JP2003002514A - Automatic document feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic document-feeding device enabling to easily pick up documents on a delivery tray. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a document table 25 for setting the documents, a paper separating and feeding part 11 for feeding documents set on the document table 25 one by one, a document conveying part 90 for conveying and passing the fed documents toward an image reading position, and a paper delivery part 17 for delivering the document to the paper delivery tray 72 after reading. The paper delivery tray 72 is provided with a transferring fence 100 transferring the document delivered from the paper delivery part 17 toward edge side of the paper delivery tray 72 in the automatic document feeding device 1 positioned in a rear side of the document table 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile is provided with an automatic document feeder. In the automatic document feeder, a document table on which a document is set and a document discharge tray for receiving a document to be discharged are provided in two upper and lower stages, and the discharge tray is arranged below the document table. There is.

In such an automatic document feeder,
Since the paper output tray is located below the document table, when you take out a document that has been discharged to the paper output tray, place your hand in the slight gap between the document table and the paper output tray and take out the document. It is necessary to take the manuscript. In particular, when a small-sized document is used, it is still discharged inside the discharge tray, and it is very difficult to take it out, and the visibility of the document is poor.

For this reason, there is known a technique in which the original table is made transparent to improve the visibility and the original table can be opened and closed so that the original table is opened to take out the originals from the discharge tray.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned technique, the original table must be opened each time the paper is discharged, so that it takes a lot of time to take out the original discharged to the paper discharge tray.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeder that can easily take out a document on a discharge tray.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an original table on which originals are set, a paper feed section for feeding the originals set on the original table one by one, and the fed originals. The document feeder has a transport unit that transports and passes the document toward the image reading position, and a discharge unit that discharges the scanned documents to the discharge tray.The discharge tray is an automatic document feeder located on the back side of the document table. In the paper device, the output tray is
It is characterized in that it is provided with a moving means for moving the document discharged from the paper discharge section toward the edge side of the paper discharge tray.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the moving means moves (pushes) the document hidden under the document table toward the edge side of the discharge tray so that the document can be easily taken out. (For example, the original comes out between the original table and the discharge tray), the visibility of the original is good and the original in the discharge tray can be easily taken out. Further, since it is not necessary to open the document table one by one when taking out the document, the operability is good. The document discharge direction may be opposite to the document feed direction or may be a direction intersecting the document feed direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a drive means for automatically driving the moving means after all the set originals are discharged to the discharge tray is provided. Is characterized by.

According to the invention described in claim 2, claim 1
In addition to the same effect as the invention described in (3), after all the originals are discharged to the discharge tray, the moving means automatically directs the originals of the discharge tray to the edge side of the discharge tray by the driving means. Since it is moved, it does not take time to take out the original from the output tray.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, a document detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of a document on the discharge tray is provided, and the moving means directs the document to the edge side of the discharge tray. After the document is moved, the moving unit returns to the initial position when the document detecting unit detects that there is no document in the discharge tray.

According to the invention described in claim 3, claim 2
In addition to the same effect as the invention described in (1), when the document detecting unit detects that there is no document in the discharge tray, the moving unit automatically returns to the initial position, so that the document to be discharged next is It is possible to prevent the sheet from being pinched between the sheet discharge unit and the moving unit, and to reliably move the document to be discharged next in the sheet discharge direction.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, when the moving means has not returned to the initial position, the document feeding is prohibited and a warning is issued. .

According to the invention of claim 4, claim 3
In addition to the same effect as the invention described in (1), even if an attempt is made to start feeding the original document in the state where the moving means has not returned to the initial position due to forgetting to take the original document in the discharge tray, In addition to prohibiting, the warning message is displayed on the operation section or the buzzer is used to prevent a document from being forgotten. Can be prevented from being discharged.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claims 2 to 4.
In the invention described in any one of (1) to (5) above, there is provided a size detecting means for detecting the document size, and the moving means is driven only when the document size is smaller than a predetermined size.

In the invention described in claim 5, claim 2
When the original having a size larger than the predetermined size is used, the visibility is improved even if the original is not moved in the paper discharge direction by the moving means. In this case, the document moving operation is not performed by the moving means because the document is good and the document may be easily taken out. On the other hand, when an original smaller than a predetermined size is used, the movement of the original by the moving means is performed to improve the visibility and facilitate the taking out of the original.

Since the moving means moves only the originals smaller than the predetermined size (the originals that need to be moved) without performing the moving operation on the originals of all sizes, it is efficient and more than the predetermined size. It is possible to prevent a large document from being pushed out by the moving means and falling from the paper discharge tray.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 2 to 5.
In any one of the inventions described above, the moving distance of the moving means is variable according to the original size so that the end of the original moved by the moving means is located at the same position on the discharge tray regardless of the original size. It is characterized by

According to the invention described in claim 6, claim 2
The same effects as those of the invention described in any one of items 1 to 5 can be obtained, and any size of document can be taken out at the same position on the discharge tray, so that the document can be taken out more easily. .

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an automatic document feeder according to the present invention. The automatic document feeder 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile.

The automatic document feeder 1 includes a document setting unit 9 for setting a document stack P to be read, and a separating / feeding unit 11 for separating and feeding documents one by one from the set document stack P.
And a registration unit 13 for abutting and aligning the fed originals, pulling out and transporting the aligned originals, and a turn for rotating the originals to be conveyed so that the original surface is conveyed toward the reading side (downward). Section 14, a first reading / conveying section 15 for causing a document reading device (not shown) located below the reading glass 47 to read the front side image of the document, and a second side for reading the back side image of the document after reading. The reading / conveying unit 16 and the stack unit 1 for the originals whose front and back sides have been read
9 or a sheet discharging section 17 for feeding to the reversing section 18, a reversing section 18 for reversing for re-reading, a stacking section 19 for stacking and holding documents after completion of reading, and a driving section for driving these conveying operations. (Not shown) and a controller (not shown) for controlling a series of operations.
The registration unit 13, the turn unit 14, and the first and second reading and conveying units 15 and 16 form a document conveying unit 90.

The document setting section 9 is a stack of documents P to be read.
Document table 25 for setting the set and a set of set document P
The document stopper 26, side guides 27 that regulate the width direction of the document stack P from both sides, and a document set sensor 29 having a document set filler 28.

The document table 25 is constructed so as to be able to be rotated and retracted upward about a rotation fulcrum (not shown) to improve the take-out property of the discharged document. Also, the document stopper 26
Is moved to an abutting position (a position indicated by a broken line in the drawing) where the leading end of the document stack P abuts and a retracted position (a position indicated by a solid line in the drawing) where the leading end of the document stack P abuts by a driving device (not shown) such as a solenoid. It is free to move. Further, on the table surface of the document table 25, document length detection sensors 30 and 31 for detecting the length of the document in the conveyance direction are provided.

In this embodiment, reflection type sensors are used as the document length detecting sensors 30 and 31, but
The present invention is not limited to this, and for example, an actuator type sensor that can detect even one original may be used. It is desirable that the document length sensors 30 and 31 are arranged so that it can be determined at least whether the document size is the same or vertical.

The separating / feeding section 11 faces the pickup roller 32 for feeding the original on the original table 25, the feeding belt 34 stretched around the belt pulleys 35 and 36 with a predetermined tension, and the feeding belt 34. And a separation roller 37 provided at a position where
Are in pressure contact with each other so as to be wound around the peripheral surface of the separation roller 37.

The pickup roller 32 is moved from a retracted position shown by a broken line in the drawing to a calling position shown by a solid line by a drive unit (not shown), and presses the document stack P with a predetermined force. The contact surface of the document table 25 with respect to the pickup roller 32 is formed with a recessed roller escape so that the pickup roller 32 does not directly strike the document table 25. As a result, the drop impact noise of the pickup roller 32 is reduced even when the pickup roller 32 has a large drop height and the cushioning effect of the document bundle P is small, such as when the number of documents in the document bundle P is small. can do.

The separation roller 37 is friction-driven via a torque limiter (not shown) having a predetermined amount of torque, and is brought into pressure contact with the paper feed belt 34, or
In the state in which the original is pressed against one another, the paper feeding belt 3
4 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. Further, when two or more originals are overlapped with each other and enter between the paper feed belt 34 and the separation roller 37 (when the originals are double-fed), the rotating force is lower than the torque of the torque limiter. Is set so that the separation roller 37
Rotates in the clockwise direction, which is the original driving direction, and pushes back excess documents, thereby preventing double feeding of documents.

The registration unit 13 has an abutting sensor 38 for detecting the leading edge of the document from the separation / feed unit 11, a registration roller pair 39, and the size of the document conveyed toward the turn unit 14 by the registration roller pair 39. And a size detection sensor group 41 for detecting Note that the size detection sensor group 41 is arranged in the resist portion 13 because when the size detection sensor group 41 is arranged in the document table 25, only the document width in the document set state can be detected, and therefore documents having different widths can be detected. This is because the document size cannot be detected when the documents are mixed.

The turn section 14 includes a reading and conveying roller 42.
A pressure detection roller 43, 46, a leading edge detection sensor 44 disposed upstream of the nip between the reading conveyance roller 42 and the pressure roller 43, and a registration sensor 33 disposed upstream of the reading glass 47. The intermediate transfer pressure roller 50 is arranged.

The first reading / conveying unit 15 has a reading glass 47 such as a contact glass, a white background plate 48 arranged on the upper surface of the reading glass 47 at a predetermined interval, and a reading entrance guide 49. The document from the turn section 14 is guided by the reading entrance guide 49 and passes between the reading glass 47 and the white background plate 48. The image on the surface of the document that has passed through the reading glass 47 is read by a document reading device (not shown) of the image forming apparatus below the automatic document feeding device, and electrically read through a CCD (charge coupled device) of the document reading device. It is converted and stored in a memory device (not shown).

In the present embodiment, in order to make the conveyance gap as narrow as possible and minimize the degree of freedom of the original,
A flexible guide member 49a is projected from the inner surface of the reading entrance guide 49 toward the white background plate 51 to fill the conveyance gap. The guide member 49a extends to the vicinity of the reading point, and the guide member 4a
The leading edge of the document guided by 9a wipes the reading point of the reading glass 48 (the action of scraping the foreign matter on the glass surface with the leading edge of the document).

The surface of the reading glass 47 is treated with a surface-active agent (silicon-based surface-active agent or the like) so that ink or the like does not easily adhere or adhere to the surface of the white background plate 4.
8 is 0.5 mm ± 0.2 mm on the reading glass 47
By having a certain gap and pressing the original with a predetermined elasticity, the error in the reading depth direction is reduced.

The second reading / conveying unit 16 is a contact image sensor 5 for reading the back surface of the original from the first reading / conveying unit 16.
1 and a pressing member 52 arranged below the contact image sensor 51 on the reading surface of the contact image sensor 51 with a predetermined pressure and a predetermined interval. The contact image sensor 51 reads the image on the back side of the document, electrically converts the image, and then stores the image in a memory device (not shown). The pressing member 52 serves as a shading reference, and has the same operation as the white background plate 48 described above. Further, in the present embodiment, the pressing member 52 is composed of a plate-shaped member, but it may be composed of a rotating body such as a roller.

The paper discharge unit 17 is provided with a paper discharge sensor 61, a paper discharge drive roller 62, and a paper discharge pressure roller 63, and discharges the original from the second reading and conveying unit 15 with the paper discharge drive roller 62. The sheet is discharged to a sheet stack unit 19 described later by.

The reversing unit 18 has a reversing switching claw 64 driven by a reversing switching solenoid (not shown), reversing sheet discharging rollers 65, 66 driven by a reversing motor (not shown), and a reversing sheet discharging roller abutting the sheet discharging driving roller 62. 67, an inversion sensor 68, and an inversion path 69 are arranged.

Now, the operation of the automatic document feeder 1 when processing a bundle of documents P of the same size will be described. Document stack P
The original bundle P is set on the original table 25 with the tip of the original abutting against the original stopper 26, and the width direction of the original bundle P is regulated by the side guides 27. Perform positioning. In this state, the document set filler 28 is displaced from the broken line position to the solid line position, and accordingly, the light blocking of the document set detection sensor 29 is released, and the document set is detected. Further, the document length detection sensors 30 and 31 of the document table 25 detect the length of the document in the conveyance direction.

After setting the original on the original table 25,
When the document stopper 26 retreats to the solid line position and opens the leading edge of the document in response to an operation start signal (instruction signal input from an operation unit (not shown)), the pickup roller 32 moves from the broken line position to the solid line position and the document stack P Pressure contact.

After the pickup roller 20 press-contacts the original stack P, a drive source (not shown) for driving the separating / feeding portion 11 and the registration portion 13 is activated after a predetermined time, and the pickup roller 20 is moved clockwise in the drawing. The uppermost sheet of the document stack P is rotated and fed toward the space between the paper feed belt 34 and the separation roller 37. In this embodiment, the stepping motor is used as the drive unit, but the drive unit is not limited to this, and a solenoid may be used, for example.

The original separated into one sheet by the action of the paper feed belt 34 and the separation roller 37 is further fed by the paper feed belt 34, and is moved by the abutment sensor 38 while advancing in the paper feed path 40. The leading edge is detected, and further advances and strikes the stopped registration roller pair 39. After that, the document is fed by a predetermined distance from the detection of the abutment sensor 38, and as a result, the driving of the sheet feeding belt 34 is stopped in a state of being pressed against the registration roller pair 39 with a predetermined amount of bending. At this time, the leading edge of the document enters the nip of the registration roller pair 39, and the leading edge is aligned (skew correction).
Is done.

The document abutting against the registration roller pair 39 is conveyed toward the turn section 14 by driving the registration roller pair 39. Here, in order to regain the time stopped by the document abutting operation, the document conveyance speed is switched to a high speed and the document is fed to the leading edge detection sensor 44 in this high speed state, and the leading edge detection sensor 44 detects the reading speed (reading conveyance roller). 42
Deceleration). By performing this operation between the sheets of continuous originals, it is possible to maintain a predetermined original interval.

The width of the leading edge of the original that has passed the registration roller pair 39 is detected by the size detection sensor group 41 in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. An accurate document size is detected by a combination of this width signal and the length signal obtained by the document length detection sensor 30 (or the document length detection sensor 31).

The original decelerated to the reading speed is sent to the nip between the reading / conveying roller 42 and the pressure roller 43, stopped by the detection of the registration sensor 33, and waits for the input of the image alignment signal on the image forming side. Then, by starting to convey the original again by inputting the image alignment signal on the image forming side, the original is fed to the first reading conveying unit 15 by the reading conveying roller 42 and the pressure roller 46.

The document from the turn section 14 is guided by the guide member 49a of the reading entrance guide 49, advances while the image on the surface thereof is being read by the reading device, and is sent to the intermediate conveyance pressure roller 50 via the pickup guide 78. Be done. Pressure roller 46 and intermediate conveyance pressure roller 5
Since 0 is a common drive by the reading / conveying roller 42, the feeding speed and the drawing speed of the original document are the same, so that it is possible to reduce the occurrence of a shock during the delivery of the original document. First by the intermediate conveyance pressure roller 50
The original sent from the reading / conveying unit 15 is sent to the second reading / conveying unit 16 for reading the back surface of the original.

The original fed from the first reading / conveying unit 15 passes between the contact image sensor 51 and the pressing member 52, so that the image on the back side thereof is read. Then, the document is discharged to the stack section 19 by the discharge driving roller 62 and the discharge pressure roller 63.

On the other hand, the operation of the automatic document feeder 1 when documents of different sizes are placed on the document table 25 will be described. In such a case, since the document length sensors 30 and 31 on the document table 25 cannot discriminate because the document lengths are mixed, the document trailing edge is separated after the document is separated into one sheet. The size can be determined only when the bundle P is separated and the bundle P becomes completely independent. As described above, when the sizes are mixed, the document size cannot be determined before the start of reading. Therefore, in the present embodiment, reading is not performed at all in the first conveyance, and the sheet is passed only for reading the size and the reversing unit is used. 2 through 18
The front and back sides are read at the same time during the second reading pass.

On the other hand, when it is desired to determine the document size before reading, at least the maximum document length is from the first document trailing edge detection position after separating the document path configuration to the registration sensor 45 position before reading. It is conceivable to set the length to 1/2 or more of the length. However, with such a configuration, it is necessary to move the document setting position largely away from the reading position, and the part including the document table 25 and the conveyance path becomes large, and the apparatus The whole becomes wide.

The operation of the automatic document feeder 1 from the time when the document set on the document table 25 is fed to the time when it reaches the paper discharge unit 17 is the same except that the image of the document is not read. This is the same as when the original stack P of size is used. The document passes through the second reading / conveying unit 16 and passes through the paper discharge unit 1.
When the sheet is discharged by 7, the reversal switching claw 64 is moved in the direction of the broken line by the operation of a solenoid (not shown) before the leading edge of the original comes out between the sheet discharge drive roller 62 and the sheet discharge pressure roller 63, and the sheet is discharged. It is sent toward the reverse path 83 side.

The original is reversed by the discharge rollers 65 and 66, and the trailing end is the discharge driving roller 62 and the discharge pressure roller 6.
It will be sent until it passes through 3. In this control, after the paper discharge sensor 61 detects the original, pulse counting to the motors that drive the paper discharge drive roller 62 and the reverse paper discharge rollers 65 and 66 is started, and the pulse count becomes a predetermined value. By driving the motor up to.

After the document is stopped, the reversal switching claw 64 moves in the direction of the solid line, and the rear end of the document is directed toward the nip direction between the paper discharge drive roller 65 and the reverse paper discharge roller 67. The reverse discharge rollers 65 and 66 are driven to rotate counterclockwise in the drawing in the reverse direction, and the leading end (the rear end when viewed from the initial state) of the original is placed in the nip between the stopped discharge drive roller 62 and the reverse discharge roller 67. Butt,
After the skew alignment of the original document, the sheet discharge drive roller 71 and the reverse sheet discharge roller 67 send the document toward between the reading and conveying roller 42 and the pressure roller 43.

Then, the original again passes through the turn portion 14,
By being sent to the first reading / conveying unit 15 and the second reading / conveying unit 16, the front surface and the back surface of the document are read. At this time, since the original is in the state in which the back surface and the front surface are reversed, the reading order is such that the back surface is read first and the front surface is read later. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the page order exchange process on the image forming apparatus side. There is.

After the reading is completed, the original is reversed by the reversing unit 18 to return the page order to the initial state and then discharged. In the present embodiment, the original table 2
When the document is conveyed from 5 to the paper discharge unit 17 and when the read document is reversed again, the document is conveyed at the maximum conveyance speed of the automatic document feeder 1 because the conveyance operation does not involve image reading. They are transported, and the loss time is reduced.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing the paper discharge stack portion of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the paper discharge stack portion of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the discharge stack unit 19 is located below the document table 25 (on the back side).
A paper discharge tray 72 arranged, a moving fence (moving means) 100 for moving the document discharged from the paper discharge unit 17 in the paper discharging direction (arrow direction), and a drive for moving the moving fence 100 in the paper discharging direction. And a unit 130. Incidentally, FIG.
In the paper discharge tray 72, the moving fence 100
Only the drive unit 130 is omitted.

The paper discharge tray 72 has an end fence 72a formed downward from the nip between the paper discharge drive roller 62 and the paper discharge pressure roller 63, and the paper discharge drive roller 6
2 and a receiving portion 72b for receiving a document discharged by the discharge pressure roller 63. It should be noted that although the position at which the document is discharged varies depending on the document conveying force and speed of the discharge driving roller 62 and the discharge pressure roller 63, in the present embodiment, the discharge document is discharged so as not to scatter. The rear end of the discharged original is set near the end fence 72a of the paper tray 72.

The receiving portion 72b of the paper discharge tray 72 is
It is inclined upward from the end fence portion 72a in the paper discharge direction. Since the receiving portion 72b is inclined upward in the sheet discharging direction, the document discharged onto the receiving portion 72b moves in the direction of the end fence 72a by its own weight. Can be easily aligned by the end fence portion 72a.

As shown in FIG. 3, the moving fence 100 has a substantially L shape. The edge of the discharged document rides on the bottom surface portion 100b of the moving fence 100, and the fence portion 100a of the moving fence 100 pushes out the document in the sheet discharging direction (the edge side of the sheet discharging tray 72). ing. The moving fence 100 is arranged near the center of the rear end of the original P1 (see FIG. 2) to be moved among the originals stacked on the original table 25.

The position of the movable fence 100 can be changed appropriately according to the size of the document to be moved.
For example, in FIG. 2, the back side reference in which the rear end of the document is located on the back side of the discharge tray 72 (the side of the end fence 72a) is shown, but the rear end of the document is the center of the discharge tray 72. In the case of the central reference located in the section, the position of the moving fence 100 is also the central part of the paper discharge tray 72.

The bottom surface 100b of the moving fence 100 has a length of 50 mm and a width of 80 mm to 100 mm, and the moving fence 100 has a height of 30 mm (about 100 sheets of documents can be stacked). The moving fence 10
The size of 0 is not limited to the above-mentioned size, and the specifications of the automatic document feeder 1 such as the size of the document stacked on the document table 25, the number of sheets that can be stacked in the discharge tray 72, and the space of the discharge tray 72. It can be changed as appropriate.

Further, when the moving fence 100 is at the home position (the position of the moving fence 100 at the time of document discharge), the fence portion 100a of the moving fence 100 enters the end fence portion 72a of the discharge tray 72 (overlap). Therefore, the trailing end of the discharged document is prevented from being caught by the fence part 100a, and the stacking property of the discharged sheets is improved.

The moving fence 100 includes a drive unit 130.
It can be moved in the left and right directions in the figure. The drive unit 130 is provided on the back surface side of the paper discharge tray 72, and includes a fence rack 102, a first spur gear 106 that meshes with the fence rack 102, and a second gear 107 that meshes with the first gear 106. And a knob rack 105 that meshes with the second gear and a knob 103. In the present embodiment, spur gears are used as the first and second gears 106 and 107, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The fence rack 102 is provided with a fence arm 101, and the moving fence 100 and the fence rack 102 are connected by the fence arm 101. Also, the pick 103 and the pick rack 105
And are connected by a picking arm 104.

When the automatic document feeder 1 is driven, the read document P1 is sequentially discharged onto the discharge tray 72 by the discharge drive roller 62 and the discharge pressure roller 63. As shown in FIG. 2, the rear end portion of the document P1 discharged onto the discharge tray 72 has a bottom portion 1 of the moving fence 100.
Get on 00b. Then, after all the originals stacked on the original table 25 are discharged to the discharge tray 72, FIG.
Also, as shown in FIG. 3, holding the knob 103, the knob 103 is moved in the paper discharge direction.

By moving the knob 103 in the paper discharge direction, the knob rack 105, the first and second gears 105, 1
Due to the action of 07 and the fence rack 101, the moving fence 100 moves from the position of the solid line to the position of the chain double-dashed line, and pushes out the document in the paper discharge direction. Moving fence 100
However, by moving the original hidden under the original table 25 toward the paper discharge direction, the original is moved to the original table 2.
Since it comes out from between the sheet ejection tray 5 and the paper ejection tray 72, the original in the paper ejection tray 72 can be easily taken out and the original visibility is good. Further, since it is not necessary to open the document table 25 one by one when taking out a document, operability is good.

Next, another embodiment will be described. In the description, the same parts as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the image of the original is read only by the first reading and conveying section 15 without using the contact image sensor 51.
That is, even if the contact image sensor 51 is not provided, double-sided image processing can be performed using the reversing unit 18. Since the contact image sensor 51 is expensive, it is considered that many automatic document feeders without the contact image sensor 51 are used.

Automatic document feeder 1 according to the second embodiment
The operation of will be described. The document whose front surface has been completely read by the reading operation of the first reading / conveying unit 16 is conveyed again to the first reading unit 16 through the reversing unit 18, and the back surface is read. After that, the sheet is ejected to the sheet ejection tray 72 through the page-reversing operation.

Further, in the automatic document feeder having the structure without the second reading / conveying unit 16, the productivity is lowered when a double-sided copy is obtained from a double-sided document. The paper feed, image reading, and original reversal paper ejection are alternately combined to reduce paper loss.

That is, the first original is fed, the first reading / conveying unit 16 reads the front surface image of the first original, and sends it to the reversing unit 18. After the abutting alignment with the pressure roller 63, it is sent again to the first reading conveyance unit 16, the back side image is read and sent to the reversing unit 18. At this time, at the same time as the operation of feeding the second original document to the reversing unit 18, the reverse sheet ejection operation of the first original document is executed. Further, subsequently to this, the back side image reading of the second document is executed. After that, the second document is sent to the reversing unit 18, the front side image of the third document is read, and the second document is reversed and discharged.

As described above, by performing the process by inserting the reverse sheet discharging operation of the document which has already been read between the reading of the front side and the reading of the rear side of the original, the reverse sheet discharging operation without the reading is performed. The time between sheets can be minimized. Note that this processing is possible only for a document having a length that can be accommodated between the reverse sheet discharge rollers 65 and 66 and the registration sensor 33.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing the sheet discharge stack section according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the sheet discharge stack section of FIG. In the third embodiment, FIG.
And, as shown in FIG. 5, the fence motor (driving means) 1
Drive gear 111 provided on the motor shaft 110a
And the first gear 106 are engaged with each other, and the fence motor 11
It is different from the first embodiment that the moving fence 100 is moved left and right in the figure by driving 0. The fence motor 110 is a stepping motor in the present embodiment, and is configured to rotate in the forward and reverse directions according to a predetermined pulse from the controller. When moving to the left (paper feeding direction) and rotating in the reverse direction, the moving fence 100
Is moved in the paper discharge direction (arrow direction).

In the third embodiment, when the discharge sensor 61 detects the last document among the documents stacked on the document table 25, the controller gives a predetermined pulse to the fence motor 110, and the fence motor 110 corresponds to the pulse. By driving (the fence motor 110 rotates in the reverse direction), the moving fence 100 moves in the paper discharge direction together with the document P1.

Further, in this embodiment, the fence motor 110 is controlled by the controller according to the detected length of the document.
The number of pulses given to is changed. That is, the moving distance of the moving fence 100 is changed according to the detected length of the original. When the original is long, the moving distance of the moving fence 100 is increased, and when the original is short, the moving fence 100 is changed. Has reduced the distance traveled.

When all the documents are discharged to the discharge tray 72, the moving fence 100 automatically moves the documents in the discharge tray 72 in the discharge direction, so that the documents in the discharge tray 72 can be taken out more easily. Become.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing the sheet discharge stack section according to the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the sheet discharge stack section shown in FIG. In the fourth embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.
An original sensor (original detection means) 120 for detecting the presence / absence of an original in the paper discharge tray 72 is fixed to the back surface of 00b, and a sensor filler 121 is attached to the fence rack 102.
The home position sensor 12 is provided on the back side of the paper ejection tray 72.
2 is different from the second embodiment.

As the document sensor 120, a reflection type sensor or an actuator type sensor capable of detecting even one document can be used. The home position sensor 122 is arranged at a position where the sensor filler 121 shields the home position sensor 122 when the moving fence 100 reaches the home position.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of the automatic document feeder of the fourth embodiment. When the series of operations (jobs) for feeding and discharging the document by the automatic document feeder 1 is completed (step S1), the fence motor 1
The counter 10 reversely rotates by a predetermined pulse from the controller (the moving fence 100 moves by a predetermined distance) and stops (steps S2 and S3). At this time, the first
Due to the relationship between the gear 106 and the fence rack 102, the moving fence 100 moves in the paper discharge direction from the position indicated by the solid line,
By moving to the position of the chain double-dashed line, the moving fence 10
The original P1 stacked at 0 is also pulled out.

After the movement of the moving fence 100 is stopped,
When the document P1 is on the moving fence 100, the document sensor 120 detects the document P1 (step S4), so the moving fence 100 continues to stop at the same position. When the user takes out the original P1, the original sensor 120 detects the absence of the original (step S4), and the fence motor 110 starts forward rotation (step S5). As a result, the moving fence 100
Starts moving from the position of the chain double-dashed line to the left in the figure (home position direction shown by the solid line).

When the sensor filler 121 fixed to the fence rack 102 shields the home position sensor 122 (step S6), the fence motor 110 is stopped (step S7), and the moving fence 10 is moved.
0 returns to the home position shown by the solid line.

When the document P1 on the discharge tray 72 is taken out, the moving fence 100 automatically returns to the home position, thereby preventing the moving fence 100 from remaining at the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in the figure. Therefore, the next document can be prevented from being caught between the fence portion 100a of the moving fence 100 and the end fence 72a, and thus the document to be discharged next can be reliably moved in the paper discharge direction.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the fifth embodiment. Fifth
The configuration of the automatic document feeder 1 of the embodiment is the same as that of the fourth embodiment, and only the operation is different. This operation will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

When the user sets the document stack P on the document table 25 and presses a job start button (not shown) (step S10), the home position sensor 122 detects the sensor filler 121, and the sensor filler 12 is detected.
When 1 is detected (step S11), a series of jobs from original document feeding to paper ejection is performed as it is (step S1).
2).

When the home position sensor 122 does not detect the sensor filler 121 (step S1)
1) Assuming that the original document of the previous job remains, detection is performed by the original sensor 120, and when the original sensor 120 detects the original (step S13), an original presence signal is transmitted to the controller to operate the operation panel. A warning is issued by displaying a message to the effect that the original will be removed (step S14). This continues until the document on the discharge tray 72 is removed, that is, until the document sensor 120 detects that there is no document.

On the other hand, when the document sensor 120 detects the absence of a document, the fence motor 110 starts the normal rotation (step S15), returns the moving fence 100 to the home position, and the home position sensor 122 detects the detection filler 121 ( In step S16), the fence motor 110 is stopped, and a series of jobs from document feeding to paper ejection is performed (step S12).

Due to forgetting to remove the original from the discharge tray 72,
Even if an attempt is made to start feeding a document in a state where the moving fence 100 has not returned to the home position, the fact that the document is to be removed is notified without feeding the document, so that forgetting to remove the document can be prevented. With the moving fence 10
It is possible to prevent the document from being discharged to the discharge tray 72 in the state where 0 is not returned.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the discharged paper stock section according to the sixth embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the sixth embodiment. In FIG. 10, the receiving portion 72b of the discharge tray 72 is shown.
Various document sizes (vertical size and lateral size of A3 to B6) that can discharge the paper (the automatic document feeder 1 can pass) are illustrated.

In the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a document size sensor (size detection sensor) 131 is attached to the back side of the receiving portion 72b of the paper discharge tray 72 in the fourth embodiment. Different from

The document size sensor 131 includes a detection unit 131.
The original size is detected through a detection hole (not shown) formed in the receiving portion 72b, which is attached to the receiving portion 72b with a facing up. In this embodiment, a reflection type sensor is used as the document size sensor 131, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an actuator type sensor capable of detecting even one document may be used.

In the present embodiment, the document size sensor 13
No. 1 is arranged at a position where a document of A4 horizontal size or smaller can be detected when the moving fence 100 pushes out the document. The arrangement position of the document size sensor 131 is not limited to the above-mentioned place, and the moving fence 10
A value of 0 can be appropriately changed according to the size of the document to be pushed out.

After completion of a series of jobs from document feeding to document ejection (step S20), the document size sensor 131 detects the presence or absence of a document, and if a document is detected (step S20).
22) In other words, when a document larger than the A4 horizontal size is detected, the fence motor 110 does not operate and ends as it is (step S23). That is, A3 and B4
For example, when a large-sized document larger than the A4 width is used, the visibility is good and the document can be easily taken out without moving the document in the paper discharge direction by the moving fence 110. The document moving operation by the moving fence 100 is not performed.

On the other hand, when the document size sensor 131 detects that there is no document, the fence motor 110 reversely drives only a predetermined pulse to push the moving fence 110 to a predetermined position (step S22). After that, the same operation as that in and after step S3 shown in FIG. 8 is performed. That is, A
When a small-sized original smaller than 4 landscape is used, the moving operation of the original is performed by the moving means.
The visibility is improved and the original is easily taken out.

In the sixth embodiment, the moving fence 100 is used.
Is efficient, since it does not move the originals of all sizes and moves only the originals (the originals that need to be moved) smaller than a predetermined size (A4 horizontal size in this embodiment). It is possible to prevent a document larger than a predetermined size from being moved by the moving fence 100 and falling from the paper discharge tray 72.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the seventh embodiment. In the sixth embodiment, the controller includes a moving distance of the moving fence 100 according to the length of the document (document size data).
Has been entered in advance. That is, the number of pulses of the fence motor 110 for each document size is preset by the amount of movement of the moving fence 100 and the gear ratio of the drive gear 110a of the first gear 106 and the fence motor 110, so that the moving fence 100 pushes it out. Make sure the originals are in the same position. Other than that, the configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment, and only the operation is different. This operation will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

After a series of jobs from the document feeding to the sheet discharging (step S30), the moving distance of the moving fence 100 is determined by the document size signals from the document length sensors 30 and 31 of the document table 25 and the document size data. , That is,
The number of pulses applied to the fence motor 110 is determined (steps S31 and S32). Then, the fence motor 110 is operated by the applied pulse (step S33), and the same operation as that of step S3 and thereafter shown in FIG. 8 is performed.

As described above, the moving distance of the moving fence 100 is set according to the document size so that the document pushed out by the moving fence 100 is located at the same position. Since the documents can be taken out at the same position, it becomes easier to take out the document.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the original document ejection direction of the automatic document feeder 1 is opposite to the original document feed direction, the original document ejection direction may be orthogonal to the paper feed direction. The paper direction is not particularly limited.

In the fourth embodiment, the warning is issued by displaying the fact that the document is removed on the operation panel, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the warning may be given by a sound such as a buzzer, for example.

In the fifth embodiment, the moving fence 1
The reference of whether or not to move 00 is the detection of the document size sensor 131 provided on the paper discharge tray 72, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, the document length detection sensors 30 and 31 of the document table 25 are used. The length of the original detected by the sensor may be used as the reference, or a sensor for detecting the length of the original may be separately provided in the conveyance path of the original, and the length of the original detected by this sensor may be used as the reference.

In the sixth embodiment, the document size sensor 131 of the fifth embodiment may be separately provided, and the moving amount of the moving fence 100 may be determined according to the document size by the document size sensor 131.

[0098]

According to the first aspect of the invention, since the moving means moves the document hidden on the back side of the document table toward the edge side of the paper discharge tray, the visibility of the document is good and the paper is discharged. You can easily take out the documents on the tray,
Moreover, since it is not necessary to open the document table one by one when the document is taken out, the operability is good.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the present invention can be obtained, and after all the originals have been discharged to the discharge tray, the moving means automatically discharges the discharge tray. Since the original document is moved toward the edge of the output tray, it does not take time to remove the original from the output tray.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the same effect as that of the second aspect of the invention can be obtained, and when the document detecting means detects the absence of the document in the discharge tray, the moving means automatically moves to the initial position. As a result, the original to be ejected next can be prevented from being caught between the ejection unit and the moving means, and the original can be reliably moved in the ejection direction.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 3 is obtained, and even if an attempt is made to start feeding the document even when the moving means is not returned to the initial position, Since the paper feeding is prohibited and a warning is issued, it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to take out the original document, and also to prevent the original document from being ejected to the paper ejection tray when the moving means has not returned.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the same effect as the invention described in any one of claims 2 to 4 is obtained, and the moving means does not perform the moving operation for the originals of all sizes, Since only the document smaller than the predetermined size is moved, it is efficient and it is possible to prevent the document larger than the predetermined size from being pushed out by the moving means and dropping from the paper discharge tray.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the same effect as the invention described in any one of claims 2 to 5 can be obtained, and no matter what size the document is, the same position on the discharge tray is used. Since it can be taken out with, it becomes easier to take out the original.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a paper discharge stack portion of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the paper discharge stack unit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing a sheet discharge stack section according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the paper discharge stack unit of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing a sheet discharge stack section according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the paper discharge stack unit of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the automatic document feeder according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a discharged paper stock portion according to a sixth embodiment,

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the automatic document feeder according to the seventh embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic document feeder 11 Separation paper feed unit (paper feed unit) 17 Paper output section 25 manuscript table 72 Output tray 90 Document feeder 100 moving fences (transportation means) 110 Fence motor (driving means) 120 Document Sensor (Document Detection Unit) 131 Original size sensor (size detection means)

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H076 BA24 BA33 BA35 BA36 BA39                       BA65 BB02                 3F054 AA02 AC02 AC03 AC05 BA04                       BE02 BG04 BH05 BH08 BH14                       CA10 CA32 CA37                 5B047 AA01 BA01 BB02 BC18 CA09                 5C062 AA05 AB17 AB32 AB35 AC66                 5C072 AA01 EA05 NA01 RA02 RA04                       XA01 XA04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An original table on which originals are set, a paper feed unit for feeding the originals set on the original table one by one, and a conveyance for conveying and passing the fed originals toward an image reading position. Section and an output section that outputs the scanned originals to the output tray.The output tray is located on the back side of the original table. An automatic document feeder, comprising: a moving unit that moves a discharged document toward an edge of a discharge tray. 2. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, further comprising drive means for automatically driving the moving means after all the set originals are discharged to the discharge tray. 3. A document detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a document on the discharge tray is provided, and after the moving means moves the document toward the edge side of the discharge tray, the document detecting means detects that there is no document on the discharge tray. 3. The automatic document feeder according to claim 2, wherein the moving means returns to the initial position when detected. 4. The automatic document feeder according to claim 3, wherein the document feeding is prohibited and a warning is issued when the moving means is not returned to the initial position. 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising size detecting means for detecting a document size, wherein the moving means is driven only when the document size is smaller than a predetermined size. Automatic document feeder. 6. The moving distance of the moving means is variable according to the original size so that the end of the original moved by the moving means is located at the same position on the discharge tray regardless of the original size. The automatic document feeder according to any one of claims 2 to 5.