JP2014047067A - Document feeding device, image reading apparatus, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document feeding device in which a document pressing member becomes an obstacle and is damaged by mistake, when opening and closing a document table that is openable/closable and swingable.SOLUTION: A document feeding device includes: an openable/closable and swingable document table 2 for loading a document 1; separation feeding means for separating and feeding the document by one piece of stacked documents; feeding means for feeding the document separated and fed to a reading position 205; discharge means for discharging the document after the reading; a catch tray 7 for receiving the discharged document; and a presser member 31 for pressing down the document 1 discharged on the catch tray 7. The presser member 31 is provided in a branching claw 16 that is a member separate from the document table 2 in a vicinity of the discharge means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an original conveying apparatus, an image reading apparatus, and an image forming apparatus. More specifically, the present invention is mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a plotter, a printing machine, or a multifunction machine having two or more functions. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

  2. Description of the Related Art Document conveying apparatuses mounted on image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimile machines, printers, plotters, printing machines, and finishers are known in which a member for pressing a discharged document is provided (for example, Patent Document 1 and 2).

  In both Patent Documents 1 and 2, a member for pressing the document is provided above the document discharge portion, and its swing fulcrum is located below a table on which a document that can be opened and closed and swinged (hereinafter referred to as “document mounting table”). Provided. In the example of Patent Document 2, the shaft portion (47) of the document supply tray (38) in the document setting portion (35) corresponds to that as shown in FIG.

  However, in the above-described technique, when a document holding member is provided on a document table that can be opened and closed and swingable, when the document table is opened, the member that holds the document also comes with it. This may damage the member that holds the document.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides a document conveying device that prevents a member that holds a document from getting in the way or being accidentally damaged when a swingable document placing table is swung. Objective.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a swingable document stacking table for stacking documents, separation feeding means for separating and feeding the stacked documents one by one, and conveying the separated and fed documents to a reading position A document conveying apparatus having: a conveying unit configured to discharge; a discharging unit configured to discharge a document after reading; a document receiving table that receives the discharged document; and a document pressing member that presses the document discharged onto the document receiving table. The document pressing member is provided on a member separate from the document stacking table.

  According to the present invention, with the above configuration, when the document placing table is swung, the document pressing member does not come together, so that the problem that the document pressing member gets in the way or accidentally breaks the document pressing member is solved. can do.

1 is a simplified partial cross-sectional front view of a document conveying device and the like showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a simplified partial cross-sectional front view for explaining an open / close swing operation of the document table according to the embodiment. It is a perspective view of the principal part explaining the attachment site | part of the pressing member of one Embodiment. It is a perspective view of a branch claw explaining a hole for attachment of a branch claw for attaching a pressing member of one embodiment. It is a perspective view of the principal part explaining the method of attaching the boss | hub of a pressing member to the hole of the branch claw of one Embodiment. FIG. 6 is a simplified enlarged partial cross-sectional front view for explaining a document conveying operation transition of one embodiment when reading one side of a document. FIG. 6 is a simplified enlarged partial cross-sectional front view illustrating a document transport operation transition according to an embodiment when both sides of a document are read. FIG. 8 is a simplified enlarged partial cross-sectional front view illustrating a document transport operation transition of the embodiment following FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a simplified enlarged partial cross-sectional front view illustrating a document transport operation transition of the embodiment following FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a simplified enlarged partial cross-sectional front view illustrating a document conveying operation transition of the embodiment following FIG. 9. FIG. 5 is a simplified partial cross-sectional front view of a document conveying device or the like showing another embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention including examples will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments and the like, components (members, components, and the like) having the same function and shape are described once and are omitted by giving the same reference numerals after being described unless there is a possibility of confusion. In order to simplify the drawings and the description, even if the components are to be represented in the drawings, the components that do not need to be specifically described in the drawings may be omitted as appropriate. When quoting and explaining constituent elements such as published patent gazettes, the reference numerals are shown in parentheses to distinguish them from those of the embodiments.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of a document conveying device to which the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an original conveying apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. The document conveying device is a kind of sheet conveying device in a broad sense, but here, a document conveying device generally abbreviated as ADF is used as an embodiment. The driving method of the document conveying device is not a feature of the present invention, but is a known technical content, and will be described briefly.

The document conveying apparatus 100 is mounted on the main body of the image reading apparatus 200. The image reading apparatus 200 is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus 300. The image forming apparatus 300 will be described later.
The document conveying apparatus 100 includes a document table 2 as a document stacking table on which the document bundle 1A is stacked, and a separation feeding unit that includes separation feeding means for separating and feeding the stacked document bundle 1A one by one from the top. A section a, a transport section b having transport means for transporting the separately fed document to the reading position 205, a discharge section c having a discharge means for discharging the document after reading, and a document at the reading position 205. A reversing portion d having a switchback path and reversing means for reversing the original so as to read an image on the second side of the original after reading the image on the first side, and an original receiving base for receiving the discharged original And a pressing member 31 as a document pressing member for pressing the document discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 17.

The document table 2 is configured to be openable / closable / swingable with respect to the document feeder main body. Specifically, the document table 2 has a stacking position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2) for stacking the document bundle 1A around the axis of the reverse driven roller 19 as shown in FIG. It is possible to open / close and swing between the open position.
A document bundle 1A to be read is set on the document table 2 with the image surface facing upward, and the document bundle 1A is positioned by the side fence 3 in the width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

The separation feeding unit a is displaceable and rotatable to a position where it comes into contact with the leading edge feeding side of the document bundle 1A that is in contact with the stop pawl 4 (meaning that it is in contact with the abutting state; the same applies hereinafter). A feeding roller 6 that is rotated in the conveyance direction (clockwise in the drawing) and that is a belt for taking in the document 1 that has been called by the calling roller 5, and rotated in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction to be fed. It comprises a separating member 7 that separates only the topmost one of the originals 1.
The calling roller 5, the paper feed member 6, and the separation member 7 function as a separation feeding unit of the separation feeding unit a. The calling roller 5 is a solenoid (not shown), and the paper feeding member 6 and the separating member 7 are driven by a motor (not shown).

The conveyance unit b for conveying the separated and conveyed document 1 to the reading position 205 on the contact glass 202 includes an inlet roller pair 8 and 9, an outlet roller pair 11 and 12, and the like. The inlet roller pair 8, 9 includes an inlet driving roller 8 and an inlet driven roller 9. The outlet roller pair 11, 12 includes an outlet driving roller 11 and an outlet driven roller 12. The inlet driving roller 8 and the outlet driving roller 11 are driven by a motor (not shown).
The entrance roller pair 8 and 9 and the exit roller pair 11 and 12 function as a transport unit of the transport unit b.

  The abutting sensor 20 and the registration sensor 21 are disposed (arranged or provided at a predetermined position on the conveying path between the separation feeding unit a and the conveying unit b. The same applies hereinafter). Has been. Reference numeral 10 denotes a reading guide member.

  The reading unit 201 that reads the image surfaces of the first surface and the second surface of the document 1 includes an exposure lamp, a first mirror, and an optical system such as a lens (not shown), and reads an image below the contact glass 202. It is provided in the main body of the apparatus 200. At the time of image reading, the exposure lamp and the first mirror are moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 below the contact glass 202 or stopped below the reading position 205 so that light is applied to the image surface by the exposure lamp. Irradiate. Thereafter, the reflected light of the image surface of the original is imaged on a photosensitive drum (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 300 via the first mirror and the optical system, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum. The toner is adhered to the recording paper and transferred to the recording paper, or the reflected light is imaged on an image sensor such as a CCD through the first mirror and the optical system, and the optical signal is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor. Then, the image is transferred to a recording sheet as a sheet-like recording medium using various image forming means.

  The document conveying apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is connected to the main body of the image reading apparatus 200 by a connecting member such as a hinge (not shown), and is configured to be freely opened and closed. The contact glass 202 disposed on the image reading apparatus 200 side is supported by the main body side guide 203 and the main body side guide 204.

  The discharge section c has a group of three discharge roller groups 13, 14, and 15, of which the discharge roller pair 13, 14 functions as discharge means. The paper discharge roller pair 13 and 14 includes a paper discharge driving roller 13 and a paper discharge driven roller 14. The paper discharge roller pairs 13 and 14 are driven by a motor (not shown).

  The reversing unit d reads the image on the first surface of the document, and then discharges the roller group 13 and 14 including the branching claw 16 as a path switching member that switches the document transport path to the switchback path, and the discharge upper driven roller 15. , 15 and a pair of reversing rollers 18, 19 capable of forward and reverse rotation. The reversing roller pair 18 and 19 includes a reversing driving roller 18 and a reversing driven roller 19 and functions as a reversing unit. The reverse drive roller 18 is driven by a motor capable of forward and reverse rotation (not shown).

  The branch claw 16 functions as a separate member from the document table 2. The branch claw 16 is swingably supported by the main body of the document conveying apparatus 100 about a shaft 16 a supported by the main body of the document conveying apparatus 100. The branch claw 16 is configured to be swingable and displaceable between the position A shown in FIG. 3 and the like and A1 shown in FIG. 4 and the like by a combination of a tension spring and a solenoid (not shown).

  The holding member 31 has a proximal end portion provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller pair 13 and 14. The holding member 31 has a base end portion supported so as to be swingable in the vicinity of the shaft 16 a of the branch claw 16, and a free end portion extending to hold the discharged document. The holding member 31 has a basic function as a document holding member, that is, the document to be discharged is brought into contact with the free end portion, and is ejected by swinging around the base end portions (bosses 31a and 31b shown in FIG. 5). It has a function of reducing variations in the discharge position of the document landing on the paper tray 17. As a result, it is possible to reduce the trouble of manually aligning the original or the original bundle taken out from the paper discharge tray 17.

3 to 5 are perspective views in which the pressing member 31 is attached to the branch claw 16. The branching claw 16 and the pressing member 31 are integrally formed of an appropriate resin in order to reduce the weight and cost. As shown in FIG. 4, holes 16 a and 16 b serving as fulcrums of the base end portion of the pressing member 31 are formed in the branch claw 16, and bosses 31 a and 31 b formed integrally with the pressing member 31 are fitted. It is. When fitting, the pressing member 31 is elastically fitted using the elasticity of the pressing member 31 in the arrow C direction.
As described above, the pressing member 31 has a base end portion supported so as to be swingable in the vicinity of the shaft 16a of the branching claw 16, and a free end portion extending to hold the discharged document.
With the configuration described above, the pressing member 31 can exhibit the function of reducing the variation in the discharge position of the document landing on the discharge tray 17 and improving the alignment of the discharged document.

  Next, the operation of the main part of the document feeder 100 will be described. This operation is well known and is not a feature of the present invention, so it will be described briefly. When only one side (for example, the first side: front side) of the original 1 is read, the branching claw 16 stands by at the position A as shown in FIG. 6, and the output rollers 13 and 14 rotate in the original discharge direction. The document 1 passes through a single-sided conveyance path formed on the lower surface of the branching claw 16, contacts the free end of the pressing member 31, and lands on the paper discharge tray 17 while swinging the pressing member 31 counterclockwise in the drawing. Is stacked. The document 1 that has landed on the paper discharge tray 17 is pressed down in a state where variations in the discharge position are reduced by clockwise swinging in the drawing due to the weight of the pressing member 31. At this time, the pressing member 31 occupies the position B. At this time, the reversing roller pair 18, 19 is not driven.

When reading both sides of the document 1, after reading one side (for example, the first side: front side), the branching claw 16 swings in the A1 direction as shown in FIG. The pair of reversing rollers 18 and 19 rotating in the discharging direction enter. At this time, the tip of the free end portion of the pressing member 31 moves a small amount to the position B1.
As shown in FIGS. 8 to 9, after the rear end of the document 1 passes through the paper discharge sensor 22 and passes through the paper discharge lower roller pair 13 and 14, the branching claw 16 returns to the position A and at the same time the pressing member. 31 also returns to position B. Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the reverse direction of the pair of reversing rollers 18 and 19 causes the conveyance direction of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the document 1 to be reversed and switched back, and the document 1 is in the reverse rotation state. In order to enter the pair 13, 15 and read the opposite surface (for example, the second surface: back surface), it is conveyed again to the inlet roller pair 8, 9 via the reverse path 23.

According to the present embodiment, the base end portion of the pressing member 31 is provided on the branch claw 16 by the above-described configuration and operation. Therefore, even if the document table 2 is opened in the direction of arrow D as shown in FIG. The position of the pressing member 31 is not changed, and the function of pressing the document 1 is maintained. Therefore, when the document table 2 is opened / closed / swinged, the pressing member 31 does not come together, so that the problem that the pressing member 31 gets in the way or the pressing member 31 is accidentally damaged can be solved.
Further, since the pressing member 31 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller pair 13 and 14, the above-described effect can be obtained even for a small-size document.

  As described with reference to FIG. 7, when the branching claw 16 swings in the A1 direction, the tip of the pressing member 31 moves a small amount to the position of B1. This is because the distance between the swinging fulcrum of the branching claw 16 and the bosses 31a and 31b mounting portions, which are the swinging fulcrum of the pressing member 31, is close to the movement of the pressing member 31 even if the branching claw 16 swings. The influence is reduced, and as a result, the amount of movement of the pressing member 31 is also reduced. Therefore, even if the branch claw 16 swings, the function of the pressing member 31 is not impaired. In other words, even when the branching claw 16 is switched to the switchback path, the movement amount of the pressing member 31 that moves in conjunction with the movement is small, so that the discharged document can be pressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pressing member 31 is provided on the branch claw 16. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pressing member 31 may be provided swingably on the main body of the original conveying apparatus 100 other than the original table 2 or other members. In addition, it is preferable to provide the pressing member 31 in the vicinity of the pair of paper discharge rollers 13 and 14.

  With reference to FIG. 11, an embodiment different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 10 will be described. The document conveying apparatus 100A according to another embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is configured to be capable of reading and conveying only one side of the document as compared with the document conveying apparatus 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. The main difference is that the pressing member 31 is provided on the main body side plate 24 which is a separate member from the original table 2. Specifically, compared with the document conveying apparatus 100, the document conveying apparatus 100A removes and holds the branching claw 16, the discharge upper driven roller 15, the reversing roller pairs 18, 19 and the reversing path 23 that constitute the reversing unit d. The difference is that the member 31 is provided on the main body side plate 24 which is a stationary member in the vicinity of the paper discharge roller pair 13 and 14.

  The method of attaching the base end portion of the pressing member 31 to the main body side plate 24 is the same as that shown in FIGS. Of course, in another embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the same effect as that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 10 can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which an electrophotographic copying machine having a photosensitive drum is used as the image forming apparatus is shown. However, the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this, and a printer, plotter, facsimile, The present invention can also be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a finisher, a printing machine including a stencil printing machine, a multifunction machine having two or more of these functions, and a color copying machine having a plurality of photoconductors.

1 Document 2 Document table (an example of document stack)
5 Calling rollers (an example of separate feeding means)
6 Paper feeding member (an example of separation feeding means)
7 Separation member (an example of separation feeding means)
8 Inlet drive roller (an example of conveying means)
9 Entrance driven roller (an example of conveying means)
11 Exit driving roller (an example of a conveying means)
12 Exit driven roller (an example of conveying means)
13 Discharge drive roller (an example of discharge means)
14 Discharged driven roller (an example of discharge means)
15 Followed roller 16 on paper discharge 16 Branch claw (an example of a path switching member)
17 Output tray (an example of a document tray)
18 Reverse drive roller (an example of reverse means)
19 Reverse driven roller (an example of reverse means)
31 Holding member (an example of a document holding member)
100, 100A Document conveying device 200 Image reading device 201 Reading unit 202 Contact glass 205 Reading position 300 Image forming device

JP 2002-2111814 A JP 2011-20783 A

Claims (7)

A swingable document stacking table for stacking documents, separation feeding means for separating and feeding the stacked documents one by one, transport means for conveying the separated and fed documents to a reading position, and post-reading In a document conveying apparatus having a discharge unit that discharges a document, a document receiving tray that receives the discharged document, and a document pressing member that presses the document discharged onto the document receiving table.
An original conveying apparatus, wherein the original pressing member is provided on a member separate from the original stacking table. The document feeder according to claim 1,
An original conveying apparatus, wherein the original pressing member is provided in the vicinity of the discharge means. In the document conveying device according to claim 1 or 2,
A switchback path for reversing the original so as to read an image on the second side of the original after reading an image on the first side of the original at the reading position; an inversion means provided in the switchback path; A path switching member that switches the document transport path to the switchback path after reading the image on the first side of
The document conveying apparatus, wherein the separate member is the path switching member. The document conveying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The document conveying device, wherein the document pressing member has a function of pressing the discharged document even when the path switching member performs an operation of switching to the switchback path. The document feeder according to claim 4, wherein
The path switching member is supported so as to be swingable about an axis supported by the document feeder main body,
The document pressing member has a base end portion supported so as to be swingable in the vicinity of the shaft of the path switching member, and a free end portion extending to press the discharged document. Conveying device.   An image reading apparatus comprising the document conveying device according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the document conveying device according to claim 1.

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