Abstract: A pair of conveyance rollers conveys a sheet in a first conveyance direction. A sheet dropping portion includes a pivot center, is provided to extend upstream in the first conveyance direction from the pivot center. The sheet dropping portion drops the sheet onto a placement portion by moving from an upper position toward a lower position about the pivot center. A stapleless binding unit includes a sheet receiving portion and performs a binding process without using a staple on a sheet bundle placed on the placement portion and received by a sheet receiving portion. A guiding portion is provided on the sheet dropping portion and passes the sheet onto the sheet receiving portion in a case where the sheet abuts against the guiding portion in a state in which the sheet dropping portion is at a guiding position below the upper position.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus performs a binding discharge process and a sorting discharge process. In the sorting discharge process, a second operation is repeatedly performed to form an unbound first sheet bundle on the stacking portion, and a third operation is repeatedly performed to form an unbound second sheet bundle on the stacking portion. In the second operation, a sheet conveyed in a first conveyance direction is nipped by a pair of alignment plates without conveying the sheet in a second conveyance direction, and a shift operation of moving a position of the sheet in a shift direction is performed. Then the sheet is discharged to a shift position on the stacking portion. In the third operation, the sheet is discharged to a position displaced from the shift position on the stacking portion without conveying the sheet in the second conveyance direction.

Abstract: In a binding discharge process, a binding process is performed on a plurality of sheets positioned at a binding position by repeating a process in which, after a conveyed sheet is conveyed in a reverse direction on a placement portion by a second conveyance portion to cause a downstream end of the sheet to abut an abutment portion, the sheet is moved in a shift direction and positioned at the binding position by a first shifting portion, and the plurality of sheets subjected to the binding process are discharged onto the stacking portion by a discharge portion. In a switchbackless shift discharge process, the conveyed sheet is shifted in the shift direction by the first shifting portion by driving a driving portion without conveying the sheet in the reverse direction by the second conveyance portion, and is discharged onto the stacking portion by the discharge portion.

Abstract: A sheet dropping portion abuts on a sheet conveyed in a first conveyance direction by a pair of conveyance rotary members from above to drop the sheet onto a placement portion by pivoting from an upper position to a lower position. The guide portion is arranged above the placement portion and extends toward the placement portion, and guides the sheet toward an abutment portion in a case where the sheet on the placement portion conveyed in a second conveyance direction opposite to the first conveyance direction by a reverse conveyance portion comes into contact with the guide portion. The sheet dropping portion located at the lower position overlaps a part of the guide portion when viewed in a rotational axis direction of the pair of conveyance rotary members.