Sheet stacking/aligning apparatus, sheet handling apparatus, and image forming apparatus

A sheet stacking/aligning apparatus comprising:

• stack means for stacking sheets thereon;
• and
• sheet rear end aligning means for pushing and aligning the rear end of a sheet conveyed onto said stack means,
• wherein said sheet rear end aligning means includes:
• sheet holding means for holding the sheets stacked on said stack means;
• and
• sheet scraping means for contacting with the sheet prior to said sheet holding means to scrape off the sheet.

A sheet handling apparatus comprising:

• intermediate handling means for temporarily stacking a sheet conveyed from sheet conveyance means to handle the sheet;
• stack means for stacking the sheets handled;
• sheet rear end aligning means capable of moving selectively to a support position at which it supports the lower face of the sheet bundle handled by said intermediate handling means, or an escape position at which it escapes from the lower face of said sheet bundle to drop said sheet bundle onto said stack means;
• control means for changing the position of said sheet rear end aligning means between the support position and the escape position;
• and
• sheet holding means for holding the rear end portions of the sheets stacked on said stack means,
• wherein said control means makes controls so that it may cooperate to perform the sheet rear end aligning operation by said sheet rear end aligning means for moving from the escape position to support position to align the rear end of the sheet bundle dropped on said stack means and the sheet holding operation by said sheet holding means.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet;
• intermediate handling means for temporarily stacking the image-formed sheet to handle the sheet;
• stack means for stacking the sheets handled;
• sheet rear end aligning means capable of moving selectively to a support position at which it supports the lower face of the sheet bundle handled by said intermediate handling means, or an escape position at which it escapes from the lower face of said sheet bundle to drop said sheet bundle onto said stack means;
• control means for changing the position of said sheet rear end aligning means between the support position and the escape position;
• and
• sheet holding means for holding the rear end portions of the sheets stacked on said stack means,
• wherein said control means makes controls so that it may cooperate to perform the sheet rear end aligning operation by said sheet rear end aligning means for moving from the escape position to the support position to align the rear end of the sheet bundle dropped on said stack means and the sheet holding operation by said sheet holding means.