JP2003128320A - Automatically sheet material conveying device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatically sheet material conveying device capable of shortening an operating time in a both side mode. SOLUTION: The automatically sheet material conveying device is provided with a sheet loading base (paper feeding tray) for loading sheet material, a separating means disposed on the downstream side of the sheet loading base and for separating sheet material sheet by sheet, an image reading part (means) for reading the image information of the sheet material separated by a paper feeding means and the separating means, a discharging means disposed on the downstream side of the image reading part and for discharging a read sheet material, another paper delivery tray, different from the sheet loading base, for loading discharged sheet material. The plurality of discharging means are provided, and at least one of the discharging means is disposed on one end side of the discharging tray and at least one of the discharging means is disposed on the other end side of the discharging tray.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic sheet material conveying apparatus applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and an LBP, and an image forming apparatus including the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automatic sheet material conveying apparatus has been applied as an apparatus for automatically conveying a sheet material to an image reading section of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and a plurality of sheets placed on a sheet mounting table. Various devices have been proposed which have a function of separating sheets one by one by a separating unit and conveying them to an image reading unit of an image forming apparatus, and further, inverting the front and back of a sheet material.

Various methods have been proposed as a method for optically reading image information on a sheet material P (a sheet material to be read such as an original document) using this conventional sheet material conveying device.
There are roughly two methods. One is a method of placing a sheet material on a platen and reading the image information while moving the reading means, and the other is fixing the reading means to a predetermined position on the platen and feeding the sheet material to the image. It is a method of reading information.

In recent years, the latter method (hereinafter referred to as flow-reading) has been adopted because of the advantages of improved productivity (how much can be processed within a fixed time) and downsizing of the apparatus. For example, the automatic sheet material conveying device shown in FIG. 7 is a typical one, and its operation will be briefly described below.

First, the sheet feeding roller 502 abuts against a plurality of sheet materials P placed on the original placing table 501,
The sheet material P is delivered by the rotation of the paper feed roller 502, and the delivered sheet material P is separated by the separation / conveyance roller 50.
1 between 3 and the separation pad 504 pressed against it
The sheets are separated one by one and fed toward the reading position.

When the image information of the sheet material P is only one side, the image on one side is read by an image reading means (not shown) such as a scanner box at the lower part of the reading position, and the sheet is discharged through the paper discharge roller 505. Output tray 5
The paper is discharged onto the paper 06. When the image information of the sheet material P is on both sides, the image on one side is read by the above-described operation, and after the reading is completed, the sheet material is switched back by the discharge roller 505, and the switchback path 507 is set. Then, the image is conveyed again to the reading position and the images on both sides are read. After that, in order to adjust the page order after discharging, the sheet material P is switched back by the discharging roller 505, the sheet passes through the switchback path 507 and the reading position (means), and the reading is not performed. The sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 506 via the sheet discharge roller 505.

[0007]

However, in the configuration as in the above-mentioned conventional example, the operation (hereinafter, double-sided mode) time when image information exists on both sides of the sheet material P is the page of the sheet material to be discharged. There is a problem in that the number of reading positions must be increased three times, including a switchback for ordering (hereinafter referred to as “idle feeding”), which is a problem.

In order to solve the above problem, as shown in FIG. 8, two paper discharge rollers (means) are provided, and an idle feed for page ordering after paper discharge is performed near the paper discharge unit. Is proposed.

However, even in the above configuration, it seems that the reading position has to be passed only twice, and the operation time in the double-sided mode seems to be shortened, but in reality,
Since the sheet discharge portion is blocked by the preceding sheet material, the next sheet material must be stopped (standby) before the reading position, and the operation time is not shortened that much.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic sheet material conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of shortening the operation time in the double-sided mode. is there.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a sheet placing table (sheet feeding tray) on which a sheet material is placed, and a sheet material which is arranged on the downstream side of the sheet placing table. Separation means for separating the sheets one by one, an image reading section (means) for reading the image information of the sheet material separated by the sheet feeding means and the separation means, and a reading unit arranged downstream of the image reading section In an automatic sheet material transporting device comprising a discharging means for discharging a sheet material and a discharging tray different from the sheet mounting table for stacking the discharged sheet material, at least a plurality of discharging means are provided. One discharging means is arranged at one end side of the paper discharge tray, and at least one discharging means is arranged at the other end side.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An example of an image forming apparatus to which the automatic sheet material conveying device according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The ADF 80, which is the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention, has a sheet feeding tray 11 as a mounting table above, and the sheet material S on the sheet feeding tray 11 is a sheet feeding unit. The roller 1 sequentially feeds out the uppermost sheet material, and the sheets are separated one by one by a separation / conveyance roller 3 and a separation pad 4 which constitute separation means, and conveyed to a platen 18 which is an image reading position of the image forming apparatus main body. It Then, after the image reading is completed, the sheet material S is discharged onto the discharge tray 19 by the discharge rollers 16 or 26. The sheet materials S are sequentially output from the top in the order of 1 page (2 pages), 3 pages (4 pages), ...
It is ejected on top.

The main body of the copying machine as an image forming apparatus comprises an image input section 200 (hereinafter referred to as a reader section) and an image output section (hereinafter referred to as a printer section).

The reader unit 200 optically reads the image information recorded on the sheet material S to be read such as a document, photoelectrically converts it, and inputs it as image data. The platens 18 and 18 'and the lamp 202 are provided. , Mirror 20
A scanner unit 204 having three or the like, a mirror 205,
It has 206, a lens 207, an image sensor 208, and the like.

Next, the printer section 300 which is an image output section
Will be described.

Reference numeral 800 denotes an upper cassette, and the sheet material to be recorded such as the recording medium accommodated in the upper cassette 800 is separated and fed one by one by the action of the separating claw and the feeding roller 801, and the registration rollers 806 are provided. Be led to.

Reference numeral 802 denotes a lower cassette, and the recording medium sheet material in the lower cassette 802 is separated and fed one by one by the action of the separating claw and the feeding roller 803, and is guided to the registration roller 806. Reference numeral 804 denotes a manual feed guide, which guides the sheet material one by one to a registration roller 806 via a roller 805. Reference numeral 808 denotes a sheet material placing device (deck type), which includes an intermediate plate 808a that moves up and down by a motor or the like. The sheets are separated and fed one by one and guided to the conveyance roller 810.

Reference numeral 812 is a photosensitive drum, 813 is a reading optical system, 814 is a developing device, 815 is a transfer charging device, and 816 is a charging device.
Is a separation charger, and these constitute an image forming unit.

Reference numeral 817 is a conveyor belt for conveying the image-formed sheet material, 818 is a fixing device, 819 is a conveyance roller, and 820 is a flapper. The sheet material on which the image is formed is guided to the main body discharge roller 821 by the flapper 820 and discharged to the sheet processing apparatus 400 on the downstream side.

An image is formed on the photosensitive drum 812 according to the set number of copies for one sheet material (sheet material to be read such as an original) read on the platen, and the number of copies is made. Sheet material (sheet material to be recorded such as recording medium) for cassettes 800, 802, deck 8
No. 08, an image is fed every time an image is formed on the photoconductor drum 812. The registration roller 806 aligns the image on the photosensitive drum 812 with the sheet material to be recorded.
Done by

Reference numeral 900 denotes an intermediate tray, which is used to form an image once when an image is formed on both sides of a recording target sheet material or when an image is formed on one side of the recording target sheet material (multiplexing). The sheet material on which is formed is stocked.

Reference numeral 901 is a carrying roller, 902 is a carrying belt, 903 is a flapper, 904 is a carrying belt, and 905 is a carrying roller. In the case of double-sided copy, the sheet material is guided to the intermediate tray 900 through the path 906, and in the case of multiple copy, the sheet material is guided to the intermediate tray through the path indicated by the arrow 907.

The sheet material placed on the intermediate tray 900 includes auxiliary rollers 909 and 910 and a pair of forward / reverse separation rollers 9.
By the action of 11, the sheets are separated one by one from below and are re-fed. Then, the re-fed sheet material is guided to the image forming unit via the transport rollers 913, 914, 915 and 810, and the registration roller 806. After image formation,
It is discharged as described above.

For one sheet material (sheet material to be read such as a manuscript) read on the platen, the number of sheet materials (recording of recording medium etc.) is first set according to the set number of copies. A single-sided copy of the target sheet material) is made, and they are placed on the intermediate tray 900. After that, the inside and outside of the sheet material to be read is reversed in the ADF 80, and the sheet material is guided again to the reading unit (platen 18) to read the image information. Read image (image information)
Is formed on the sheet material to be recorded, which is re-fed from the intermediate tray 900.

The image-formed sheet material discharged from the main body of the copying machine is discharged to the sheet processing apparatus 400 (also called a finisher).

In the non-sort mode, the sheet material carried in from the main body of the copying machine is discharged onto the sample tray 405 by the discharge roller 404 via the buffer roller 401, flapper 402 and non-sort mode path 403. Placed. In the sort mode, the buffer roller 401, the flapper 406, and the sort mode path 407.
Through the sheet, the sheet is discharged onto the processing tray 409 serving as an intermediate tray by the discharging roller 408 and temporarily placed. The sheet material bundle on the processing tray 409 is aligned at both ends in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction by an aligning member (not shown), and if necessary, the rear end portion of the sheet material bundle has the stapler 41.
After binding processing by 0, the stack discharge rollers 411 discharge and stack the stack tray 412.

Next, the automatic sheet material conveying device (ADF80) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views and a top view of a separating portion in the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus, and FIGS. 6A is a diagram showing a flow of a sheet material having image information on one side in the automatic sheet material conveying device, and FIGS. 6A to 6G show a flow of a sheet material having image information on both sides in the automatic sheet material conveying device. It is a figure.

The automatic sheet material conveying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment conveys a sheet material having image information on one side and reads the image information in one side mode, and conveys a sheet material having image information on both sides. It has a double-sided mode for reading the image information. Hereinafter, each mode will be briefly described along the flow of the conveyed sheet material.

First, the flow of the sheet material in the single-sided mode will be described together with the schematic configuration of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic sheet material conveying device 1 has a sheet mounting table 2 as a stacking means, and stacks the sheet material on the surface of the sheet mounting table 2. In the sheet feeding section of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus 1, the picture paper roller 4 draws the sheet material bundle stacked on the sheet placing table 2 into the separating section, and the separating and conveying roller 5 as a feeding means constituting the separating section. And the friction separating pad 6 as a separating means separates the uppermost sheets of the sheet material bundle one by one to separate the first registration rollers 7a and 7b.
Carry to. The first registration rollers 7a and 7b are stopped when the leading edge of the sheet material arrives, and the separation / conveyance roller 5
After forming a loop by carrying the sheet to correct the skew feeding, the sheet is carried to the reading unit described later (see FIG. 6A).

In the reading section of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus 1, the sheet material conveyed from the paper feeding section is read by the lead roller 8, the second registration roller 9, the lead roller 10 and the lead roller 11 on the flow reading platen 51. Below the position 53, the scanner unit 20 which is an exposure device
4 (see FIG. 1) is fixed, and an exposure operation (reading operation) is performed (see FIG. 6B).

In the sheet discharge section of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus 1, the sheet discharge roller driven rollers 13b and 13c are separated from each other (not shown) while the exposure operation is performed at the reading position 53, so that the reading position is not shown. After the trailing edge of the sheet material passes and the reading is completed, the paper discharge roller 13b moves upward and nips with the paper discharge rollers 13a and 13b, and the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3 with the image surface facing downward. (Eject the back side). In the single-sided mode, the switching unit (not shown) guides the sheet to the sheet discharge path 15 and discharges the sheet to the sheet discharge tray 3 (see FIG. 6C).

In FIG. 2, S1 is a post-separation sensor for detecting the size of the sheet material depending on the presence or absence of the sheet material, and S2 is a sensor.
Reference numeral S3 is a registration sensor for measuring the timing for performing skew feeding of the sheet material, S3 is a lead sensor for detecting the leading edge of the sheet material and measuring the reading start timing, and S4.
Is a sheet discharge sensor for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet material to determine the timing of discharging the sheet, and S5 is a timing of detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet material for discharging the sheet, and switchback conveyance. A paper discharge sensor for timing.

Next, the flow of the sheet material in the double-sided mode will be briefly described.

First, the sheet material bundle stacked on the sheet mounting table 2 is separated one by one by the separating means and is conveyed to the reading section. In the reading unit, the sheet is conveyed between the flow reading platen 51 and the white plate 12 at a predetermined speed as in the single-sided mode. At this time, the scanner unit 204, which is an exposure device, is fixed below the reading position 53, and the exposure operation (reading operation) of the first surface is performed.
Is performed (see FIGS. 6A and 6B).

Then, the sheet is guided to the sheet discharge path 16 by a switching means (not shown), and after the rear end of the sheet material has passed the sheet discharge sensor S5, the sheet discharge roller 13 at a predetermined timing.
The second registration roller 9 of the reading unit, which nips the sheet material with a and 13c, and is located in the direction opposite to the sheet material discharge direction.
The sheet material is switched back to the other side and conveyed (similar to the above-described one-sided mode, the paper ejection driven roller 13c is separated upward (not shown) until the reading position 53 passes the rear end of the sheet material). The second registration roller 9 is stopped when the leading edge of the sheet material arrives, and the second discharge roller 13a,
A loop is formed by driving 13c, skew correction is performed for both sides, and the sheet is conveyed again to the reading unit (Fig. 6 (c),
(See (d)).

In the reading unit, the exposure operation (reading operation) of the back surface which is the second surface is performed in the same manner as the front surface which is the first surface, and thereafter, it is guided to the paper ejection path 16 by the switching means (not shown), 17 through the discharge roller 3
0a, 30b discharges the image on the discharge tray 3 with the image side down (similar to the above-described one-sided mode, the discharge driven roller 13c is used until the reading position 53 passes the rear end of the sheet material. Are separated upward (not shown) (see FIG. 6).
(See (e), (f), (g))).

Next, the structure of the separating portion in the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be briefly described.

On the separating shaft 21, the separating / conveying roller 5,
An oscillating arm 22 and a pulley 23, which are arm members, are coaxially supported, and the oscillating arm 22 is arranged on both sides of the separating and conveying roller 5. The pulley 23 is restricted from rotating with respect to the separation shaft 21 by a pin (not shown) and rotates together with the separation shaft 21. Further, the paper feed roller 4 and the other end of the swing arm 22 are pivotally supported by the paper feed shaft 24, and the timing belt 25 is transferred.

When the separating / conveying shaft 21 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow a in the figure by a drive motor (not shown), the paper feeding roller 5 moves through the separating / conveying shaft 21 in the sheet feeding direction (arrow a).
The paper feed roller 4 also rotates in the paper feed direction (direction of arrow c) via the timing belt 25.

Further, in order to feed out the sheet material on the sheet mounting table 2, the swing arm 22 is driven in the direction of the arrow b by a driving means using a well-known spring clutch (torque limiter). That is, the boss 2 is attached to a part of the swing arm 22.
2a is formed, and a torsion spring 26 that rewinds so as to tighten the boss 22a is provided, and the other end 26a of the torsion spring 26 is hooked in the groove 23a of the pulley 23 and its rotation is restricted. Therefore, when the separation / conveyance roller 21 rotates in the direction of arrow a, the pulley 23 rotates, and the swing arm 22 swings in the direction of arrow b via the torsion spring 26, so that the sheet feeding roller 4 is placed on the sheet mounting table 2. Abut the sheet material.

When the sheet feeding roller 4 comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet material on the sheet mounting table 2, the sheet feeding roller 4 is further pressed in the direction of the arrow b, but the outer diameter of the torsion spring 26 is slightly increased and the swing arm is moved. Tightening is weakened with respect to the boss 22a of 22 and the boss 22a and the torsion spring 2 slide (torque limiter).

This sliding force, that is, the force with which the sheet feeding roller 4 presses the sheet material is determined by the specifications of the torsion spring 26 and the tightening frictional force with the boss 22a. The parameters for feeding the sheet material include the pressing force of the sheet feeding roller 4, the moving speed in the arrow b direction where the sheet feeding roller 4 collides with the sheet material, and the conveying speed of the sheet feeding roller 4. If this feeding force is large, a plurality of sheet materials will be fed at once, and the plurality of sheet materials will enter the separation nip. The lower the moving speed and the transport speed of the paper feed roller 4, the smaller the above-mentioned feeding force.

This separating nip is formed by the separating / conveying roller 5 and the friction separating pad 6 which is brought into pressure contact with the roller 5, but when a plurality of sheet materials on the sheet mounting table 2 are picked up by the sheet feeding roller 4. Even if the fed sheet material is a plurality of sheets, the movement of the second and subsequent sheets is prevented by the action of the friction separating pad 6 in the separation nip, and the sheet materials are reliably separated and conveyed one by one. To do.

[0048]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a sheet placing table (sheet feeding tray) on which a sheet material is placed, and a sheet material arranged on the downstream side of the sheet placing table Separation means for separating the sheets one by one, an image reading section (means) for reading the image information of the sheet material separated by the sheet feeding means and the separation means, and a reading unit arranged downstream of the image reading section In an automatic sheet material transporting device comprising a discharging means for discharging a sheet material and a discharging tray different from the sheet mounting table for stacking the discharged sheet material, at least a plurality of discharging means are provided. Since one discharging means is arranged on one end side of the paper discharge tray and at least one discharging means is arranged on the other end side, the effect that the operation time in the double-sided mode can be shortened can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus including an automatic sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an automatic sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration around a sheet feeding unit of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a configuration around a sheet feeding unit of the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the behavior of the sheet material in the single-sided mode in the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the behavior of the sheet material in the double-sided mode in the automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional automatic sheet material conveying device.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional automatic sheet material conveying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

P sheet material S1 sensor after separation S2 registration sensor S3 lead sensor S4, S5 Paper ejection sensor 1 Sheet material automatic transfer device 2 sheet mounting table 3 Output tray 4 paper feed rollers 5 Separation and conveyance rollers 6 Friction separation pad 7a, 7b 1st registration roller 8 lead roller 9 Second register roller 10,11 Lead roller 13a to 13c Paper ejection roller

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H076 BA17 BA31 BA36 BA42 BA57                       BA58 BA65 BB04                 3F053 BA03 BA12 BA14 EA05 EC02                       ED17 ED25 LA07 LB03                 3F100 AA03 BA17 CA12 CA13 CA15                       CA17 EA02 EA11 EA13 EA14                 5C062 AA05 AB17 AB32 AB35 AB53                       AC09 AC15 BA04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sheet placing table (sheet feeding tray) on which a sheet material is placed, a separating means arranged downstream of the sheet placing table and separating sheet materials one by one, a sheet feeding means and the separating means. An image reading unit (means) for reading the image information of the sheet material separated by the means, a discharging unit arranged downstream of the image reading unit for discharging the read sheet material, and the discharged sheet In a sheet material automatic transporting device including a sheet discharge tray different from the sheet mounting table on which materials are stacked, a plurality of discharge units are provided, and at least one discharge unit is provided at least on one end side of the sheet discharge tray. An automatic sheet material conveying device, wherein one discharging means is arranged on the other end side. 2. The automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said discharging means is selected according to a designated mode. 3. The automatic sheet material conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means is selected according to the length / size of the sheet material. 4. The automatic sheet material conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after all the image information on the sheet material has been read by the reading unit (means), the sheet is discharged from the leading edge side. 5. The number of times the image information on the sheet material is read by the reading unit (means) and the number of times the sheet material passes over the reading unit (means) are the same. Sheet material automatic transfer device. 6. An automatic sheet material conveying device according to claim 1, and an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording sheet with image information of the sheet material read at a predetermined position by the sheet material conveying device. An image forming apparatus comprising means.