Patent ID: 7396008

Claim:
A stapling device comprising: a stapler unit that travels over a path including a staple discarding position and a plurality of stapling positions, the stapler unit including: a staple section that performs stapling operation for binding a plurality of stacked sheets with a staple; a cutter section that cuts tip ends of the staple to be used for binding the sheets; and a receiving section that receives the tip ends cut by the cutter; the stapling device further comprising: a fullness detection sensor that detects whether or not the receiving section is fully filled with tip ends of staples; a stapler unit control section that controls the stapler unit to move to the staple discarding position when the fullness detection sensor detects that the receiving section is fully filled; a staple recovery box disposed at the staple discarding position and recovers the tip ends received by the receiving section; and a staple discarding mechanism that delivers the tip ends received in the receiving section of the stapler unit to the staple recovery box, wherein one of the plurality of stapling positions is identical with the staple discarding position.