Patent ID: 7341248

Claim:
A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveyance portion which conveys a sheet; an intermediate stacking portion which temporarily stacks sheets conveyed by the conveyance portion; and a binder which has an opening formed between an upper jaw and a lower jaw and in which one of the upper jaw and the lower jaw is rocked toward the other to perform a binding process for binding the sheets stacked in the intermediate stacking portion, wherein the binder is positioned at one side of the intermediate stacking portion in a direction which intersects a sheet conveyance direction, such that the sheet which is conveyed by the conveyance portion passes through the opening of the binder to the intermediate stacking portion, wherein the conveyance portion includes a plurality of drive rollers which convey the sheet, and are disposed in a direction that intersects the sheet conveyance direction, wherein the plurality of drive rollers form conveyance roller pairs with opposing driven rollers, except for the drive roller that is closest to the binder, and wherein a lowermost portion of the peripheral surface of the drive roller closest to the binder is at a position lower than a lowermost portion of the peripheral surface of the other drive rollers.