Recording material processing apparatus and image forming system

1. A recording-material processing apparatus comprising:

a binding mechanism that moves along a predetermined movement path and binds a recording material stack;

a recording-material transport path along which the recording material is transported, the recording-material transport path extending from a first area to a second area, the first area and the second area being next to each other with the movement path therebetween, and extending beside the movement path;

a first transport member that is provided in the first area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material on the recording-material transport path to the second area;

a second transport member that is provided in the second area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material transported by the first transport member to the further downstream side;

a switching member that switches transportation destination to which the recording material transported in the recording-material processing apparatus is transported, the switching member being provided downstream of the first transport member and upstream of the second transport member in a recording-material transport direction beside the recording-material transport path, on the opposite side of the portion extending beside the movement path from the movement path; and

a guide member provided beside the recording-material transport path to guide the recording material transported along the recording-material transport path, the guide member comprising a hinge, which allows the guide member to move toward and away from the recording-material transport path.

2. The recording-material processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a recording-material-stack forming unit that collects one or more recording materials transported downstream by the second transport member to form a recording material stack;

a recording-material-stack transport unit that transports the recording material stack formed by the recording-material-stack forming unit along a predetermined path;

a perforation-processing unit that is provided in an extension of the predetermined path and perforates the recording material; and

a guide surface that guides a leading end of the recording material stack, which is transported by the recording-material-stack transport unit along the predetermined path, to the path extending beside the perforation-processing unit when the leading end reaches the perforation-processing unit.

3. The recording-material processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,

wherein the guide surface guides the leading end to the inside of the recording-material processing apparatus.

4. An image forming system comprising:

an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material;

a binding mechanism that moves along a predetermined movement path and binds recording materials having images formed thereon by the image forming apparatus;

a recording-material transport path along which the recording materials having images formed thereon by the image forming apparatus are transported, the recording-material transport path extending from a first area to a second area, the first and second areas being next to each other with the movement path therebetween, and extending beside the movement path;

a first transport member that is provided in the first area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material on the recording-material transport path to the second area; and

a second transport member that is provided in the second area, at a position away from the portion of the recording-material transport path extending beside the movement path, to transport the recording material transported by the first transport member to the further downstream side;

a switching member that switches transportation destination to which the recording material transported in the recording-material processing apparatus is transported, the switching member being provided downstream of the first transport member and upstream of the second transport member in a recording-material transport direction beside the recording-material transport path, on the opposite side of the portion extending beside the movement path from the movement path; and

a guide member provided beside the recording-material transport path to guide the recording material transported along the recording-material transport path, the guide member comprising a hinge, which allows the guide member to move toward and away from the recording-material transport path.