JP2007074399A - Automatic document feeder apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic document feeder apparatus which is capable of satisfactorily detecting an open/close state of a cover while suppressing the increase of the number of components in the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A guide member 62 is provided on the cover and guides a document D between the guide member 62 and a contact glass 12. A guide spring 82 energized the guide member 62 toward the contact glass 12. A filler member 86 is provided in the vicinity of an end part being farther when viewed from a revolving shaft 64, out of end parts in a lengthwise direction of the guide member 62. A sensor 85 outputs a detection result corresponding to a position of the filler member 86. Thus the guide spring 82 not only gives an energizing force to the guide member 62 but also is used for shaking operation of the filler member 86 for use in detection of the open/close state of the cover, and it is unnecessary to provide another spring for detection of the open/close state of the cover. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder that can read image data from a conveyed document, and more particularly to an improvement in a method for detecting the open / close state of a lid.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image forming apparatus provided with an open / close state detection sensor in order to detect an open / close state of a pressure plate (lid) (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 07-319332 A JP 09-251228 A

  However, in the devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is necessary to provide a dedicated detection mechanism in order to detect the open / close state of the pressure plate. For this reason, the number of parts of the apparatus increases, and as a result, there is a problem that the number of assembling steps and the manufacturing cost of the apparatus increase.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeder that can detect an open / closed state of a lid well while suppressing an increase in the number of parts of the apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is an automatic document feeder that can read image data from a conveyed document, and is provided on a lid that is rotatable with respect to a main body. A guide member that guides a document read by the first reading unit while being conveyed to and from a contact glass provided on the main body, and the guide member is provided with the guide member. An elastic member that urges toward the glass; and a detection unit that detects an open / close state of the lid based on a position of the feeler member that swings according to the urging state of the elastic member. The member is provided on the guide member.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is located on the far side of the end of the guide member as viewed from the rotation axis of the lid. It is provided in.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic document feeder according to the first or second aspect, the feeler member has a center that is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotating shaft among the centerlines of the guide member. It is provided near the line.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic document feeder according to any one of the first to third aspects, the guide member is provided on the guide member, and contacts the contact glass by contacting the contact glass. And a protrusion that defines the interval.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic document feeder according to the fourth aspect, the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of the protrusion.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the automatic document feeder according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the feeler member is formed integrally with the guide member.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic document feeder that enables image data to be read from a conveyed document, and is provided on a lid that is rotatable with respect to a main body, while being conveyed. A guide member that guides a document read by the first reading unit with a contact glass provided on the main body, and a guide member provided on the guide member, the guide member being attached to the contact glass. Based on the positional relationship between the elastic member to be urged and the feeler member provided on the fixed side of the lid portion, the lid portion is opened and closed based on the biasing status of the elastic member. And a detecting unit for detecting the detection unit, wherein the detecting unit is provided on the guide member.

  An invention according to an eighth aspect is the automatic document feeder according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the automatic document feeder is provided on the lid, and is read by the first reading unit on the main surface of the original. And a second reading unit that reads image data of a surface opposite to the formed surface.

  According to the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the elastic member that urges the guide member toward the contact glass is used to swing the feeler member that is used to detect the opening / closing state of the lid. Can also be used. Thereby, it is not necessary to provide another elastic member for the swinging motion of the feeler member. That is, a dedicated detection mechanism (elastic member) for detecting the open / close state of the lid is not required. Therefore, the number of parts of the device can be reduced, and the assembly man-hour and manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced.

  In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of the far end of the guide member. Further, when the lid portion is rotated, the end portion on the far side rotates largely compared to the end portion on the rotation shaft side of the guide member. Thereby, the feeler member is largely rotated by the rotation of the lid portion. Therefore, the open / close state of the lid can be accurately detected by the detection unit.

  In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of a center line that is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotation shaft among the center lines of the guide member. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the open / close state of the lid.

  In particular, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the lid portion is closed and the protruding portion comes into contact with the contact glass, whereby the distance between the guide member and the contact glass can be set to a predetermined value and is conveyed. It is possible to guide the document satisfactorily. Therefore, based on the detection result acquired by the detection unit, it is possible to simultaneously perform the confirmation process of the lid opening / closing state and the document guide state. Further, the first reading unit can read the image data satisfactorily.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 5, the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of the protruding portion. Therefore, by detecting the open / close state based on the swinging of the feeler member, it is possible to detect the document guide state by the guide member even better.

  In particular, according to the invention described in claim 6, since the guide member and the feeler member can be made into one component, the number of assembling steps and the manufacturing cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

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

<1. Configuration of MFP>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction peripheral 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing an example of the configuration in the vicinity of the automatic document feeder 1 with the lid 60 closed. 1 and the subsequent drawings have an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the Z-axis direction is a vertical direction and the XY plane is a horizontal plane, as necessary, in order to clarify the directional relationship. .

  The multifunction device 100 is a scanner, a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or a multifunction device that combines these functions. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the multifunction peripheral 100 mainly includes an automatic document feeder 1, a reading / scanning device 13, and a contact image sensor 16.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic document feeder 1 is provided on the lid 60 side. While the document D is being transported, the reading scanning device 13 and the contact image sensor 16 (see FIG. 3) This is an apparatus that enables reading of image data from one side or both sides.

  That is, the document D placed on the document placement unit 2 is conveyed between the guide member 62 and the contact glass 12 with the lid 60 closed. Next, the light reflected from the main surface on the contact glass 12 side of the main surface of the document D to be conveyed is detected by the reading scanning device 13, and the image data of the document D is read. The read image data is stored in, for example, the image memory 36 (see FIG. 2).

  When image data is read from both sides of the document D, the image data on the surface opposite to the surface read by the reading scanning device 13 is read by the contact image sensor 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the contact image sensor 16 is provided on the lid 60. As shown in FIG. 2, the read image data is stored in, for example, the image memory 36 as in the case of the reading scanning device 13.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the lid portion 60 and the main body portion 70 are connected by a hinge portion 63, and the lid portion 60 is in the direction of the arrow AR <b> 1 with respect to the main body portion 70 about the rotation shaft 64. Can be rotated. Therefore, the lid 60 can be opened and closed by this rotational movement.

  Further, the reading and scanning device 13 disposed in the main body portion 70 can reciprocate in the X-axis direction along the original glass 15. Further, a pressing member 65 that presses the document placed on the document glass 15 in a state where the lid 60 is closed is provided on the lid 60 side. Therefore, the original is placed on the original glass 15, the lid 60 is closed, and the reading and scanning device 13 is moved along the original glass, whereby image data is obtained from the original placed on the original glass 15. Can be read. As described above, the reading scanning device 13 is configured to be used also as a flat bed scanner (FBS).

  The detailed hardware configuration of the automatic document feeder 1 will be described later.

  The modem 42 (see FIG. 2) converts the digital data (image data) stored in the image memory 36 into an audio signal, and converts audio data transmitted from the outside of the multifunction peripheral 100 into digital data. The NCU 41 is a device necessary for connecting the multi-function device 100 to the public switched telephone network, and performs outgoing / incoming calls and dial control.

  The recording unit 50 performs predetermined image processing (for example, processing such as smoothing or resolution conversion) on the image data stored in the image memory 36, and outputs the processed image data to a printing unit (not shown). . Thus, predetermined characters and line drawings are printed on the printing paper based on the image data in the image memory 36.

  The display unit 51 is configured by a so-called liquid crystal display, and has a function as a “touch panel” that can designate a position on the screen by touching the screen with a finger or a dedicated pen. Therefore, a user of the multifunction device 100 (hereinafter simply referred to as “user”) performs an instruction using the “touch panel” function of the display unit 51 based on the content displayed on the display unit 51, thereby The machine 100 can be caused to execute a predetermined operation. As described above, the display unit 51 is also used as an input unit that allows the MFP 100 to input predetermined data.

  The operation unit 52 is an input unit configured by a so-called keypad. The user can cause the multifunction peripheral 100 to perform a predetermined operation by performing an input operation based on the display content of the display unit 51.

  The RAM 32 is a readable / writable memory, and stores information relating to document conveyance by the automatic document conveyance device 1, for example. The image memory 36 is a readable / writable memory, and stores image data input to the multifunction peripheral 100 via the automatic document feeder 1 and the modem 42.

  The ROM 33 is a read-only memory, and an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 31 executes control according to a program stored in the ROM 33. The MPU 31 is electrically connected to the RAM 32, ROM 33, image memory 36, automatic document feeder 1, etc. via signal lines 35. Therefore, according to this program, the MPU 31 can execute document conveyance processing, image data reading processing, and the like by the automatic document conveyance device 1 at a predetermined timing.

  In the present embodiment, the program for controlling the operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 is stored in the ROM 33, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the program may be stored in a flash memory that is a readable / writable nonvolatile memory.

<2. Configuration of automatic document feeder>
Here, the automatic document feeder 1 will be described in detail. The automatic document feeder 1 is a so-called ADF (Auto Document Feeder), and can automatically read a plurality of documents continuously. As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic document feeder 1 mainly includes a document placement unit 2, a pickup roller 3, a document separation unit 4, and a guide member 62.

  The document placement section 2 has a document supply tray 2b. As shown in FIG. 3, one or a plurality of read documents D are placed on the document supply tray 2b. Here, the document supply tray 2 b is detachably provided from the automatic document feeder 1. Further, in order to be able to supply the document D to the document supply port 2a, the document supply tray 2b is mounted so as to be inclined downward toward the document supply port 2a.

  The pickup roller 3 is a roller for feeding the document D placed on the document supply tray 2b to the document separation unit 4 side, and is disposed near the upper part of the document supply port 2a as shown in FIG.

  The document separation unit 4 mainly includes a separation roller 4a, a separation pad 4b, and a compression spring 4c, and separates and conveys the document D fed into the automatic document feeder 1 by the pickup roller 3 one by one. To do. As shown in FIG. 3, the document separation unit 4 is disposed on the downstream side of the pickup roller 3 when viewed from the conveyance direction of the document D.

  The separation pad 4b is urged toward the separation roller 4a by a compression spring 4c. Further, the peripheral body of the separation roller 4a and the surface of the separation pad 4b on the side of the document D have a difference in friction coefficient. Thus, when the document D is supplied between the separation roller 4a and the separation pad 4b, the document D is taken out one by one from the separation roller 4a side and fed due to the difference in the friction coefficient. The

  Next, the original D separated one by one by the original separating unit 4 is driven to the original conveyance path 5 formed in a substantially U shape by driving the first conveyance roller 6, the registration roller 7, and the second conveyance roller 8. Conveyed along. Then, the document D reaches the first reading point P1 sandwiched between the guide member 62 and the contact glass 12.

  FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of the configuration in the vicinity of the guide member 62 when the lid 60 is opened. FIG. 5 is a side view showing an example of the configuration in the vicinity of the guide member 62 when the lid 60 is closed. FIG. 6 is a top view showing an example of the configuration in the vicinity of the guide member 62.

  The guide member 62 is a member that is provided in the lid portion 60 and extends in a direction substantially orthogonal to the rotation shaft 64, and is formed of, for example, resin or metal. The guide member 62 guides the document D with the contact glass 12 of the main body 70 in a state where the lid 60 is closed (see FIG. 5).

  Protrusions 81 (81a, 81b) are disposed near the end of the guide member 62 in the length direction. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the protrusion 81 is disposed on the surface on the contact glass 12 side of the main surface of the guide member 62. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusion 81 is provided in the vicinity of a virtual center line 87 that is a center line in the length direction of the guide member 62 and substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotation shaft 64.

  Thereby, when the cover part 60 is closed, the protrusion part 81 will contact | abut the contact glass 12, and the space | interval of the guide member 62 and the contact glass 12 is prescribed | regulated to a predetermined value. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the document D conveyed between the guide member 62 and the contact glass 12 from fluttering up and down, and the image data reading process by the reading scanning device 13 can be performed well.

  4 and 5, the protrusion 81 is a separate member from the guide member 62, but is not limited to this. For example, the guide member 62 and the protrusion 81 may be integrally formed. Thereby, the assembly man-hour of the automatic document feeder 1 can be reduced.

  The guide spring 82 is provided on the guide member 62 and is an elastic member that urges the guide member 62 toward the contact glass 12. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the guide spring 82 is fixed to a predetermined portion 83 of the lid 60.

  Therefore, when the lid 60 is closed and the guide spring 82 is compressed, the projection 81 of the guide member 62 and the contact glass 12 are reliably brought into contact with each other by the biasing force of the guide spring 82. . Therefore, it is possible to reliably guide the document D that passes through the first reading point P1 in a state where the lid 60 is closed, and it is possible to acquire image data satisfactorily.

  The feeler member 86 is in the vicinity of the distal end (distant end side) of the guide member 62 in the longitudinal direction (that is, the direction substantially perpendicular to the rotational shaft 64) as viewed from the rotational shaft 64. Is provided. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the feeler member 86 is disposed on the opposite side of the main surface of the guide member 62 from the contact glass 12 and in the vicinity of the attachment position of the protrusion 81 b. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the feeler member 86 is provided in the vicinity of a virtual center line 87 that is substantially orthogonal to the rotation shaft 64 among the virtual center lines of the guide member 62.

  Therefore, when the guide member 62 swings according to the biasing state of the guide spring 82, the feeler member 86 swings similarly to the guide member 62. For example, when the lid 60 is closed and the guide spring 82 is compressed, the feeler member 86 moves relative to the predetermined portion 83 in the direction of the arrow AR2 (see FIG. 5). On the other hand, when the lid 60 is opened and the urging force due to compression is released, the feeler member 86 moves relative to the predetermined portion 83 in the direction opposite to the arrow AR2 (see FIG. 5).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the feeler member 86 is a separate member from the guide member 62, but is not limited to this, for example, the guide member 62, the protrusion 81, and the like. May be formed integrally. Thereby, the assembly man-hour of the automatic document feeder 1 can be reduced.

  The sensor 85 is a photosensor that outputs a detection result corresponding to the position of the feeler member 86, and is fixed to a predetermined portion 88 of the lid 60. Here, the sensor 85 is in the “ON” state when the light from the light emitting element 85a is received by the light receiving element 85b. Further, when the light from the light emitting element 85a is blocked and does not reach the light receiving element 85b, the “off” state is set.

  In the present embodiment, the lid 60 is closed, the protrusion 81 of the guide member 62 contacts the contact glass 12, and the protrusion 81 is pressed against the contact glass 12, whereby the feeler member 86 is moved in the direction of the arrow AR2. When the relative movement occurs, the light from the light emitting element 85a of the sensor 85 is blocked by the feeler member 86, and the sensor 85 is turned off (see FIG. 5). On the other hand, when the feeler member 86 with the lid 60 opened is relatively moved in the direction opposite to the arrow AR2, the light from the light emitting element 85a reaches the light receiving element 85b, so that the sensor 85 is turned on (FIG. 4). reference). Thus, the sensor 85 is used as a detection unit that detects the open / close state of the lid 60.

  The document D for which image data reading processing has been completed at the first reading point P1 is passed through the second reading point P2 by driving the third transport roller 9 and the discharge roller 10, and then discharged to the discharge tray 11. Is done.

  When the document D is scanned on both sides, the image data on the surface opposite to the surface scanned by the scanning scanning device 13 is scanned by the contact image sensor 16 disposed at the second scanning point P2. Then, after the image data is read, the document D is discharged to the discharge tray 11.

<3. Advantages of the automatic document feeder of this embodiment>
As described above, in the automatic document feeder 1 of the present embodiment, the guide spring 82 that urges the guide member 62 toward the contact glass 12 is used to detect the open / close state of the lid 60. It can also be used to swing the feeler member 86. That is, in the automatic document feeder 1, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to provide a separate spring (detection mechanism) for detecting the open / close state of the lid 60. Therefore, the number of parts of the automatic document feeder 1 can be reduced, and the assembly man-hour and manufacturing cost of the apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  Further, the feeler member 86 is provided at an end portion on the far side as viewed from the rotation shaft 64 among the end portions in the length direction of the guide member 62 as described above. Further, when the lid 60 is rotated, the end on the far side is rotated largely compared to the end on the rotating shaft 64 side. Therefore, the open / close state of the lid 60 can be accurately detected by the sensor 85.

  The feeler member 86 is provided in the vicinity of the protrusion 81b. Thus, when the sensor 85 determines that the lid 60 is closed, the protrusion 81 is securely in contact with the contact glass 12, and the document D that passes through the first reading point P1 is reliably received. Can guide. Therefore, based on the detection result of the sensor 85, the confirmation process of the opening / closing state of the lid 60 and the confirmation process of the guide state of the document D by the guide member 62 can be executed simultaneously.

  Further, the feeler member 86 is provided in the vicinity of a virtual center line 87 that is substantially orthogonal to the rotation shaft 64, so that the contact state of the protrusion 81 can be detected well. Therefore, the open / close state of the lid 60 can be accurately detected.

<4. Modification>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

  (1) In this embodiment, the guide member 62 is urged toward the contact glass 12 by the guide spring 82, but the member that applies the urging force is limited to the guide spring 82. For example, a leaf spring may be used.

  (2) In the present embodiment, it has been described that the sensor 85 is provided in the predetermined portion 88 on the fixed side of the lid 60 and the feeler member 86 is provided in the guide member 62. The arrangement of 85 and the feeler member 86 is not limited to this. For example, the sensor 85 is provided on the guide member 62 and can swing according to the biasing state of the guide spring 82, and the feeler member 86 is a predetermined portion 88 on the fixed side of the lid 60. May be provided.

  Also in this case, the guide spring 82 that urges the guide member 62 toward the contact glass 12 can be used for the swinging operation of the sensor 85 that is used to detect the open / close state of the lid 60. Can detect the open / close state of the lid 60 based on the positional relationship with the feeler member 86. It can also be used for the swinging motion of the feeler member used to detect the open / close state of the lid. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide another elastic member for the swing operation of the sensor 85. As a result, the number of parts of the automatic document feeder 1 can be reduced, and the number of assembly steps and manufacturing costs of the apparatus can be reduced.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a configuration in the vicinity of an automatic document feeder in a state where a lid is closed. It is a side view showing an example of composition near a guide member. It is a side view showing an example of composition near a guide member. It is a top view which shows an example of a structure of a guide member vicinity.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Document automatic conveyance apparatus 2 Document mounting part 11 Discharge tray 12 Contact glass 13 Reading scanning apparatus (1st reading part)
15 Document Glass 16 Contact Image Sensor (Second Reading Unit)
60 Lid 62 Guide member 63 Hinge part 64 Rotating shaft 70 Main body part 81 (81a, 81b) Projection part 82 Spring for guide 85 Sensor 86 Feeler member 87 Virtual center line 100 Multifunction machine D Document

Claims (8)

An automatic document feeder capable of reading image data from a conveyed document,
(a) A guide that is provided on a lid that is rotatable with respect to the main body, and that guides a document that is conveyed and read by the first reading unit with a contact glass provided on the main body. A member,
(b) an elastic member that is provided on the guide member and biases the guide member toward the contact glass;
(c) based on the position of the feeler member that swings according to the biasing status of the elastic member, a detection unit that detects the open / closed status of the lid portion;
With
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is provided on the guide member. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1,
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is provided on an end portion side far from the rotation axis of the lid portion among the end portions of the guide member. In the automatic document feeder according to claim 1 or 2,
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of a center line that is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotation shaft among the center lines of the guide member. The automatic document feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
(d) provided on the guide member, and a protrusion that defines a distance from the contact glass by contacting the contact glass;
An automatic document feeder. The automatic document feeder according to claim 4,
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is provided in the vicinity of the protrusion. In the automatic document feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the feeler member is formed integrally with the guide member. An automatic document feeder capable of reading image data from a conveyed document,
(a) A guide that is provided on a lid that is rotatable with respect to the main body, and that guides a document that is conveyed and read by the first reading unit with a contact glass provided on the main body. A member,
(b) an elastic member that is provided on the guide member and biases the guide member toward the contact glass;
(c) swingable according to the biasing status of the elastic member, and detecting the open / closed status of the lid based on the positional relationship with the feeler member provided on the fixed side of the lid A detection unit;
With
The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is provided on the guide member. The automatic document feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
(e) a second reading unit that is provided on the lid and reads image data of a surface opposite to the surface read by the first reading unit among the main surfaces of the document;
An automatic document feeder characterized by further comprising:

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