Patent ID: 7146113

Claim:
An image forming apparatus to which a sheet discharge device can be detachably mounted, said apparatus comprising: an image formation unit for forming images on a recording medium; a first transporting path for discharging a recording medium from said image formation unit to said sheet discharge device; a second transporting path for reversing the transportation direction of said recording medium so as to be discharged to said sheet discharge device, said second transporting path being longer than said first transporting path for discharging a recording medium from said image formation unit to said sheet discharge device; a transporting path switching unit for switching between transporting said recording medium to said first transporting path or said second transporting path; a setting unit for setting the discharge speed for discharging said recording medium from said first transporting path and said second transporting path to a recording sheet stacking unit, and also setting the reverse transportation speed for reversing said recording medium in said second transporting path; and a determining unit for determining whether or not said sheet discharge device has been connected to said image forming apparatus; wherein said setting unit sets said discharge speed to a first discharge speed which is slower than said reverse transportation speed in the event that determination is made by said determining unit that said sheet discharge device has not been connected to said image forming apparatus; and wherein said setting unit sets said discharge speed to a second discharge speed which is faster than said first discharge speed in the event that determination is made by said determining unit that said sheet discharge device has been connected to said image forming apparatus.