Sheet laminator and image forming system incorporating the sheet laminator

A sheet laminator comprising:

• a sheet ejection roller pair to eject a two-ply sheet downwardly along an extension line of a nip region in a vertical direction, the two-ply sheet subjected to a sheet laminating operation in which heat and pressure are applied to the two-ply sheet with a sheet medium;
• a sheet ejection tray downstream from the sheet ejection roller pair in the vertical direction,
• the sheet ejection tray having:
• a receiving face to receive the two-ply sheet ejected from the sheet ejection roller pair and standing in the sheet ejection tray;
• and
• a stacking face facing the receiving face and inclined with respect to the vertical direction;
• a presser having a leading end to:
• move the two-ply sheet on the receiving face toward the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray;
• and
• press the two-ply sheet onto the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray;
• and circuitry configured to:
• perform a first operation to move the leading end of the presser from the receiving face of the sheet ejection tray to an intermediate position beyond the extension line and before the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray to stack the two-ply sheet on the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray;
• and
• perform a second operation to:
• move the leading end of the presser from the intermediate position to the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray;
• and
• press the two-ply sheet against the stacking face of the sheet ejection tray with the leading end of the presser.