Sheet post-processing apparatus

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• means for forming images on sheets;
• a sheet conveyance passage for introducing the sheets into said image forming means and for conveying the sheets on which images are formed from said image forming means;
• discharging means communicating with said sheet conveyance passage for discharging the sheets;
• stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by said discharging means, said stacking means including a first tray adjacent said discharging means for supporting trailing portions of the sheets discharged by said discharging means, and a second tray for supporting leading portions of the sheets having the trailing portions supported by the first tray, said second tray being movable substantially in the vertical direction and disposed downstream of said first tray with respect to sheet discharge direction, wherein said stacking means is inclined so that the sheets stacked bridging between said first tray and said second tray slide by their own weight;
• binding means for binding the sheets stacked on the first tray of said stacking means;
• moving means for moving the sheets from said first tray toward said second tray;
• and
• selecting means for stacking the sheets on said second tray including said first tray in a mode in which the sheets are bound by said binding means, and for stacking the sheets directly on said second tray excluding said first tray of the stacking means in a mode in which the sheets are bound.

A sheet-processing apparatus, comprising:

• means for discharging sheets;
• stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by said discharging means;
• binding means for binding the sheets stacked on said stacking means;
• moving means for moving the sheets bound by said binding means from said stacking means;
• substantially vertically movable accommodating means, disposed downstream of said stacking means with respect to a sheet discharge direction and constituting a part of said stacking means, for accommodating the sheets moved from a first tray of said stacking means by said moving means;
• and
• selecting means for stacking the sheets on said accommodating means including said first tray of the stacking means in a mode in which the sheets are bound by said binding means, and for stacking the sheets directly on said accommodating means excluding said first tray of the stacking means in a mode in which the sheets are not bound.

A sheet-processing apparatus, comprising:

• means for discharging sheets;
• stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by said discharging means, said stacking means including a first tray adjacent said discharging means for supporting trailing portions of the sheets discharged by said discharging means and a second tray for supporting leading portions of the sheets having the trailing portions supported by the first tray, said second tray movable substantially in the vertical direction and disposed downstream of said first tray with respect to a sheet discharge direction, wherein said stacking means is inclined so that the sheets stacked bridging between said first tray and said second tray slide by their own weight;
• binding means for binding the sheets stacked on the first tray of said stacking means;
• moving means for moving the sheets bound by said binding means toward said second tray;
• and
• means for shifting bound sets of sheets to prevent overlapping bound portions of adjacent sets.

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• means for forming images on sheets;
• means for discharging the sheets on which images are formed by said image forming means;
• stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by said discharging means, said stacking means including a first tray adjacent said discharging means for supporting trailing portions of the sheets discharged by said discharging means and a second tray for supporting leading portions of the sheet having the trailing portions supported by the first tray, said second tray movable substantially in the vertical direction and disposed downstream of said first tray with respect to a sheet discharge direction, wherein said stacking means is inclined so that the sheets stacked bridging between said first tray and said second tray slide by their own weight;
• binding means for binding the sheets stacked on the first tray of said stacking means;
• and
• moving means for moving the sheets bound by said binding means toward said second tray.

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• means for forming images on sheets;
• means for discharging sheets on which images are formed by said image forming means;
• stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by said discharging means;
• binding means for binding the sheets stacked on said stacking means;
• moving means for moving the sheets bound by said binding means from said stacking means;
• substantially vertically movable accommodating means, disposed downstream of said stacking means with respect to a sheet discharge direction and constituting a part of said stacking means, for accommodating the sheets moved from a first tray of said stacking means by said moving means;
• and
• selecting means for stacking the sheets on said accommodating means including said first tray of the stacking means in a mode in which the sheets are bound by said binding means, and for stacking the sheets directly on said accommodating means excluding said first tray of the stacking means in a mode which the sheets are not bound.