle (sheet pressing paddle) 320A as a pick-up section. The sheet received from the image forming apparatus 100 is conveyed to the conveying path 210A.

[0025] The sheet conveyed from the conveying path 210A is either directly discharged to the stacking tray 300 or placed on the processing tray 220 depending on the mode of processing the sheet. Note that direct discharge to the stacking tray 300 means that the sheet is discharged to the stacking tray 300 without being conveyed backward to a position on the processing tray 220 where stapling (binding) can be performed. In other words, the sheet processing device 200 has a mode in which a sheet bundle stapled by the staple unit 400 or a sheet bundle stapled without a staple by the stapleless binding unit 500 (see FIG. 14, etc.) is discharged to the stacking tray 300, and a mode in which a sheet is discharged to the stacking tray 300 without stapling by the staple unit 400. In this embodiment, the sheet can be aligned by a pair of alignment plates (moving members) 271A of the alignment section 270A without being placed on the processing tray 220. Also, the processing tray 220 can align sheets, and the sheets placed on the processing tray 220 can be bound without staples or staples by the staple unit 400 or the stapleless binding unit 500. Also, the sheets or sheet stack placed on the processing tray 220 can be discharged onto the stacking tray 300 by a pair of discharge rotating bodies such as an upper discharge roller 230A and a lower discharge roller 230B. The configuration of each part will be described in detail below.

[0026] [Transport path] The conveying path 210A is a path for conveying a sheet in a first conveying direction (a predetermined direction), and includes an upper guide 2101 for guiding the upper surface of the conveyed sheet, and a lower guide 2102 for guiding the lower surface of the sheet. A first conveying section 211 having pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A as a pair of conveying rollers, and upstream rollers (entrance rollers) 213a and 213b are arranged in pairs. These are arranged in pairs so as to be spaced apart in the sheet width direction (arrow γ direction in FIG. 3) intersecting with the sheet conveying direction (first conveying direction, arrow β direction (left-right direction) in FIG. 2).

[0027] The pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A are a pair of conveying rotators that convey a sheet, and at least one of them rotates while sandwiching a sheet. At least one of the upstream rollers 213a and 213b rotates while sandwiching a sheet. The upstream rollers 213a and 213b are disposed at the entrance of the sheet processing apparatus 200, and receive the sheet conveyed from the upstream side of the sheet processing apparatus 200 and convey it to the conveying path 210A. Then, the sheet that has passed through the conveying path 210A reaches the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A.

[0028] The pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A form a pre-processing nip portion 211a capable of nipping and transporting a sheet. The pre-processing nip portion 211a nips the sheet and transports it in the first transport direction, and the sheet is discharged from the transport path 210A. The pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A can be brought into contact with or separated from each other, or the nip pressure can be changed.

[0029] [Processing tray] The processing tray 220 as a placement unit is disposed downstream of the conveying path 210A in the sheet conveying direction (first conveying direction) and vertically below the conveying path 210A. The processing tray 220 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane so that the upstream side in the first conveying direction is lower than the downstream side. The processing tray 220 temporarily places a sheet conveyed to the downstream side in the first conveying direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A. The processing tray 220 can stack a plurality of sheets, and the sheets are aligned in the width direction and moved in the width direction (shifted) by the aligning unit 270A on the processing tray 220. At the upstream end of the processing tray 220 in the first conveying direction, a rear end regulating member 290 is disposed as an abutting unit against which the upstream end edge (rear end of the sheet) in the first conveying direction of the sheet placed on the processing tray 220 abuts. A part of the processing tray 220 (for example, the downstream end in the first transport direction) may protrude vertically upward beyond the transport path 210A.

[0030] Further, a staple unit 400 is disposed upstream of the processing tray 220 in the first transport direction as a processing section (stapler). The staple unit 400 performs a predetermined process of stapling (binding) at a first binding position P1 (see FIG. 19) on the sheet stack that has been aligned in the width direction and has its rear end regulated by the processing tray 220. The staple unit 400 can change the staple position on the sheet stack, and moves according to the staple position. The predetermined process may be other processes such as punching, other than stapling. The sheet or sheet stack placed on the processing tray 220 is discharged to the stacking tray 300 by upper discharge rollers 230A and lower discharge rollers 230B, as described later.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 14 and other figures, which will be described later, a staple-free binding unit 500 is disposed as a staple-free binding section on the upstream side of the processing tray 220 in the first transport direction and on one side in the width direction (the rear side, the right side in Fig. 14) of the sheets placed on the processing tray 220. The staple-free binding unit 500 performs a staple-free binding process (hereinafter also referred to as "staple-free binding") on the sheet stack shifted to the rear side by the pair of alignment plates 271A at a second binding position P2 (see Figs. 15 and 20). A detailed description of the staple-free binding unit 500 will be given later.

[0032] [Scraping paddle] The take-in paddle 240A as the second transport section transports (switchback transport) the sheet on the processing tray 220 in a second transport direction in which the upstream edge in the first transport direction of the sheet is directed toward the trailing end regulating member 290. The take-in paddle 240A has a paddle section 2401 as a rotating member, a paddle arm 2402 as a support section that supports the paddle section 2401, and a swing fulcrum 2403 that swingably supports the paddle arm 2402. That is, the paddle arm 2402 can swing up and down around the swing fulcrum 2403, and the paddle section 2401 is rotatably provided at the tip of the paddle arm 2402.

[0033] The pick-up paddle 240A can swing around a swing fulcrum 2403 between a return position where the paddle portion 2401 contacts the upper surface of the sheet on the processing tray 220 to convey the sheet in the second conveying direction, and an upper retreat position where the paddle portion 2401 retreats above the return position. The swing fulcrum 2403 is disposed upstream in the first conveying direction from a pre-processing nip portion 211a, which is a nip position where the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A hold the sheet, and vertically above the pre-processing nip portion 211a. The paddle arm 2402 extends downstream in the first conveying direction from the swing fulcrum 2403, and the paddle portion 2401 is provided at its tip. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of pick-up paddles 240A are disposed on both sides in the width direction of an upper discharge roller 230A, which will be described later.

[0034] [Rear end drop part] The trailing end drop members 250A, 250B as sheet drop sections are provided on both sides of the pair of take-in paddles 240A. That is, the pair of trailing end drop members 250A, 250B are disposed on both sides of the take-in paddle 240A in the width direction, and move vertically in conjunction with the take-in paddle 240A as described below, thereby coming into contact with the upper surface of the upstream side of the sheet in the first conveying direction, and dropping the upstream end (rear end) of the sheet toward the processing tray 220. Note that the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B may be driven separately from the take-in paddle 240A.

[0035] The trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B have a rotation shaft 2501 as a rotation center downstream in the first transport direction from the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A as a pair of transport rollers. The rotation shaft 2501 extends upstream in the first transport direction and can rotate around the rotation shaft 2501 to an upper position that allows the sheet to drop onto the processing tray 220 when the sheet is transported by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A, and a lower position that is lower in the vertical direction than the upper position. In this embodiment, the upper position is a position where the tip (upstream end in the first transport direction) of the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B is above the nip point N (FIG. 2) of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A, and the lower position is a position where the tip of the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B is below the nip point N of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A.

[0036] Even if the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B are in the upper position, when a sheet such as curled paper that is significantly out of specifications is conveyed from the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A or when an error occurs in the device, the sheet may touch the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B and not fall onto the processing tray 220. However, if a sheet can fall from the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A onto the processing tray 220 during normal operation, it can be said that the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B in the upper position allow the sheet to fall. In addition, when the pre-processing nip portion 211a that clamps the sheet between the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A has a width in the first transport direction, the nip point N of the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A is the downstream end of the pre-processing nip portion 211a in the first transport direction.

[0037] The trailing end drop members 250A, 250B rotate from an upper position to a lower position, thereby contacting the sheet transported by the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A from above and dropping the sheet onto the processing tray 220 below. Particularly in the case of this embodiment, the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B have a rotation shaft 2501 located downstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A in the first transport direction and extending from the rotation shaft 2501 to the upstream side in the first transport direction. Therefore, when the sheet transported by the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A is dropped onto the processing tray 220, the upstream side of the sheet in the first transport direction can be hit by the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B. In particular, in the present embodiment, when the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B rotate from the upper position to the lower position, the leading end portions of the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B pass through the same position as the nip point N of the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A in the first transport direction. Therefore, the trailing end of the sheet is less likely to remain on the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A, and the occurrence of a jam can be suppressed. The trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B are disposed at positions offset from the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A in the width direction perpendicular to the first transport direction. Therefore, even in the above-mentioned arrangement, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B do not interfere with the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A.

[0038] When the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B rotate to the lower position to drop the sheet onto the processing tray 220 as described above, they guide the sheet towards the trailing end regulating member 290 during switchback transport by the pick-up paddle 240A at the lower position (in this embodiment, the sheet is delivered to an intermediate guide for guiding the sheet to the trailing end regulating member 290, but it may be guided directly to the trailing end regulating member 290). Note that when the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are in the lower position, if the switchback-transported sheet is not curled, the sheet does not come into contact with the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B, but if the sheet end on the trailing end regulating member 290 side is curled, the sheet comes into contact with the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B and is delivered to the intermediate guide or the trailing end regulating member 290.

[0039] [Return part] The returning member 280 further transports the sheet transported by the take-in paddle 240A toward the trailing end regulating member 290 as described above, and brings the trailing end of the sheet into contact with the trailing end regulating member 290 to regulate the trailing end position of the sheet. Such a returning member 280 is formed of a knurled belt 281, and by rotating and driving the knurled belt 281, the returning member 280 further takes in the sheet transported upstream in the first transport direction by the take-in paddle 240A, and brings the trailing end into contact with the trailing end regulating member 290. The returning member 280 is movable between a contact position where it can contact the sheet and a retracted position retracted upward from the contact position, and moves to the contact position when the sheet is transported toward the trailing end regulating member 290, and moves to the retracted position when the sheet on the processing tray 220 is transported toward the stacking tray 300.

[0040] [Discharge roller] The upper discharge roller (upper discharge rotor) 230A and the lower discharge roller (lower discharge rotor) 230B constitute a pair of discharge rotors and a discharge section, and the sheet conveyed downstream in the first conveying direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A is conveyed downstream in the first conveying direction from the processing tray 220 and discharged. The upper discharge roller 230A can move between a clamping position (contact position) where the sheet is clamped between the lower discharge roller 230B and a retracted position retracted upward from the clamping position, and clamps the sheet between the lower discharge roller 230B at the clamping position. That is, the upper discharge roller 230A functions as a nipping member that nips the sheet between the lower discharge roller 230B at the clamping position. The upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B are arranged in pairs at a distance in the width direction of the sheet. In this embodiment, they are arranged inside the pair of pick-up paddles 240A in the width direction.

[0041] The upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B hold a sheet or a sheet stack at the clamping position, and the lower discharge roller 230B rotates to convey the clamped sheet or sheet stack. The upper discharge roller 230A is a driven roller that rotates following the rotation of the lower discharge roller 230B, but it may be driven. That is, in this embodiment, the upper discharge roller 230A is a driven rotating body, and the lower discharge roller 230B is a driving rotating body. The upper discharge roller 230A functions as a nip member that can hold a sheet between the lower discharge roller 230B at the clamping position, but this nip member may be another rotating body such as a belt instead of a roller, or may be an abutting member that abuts against the sheet without rotating, such as a lever member.

[0042] The lower discharge roller 230B may be a rotating body such as a belt other than a roller. When the lower discharge roller 230B as the lower discharge rotating body is an endless belt, for example, the belt is stretched by a plurality of rollers, and the outer circumferential surface of the belt stretched by one of the rollers abuts against a nip member such as the upper discharge roller 230A to form the discharge nip portion 230a (see FIG. 8(b) described later). In this case, the rotation axis of the lower discharge rotating body is the rotation axis of the roller that stretches the belt at the position where the discharge nip portion 230a is formed.

[0043] The upper discharge roller 230A can rotate around the rotation shaft 2301 between the clamping position and the retreat position. In other words, the upper discharge roller 230A can move up and down between the clamping position and the retreat position. The upper discharge roller 230A is provided at the tip of a discharge arm 2302 serving as a support. The rotation shaft 2301 is provided coaxially with the swing fulcrum 2403 described above, and is disposed upstream in the first conveying direction from the pre-processing nip portion 211a where the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A clamp the sheet, and vertically above the pre-processing nip portion 211a. The discharge arm 2302 is extended from the rotation shaft 2301 to the downstream side in the first conveying direction, and the upper discharge roller 230A is provided at the tip of the discharge arm 2302. The rotation shaft 2301 does not have to be disposed coaxially with the swing fulcrum 2403, but in this embodiment, the rotation shafts of the upper discharge roller 230A and the pick-up paddle 240A are disposed coaxially.

[0044] The pivot shaft 2301 is disposed upstream in the first conveying direction of a discharge nip portion where the upper discharge roller 230A nips the sheet between the lower discharge roller 230B and the upper discharge roller 230A at the clamping position. In addition, the upper discharge roller 230A is located vertically above the pre-processing nip portion 211a where the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A nips the sheet at the retracted position, and the pivot shaft 2301 is located vertically above the center of the upper discharge roller 230A at the retracted position.

[0045] Since the positional relationship between the rotation shaft 2301 and the pre-processing nip portion 211a is defined as described above, the upper discharge roller 230A allows the sheet that has passed through the pre-processing nip portion 211a to move toward the stacking tray 300 when in the retracted position. Meanwhile, the upper discharge roller 230A moves downward from the retracted position toward the clamping position by rotating counterclockwise in FIG. 2 about the rotation shaft 2301. Then, the upper discharge roller 230A moves to the clamping position, whereby the sheet can be clamped between the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B.

[0046] [Matching part] The alignment section 270A as a shift section will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3 as well as Figs. 4(a) to 4(c). The alignment section 270A moves in a shift direction (width direction) intersecting with the first transport direction while being in contact with an edge of the sheet transported downstream in the first transport direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A, thereby moving the sheet in the shift direction. The alignment section 270A has a pair of alignment plates 271A as a first shift section and a second shift section, which are arranged to face each other in the shift direction.

[0047] The pair of alignment plates 271A as moving members are disposed further downstream than the downstream end of the conveying path 210A in the first conveying direction, and align the sheet in the width direction by moving in the width direction and contacting the width direction edge of the sheet. In this embodiment, the pair of alignment plates 271A are disposed on both sides of the width direction of the sheet placed on the processing tray 220, and are movable in the width direction. The pair of alignment plates 271A are extended from the upstream side to the downstream side in the first conveying direction with respect to the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B. That is, the pair of alignment plates 271A are disposed so as to straddle the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B in the first conveying direction. The pair of alignment plates 271A have the same configuration. The pair of alignment plates 271A move in the shift direction by driving the front side (F side) alignment plate moving motor MT16 and the rear side (R side) alignment plate moving motor MT17 (see FIG. 12) as the first drive unit and the second drive unit.

[0048] The alignment plate 271A is formed so that the width in the vertical direction is wider on the downstream side in the first transport direction. That is, the alignment plate 271A has a first plate portion 2701 on the downstream side in the first transport direction, and a second plate portion 2702 formed so as to be continuous with the first plate portion 2701 on the upstream side in the first transport direction. The first plate portion 2701 as the first portion has a larger area in the vertical direction than the second plate portion 2702 so that it can abut against the sheet even if the leading end side of the transported sheet is curled upward or downward.

[0049] On the other hand, the second plate portion 2702 as the second portion has a smaller height from the processing tray 220 than the first plate portion 2701, and a smaller height than the distance between the processing tray 220 and the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B in a guide position described below. That is, the second plate portion 2702 is formed so that its vertical height is lower than the first plate portion 2701 so as not to interfere with the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B even when the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B are in the lower position (guide position). Also, the upper edge of the second plate portion 2702 is inclined so as to become lower toward the upstream side in the first transport direction.

[0050] The first plate portion 2701 is formed so as to straddle the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B from the upstream side to the downstream side in the first transport direction. This allows at least the first plate portion 2701 to come into contact with the sheet even when the sheet is discharged by the switchback-less shift discharge process described later. The second plate portion 2702 is located on the processing tray 220 and is formed continuously with the first plate portion 2701 in the first transport direction. This allows at least the second plate portion 2702 to come into contact with the sheet placed on the processing tray 220 by the switchback-shift discharge process described later.

[0051] 4(a) to 4(c), the first plate portion 2701 has a curl suppressing portion 2703. The curl suppressing portion 2703 is provided downstream in the first conveying direction from a discharge nip portion 230a (see FIG. 8(b) described later), which is a nip position where a sheet is sandwiched between the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B, and vertically above the discharge nip portion 230a, and suppresses the leading edge of a sheet curled upward. In this embodiment, the curl suppressing portion 2703 is a protruding portion protruding from the upper end portion of the first plate portion 2701 toward the inside in the width direction (the side that contacts the sheet, the right side in FIG. 4(b)), and the leading edge of the curled sheet is pressed by the contact with the width direction edge of the curled sheet. In addition, an uneven portion 2705 is provided below the curl suppression portion 2703. Depending on the state of curl, the widthwise edge of the sheet can be caught in this uneven portion 2705, making it possible to suppress the leading edge of the curled sheet.

[0052] [Loading tray] As described above, the stacking tray 300 as a stacking section stacks sheets discharged by the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B. The stacking tray 300 is provided on the downstream side of the processing tray 220 in the first transport direction and is movable vertically downward. The stacking tray 300 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane so that the upstream side in the first transport direction is lower than the downstream side. The stacking tray 300 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction along rails arranged in the vertical direction, for example, and is raised and lowered by driving a stacking tray lifting motor MT20 (FIG. 12) as a lifting means.

[0053] At the upstream end of the stacking tray 300 in the first transport direction, there are provided an upright surface 310a as a stacking side regulating means for regulating the upstream end (rear end) in the first transport direction of the sheet or sheet bundle stacked on the stacking tray 300, and a rear end presser 310b for pressing the rear end of the sheet abutting against the upright surface 310a. The rear end presser 310b is inclined more toward the downstream side in the first transport direction as it goes upward, so that even if the rear end of the sheet is curled upward, it can be pressed by this rear end presser 310b.

[0054] Further, the discharge sheet take-in paddle 320A is provided coaxially with the rotation axis of the lower discharge roller 230B. The rotation axis 3201 (FIG. 2) of the discharge sheet take-in paddle 320A does not have to be coaxial with the rotation axis of the lower discharge roller 230B. The rotation axis 3201 of the discharge sheet take-in paddle 320A may be provided between the discharge nip portion 230a (see FIG. 8(b) described later) of the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B as a pair of discharge rotors and the standing surface 310a as a loading side abutment portion provided on the upstream side of the loading tray 300 in the first transport direction in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation axis 3201 of the discharge sheet take-in paddle 320A is disposed between the downstream end of the processing tray 220 in the first transport direction and the upper end of the standing surface 310a in the vertical direction.

[0055] The stacking tray 300 can be raised and lowered by the stacking tray lifting motor MT20 between a first stacking position and a second stacking position lower than the first stacking position. The second stacking position is a position where the stacking tray 300, which has been lowered when discharging sheets onto the stacking tray 300, switches to an upward movement. When discharging sheets, the stacking tray 300 is raised and lowered, and the discharged sheet pick-up paddle 320A rotates, and the sheet on the stacking tray 300 is transported (picked up) in a third transport direction in which the upstream edge in the first transport direction faces the standing surface 310a. Then, the upper surface of the sheet on the stacking tray 300 or a sheet bundle consisting of multiple sheets is pressed down by the discharged sheet pick-up paddle 320A.

[0056] [Manual Binding] The outline of the external configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment configured as described above is as shown in FIG. 5. In the sheet processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, a manual insertion section 204 is provided on the front side in the width direction, into which a user can manually insert a sheet or a sheet bundle from outside. The manual insertion section 204 is a section into which a corner of a sheet bundle is inserted when a user performs manual binding by stapling the sheet bundle from outside the apparatus. When a user inserts a sheet bundle into the manual insertion section 204 and presses an operation button 205, the staple unit 400 moves to this position and performs stapling. Note that a detection section for detecting the insertion of a sheet bundle into the manual insertion section 204 may be provided, and when the detection section detects the sheet bundle, the staple unit 400 may be moved to perform stapling. In this case, the operation button 205 may be omitted.

[0057] [Drive configuration of each part] Next, the drive configuration of the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B will be described with reference to Figs. 6(a) to 11(c). In this embodiment, the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are configured to work in conjunction with each other. As shown in Fig. 6(a), the drive configuration 600 includes a processing motor 610 (MT12, Fig. 12) as a drive source, a drive transmission mechanism 611, a rotating shaft 612, and a cam mechanism 613. The processing motor 610 can rotate forward and backward, and the drive of the processing motor 610 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 612 via the drive transmission mechanism 611. In this embodiment, the drive transmission mechanism 611 is configured with a gear train, but other drive transmission configurations, such as a configuration in which the drive is transmitted by a belt, may be used.

[0058] The rotating shaft 612 is disposed in the width direction above the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B. The cam mechanism 613 is operated by the rotation of the rotating shaft 612. The cam mechanism 613 has a first cam member 620 and a second cam member 630 that rotate together with the rotating shaft 612. The first cam member 620 is disposed between the pair of upper discharge rollers 230A, and operates the upper discharge roller 230A. The second cam members 630 are provided adjacent to each of the pair of pick-up paddles 240A, and operate the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B.

[0059] As shown in Fig. 7(a), the first cam member 620 has a groove 621 formed on the inside thereof into which the protrusion 2303 provided on the discharge arm 2302 of the upper discharge roller 230A can enter. The groove 621 has an outer peripheral surface, i.e., an inner peripheral surface of the first cam member 620, as an inner cam surface 622. The inner cam surface 622 is a cam surface whose distance from the rotation center of the rotation shaft 612 varies depending on the phase in the rotation direction. The first cam member 620 also has an outer peripheral surface formed as an outer cam surface 623. The outer cam surface 623 is also a cam surface whose distance from the rotation center of the rotation shaft 612 varies depending on the phase in the rotation direction.

[0060] In addition to the above-mentioned protrusion 2303, the discharge arm 2302 of the upper discharge roller 230A has an abutment portion 2304 that can abut against an outer cam surface 623 of the first cam member 620. The first cam member 620 rotates together with the rotating shaft 612 to change the abutment position (phase) between the inner cam surface 622 and the protrusion 2303 or separate them, and to change the abutment position (phase) between the outer cam surface 623 and the abutment portion 2304 or separate them, thereby rotating the upper discharge roller 230A around the rotating shaft 2301 between the clamping position and the retracted position, as described below.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 7B, the second cam member 630 has a groove 631 formed on the inside thereof into which the first protrusion 2404 provided on the paddle arm 2402 of the pick-up paddle 240A can enter. The groove 631 has an outer peripheral surface, i.e., an inner peripheral surface of the second cam member 630, as an inner cam surface 632. The inner cam surface 632 is a cam surface whose distance from the center of rotation of the rotating shaft 612 varies depending on the phase in the rotation direction. The second cam member 630 rotates together with the rotating shaft 612 to change the contact position (phase) between the inner cam surface 632 and the first protrusion 2404, thereby rotating the pick-up paddle 240A around the swing fulcrum 2403 between a return position and an upper retracted position, as described below.

[0062] 7C, a support portion 2406 that swings around a swing fulcrum 2403 together with the paddle arm 2402 of the pick-up paddle 240A and supports an end of the rotation shaft 2401a of the paddle portion 2401 is provided with a second protrusion 2405 that can enter an engagement recess 2502 formed in the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B. When the pick-up paddle 240A rotates, the engagement recess 2502 abuts against or separates from the second protrusion 2405, thereby rotating the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B between an upper position and a lower position around the rotation shaft 2501 in conjunction with the rotation of the pick-up paddle 240A. The driving of the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B will be specifically described below.

[0063] [Home position] 6(a) to 7(c) show the home positions (HP) of the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end drop-off members 250A and 250B. At the home positions, as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the upper discharge roller 230A is in the retracted position, the pick-up paddle 240A is in the upper retracted position, and the trailing end drop-off members 250A and 250B are in the upper positions.

[0064] In this state, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the protrusion 2303 of the upper discharge roller 230A abuts at a position close to the center of the rotation shaft 612 of the inner cam surface 622 of the first cam member 620, so that the upper discharge roller 230A is supported by the first cam member 620.

[0065] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the first protrusion 2404 of the sweeping paddle 240A abuts at a position close to the center of the rotation shaft 612 of the inner cam surface 632 of the second cam member 630, thereby supporting the sweeping paddle 240A on the second cam member 630.

[0066] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the engagement recesses 2502 of the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B abut against the second protrusion 2405 of the sweeping paddle 240A, thereby supporting the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B on the sweeping paddle 240A via the second protrusion 2405.

[0067] [Upper ejection roller lowering] Next, the operation of moving the upper discharge roller 230A from the home position (retracted position) to the clamping position will be described with reference to Fig. 8(a) to Fig. 9(c). When the processing motor 610 is driven to rotate the rotating shaft 612 in a first direction (counterclockwise in Fig. 9(a) and (b)) in order to lower the upper discharge roller 230A from the home position, the first cam member 620 also rotates in the same direction, and the protrusion 2303 moves along the inner cam surface 622. The inner cam surface 622 is formed so that the distance from the center of the rotating shaft 612 increases when the inner cam surface 622 rotates counterclockwise from the home position. Therefore, this operation causes the upper discharge roller 230A to descend.

[0068] Next, when the upper discharge roller 230A moves to the clamping position and comes into contact with the lower discharge roller 230B, as shown in Fig. 9(a), the inner cam surface 622 of the first cam member 620 separates from the protrusion 2303, and the outer cam surface 623 comes into contact with the contact portion 2304. By bringing the outer cam surface 623 into contact with the contact portion 2304 in this manner, the upper discharge roller 230A is pressed toward the lower discharge roller 230B, and a predetermined nip pressure is applied between these rollers.

[0069] At this time, the second cam member 630 also rotates together with the rotating shaft 612, but as shown in FIG. 9(b), the distance from the center of the rotating shaft 612 to the position where the inner cam surface 632 abuts against the first protrusion 2404 is approximately the same as the distance at the home position. Therefore, even if the second cam member 630 rotates, the pick-up paddle 240A is maintained at the home position. Since the pick-up paddle 240A is maintained at the home position, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are also maintained at the home positions, as shown in FIG. 9(c). That is, in this state, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the upper discharge roller 230A moves to the clamping position, but the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are maintained at the home positions.

[0070] When the upper discharge roller 230A is raised, the processing motor 610 is driven to rotate the rotating shaft 612 in a second direction opposite to the first direction (clockwise in Figs. 9(a) and (b)). Then, the first cam member 620 rotates together with the rotating shaft 612 in the same direction, and the protrusion 2303 moves along the inner cam surface 622, causing the upper discharge roller 230A to rise. Then, it returns to the home position shown in Fig. 7(a).

[0071] Here, when the scavenging paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B return from the state of Figures 9(b) and (c) to the state of Figures 7(b) and (c), the first protrusion 2404 moves along the inner cam surface 632 of the second cam member 630, but the inner cam surface 632 is formed so that the distance from the center of the rotation shaft 612 to the position where the inner cam surface 632 abuts against the first protrusion 2404 does not change. Therefore, the scavenging paddle 240A remains in the home position. Since the scavenging paddle 240A is maintained in the home position, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B also remain in the home position.

[0072] [Lowering of the raking paddle and rear end drop member] Next, the operation of moving the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B from the home position (upper retracted position, upper position) to the return position and the lower position will be described with reference to Figs. 10(a) to 11(c). In order to lower the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B from the home position, the processing motor 610 is driven to rotate the rotating shaft 612 in a second direction (clockwise in Figs. 11(a) and 11(b)) opposite to the first direction, and the first cam member 620 also rotates in the same direction, and the protrusion 2303 moves along the inner cam surface 622. The inner cam surface 622 is formed so that the distance from the center of the rotating shaft 612 does not change substantially even when the inner cam surface 622 rotates clockwise from the home position. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 11(a), the upper discharge roller 230A is maintained at the home position.

[0073] Meanwhile, the second cam member 630 also rotates in the same direction together with the rotating shaft 612, and the first protrusion 2404 moves along the inner cam surface 632. The inner cam surface 632 is formed so that when it rotates clockwise from the home position, it becomes more distant from the center of the rotating shaft 612. Therefore, this action causes the sweeping paddle 240A to descend and move to the return position.

[0074] At this time, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B also descend together with the pick-up paddle 240A. In this embodiment, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B have a positioning portion 2503 that is positioned at the lower position by engaging with an engaging portion 200a provided on a part of the upper cover of the sheet processing apparatus 200 when the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B rotate from the upper position to the lower position, as shown in Figures 21(a) and 21(b) described later. The positioning portion 2503 is provided so as to protrude further to the front side from the front end of the front-side trailing end dropping member 250A, as shown in Figures 16 and 21(b) described later.

[0075] The engaging portion 200a is formed so as to protrude downward from a part of the front side of the cover that covers the upper part of the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B and bend toward the rear side. The positioning portion 2503 is an engaged portion that is provided so as to be able to engage with the engaging portion 200a, and by abutting against the engaging portion 200a, it restricts the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B from descending any further. The engaging recess 2502 is formed so as to be separated from the second protrusion 2405 in this state. Therefore, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B are in a state where they are disengaged from the raking paddle 240A and are in a state where they are positioned at a lower position by the positioning portion 2503.

[0076] As a result, even if the pick-up paddle 240A reaches the return position, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B do not move any further down due to the engagement between the positioning portion 2503 and the engagement portion 200a, and are positioned at the lower position. In this state, as shown in Fig. 10(b), the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B move to the return position and the lower position, and the upper discharge roller 230A is located at the home position.

[0077] The above-mentioned engaging portion 200a and positioning portion 2053 may be omitted. In this case, a separate positioning mechanism may be provided to position the trailing-end dropping members 250A, 250B at the lower position. For example, positioning may be performed by engaging the engaging recess 2502 with the second protrusion 2405 at the lower position.

[0078] When lifting the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing-end dropping members 250A, 250B, the motor 610 is driven to rotate the rotating shaft 612 in a first direction (counterclockwise in FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b)). Then, the second cam member 630 rotates together with the rotating shaft 612 in the same direction, and the first protrusion 2404 moves along the inner cam surface 632, lifting the pick-up paddle 240A. At this time, slightly after the pick-up paddle 240A starts to lift, the second protrusion 2405 engages with the engagement recess 2052 again, and this engagement also lifts the trailing-end dropping members 250A, 250B. That is, the pick-up paddle 240A can rise independently by the gap between the second protrusion 2405 when the pick-up paddle 240A is in the return position and the portion of the engagement recess 2502 located above the second protrusion 2405, and when the pick-up paddle 240A rises by this gap, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are still in the lower position. Then, when the second protrusion 2405 rises by this gap and engages with the engagement recess 2502, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B start to rise with a delay from the pick-up paddle 240A. As a result, the pick-up paddle 240A and the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B return to the home positions shown in Figures 6(a) to 7(c).

[0079] 7(a) from the state of Fig. 11(a), the protrusion 2303 moves along the inner cam surface 622 of the first cam member 620, but the inner cam surface 622 is formed so that the distance from the center of the rotation shaft 612 to the position where the inner cam surface 622 abuts against the protrusion 2303 does not change at this time. Therefore, the upper discharge roller 230A remains maintained at the home position.

[0080] In such an embodiment, when the rotation shaft 612 rotates counterclockwise from the home position to FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c), the upper discharge roller 230A descends, and the scraping paddle 240A and the rear-end dropping members 250A, 250B are maintained at the home position. On the other hand, when the rotation shaft 612 rotates clockwise from the home position to FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c), the upper discharge roller 230A is maintained at the home position, and the scraping paddle 240A and the rear-end dropping members 250A, 250B descend.

[0081] Also, when the rotation shaft 612 rotates clockwise from FIGS. 9(a) to 9(c) with the upper discharge roller 230A in the clamping position shown in FIG. 9(a), the upper discharge roller 230A ascends, and the scraping paddle 240A and the rear-end dropping members 250A, 250B are maintained at the home position. On the other hand, when the rotation shaft 612 rotates counterclockwise from FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c) with the scraping paddle 240A and the rear-end dropping members 250A, 250B in the return position and the lower position, the upper discharge roller 230A is maintained at the home position, and the scraping paddle 240A and the rear-end dropping members 250A, 250B ascend.

[0082] FIG. 12 shows the relationship between each motor and each component. The columns shown in FIG. 12 indicate, from the left, the number, the name of the motor, the driving component, the operation, the operation direction during forward rotation, and the operation direction during reverse rotation. In FIG. 12, the processing motor MT12 is the above-described processing motor 610. As is also apparent from FIG. 12, the conveyance motor MT11 drives either one of the upstream rollers (inlet rollers) 213a, 213b, either one of the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A, the scraping paddle 240A, and the return member 280.

[0083] Further, the processing motor MT12 lifts and lowers the pick-up paddle 240A, the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B, and the upper discharge roller (nip member) 230A. In this embodiment, in addition to the above, there are provided a return lift motor MT13 for raising and lowering the returning member 280, a discharge roller motor MT14 for driving the lower discharge roller 230B, a take-in motor (sheet pressing motor) MT15 for driving the discharged sheet take-in paddle (sheet pressing (bundle pressing) paddle) 320A, an F-side alignment plate moving motor MT16 for moving (laterally moving) the front alignment plate 271A in the width direction, an R-side alignment plate moving motor MT17 for moving (laterally moving) the rear alignment plate 271A in the width direction, an STP moving motor MT18 for moving the staple unit (STP) 400 to change the staple position, an STP motor MT19 for driving the staple unit 400 to staple the sheet stack, a loading tray lift motor MT20 for raising and lowering the loading tray 300, and a staple-less STP motor MT21 for driving the staple-less binding unit 500 to staple the sheet stack.

[0084] [Control configuration of sheet processing device] The control configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing each motor and each sensor of the sheet processing apparatus 200. Signals from each of these sensors are input to a control unit 203 as a control means, and each motor is controlled by the control unit 203. The control unit 203 is connected to be able to communicate with a control unit of the image forming apparatus 100, and controls the entire sheet processing apparatus 200.

[0085] Such a control unit 203 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU controls each unit while reading a program corresponding to a control procedure stored in the ROM. Working data and input data are stored in the RAM, and the CPU performs control by referring to the data stored in the RAM based on the above-mentioned programs, etc.

[0086] Each motor shown in FIG. 13 is as described above. Meanwhile, each sensor will be described with reference to FIG. 2. First, the entrance sensor SN11 is provided on the conveying path 210A and detects the leading edge of the sheet conveyed to the conveying path 210A. The processing upper HP sensor SN12 detects the home positions of the take-in paddle 240A, the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B, and the upper discharge roller (nip member) 230A. The return up-down HP sensor SN13 detects the home position (position retracted from the processing tray 220) of the return member 280. The processing tray sheet detection sensor SN14 detects the presence or absence of a sheet on the processing tray 220. The paddle HP sensor (sheet pressing HP sensor) SN15 detects the home position of the discharge sheet take-in paddle 320A.

[0087] The F-side alignment plate HP sensor SN16 and the R-side alignment plate HP sensor SN17 respectively detect that the front alignment plate 271A and the rear alignment plate 271A are in positions (home positions) spaced apart in the width direction from the sheets placed on the processing tray 220. The stapler movement HP sensor SN18 detects that the staple unit 400 is in the home position. The sheet detection sensor SN19 detects the top sheet placed on the stacking tray 300. The stacking tray encoder sensor SN20 detects the position of the stacking tray 300 in the lifting / lowering direction. The stacking tray lower limit position detection sensor SN21 detects the lower limit position of the stacking tray 300. The control unit 203 performs various controls, as described below, based on the signals of these sensors.

[0088] Next, a brief description will be given of the flow of control in each mode of this embodiment. In this embodiment, there are a straight discharge mode in which a sheet sent to the sheet processing apparatus 200 is discharged directly to the stacking tray 300 without undergoing a predetermined process, a shift mode in which a sheet sent to the sheet processing apparatus 200 is shifted in the width direction (shifted) and discharged to the stacking tray 300 in order to separate the sheets discharged to the stacking tray 300, and a staple mode in which a sheet sent to the sheet processing apparatus 200 is stapled or stapleless bound as a predetermined process and discharged to the stacking tray 300. Each of these modes is selected by a user through an operation panel of the image forming apparatus 100 or a PC connected via a network or the like.

[0089] In this embodiment, the mode can be set manually by the user or automatically based on the paper type (sheet length), and in the shift mode, whether to select the first shift discharge process or the second shift discharge process described below can be set appropriately depending on the final product desired by the user.

[0090] In the staple mode as the binding and discharging process, the sheet conveyed downstream in the first conveying direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A is conveyed in the second conveying direction by the pick-up paddle 240A on the processing tray 220, and the downstream edge (rear end) of the sheet in the second conveying direction is abutted against the rear end regulating member 290, that is, the rear end of the sheet is regulated. Then, the alignment section 270A (a pair of alignment plates 271A) is driven by the F-side alignment plate moving motor MT16 and the R-side alignment plate moving motor MT17, so that the sheet abutted against the rear end regulating member 290 by the alignment section 270A is moved in the sheet width direction (the same direction as the shift direction) and positioned at the binding position. That is, the alignment process is performed. In this embodiment, the pair of alignment plates 271A is used for center alignment, and the sheets are aligned by hitting them from both sides in the sheet width direction. By repeating such an operation of regulating the rear end of the sheet and the alignment process, a sheet stack is formed on the processing tray 220.

[0091] Thereafter, when stapling is performed, the staple process is performed on the sheet bundle positioned at the first binding position of the staple unit 400, and the stapled sheet bundle is discharged to the stacking tray 300 by the upper discharge rollers 230A and the lower discharge rollers 230B. On the other hand, when stapleless binding is performed, as described in detail below, the sheet bundle is moved to the rear side by the pair of alignment plates 271A, stapleless binding is performed on the sheet bundle positioned at the second binding position of the stapleless binding unit 500, and the stapled sheet bundle is discharged to the stacking tray 300 by the upper discharge rollers 230A and the lower discharge rollers 230B. In the following shift mode, the pair of alignment plates 271A and the F-side alignment plate moving motor MT16 and R-side alignment plate moving motor MT17 used in the alignment process when forming the sheet bundle in the staple mode are used to perform a shift operation of the sheets that are not to be bound.

[0092] In the shift mode, there are a case where the shift operation is performed on a sheet (first sheet, small size sheet) whose length in the sheet conveying direction (first conveying direction) is a first length, and a case where the shift operation is performed on a sheet (second sheet, large size sheet) whose length in the first conveying direction is a second length longer than the first length. The small size sheet is, for example, a sheet whose length in the first conveying direction is equal to or shorter than a predetermined length, and the large size sheet is, for example, a sheet whose length in the first conveying direction is longer than a predetermined length. The predetermined length is, for example, a so-called A4 vertical size in which an A4 size paper is sent in a vertical direction (the direction in which the longitudinal direction is the conveying direction). In the shift mode, a productivity priority mode that prioritizes productivity and an alignment priority mode that prioritizes sheet alignment can be selected and executed. In any shift mode, the sheet can be shifted in both directions, from the rear side to the front side and from the front side to the rear side (the shift direction is both directions).

[0093] The productivity priority mode as a switchbackless shift discharge process is a mode in which the sheet transported downstream in the first conveying direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A is not transported in the second conveying direction by the pick-up paddle 240A, but is instead moved (shifted) in the shift direction by the alignment section 270A (a pair of alignment plates 271A) by driving the F-side alignment plate moving motor MT16 and the R-side alignment plate moving motor MT17, and is discharged onto the stacking tray 300 by the upper discharge rollers 230A and the lower discharge rollers 230B.

[0094] The alignment priority mode as a switchback shift discharge process is a mode in which a sheet transported downstream in the first transport direction by pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A is transported in the second transport direction on processing tray 220 by pick-up paddle 240A, and the downstream edge of the sheet in the second transport direction is abutted (regulated) against trailing end regulating member 290, and then, without stapling by staple unit 400, a switchback shift operation is performed in which the sheet is moved (shifted) in the shift direction by alignment section 270A (a pair of alignment plates 271A) by driving F-side alignment plate moving motor MT16 and R-side alignment plate moving motor MT17, and the sheet is discharged onto stacking tray 300 by upper discharge rollers 230A and lower discharge rollers 230B.

[0095] [Staple-free binding unit] Next, the staple-free binding unit 500 as the staple-free binding section will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. As shown in FIG. 14, the staple-free binding unit 500 is disposed upstream of the processing tray 220 in the first conveying direction and on one side in the width direction (rear side, right side in FIG. 14) of the sheets placed on the processing tray 220. The staple-free binding unit 500 is fixed at this position, unlike the staple unit 400. The second binding position P2, which is a position where the staple-free binding unit 500 performs the binding process, is disposed upstream of the first binding position P1, which is a position where the staple unit 400 performs the binding process, in the second conveying direction and at a position that allows the sheets conveyed by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A to fall onto the processing tray 220. The staple-free binding unit 500 performs the binding process without using staples on the sheet stack placed on the processing tray 220 and received at a staple-free binding entrance 503 described later. In this embodiment, the sheet bundle shifted to the rear side by the pair of alignment plates 271A is subjected to a stapleless binding process (stapleless binding) at the second binding position.

[0096] Such a staple-free binding unit 500 has the same configuration as that used conventionally, but the configuration for performing the staple-free binding process will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 15. The staple-free binding unit 500 has pressure sections 501a and 501b arranged to be spaced apart vertically at the second binding position P2. The pressure sections 501a and 501b each have an uneven surface, and in this embodiment, the upper pressure section 501a moves toward the lower pressure section 501b, thereby sandwiching the sheet bundle that has entered the second binding position between the pressure sections 501a and 501b. Then, the sandwiched portion of the sheet bundle is deformed into a corrugated shape, and the sheets come into close contact with each other. As a result, the sheet bundle is stapled without a staple.

[0097] Rollers 502a and 502b are arranged at the center of the longitudinal direction (approximately the left-right direction in FIG. 15) of the pressure units 501a and 501b. The rollers 502a and 502b are movable in the vertical direction and biased by springs to approach each other. When the pressure units 501a and 501b clamp the sheet bundle and perform the staple-free binding process, the rollers 502a and 502b are pushed by the sheet bundle and retreat in a direction away from the pressure position. When the staple-free binding process is completed and the pressure units 501a and 501b move away from each other, the rollers 502a and 502b are biased by the springs to push the sheet bundle. This makes it easier for the bound portion of the sheet bundle to peel off from the pressure units 501a and 501b after the binding process.

[0098] The staple-free binding unit 500 has a staple-free binding entrance 503 as a sheet receiving section that receives the sheets conveyed by the take-in paddle 240A. In this embodiment, the staple-free binding entrance 503 is an entrance through which the sheet stack enters toward the second binding position. The staple-free binding unit 500 is located on one side in the width direction (rear side) of the sheets dropped onto the processing tray 220 by the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B. Therefore, the staple-free binding entrance 503 faces the other side in the width direction (front side). Therefore, when staple-free binding is performed, the sheet stack that has been aligned in the width direction by the pair of alignment plates 271A is further moved to one side in the width direction by the pair of alignment plates 271A. Then, the portion of the sheet stack to be stapled (for example, a corner portion) is moved toward the second binding position through the staple-free binding entrance 503. In this embodiment, the sheet bundle is moved toward the second binding position in a sheet bundle state, but the sheets may be moved to the second binding position one by one.

[0099] The stapleless binding entrance 503 is formed between an upper guide part 504 and a lower guide part 505 that are vertically spaced apart from each other. Unlike the pressing parts 501a and 501b, the upper guide part 504 and the lower guide part 505 are fixedly arranged respectively. As shown in Fig. 22, the upper guide part 504 has an upper inclined surface 504a that slopes upward in a direction away from the second binding position P2, that is, toward the front side. Similarly, the lower guide part 505 has a lower inclined surface 505a that slopes downward in a direction away from the second binding position P2, that is, toward the front side. Thereby, the interval between the upper guide part 504 and the lower guide part 505 becomes wider toward the front side where the sheet bundle is inserted, and the sheet bundle is smoothly guided to the second binding position P2.

[0100] Here, the maximum number of sheets (hereinafter, the maximum binding number) of the sheet bundle that can be bound by the stapler unit 400 is more than the maximum binding number of the stapleless binding unit 500. For example, in the case of this embodiment, the maximum binding number of the stapler unit 400 is 50 sheets, and the maximum binding number of the stapleless binding unit 500 is 10 sheets. For this reason, the vertical width T2 of the stapleless binding entrance 503 is narrower than the vertical width (the first width) T1 (Fig. 19) of the stapler entrance 401 which is the entrance where the sheet bundle enters the first binding position P1 where the binding process is performed in the stapler unit 400.

[0101] As shown in Fig. 15, the upper guide part 504 slopes upward toward the right side (the downstream side in the second conveyance direction). For this reason, the interval between the upper guide part 504 and the lower guide part 505 is smaller in the upstream side part than in the downstream side part in the second conveyance direction. In this embodiment, the vertical width of the position where the interval between the upper guide part 504 and the lower guide part 505 is the smallest is defined as the width (the second width) T2 of the stapleless binding entrance 503. As described above, the second width T2 is smaller than the first width T1 (T2 < T1). Note that even the vertical width of the position where the interval between the upper guide part 504 and the lower guide part 505 is the largest is smaller than the first width T1 of the stapler entrance 401.

[0102] [Guiding of Sheet Bundle] In the present embodiment, the staple unit 400 performs a stapling process on the sheet bundle on the processing tray 220 in a state where the sheet bundle is abutted against the trailing end regulating member 290. The trailing end regulating member 290 has a pair of guide members 291, 292 to sandwich the end of the sheet bundle from above and below, as shown in FIG. 19, for example. The guide members 291, 292 have inclined portions 291a, 291b that are inclined in directions that move away from each other toward the upstream side in the second transport direction. Therefore, the downstream end of the sheet bundle transported toward the downstream side in the second transport direction on the processing tray 220 (i.e., toward the trailing end regulating member 290) enters between the guide members 291, 292 while being guided by the inclined portions 291a, 291b, and abuts against the regulating surface 290a of the trailing end regulating member 290. That is, the trailing end regulating member 290 also has a function of guiding the sheet bundle to the stapler entrance 401 of the staple unit 400.

[0103] Here, as described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there are cases where a guide section is provided to guide the sheet when the sheet is switchback-conveyed (conveyed in the second conveying direction). Such a configuration will be described using Comparative Example 1 shown in Figs. 30(a) and (b). In the case of Comparative Example 1, the trailing end dropping member 250C has a rotation shaft 2501A upstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the first conveying direction. In addition, a guide section 2510A is provided extending from below the pre-processing roller 212A toward the staple-less binding entrance 503 of the staple-less binding unit 500.

[0104] In such a configuration, the trailing end dropping member 250C rotates counterclockwise around the pivot shaft 2501A from an upper position shown in Fig. 30(a) to a lower position shown in Fig. 30(b), thereby dropping the sheet S transported by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A onto the processing tray 220. Then, the sheet S is transported in the second transport direction by a second transport unit such as the pick-up paddle 240A, and the sheet S is guided to the stapleless binding entrance 503 by the guide unit 2510A. At this time, because the trailing end dropping member 250C rotates counterclockwise around the pivot shaft 2501A, the trailing end dropping member 250C does not interfere with the guide unit 2510A as shown in Fig. 30(b).

[0105] On the other hand, in a configuration in which the rotation shaft 2501 of the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B is provided downstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the first conveying direction as in the present embodiment, a configuration in which the guide portion 2510A guides the sheet S to the stapleless binding entrance 503 as described above will be described using Comparative Example 2 shown in Figs. 31(a) and (b). In the case of Comparative Example 2, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B have the rotation shaft 2501 downstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the first conveying direction, and when the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B rotate from the upper position to the lower position shown in Fig. 31(a), they rotate clockwise in the figure around the rotation shaft 2501. For this reason, as shown in Fig. 31(b), there is a risk that the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B may interfere with the guide portion 2510A during rotation.

[0106] In this embodiment, the stapleless binding unit 500 is disposed on one side of the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 220 in the width direction, and performs stapleless binding on the sheet bundle moved in the width direction by the pair of alignment plates 271A. Therefore, a configuration for guiding the sheet bundle may be required in addition to the pair of guide members 291, 292 of the trailing end regulating member 290. However, if a guide portion for guiding the sheet bundle to the stapleless binding entrance 503 is fixedly disposed like the pair of guide members 291, 292 of the trailing end regulating member 290, there is a risk that the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B may interfere with the guide portion while rotating. Furthermore, there is a risk that the guide portion provided for the stapleless binding unit 500 may interfere with the sheet bundle to be bound by the staple unit 400. For example, when the sheet bundle bound by the staple unit 400 is discharged, the staples of the sheet bundle may come into contact with the guide portion.

[0107] For this reason, a configuration is required in which such a guide portion can be moved between a position where it guides the sheet stack and a position where it is retracted from this position, but if this configuration is provided exclusively for this purpose without any relation to other configurations, the manufacturing cost will increase. Also, it is conceivable to provide the guide portion as a mechanism that is linked to the movement of the stapler, but this would complicate the configuration and would also likely increase the manufacturing cost. Therefore, in this embodiment, the trailing end drop member 250B is provided with a guide portion 2510 that guides the sheet stack to the stapleless binding entrance 503 as described below.

[0108] [Information Department] The configuration of the guide section 2510 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 16 to 22, and Figs. 27(a) and (b) described later. The guide section 2510 guides a sheet stack consisting of a plurality of sheets aligned by a pair of alignment plates 271A to a staple-free binding entrance 503 of the staple-free binding unit 500. In this embodiment, the guide section 2510 is provided on the trailing end drop member 250B, and guides the sheet stack to the staple-free binding entrance 503 in a state in which the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are positioned at a guide position lower than the upper position in the vertical direction. That is, as shown in Fig. 27(b), the guide section 2510 is positioned downstream of the nip point N of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the second conveying direction and lower than the nip point N in the vertical direction in a state in which the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are positioned at the guide position. When the guide section 2510 is in the guide position and a sheet comes into contact with the guide section 2510 after the second transport section, such as the pick-up paddle 240A, starts transporting the sheet, the guide section 2510 delivers the sheet to the stapleless binding entrance 503.

[0109] In this embodiment, the guide portion 2510 is positioned so that it does not come into contact with uncurled sheets at the guide position, and a sheet with a curled sheet end on the staple-less binding entrance 503 side comes into contact with the first guide surface 2511 and / or the second guide surface 2512 of the guide portion 2510, and is passed to the upper inclined surface 504a and the top surface portion 504b and guided to the staple-less binding entrance 503.

[0110] As shown in Fig. 16, the guide portion 2510 is provided on the rear end dropping member 250B of the pair of rear end dropping members 250A, 250B. As shown in Fig. 17 and Fig. 18, the stapleless binding unit 500 is located on one side in the width direction (the rear (R) side, the right side in Figs. 17 and 18) of the sheets dropped onto the processing tray 220 by the rear end dropping members 250A, 250B, and the stapleless binding entrance 503 faces the other side in the width direction (the front (F) side, the left side in Figs. 17 and 18).

[0111] Therefore, when staple-free binding is performed, the pair of alignment plates 271A moves the sheet bundle that has been aligned in the width direction to one side in the width direction (the direction of the arrow) as shown in Figures 17 and 18, thereby moving the sheet bundle Sb toward the second binding position P2 (see Figure 22) of the staple-free binding unit 500. That is, in this embodiment, when staple-free binding is performed, the sheet bundle Sb is moved from the front side to the rear side. For this reason, in this embodiment, the guide portion 2510 is provided on the rear end dropping member 250B located on one side in the width direction (the rear side).

[0112] 22, the guide portion 2510 has a first guide surface 2511 which is an inclined surface on the front side, and a second guide surface 2512 which is continuous with the rear side of the first guide surface 2511 and is substantially parallel to the moving direction of the sheet stack (substantially parallel to the placement surface 221). The first guide surface 2511 is inclined upward as it approaches the front side. The height of the second guide surface 2512 is substantially the same height as an upper surface portion 504b of the staple-free binding entrance 503 described later (a position where it overlaps with the upper inclined surface 504a in the height direction). Therefore, even if the rear end of the sheet stack Sb moving from the front side to the rear side to perform staple-free binding is curled, the first guide surface 2511 guides the sheet stack Sb to the second guide surface 2512, and further, the sheet stack Sb is smoothly guided along the second guide surface 2512 to the staple-free binding entrance 503.

[0113] As described above, the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B have a rotation shaft 2501 serving as a rotation center downstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A, 212A in the first transport direction, and extend upstream in the first transport direction from the rotation shaft 2501. The trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B are rotatable between an upper position and a lower position about the rotation shaft 2501. For this reason, in this embodiment, a guide portion 2510 is provided at the upstream end of the rear-side trailing end dropping member 250B in the first transport direction.

[0114] The guide portion 2510 is provided to extend upstream from the upstream end of the rear-side trailing end drop member 250B in the first conveying direction. Furthermore, the guide portion 2510 is also provided at the rear end in the width direction of the rear-side trailing end drop member 250B. This allows the guide portion 2510 to be positioned near the staple-less binding entrance 503 when the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B are in the guiding positions, and the sheet stack can be smoothly guided to the staple-less binding entrance 503 by the guide portion 2510.

[0115] [Relationship between the guide and the transport path] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the conveying path 210A is provided near the position where the stapleless binding unit 500 is disposed in the first conveying direction. As described above, the conveying path 210A is a path for conveying a sheet from the upstream side of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A toward the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the first conveying direction. The conveying path 210A has an upper guide 2101 that guides the upper surface of the conveyed sheet. The conveying path 210A is extended to the vicinity of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the first conveying direction to convey the sheet to the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A. As shown in FIG. 14, the upper guide 2101 is provided so as to sandwich a part of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A from both sides in the width direction. Therefore, the downstream end of the upper guide 2101 in the first transport direction is located near the path along which the upstream ends of the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B in the first transport direction pass when the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B rotate.

[0116] As described above, the guide portion 2510 is provided at the upstream end of the trailing end dropping member 250B in the first transport direction so as to extend further upstream. For this reason, a notch portion 2101a is formed at the downstream end of the upper guide 2101 in the first transport direction at a position that aligns with the guide portion 2510 in the width direction. The notch portion 2101a is a cutout portion that is recessed further upstream in the first transport direction than other portions so that the guide portion 2510 can pass when the trailing end dropping member 250B moves between the upper position and the guide position.

[0117] [Guide position and lower position] As described above, the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B can move between an upper position and a lower position. In this embodiment, the guide position where the guide portion 2510 guides the sheet stack to the stapleless binding entrance 503 is the lower position of the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B. FIGS. 19 and 21(a) show a state where the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are in the upper position. Then, from this state, the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B move to the lower position shown in FIGS. 20 and 21(b) in order to drop the sheet conveyed in the first conveying direction by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A toward the processing tray 220.

[0118] In this embodiment, when the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are in the lower position, the pair of alignment plates 271A moves the sheet bundle toward the staple-free binding entrance 503. That is, the lower position also serves as the guide position. When the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are in the lower position (that is, the guide position), the guide section 2510 is disposed downstream of the nip point N of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the second conveying direction and below the nip point N in the vertical direction. In addition, the guide section 2510 is disposed on the front side of the staple-free binding entrance 503, that is, on the near side in the moving direction of the sheet bundle, so that even if the rear end of the sheet bundle is curled, the end of the sheet bundle can be smoothly guided to the staple-free binding entrance 503.

[0119] As described above, the pair of alignment plates 271A includes the first plate portion 2701 and the second plate portion 2702 that is smaller in height from the processing tray 220 than the first plate portion 2701. When the sheet stack is moved toward the second binding position P2 of the staple-less binding unit 500, the second plate portion 2702 passes below the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B that are in the guide position, as shown in Fig. 20. That is, the pair of alignment plates 271A has a shape that allows it to move in the width direction without interfering with the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B even when the trailing end drop members 250A, 250B are in the guide position.

[0120] [Relationship between the guide portion and the trailing edge regulating member] 21(a) and (b), the trailing end regulating members 290 are disposed at a plurality of positions in the width direction. In this embodiment, the trailing end regulating members 290 are disposed at three positions spaced apart from one another, with the trailing end regulating member 290 at the center in the width direction designated as A, the trailing end regulating member 290 on the front side of the trailing end regulating member A designated as B, and the trailing end regulating member 290 on the rear side of the trailing end regulating member A designated as C. In this case, as shown in FIG. 21(b), when the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are in the guide positions, the guide portion 2510 is positioned between the trailing end regulating member C located on the furthest side (rear side) in the width direction and the stapleless binding entrance 503.

[0121] As described above, the rear end regulating member 290 has a pair of guide members 291, 292 (see FIG. 19 ) that sandwich the end of the sheet bundle from above and below. Therefore, when the sheet bundle abuts against the rear end regulating member 290, the end of the sheet bundle is located between the pair of guide members 291, 292, and even if the end of the sheet bundle is curled, it is held down by the pair of guide members 291, 292. On the other hand, when the sheet bundle is moved toward the rear side to be guided to the staple-free binding entrance 503, the rear end of the sheet bundle moves away from between the pair of guide members 291, 292 of the rear end regulating member C. Therefore, when the rear end of the sheet bundle is curled, the holding force by the pair of guide members 291, 292 of the rear end regulating member C is weakened, and there is a risk that a part of the rear end of the sheet bundle may interfere with the staple-free binding entrance 503.

[0122] In contrast, in this embodiment, a guide portion 2510 is disposed between the rear-side trailing-end regulating member C and the staple-less binding entrance 503. Therefore, when the sheet stack is moved to the rear side, even if the pressure exerted by the pair of guide members 291, 292 of the rear-side trailing-end regulating member C weakens, the sheet stack can be held down by the guide portion 2510, and the rear end of the sheet stack can be smoothly guided to the staple-less binding entrance 503.

[0123] [Height relationship between the loading surface and the stapleless binding opening] As described above, the staple-free binding entrance 503 is formed between the upper guide portion 504 and the lower guide portion 505. As shown in Fig. 22, the upper guide portion 504 has an upper surface portion 504b facing downward, and the lower guide portion 505 has a lower surface portion 505b facing upward. In addition, in the vertical direction, the upper surface portion 504b is located above, and the lower surface portion 505b is located below the upper surface portion 504b. In other words, the staple-free binding entrance 503 is between the upper surface portion 504b and the lower surface portion 505b.

[0124] The lower surface portion 505b is located vertically above the placement surface 221 on which the sheets are placed in the processing tray 220. For this reason, in this embodiment, the inclined surface 222 is disposed between the placement surface 221 and the lower surface portion 505b. The inclined surface 222 is an inclined surface so as to guide the lower surface of the sheet stack Sb on the placement surface 221 (on the placement surface) to the lower surface portion 505b. That is, the inclined surface 222 is inclined upward toward the rear side in the width direction. Thus, in this embodiment, since the lower surface portion 505b of the staple-free binding entrance 503 is located above the placement surface 221, the height of the guide portion 2510 provided on the trailing end dropping member 250B at the guide position can be set high.

[0125] For example, when the lower surface 505b of the staple-free binding entrance 503 is at the same height as the placement surface 221, the thickness of the sheet bundle to be stapled is smaller than the thickness of the sheet bundle to be stapled, so unless the height of the guide portion 2510 at the guide position is lowered (i.e., if it is not brought closer to the placement surface 221), the sheet bundle cannot be guided adequately. If the height of the guide portion 2510 at the guide position is lowered, there is a possibility that the sheets may get caught when forming the sheet bundle when stapling.

[0126] Therefore, in this embodiment, the guide position of the guide portion 2510 is set to a position relatively far from the placement surface 221 in accordance with the position of the lower surface portion 505b relative to the placement surface 221. By raising the guide position of the guide portion 2510 in this manner, as described above, it is possible to set the guide position to the same position as the lower position for dropping the sheets onto the processing tray 220 by the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B. Note that this lower position is a position where the sheet stack to be stapled does not interfere with the trailing end dropping members 250A, 250B even if the sheet stack has the maximum number of sheets to be stapled by the staple unit 400.

[0127] [Staple-free binding process] Next, the operation of each part during stapleless binding processing will be described with reference to Fig. 23(a) to Fig. 29(b). As shown in Fig. 23(a) and (b), when the sheet S has not yet been conveyed to the conveying path 210A, the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are each located at their home positions. In addition, the pair of alignment plates 271A are located at their home positions, which are the positions furthest from each other.

[0128] 24(a) and 24(b), when the sheet S is conveyed to the entrance of the conveying path 210A, the pair of alignment plates 271A move from their home positions toward each other and wait at the receiving position for receiving the sheet. Also, even in this state, the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, and the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are each located at their home positions.

[0129] 25(a) and (b), when the upstream end (rear end) of the sheet S in the first transport direction passes through the pre-processing nip portion 211a of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A, the pick-up paddle 240A starts to descend. Then, the pick-up paddle 240A is moved to the return position and the rear end drop members 250A and 250B are moved to the lower position, and the sheet S is dropped onto the processing tray 220, and the pick-up paddle 240A transports the sheet S in the second transport direction. In this state, the rear end drop members 250A and 250B are moved to the guide positions.

[0130] 26(a) and (b), the returning member 280 (knurled belt 281) is also lowered, and the sheet S is transported in the second transport direction by the pick-up paddle 240A and the returning member 280, until the rear end of the sheet S comes into contact with the rear end regulating member 290. Thereafter, the upper discharge roller 230A, the pick-up paddle 240A, the rear end dropping members 250A and 250B, and the returning member 280 are raised, and the pair of alignment plates 271A are returned to the receiving position to receive the next sheet. Then, the above-mentioned operations are repeated to form a sheet stack Sb (see FIGS. 27(a) and (b)) on the processing tray 220.

[0131] When the sheets forming the sheet bundle Sb are dropped onto the processing tray 220 by the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are left in the lower position (also the guide position in this embodiment), and the pick-up paddle 240A is raised from the return position by the above-mentioned gap (the gap with the portion located above the second protrusion 2405 of the engagement recess 2502, see FIG. 11) to separate the pick-up paddle 240A from the sheet S. This prevents the pick-up paddle 240A from interfering with the sheet shifting operation by the pair of alignment plates 271A. In this state, the upper discharge roller 230A is also raised and positioned at the retreat position.

[0132] 27(a) and 27(b), when the sheet bundle Sb is formed on the processing tray 220 in this manner, the pair of alignment plates 271A moves the sheet bundle Sb to the rear side while the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B are positioned at the guide positions, and the end of the sheet bundle Sb advances toward the second binding position P2 (FIG. 22) of the staple-free binding unit 500. At this time, the lower surface of the rear end of the sheet bundle Sb is lifted along the inclined surface 222, and the upper surface of the rear end of the sheet bundle Sb is guided by the guide portion 2510 provided on the trailing end drop members 250B at the guide positions, and the rear end of the sheet bundle Sb is smoothly guided to the staple-free binding entrance 503 (see FIG. 22, etc.).

[0133] Next, in this embodiment, the staple-free binding unit 500 is positioned downstream in the first transport direction with respect to the rear end of the sheet bundle Sb whose rear end has been regulated by the rear end regulating member 290. For this reason, as shown in Figures 28(a) and (b), the upper discharge roller 230A is lowered to the clamping position to clamp the sheet bundle Sb between the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B. Then, the sheet bundle Sb is slightly conveyed downstream in the first transport direction by the upper discharge roller 230A and the lower discharge roller 230B, and the position for staple-free binding of the sheet bundle Sb is aligned with the second binding position P2 of the staple-free binding unit 500.

[0134] The sheet stack Sb after staple-free binding by the staple-free binding unit 500 is discharged onto the stacking tray 300 by the upper discharge rollers 230A and the lower discharge rollers 230B, as shown in FIGS. 29(a) and 29(b).

[0135] In this embodiment, even if the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B have a rotation shaft 2501 downstream of the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A in the sheet conveying direction and are extended toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, the sheet can be dropped onto the processing tray 220 and the sheet that has switched back on the processing tray 220 can be delivered to the stapleless binding entrance 503 of the stapleless binding unit 500. That is, in this embodiment, the guide portion 2510 is provided on the trailing end dropping member 250B. Therefore, even if the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are rotated around the rotation shaft 2501 to drop the sheet conveyed by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A onto the processing tray 220, there is no interference between the trailing end dropping members and the guide portion as in Comparative Example 2 described in FIGS. 31(a) and 31(b). Furthermore, with the trailing end dropping member 250B in the guiding position, the guiding portion 2510 is located downstream in the second conveying direction of the nip point N between the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A and vertically below the nip point N. Therefore, in this position, the guiding portion 2510 can deliver the sheet that has been switched back on the processing tray 220 to the staple-less binding entrance 503 of the staple-less binding unit 500.

[0136] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a configuration can be provided that can guide the sheet bundle to the staple-free binding inlet 503 while suppressing the complexity of the structure. That is, since the guide portion 2510 that guides the sheet bundle to the staple-free binding inlet 503 is provided in the trailing end dropping member 250B, there is no need to provide a separate configuration that can move the guide portion between a position for guiding the sheet bundle and a position retracted from this position. That is, if the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are positioned at the upper position, the guide portion 2510 is also retracted from the guide position, and for example, when the sheet bundle stapled by the staple unit 400 is discharged, the staples of the sheet bundle can be prevented from contacting the guide portion 2510. Also, when the guide portion 2510 is positioned to guide the sheet bundle, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are simply positioned at the guide position. In this manner, in this embodiment, by providing the guide portion 2510 in the trailing end dropping member 250B, a configuration can be provided that can guide the sheet stack to the staple-less binding entrance 503 without providing a separate configuration for moving the guide portion 2510.

[0137] In particular, in this embodiment, the guide position for guiding the sheet stack to the staple-free binding entrance 503 is the same as the lower position where the trailing end drop members 250A and 250B drop the sheets onto the processing tray 220, so it is possible to more simply provide a configuration that can guide the sheet stack to the staple-free binding entrance 503. As a result, it is possible to reduce manufacturing costs.

[0138] <Other embodiments> In the above embodiment, the lower position and the guide position of the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B are the same position, but the lower position and the guide position may be different. For example, the trailing end dropping members 250A and 250B may be configured to stop descending at two points, and may be lowered to the lower position when dropping the trailing end of the sheet conveyed by the pre-processing rollers 211A and 212A, and may be lowered to a guide position other than the lower position when guiding the sheet bundle to the stapleless binding entrance 503. When the lower position and the guide position are different, either position may be the upper position. This positional relationship is appropriately set depending on the positional relationship in the height direction between the placement surface 221 of the processing tray 220 and the stapleless binding entrance 503, etc.

[0139] Also, in the above embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the vertical width T2 of the staple-free binding entrance 503 serving as a sheet receiving portion of the staple-free binding unit 500 is narrower than the vertical width T1 of the stapler entrance 401 of the staple unit 400. However, the present invention is also applicable to a configuration in which the width T2 is the same as the width T1, or a configuration in which the width T2 is wider than the width T1.

[0140] In the above embodiment, the staple-free binding unit 500 is disposed on one side in the width direction of the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 220, that is, the rear side, and the sheet bundle is shifted to the rear side to perform staple-free binding. However, the present invention can also be applied to a configuration in which the staple-free binding unit 500 is disposed on the front side. In this case, the above-mentioned one side in the width direction is the front side, and the other side is the rear side. Also, the guide portion 2510 that guides the sheet bundle to the staple-free binding entrance 503 is provided on the front-side rear end drop member 250A. Other configurations and operations are basically the same as those of the above embodiment.

[0141] The present invention is also applicable to a configuration in which the staple-free binding unit 500 is not on one side in the width direction, but is located downstream of the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 220 in the second conveying direction. Such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 32 to FIG. 33(b). In this configuration, unlike the above-described embodiment, the second binding position of the staple-free binding unit 500A is located downstream of a portion (e.g., a corner) of the sheet bundle where staple-free binding is performed in the second conveying direction, rather than being shifted in the width direction from the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 220. The staple-free binding entrance 503A as a sheet receiving portion of the staple-free binding unit 500A faces the upstream side in the second conveying direction. Then, with the trailing end drop member 250B in the guide position, the guide portion 2510 is located upstream of the staple-free binding entrance 503A in the second conveying direction. The guide portion 2510 is shaped to guide the sheet bundle to the staple-free binding entrance 503A. As a result, the guide section 2510 guides the sheet stack placed on the processing tray 220 to the second binding position of the stapleless binding unit 500A while the sheet stack is moved downstream in the second conveying direction (upper side in FIG. 32) by a second conveying section such as the pick-up paddle 240A.

[0142] When stapleless binding is performed with such a configuration, the trailing end dropping member 250B (250A) is rotated around the rotation shaft 2501 from the upper position shown in FIG. 33(a) toward the guide position shown in FIG. 33(b). As a result, the trailing end dropping member 250B (250A) drops the sheet S conveyed by the pre-processing rollers 211A, 211B onto the processing tray 220. Then, as described in FIG. 25(a) to FIG. 26(b), the sheet S is conveyed in the second conveying direction by the second conveying unit such as the pick-up paddle 240A. At this time, with the trailing end dropping member 250B in the guide position, the sheet S after the second conveying unit starts conveying is guided to the stapleless binding entrance 503A by the guide unit 2510. That is, in this example, the guide unit 2510 delivers the sheet being conveyed by the second conveying unit to the stapleless binding entrance 503A. At this time, similar to the above-described staple unit 400, the staple-free binding unit 500A performs the staple-free binding process in a state where the sheet stack is abutted against the trailing end regulating member 290 on the processing tray 220. The other configurations are basically the same as those of the above-described embodiment.

[0143] In each of the above-described embodiments, the sheet processing device 200 is arranged in the internal space 130 of the image forming apparatus 100, but the sheet processing device of the present invention may be, for example, attached to the side of the image forming apparatus. Also, the sheet processing device may be controlled by a control unit provided in the image forming apparatus.

[0144] The disclosure of this embodiment also includes the following configuration. (Configuration 1) a first conveying section having a pair of conveying rollers that conveys the sheet in a first conveying direction; a placement section for placing the sheet conveyed by the first conveying section; a sheet dropper having a rotation center provided downstream of the pair of conveying rollers in the first conveying direction, extending from the rotation center to the upstream side in the first conveying direction, and rotatable about the rotation center to an upper position that allows the sheet to drop onto the placement section when the sheet is conveyed by the first conveying unit, and a lower position that is located lower in the vertical direction than the upper position, and dropping the sheet conveyed by the first conveying unit onto the placement section by moving from the upper position to the lower position; an abutting portion against which an upstream end of the sheet placed on the placement portion in the first transport direction is abutted; a second conveying section that conveys the sheet conveyed by the first conveying section in a second conveying direction toward the abutting section; a stapler that uses staples to staple a sheet stack made up of a plurality of sheets that are abutted against the abutting portion; a stapleless binding unit having a sheet receiving section that receives the sheets transported by the second transport section, and performing a staple process on the sheet stack that is placed on the sheet stack placement section and received in the sheet receiving section without using staples; a guide section that is provided in the sheet drop section, the guide section being disposed downstream of a nip point between the pair of conveying rollers in the second conveying direction and below the nip point in the vertical direction when the sheet drop section is in a guide position lower than the upper position, and that delivers the sheet to the sheet receiving section when the sheet drop section contacts the sheet after conveyance by the second conveying section is started when the sheet drop section is in the guide position; A sheet processing apparatus comprising: (Configuration 2) a moving member that moves the sheet abutted against the abutting portion in a sheet width direction that intersects with the first conveying direction, the sheet receiving section is located on one side of the sheet dropped on the sheet placement section in the width direction, 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide section delivers the sheet conveyed by the second conveying section to the sheet receiving section when the sheet is moved in the width direction by the moving member. (Configuration 3) The abutting portions are disposed at a plurality of positions in the width direction, The sheet processing device of configuration 2, wherein the guide portion is disposed between the abutment portion located furthest to one side in the width direction and the sheet receiving portion when the sheet drop portion is in the guide position. (Configuration 4) 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide section delivers the sheet being transported by the second transport section to the sheet receiving section. (Configuration 5) 5. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of configurations 1 to 4, wherein the guide position is the lower position. (Configuration 6) an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; 6. An image forming system comprising: the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, which performs binding processing on sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming unit. [Explanation of symbols]

[0145] 100 Image forming apparatus 103... Image forming unit 200 Sheet processing device 210A···Transport path 211 First conveyor section 211A, 212A: Pre-processing rollers (transport rollers) 220 Processing tray (mounting section) 221...Placement surface 222...Slope surface 230A···Upper discharge roller (discharge section) 230B: Lower discharge roller (discharge section) 240A···Scraping paddle (second conveying section) 250A, 250B: Rear end drop member (sheet drop section) 271A···Matching plate (moving part) 290... Rear end regulating member (butting portion) 300···Loading tray (loading section) 400··· Staple unit (stapler) 401 Stapler entrance 500, 500A... Staple-free binding unit (staple-free binding section) 503, 503A: Stapleless binding entrance (sheet receiving area) 504b...Top part 505b...Bottom part 1000···Image forming system 2101···Upper guide 2101a...Notch 2501 Rotation axis (rotation center) 2510...Information Department 2701...1st plate part (1st part) 2702...Second plate part (second part)

Claims

1. a first conveying section having a pair of conveying rollers that conveys the sheet in a first conveying direction; a placement section for placing the sheet conveyed by the first conveying section; a sheet dropper having a rotation center provided downstream of the pair of conveying rollers in the first conveying direction, extending from the rotation center upstream in the first conveying direction, and rotatable about the rotation center to an upper position that allows the sheet to drop onto the placement section when the sheet is conveyed by the first conveying unit, and a lower position that is located lower in the vertical direction than the upper position, and dropping the sheet conveyed by the first conveying unit onto the placement section by moving from the upper position to the lower position; an abutting portion against which an upstream end of the sheet placed on the placement portion in the first transport direction is abutted; a second conveying section that conveys the sheet conveyed by the first conveying section in a second conveying direction toward the abutting section; a stapler that uses staples to staple a sheet stack made up of a plurality of sheets that are abutted against the abutting portion; a stapleless binding unit having a sheet receiving section that receives the sheets transported by the second transport section, and performing a staple process on the sheet stack that is placed on the sheet stack placement section and received in the sheet receiving section without using staples; a guide section that is provided in the sheet drop section, the guide section being disposed downstream of a nip point between the pair of conveying rollers in the second conveying direction and below the nip point in the vertical direction when the sheet drop section is in a guide position lower than the upper position, and that delivers the sheet to the sheet receiving section when the sheet drop section contacts the sheet after conveyance by the second conveying section is started when the sheet drop section is in the guide position; A sheet processing apparatus comprising:

2. a moving member configured to move the sheet abutted against the abutting portion in a sheet width direction intersecting with the first conveying direction, the sheet receiving section is located on one side of the sheet dropped on the sheet placement section in the width direction, The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the guide section delivers the sheet, which has been conveyed by the second conveying section, to the sheet receiving section when the sheet is moved in the width direction by the moving member.

3. The abutting portions are disposed at a plurality of positions in the width direction, The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the guide portion is disposed between the abutment portion located furthest to one side in the width direction and the sheet receiving portion when the sheet dropping portion is in the guide position.

4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the guide section delivers the sheet being transported by the second transport section to the sheet receiving section.

5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the guide position is the lower position.

6. an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; 6. An image forming system comprising: the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, which performs a binding process on the sheets on which the images are formed by the image forming unit.

Images