Patent ID: 8840099

Claim:
A binding apparatus for binding sheets, comprising: a notch-forming unit for forming a notch in a stitch portion side of a sheet bundle where a binding tape is welded to bind sheets and a binding unit for binding the sheets by welding the binding tape to a stitch portion of the sheet bundle obtained by bundling the sheets having the notch, the binding unit including a heater unit for pressing the stitch portion of the sheet bundle by melting an adhesive provided on a surface of the binding tape by applying heat at a predetermined temperature to the binding tape with a heater, a heater shifting unit for moving the heater in a straight line between a forward movement position and a backward movement position, a sheet bundle shifting unit comprising a lower heater clamp and an upper heater clamp for clamping the sheet bundle and which moves vertically while the sheet bundle is clamped and a control unit for controlling the sheet bundle shifting unit such that, when the sheet bundle is clamped by the lower and upper heater clamps, the binding tape is overlapped by an upper side of the stitch portion of the sheet bundle, wherein the notch-forming unit and the binding unit are provided on a sheet conveyance path of the binding apparatus, the binder tape is welded to an upper surface of the stitch portion of the sheet bundle using the heater by upwardly moving the sheet bundle to make the binding tape abut a lower surface of the heater, the heater shifting unit is controlled such that the heater is moved to a side face of the stitch portion of the sheet bundle in a straight line from the forward movement position to the backward movement position and in a straight line from the backward movement position to the forward movement position to weld the binding tape to a lower surface of the stitch portion of the sheet bundle, the sheet bundle shifting unit is controlled such that the sheet bundle is lifted, while being clamped, to weld the binding tape to a side face of the stitch portion of the sheet bundle using the heater and the sheet bundle is lifted to locate a lower portion of the side face of the stitch portion at an upper portion of the heater.