Method and apparatus for sheet finishing capable of performing an effective jogging process

A sheet finishing apparatus, comprising:

• a sheet tray adapted to stack a plurality of sheets sent from an image forming apparatus;
• a pair of jogging fences adapted to hold the sheets stacked in said sheet tray and adapted to jog the sheets in a transverse direction relative to a sheet transferring direction;
• and
• a controller configured to control said pair of jogging fences to move toward and away from each other, said controller being configured to control said pair of jogging fences at power-on time when power is switched from off to on to move a predetermined distance away from each other and to stop for a predetermined time period if a sheet is detected in said pair of jogging fences.

A sheet finishing apparatus, comprising:

• a sheet tray adapted to stack a plurality of sheets;
• a pair of jogging fences adapted to extend along side edges of the sheets and hold the sheets stacked in said sheet tray and adapted to jog the sheets in a transverse direction relative to a sheet transferring direction;
• a controller configured to move said pair of jogging fences toward and away from each other;
• and
• a case enclosing said apparatus, said case including a plate covering said sheet tray, said plate having an opening,
• wherein said pair of jogging fences is configured to move away from each other to a position such that one of said pair of jogging fences extends through said opening and is located at a position outside of said case.

A sheet finishing apparatus, comprising:

• sheet stacking means for stacking a plurality of sheets sent from an image forming apparatus;
• jogging means extending along side edges of the sheets for holding the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking means and for jogging the sheets in a transverse direction relative to a sheet transferring direction, said jogging means being controlled to be moved inwards and outwards;
• and
• casing means for enclosing said apparatus, said case means including a plate covering said sheet stacking means from an operator accessible side, said plate having an opening,
• wherein said jogging means at said operator accessible side is configured to extend through said opening in said plate and be located at an outside position relative to said plate when said jogging means is expanded to outward limits.

A sheet finishing apparatus, comprising:

• sheet stacking means for stacking a plurality of sheets sent from an image forming apparatus;
• jogging means for holding the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking means and for jogging the sheets in a transverse direction relative to a sheet transferring direction;
• and
• controlling means for controlling said jogging means to move inwards and outwards,
• wherein said controlling means controls said jogging means as a power-on time when power is switched from off to on to move a predetermined distance and to stop for a predetermined time period if a sheet is detected in said jogging means.

A method of sheet jogging, comprising the steps of:

• determining at power-on time when power is switched from off to on whether a sheet is in a sheet tray for stacking a plurality of sheets sent from an image forming apparatus;
• moving a jogging member a predetermined distance when a sheet is detected in the sheet tray to a position such that the jogging member extends through an opening in a case housing the sheet tray to a position outside of the case;
• and
• stopping the jogging member for a predetermined time period.