Sheet discharge device and sheet discharge method

Abstract

A sheet discharge device includes a sheet discharge roller pair composed of an upper roller and a lower roller; and a placement tray, arranged below the sheet discharge roller pair, configured to place a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge roller pair. The device further includes a sheet presser configured to be held on a sheet discharge side of the upper roller in a movable manner and pushed up by a sheet front end to be discharged, and depress a sheet rear end with the dead weight thereof after the sheet rear end passes through a nip between the sheet discharge roller pair. The device additionally includes an auxiliary tray that is movable between a first position where the sheet rear end depressed by the sheet presser is caught and a second position where the sheet rear end is released from the sheet presser.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.