Paper discharge apparatus for discharging conveyed paper, and image forming apparatus equipped with same

A paper-discharge apparatus comprising:

• a paper-discharge-conveying unit that conveys paper toward a discharge destination;
• an introduction guide that is provided with a rotating shaft;
• an introduction lever that is connected with the introduction guide by an introduction-lever-connection unit;
• a contact member that changes the posture of the introduction guide by causing the introduction lever to rotate when coming in contact with the introduction lever;
• a movement mechanism that causes the contact member to move;
• a motor that moves the movement mechanism;
• and
• a control unit that controls the movement and position of the contact member by controlling the motor, and when the state of the introduction guide is set to an introducing state in which conveyed paper is introduced to the paper-discharge-conveying unit, the control unit sets the introduction lever and the contact member to a no-contact state, and when the state of the introduction guide is in a non-introducing state in which conveyed paper is not guided to the paper-discharge-conveying unit, but is guided to another discharge destination, the control unit sets the introduction lever and contact member to a contact state, and together with rotating the motor at a first speed and causing the contact member to move, causes the contact member to come in contact with the introduction lever after changing the rotation speed of the motor to a second speed that is slower than the first speed.