JP2005306613A - Document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document feeder capable of improving removal property and alignment property in discharging small-sized document. <P>SOLUTION: A slit glass 7 for reading a sheet-like document fed from the document feeder 15 is fitted to one end side of a contact glass 2, and the document feeder 15 is disposed so as not to be positioned on the upper side of the contact glass 2 so that a pressing plate 3 and the ADF 15 can be freely opened and closed independently of each other. The document feeder 15 comprises a first document receiver 18 receiving a large-sized document on the underside of the document table 8 and a second document receiver 8b receiving the small-sized delivered document, and the end part of the second document receiver 8b in the delivery direction of the document is extended to be exposed outward from an installation area for the document table 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet-through type document feeder used in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile.

A slit glass serving as a fixed document reading unit for reading a document fed from a document feeding device is provided at one end of a contact glass serving as a movable document reading unit for placing and fixing a document for reading. As an image reading apparatus provided with an exposure unit, for example, there is one as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707. In this apparatus, a pressure plate is provided on the upper side of the contact glass, and a document feeding device is provided on the upper side of the pressure glass, and each of them is opened and closed independently. In addition, the discharge of the document supplied from the document feeding device is performed on the pressure plate from the lower part of the document placing table, and the discharged document can be taken out by opening the document feeding device. In addition, it is easy to set a document on the contact glass, and the weight of the document feeder is reduced.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-179661

However, such conventional document feeder and image reading apparatus have the following drawbacks.
(1) When taking out a discharged document, it is necessary to open the document feeder for a small-size document that is difficult to remove (for example, A4 size or smaller). The operability is not good.
(2) Since the original is ejected onto a flat pressure plate, the variation in the traveling direction of the ejected original becomes large and the alignment is not good. Is likely to occur.
(3) Since the upper surface of the pressure plate on which the document is discharged is flat, there is no gap for a finger (hand) to enter when the document is removed, making it difficult to remove the document.
(4) When setting a document on the contact glass, the operability is not good because both the document feeder and the pressure plate must be opened.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, improves the take-out property of a small-size document discharged to the lower part of the document placement table, and has a large size (for example, A3, B4, etc.). It is an object of the present invention to provide a document feeding device that can be taken out at substantially the same position as that of a device and has good alignment when discharging a small-size document.

  The document feeding device according to the present invention includes a document placing member for placing a document, a separation feeding member for feeding a document placed on the document placing member, and feeding by the separation feeding member. A conveying member that conveys a document to be read, a U-shaped conveying path that serves as a conveying path for the document conveyed by the conveying member, and a lower side of the document placing member. A first document receiver for receiving a large-size document and a second document receiver for receiving a small-size document, and the document placement end of the document of the second document receiver is placed on the document placement It extends so that it may expose outside rather than the installation area | region of a member.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to change the discharge destination according to the size of the document, the alignment of the document is good, the discharged document can be easily removed, The take-out position of the small-size document can be further improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus provided with a document feeder according to the present invention.

  First, the configuration will be described. The apparatus main body 1 of the image forming apparatus is provided with a contact glass 2 and a pressure plate 3, and a scale 4, a lamp 5, and an original on one end side of the contact glass 2 for placing and fixing an original such as a book. A slit glass 7 constituting an exposure unit for reading a sheet-like document fed from the feeding device 15 is provided, and the document feeding device (hereinafter simply referred to as ADF) 15 is not positioned above the contact glass 2. The arrangement is as follows.

  That is, the apparatus main body 1 has an exposure portion of a contact glass 2 for setting a document such as a book and copying, and an exposure portion of a slit glass 7 for conveying a sheet by the ADF 15 to copy. The ADF 15 disposed on the upper portion of the pressure plate 3 and the slit glass 7 is divided so that the pressure plate 3 and the ADF 15 can be freely opened and closed regardless of the relationship. The optical system of the apparatus main body 1 is the home position at a position 1 away from the tip of the set reference scale 4 of the contact glass 2 in FIG. 1, and the slit glass 7 is disposed at that position.

  The ADF 15 includes a document table (document placement member) 8, a calling roller 10, a separation roller 12, a first pressure roller 13, a drive roller 16, paper discharge rollers 17 and 22, a second pressure roller 19, and a blocking roller. 21, and a U-shaped conveyance path is formed as a whole, and a first document receiver 18 for receiving a large-size discharged document such as A3 or B4 is provided below the document table 8. is there. When the ADF 15 transports the document 9 to make a copy, the lamp 5 and the first mirror 6 which are the optical system of the apparatus body 1 are fixed at the positions shown in the figure, and the document 9 is moved and copied.

  In the present embodiment, the separation roller 12 and the blocking roller 21 constitute a separation supply member, and the first pressure roller 13, the drive roller 16, the paper discharge rollers 17 and 22, and the second pressure roller 19. , Constitutes a conveying member.

  The document table 8 has a two-stage shape in which a second document receiver 8b for receiving a small-size discharged document of A4 size or less is formed below the placement portion 8a of the document 9 to be fed. Yes. That is, two document receivers 18 and 8b are formed at a lower position of the ADF 15, and a switching claw 20 for switching the discharge direction is provided in the middle of the U-shaped conveyance path, specifically, the discharge roller 17 It is provided on the exit side. In the present embodiment, the end of the second document receiver 8 b in the paper discharge direction extends so as to be exposed outward from the area where the document table 8 is installed. In the present embodiment, the paper discharge roller 17 forms a first paper discharge roller, and the paper discharge roller 22 forms a second paper discharge roller.

  Next, the operation of the apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. Although the operation will be described as being controlled by a microcomputer or its application device, the present invention is not limited to the one employing such a control system.

  First, when the document 9 is set on the placing portion 8a of the document table 8 with the image side facing up, the set of the document 9 is detected by a set sensor (provided at the position of the arrow 11 in FIG. 1), and the apparatus main body. When a copy button (not shown) provided in 1 is pressed, the ADF 15 executes the document 9 conveyance operation.

  Specifically, the original 9 is fed from the top to the separation unit by the calling roller 10, and the original 9 separated by the separation roller 12 and the blocking roller 21 is the driving roller 16 and the first pressure roller 13. It is conveyed by. When the registration sensor (provided at the position of the arrow 14 in FIG. 1) detects the leading edge of the document 9, the drive is stopped and a stop command for the document 9 is transmitted to the apparatus body 1.

  When the start command is received from the apparatus main body 1, the ADF 15 starts to be driven, conveys the document 9 to the exposure unit having the slit glass 7, and starts image reading. When the rear end of the document 9 passes the first pressure roller 13, the document 9 is conveyed by the second pressure roller 19. Since the document 9 is conveyed on the image reading unit (slit glass 7) only by the driving roller 16, there is no difference in speed when being conveyed by the pressure rollers 13 and 19, and good copy quality can be obtained. it can. Then, when the rear end of the document 9 passes through the second pressure roller 19, the paper is discharged.

  The paper discharge destination changes according to the size of the document 9. For example, long-sized documents such as A3 and B4 are discharged to the document receiver 18. At this time, the switching claw 20 is at the solid line position shown in the figure. Further, small-size originals other than A3 and B4 are conveyed by the discharge rollers 17 and 22 and discharged onto the document receiver 8b of the document table 8. The position of the switching claw 20 at this time is the position indicated by the broken line in the figure.

  Note that the length or size of the document 9 may be determined by using a conventionally known method such as detection by a registration sensor provided at the position of the arrow 14 in FIG. Since a sufficient space for a hand can be secured above the discharged document, it can be taken out without any problem.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the first document receiver 18 that receives a large-size document that is discharged after image reading is completed, and the second document that receives a small-size document are placed below the document table 8. Since the end of the second document receiver 8b in the paper discharge direction is extended so as to be exposed to the outside from the installation area of the document table 8, the receiver 8b is provided. The discharge destination can be changed, the alignment is good, the discharged document can be easily removed, and the take-out position of the small-size document can be further improved.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention improves the take-out property of a small-size document discharged to the lower part of the document placing table, and is abbreviated as a large size (for example, A3, B4, etc.). It has the effect that it can be taken out at the same position and can improve the alignment when small-size originals are ejected. It is useful as a sheet-through type document feeder used in electrophotographic devices such as copiers and facsimiles. is there.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus provided with a document feeding device according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Contact glass 3 Pressure plate 4 Scale 5 Lamp 6 1st mirror 7 Slit glass 8 Document table 8a Placement part 8b 2nd document receiver 9 Document 10 Calling roller 11 Set sensor position 12 Separation roller 13 First addition Pressure roller 14 Registration sensor position 15 Document feeder (ADF)
16 Driving roller 17 Paper discharge roller 18 First document receiver 19 Second pressure roller 20 Switching claw 21 Blocking roller 22 Paper discharge roller

Claims (1)

A document placing member for placing a document, a separation feeding member for feeding a document placed on the document placement member, and a conveying member for conveying a document fed by the separation feeding member A U-shaped conveyance path serving as a conveyance path of a document conveyed by the conveyance member, and a first document that is provided on the lower side of the document placement member and receives a large-sized document that is discharged after image reading is completed. A first document receiver and a second document receiver for receiving a small-size document;
An original feeding apparatus, wherein an end of the second original receiving direction of the original is extended so as to be exposed to the outside of an installation area of the original placing member.

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