Patent ID: 7407156

Claim:
A sheet finishing apparatus for post-processing sheets of paper after image forming, comprising: a gate configured to take in sheets of paper ejected from an image forming apparatus through a taking-in port and to switch to either of a first conveying path for post processing or a second conveying path for non-post processing to convey said sheets of paper, a processing tray configured to load said sheets of paper conveyed through said first conveying path or sheets of paper manually inserted, a processing mechanism configured to post-process said sheets of paper loaded on said processing tray, an ejection mechanism configured to eject said sheets of paper post-processed by said processing mechanism from said processing tray, a first paper ejection tray configured to receive said post-processed sheets of paper ejected from said ejection mechanism, a second paper ejection tray configured to receive sheets of paper requiring no post processing ejected via said second conveying path, a manual introduction unit having a paper ejection opening formed to eject post-processed sheets of paper from said ejection mechanism to said first paper ejection tray, configured to manually load sheets of paper requiring post processing on said processing tray via said paper ejection opening and leading said sheets of paper to said processing mechanism, and a mode setting unit configured, in a manual mode in which said post process is executed via said manual introduction unit, to switch said gate to said second conveying path and when sheets of paper are taken in said taking-in port, to eject said sheets of paper to said second ejection unit via said second conveying path and in an automatic stapling process mode in which sheets of paper fed through said taking-in port are stapled and another mode in which sheets of paper are not stapled, to switch said gate to said first conveying path and eject sheets of paper to said first paper ejection tray via said first conveying path wherein: said processing mechanism is a stapler, has a sensor configured to detect insertion of sheets of paper requiring said post processing into said stapler, in said manual mode, switches said gate in response to detection results of said sensor, and when sheets of paper are taken in said taking-in port, ejects said sheets of paper to said second paper ejection tray via said second conveying path.