Sheet-discharge device and image recording apparatus equipped with the sheet-discharge device

A sheet-discharge device, comprising:

• a sheet-discharge mechanism having a discharge opening and configured to discharge a sheet from the discharge opening in a discharge direction that intersects a vertical direction by permitting the sheet to fly;
• a stopper having a hitting portion against which a leading edge, in the discharge direction, of the sheet discharged from the discharge opening hits, so that the sheet is bounced back;
• a discharge tray having a support surface on which the sheet bounced back by the stopper is supported, the discharge tray being disposed, between the discharge opening and the stopper, at a height level in the vertical direction lower than a height level of the hitting portion of the stopper;
• and
• a sheet-discharge controller configured to control the sheet-discharge mechanism such that the sheet discharged from the discharge opening flies above the support surface,
• wherein the hitting portion is provided at a position at which a one-side portion of the leading edge of the sheet first hits the hitting portion, the one-side portion of the leading edge being nearer to a one-side end of the sheet than a center of the leading edge in an orthogonal direction that is parallel to a horizontal plane and that is orthogonal to the discharge direction.