JP2019163128A - Document conveyance auxiliary device, automatic document conveyance apparatus, document reading apparatus and image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a document conveyance auxiliary device which can suppress the increase in the size and cost of an apparatus such as an automatic document conveyance apparatus having the document conveyance auxiliary device.SOLUTION: A document conveyance auxiliary device 100 includes: a card conveyance lever 111 which conveys a document loaded on a placement surface 105 of a card loading part 112 toward a card insertion port 7 provided near the middle of a document conveyance path 55 of an ADF 5; and a gate component 120 which is biased by a compression spring 140 into the direction heading to the placement surface 105 of the card loading part 112 and can be opened/closed with displacement into the biased direction. The gate component 120 includes: a first surface 121 which contacts the placement surface 105 of the card loading part 112 when closed; and a second surface 122 which receives the force in the direction opposite to the biased direction when opened with contact of a card C at the conveyance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a document conveyance auxiliary device, an automatic document conveyance device, a document reading device, and an image forming apparatus.

Conventionally, a document conveyed toward a feeding port of an automatic document conveying device such as an ADF provided in a document reading device is regulated to one when a plurality of documents are stacked on a document stacking unit, A document conveyance assisting device that assists document conveyance by an automatic document conveyance device is known.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 discloses a single document conveyed toward a feeding port (feeding port) of an automatic document conveying device when a plurality of documents (document bundle) are stacked on a document stacking unit. The following configuration is described.

It consists of a pivoting rib that pivots against the topmost document from above, a document stacking unit on which multiple documents can be placed, and a half of the document stacking unit on the feed port side. In order to maintain (hold) at an appropriate conveyance (paper feed) position, the document feed table has a document table that can rotate on the feed port side. Further, the rotation rib pushed up when the uppermost document reaches the proper conveyance position comes into contact, and a fixed restricting member for restricting the rotation of the rotation rib and a drive that is a drive source for rotating the document table. It also has a motor (bottom plate raising motor). Then, the drive of the drive motor is controlled so that the uppermost document is held at the proper conveyance position.
With this configuration, the document can be stably conveyed.

  However, in the case of using the conventional document transport auxiliary device in a configuration for transporting a document toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of the transport path of the automatic document transport device, There has been a problem that the apparatus is increased in size and cost.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 is configured so that the number of documents conveyed toward the feeding port of the automatic document conveying apparatus is set when a plurality of documents are stacked on the document stacking unit. In the document transport auxiliary device that restricts to one sheet and assists the document transport by the automatic document transport device, the document transport assist device includes a document loaded on the document placement surface of the document stacking unit. A conveying means for conveying toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of the conveying path, and a urging member biased in a direction toward the document placement surface and displaced in the urging direction to carry the sheet. An opening / closing member capable of opening and closing the outlet, wherein the opening / closing member is a first surface that contacts the document placement surface when closed, and the biasing direction when the document contacts and opens during document conveyance And a second surface that receives a force displaced in the opposite direction. To.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a document transport assisting device that can suppress an increase in the size and cost of an automatic document transport device or the like that includes a document transport assisting device.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a copier according to an embodiment. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a basic configuration of a reading device provided in an image forming apparatus. Explanatory drawing of a card insertion slot and a manual feed tray. Explanatory drawing of the structure which conveys a card | curd by a user manually placing in a card insertion slot or a manual feed tray, without providing a document conveyance auxiliary device. FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view of a configuration in which a user places a card on a document conveyance auxiliary device attached to an ADF and conveys the card manually according to the first embodiment. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing which attached the document conveyance auxiliary device to ADF. FIG. 5 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of card conveyance from a document conveyance auxiliary device attached to an ADF. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a basic configuration of a document conveyance assist device and a positional relationship with an ADF. Explanatory drawing of the conveyance procedure of the card | curd C by a document conveyance auxiliary device. Explanatory drawing of the separation mechanism of the card | curd by a document conveyance auxiliary device. Explanatory drawing of the force which generate | occur | produces on the 2nd card | curd when a several card | curd is loaded. 5 is an evaluation result of a prototype of a document conveyance auxiliary device to which the configuration of Example 1 is applied. Explanatory drawing about the reaction force from a gate component. Explanatory drawing of the conveyance resistance force when changing the angle of the 2nd surface of a gate component into two angles. FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration explanatory diagram of a document conveyance auxiliary device according to a second embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the conveyance direction of the card | curd by a document conveyance auxiliary device. Explanatory drawing of a gate member. Explanatory drawing of operation | movement of the gate components when carrying a card | curd. Explanatory drawing of the area | region where the action line of the urging | biasing force which acts on the gate component based on Example 3, the action line of the dead weight of a gate component, and two action lines exist. Explanatory drawing of the gate sliding part of the gate components which mutually slide when the gate components move based on the structural example 5 of Example 4, and the guide sliding part of a guide part. It is explanatory drawing of the displacement amount in the urging | biasing direction of the gate components based on Example 5. FIG. Explanatory drawing about the arrangement | positioning of the compression spring in the main scanning direction of the gate component based on Example 6, and the center position of the width direction of the card | curd to convey. Explanatory drawing of two structural examples at the time of providing a 1st recessed part etc. only in the gate components based on Example 7. FIG.

Hereinafter, as an image forming apparatus provided with an automatic document feeder (hereinafter simply referred to as “ADF”) to which the document feeder auxiliary device 100 to which the present invention is applied is attached, an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine 1). Will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a copying machine 1 according to the present embodiment.
The copying machine 1 according to the present embodiment mainly includes an image forming unit 3, an image reading unit 4, and an ADF 5. The reading device 6 of the present embodiment is mainly composed of an image reading unit 4 and an ADF 5.

  The image forming unit 3 of the present embodiment includes, for example, an exposure unit as a latent image forming unit, a photosensitive drum as a plurality of latent image carriers, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), An electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a developing device using black (K) toner of four colors, an intermediate transfer portion, a secondary transfer portion, and a fixing portion. Note that an image forming apparatus of another method such as an ink jet method may be used.

  The image forming unit 3, for example, exposes the photosensitive drum of each color by an exposure unit based on image data obtained by reading the image of the reading device 6 or image data transmitted from an external device such as a personal computer. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum, and toner is supplied to the latent image on each photosensitive drum by a developing device of each color for development. Further, the image forming unit 3 primarily transfers the toner images on the photosensitive drums of the respective colors so as to overlap each other on the intermediate transfer belt of the intermediate transfer unit, and then performs secondary transfer onto the recording paper as a recording material in the secondary transfer unit. The toner image on the recording paper is fixed by heating and pressurizing at the fixing unit to form a color image.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a basic configuration of the reading device 6 provided in the image forming apparatus. 2A is a schematic explanatory diagram of one-pass double-sided simultaneous reading for reading a bundle of documents loaded on a document tray 51 (document table) in the flatbed scanner mode and the DF scanner mode, and FIG. It is an outline explanatory view of 1-pass double-sided simultaneous reading in the DF scanner mode.
The reading device 6 includes a DF scanner mode (conveyed original reading mode) for reading an original image during automatic conveyance, and a flat bed scanner mode (placed original reading mode) for reading an image of an original placed on a flat contact glass. It can be switched to.
In the DF scanner mode, one-pass duplex reading for reading a bundle of documents loaded on the document tray 51, card documents loaded on (placed on) a manual feed tray (manual feed table) 61, etc. There is a straight one-line manual reading that conveys and reads a sheet document S that is not folded.

In the flatbed scanner mode, the image reading unit 4 irradiates light on an image surface of a document (for example, a document sheet, cardboard, book, etc.) on the flatbed contact glass 41, and reflects the reflected light from the image surface as an image signal. The original image can be read by converting to.
Here, when reading a document image, the reading is performed by moving the surface reading CIS 45a moving from the left in the figure under the flat bed contact glass 41 while being guided by the guide 46.

In the DF scanner mode, in one-pass double-sided simultaneous reading that reads a bundle of documents stacked on a document tray 51 that is a sheet placement table, reading is performed as follows.
The ADF 5 is a sheet feeding / separating mechanism 54 disposed at the entrance of the first feeding port 52 for each sheet document S from a bundle of documents stacked on a document tray 51 whose width direction is regulated by an end fence. The paper is separated and carried into the original conveyance path 55, and is conveyed along the original conveyance path 55. During the conveyance, the front side of the sheet document S partially faces the surface side contact glass 42a of the image reading unit 4 sequentially from the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and is read by the surface reading CIS 45a. Yes. On the other hand, the back side of the sheet document S partially faces the back side contact glass 42b of the image reading unit 4 sequentially from the upstream side in the conveying direction and is read by the back side reading CIS 45b.

  Specifically, first, an original is placed on the original tray 51, and the first sensor 53 detects the sheet original S. When scanning is selected on the operation panel 200, the uppermost sheet document S is called from the document placed on the document tray 51 by the paper feed / separation mechanism 54, and the sheet document S is separated into one sheet and conveyed by a roller. The While the original is transported by the first document transport mechanism 203 and the second document transport mechanism 204, the image is read by the front surface reading CIS 45a and the back surface reading CIS 45b, transported by the third document transport mechanism 205, and finally discharged. A document is discharged onto the tray 56.

On the other hand, in the DF scanner mode, in the straight one-sheet manual reading for reading the sheet document S such as the card C stacked on the manual feed tray 61 that is not bent, the reading is performed as follows.
The ADF 5 feeds an unfolded sheet document S such as a card C stacked on a manual feed tray 61 that can be opened and closed near the middle of the document transport path 55 from the manual feed port 62 into the manual document transport path 64. It is carried in along a manual document feed path 64 (a straight portion on the substantially same plane downstream of the document feed direction in the middle of the document feed path 55). During the conveyance, the front side of the sheet document S partially faces the surface side contact glass 42a of the image reading unit 4 sequentially from the upstream side in the conveyance direction, and is read by the surface reading CIS 45a. Yes. On the other hand, the back side of the sheet document S partially faces the back side contact glass 42b of the image reading unit 4 sequentially from the upstream side in the conveying direction and is read by the back side reading CIS 45b.

Specifically, first, the manual detection sensor 63 detects a document by inserting the document on the manual feed tray 61 into the manual feed port 62. About 1 second later, the roller of the second document transport mechanism 204 rotates by a minute amount, the document is nipped at the nip portion, and the document is pre-fed. Then, when scanning is selected on the operation panel 200, the second document transport mechanism 204 rotates to feed the document. After both sides of the original are read by the front side reading CIS 45 a and the back side reading CIS 45 b, the original is conveyed by the third original conveying mechanism 205, and the original is discharged onto the discharge tray 56.
Further, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1, the manual feed tray 61 is provided with a card insertion slot 7 for inserting a card C or the like even when the manual feed tray 61 is closed. The card C and the like can be transported.

Here, it is often the case that patients are crowded as the patients line up in a row when a medical ticket is renewed or a new medical ticket is issued at the hospital. There is a need to scan a plastic card (hereinafter card) in a short time. In spite of this kind of nudity, in the conventional ADF, the user has to insert a card one by one into the manual feed entrance and press the “scan start button” for each scan. There was a problem that the card could not be scanned in a short time.
For some document scanners, there are some models that can scan the card continuously for about 5 sheets, but it is considered that the effect is weak with about 5 sheets, and the document scanner has only a scanning function, and has an ADF function. It is hard to be.
In other words, the conventional ADF has a problem that a sufficiently large number of cards cannot be scanned in a short time.

In response to the need to scan plastic cards such as examination tickets and identification cards, particularly in medical work, the inventor has developed the following two concepts.
(1) “Straight one-sheet manual feed” function Scans important documents without bending them. In other words, the document can be scanned without tilting by using the side fence of the manual feed tray during document conveyance.
(2) “One-pass double-sided simultaneous scanning” function Even if the document does not bend, both sides can be scanned once without opening the pressure plate to expose the flatbed contact glass.

Here, regarding the above “(1)”, a conventional configuration will be described with reference to the drawings.
3 is an explanatory view of the card insertion slot 7 and the manual feed tray 61. FIG. 3 (a) is an explanatory view of the card insertion slot 7, and FIG. 3 (b) is an explanatory view of the manual feed tray 61. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which the user carries the card C while manually placing it on the card insertion slot 7 or the manual feed tray 61 without providing the document conveyance assisting device 100. 4A is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which the user manually inserts (conveys) the card C into the card insertion slot 7 in the card insertion slot 7, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the structure which mounts C and conveys.

There are two conventional methods for scanning the card C and the like.
(1-1)
As shown in FIG. 3A, the card C is inserted into the card insertion slot 7 provided in the manual feed tray 61 without opening the manual feed tray 61. As shown in FIG. The card C is inserted (conveyed) into the card insertion slot 7.
(1-2)
As shown in FIG. 3B, the manual feed tray 61 is opened, the side fence is adjusted to the size of the original, and the card C is inserted into the insertion slot. As shown in FIG. The user manually places the card C on the manual feed tray 61 and conveys it.

However, none of the methods described with reference to FIG. 3 cannot solve the problem that a sufficiently large number of cards C cannot be scanned in a short time.
Therefore, when a document conveyance auxiliary device to which the configuration described in Patent Document 1 is applied is connected to the card insertion slot 7, a sufficiently large number of cards can be scanned in a short time, but the following problems may occur. I understood.
When used in a configuration in which the card C is transported toward the card insertion slot 7 (manual feed slot 62) provided in the vicinity of the middle portion of the document transport path 55 of the ADF 5, the ADF 5, the reading device 6, and the copying machine provided with the card C There is a problem that the size of 1 is increased and the cost is increased.

Specifically, it is necessary to secure the length of the rotation rib or document table (arm length) for separating the document by a predetermined length, and the distance from the line of action of the force applied to the document to the rotation center. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the horizontal size of the ADF 5, the reading device 6, and the copier 1 including the same is increased.
In addition, since the contact portion when the rotating rib presses the document is a point, a high torque drive motor that rotates the document table is necessary to give a predetermined conveyance resistance force to separate the document. Thus, the cost of the ADF 5, the reading device 6, and the copying machine 1 is increased.
Hereinafter, the card C is transported toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document transport path 55, which has been found by the inventor in order to solve the main problems described above and other problems described in detail later. The configuration of the document transport assisting apparatus 100 will be described with reference to a plurality of embodiments.

(Example 1)
First, a diagram of Example 1 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. It explains using.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory perspective view of a configuration in which the user places the card C on the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5 and conveys it manually according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram before placing the card C on the placement surface of the card stacking unit 112 provided in the document transport assisting apparatus 100, and FIG. 5B is a placement surface of the card stacking unit 112. It is explanatory drawing when a user conveys, after mounting the card | curd C and pressing it. FIG. 6 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of card conveyance from the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5 (reading device 6).

As shown in the perspective explanatory views of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 of this embodiment includes a card insertion slot 7 with the manual feed tray 61 of the ADF 5 closed, It is attached to the ADF 5 (manual feed tray 61) so that the position thereof coincides with the position (the carry-out port 115).
Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, the pressurizing mechanism 101 of the attached document conveyance auxiliary device 100 is opened so as to rotate from the stacking case 102, and the card stacking unit 112 for stacking the cards C is opened. The placement surface is exposed, and a desired number of cards C are stacked. Thereafter, the pressurizing mechanism 101 is rotated and closed to pressurize the card C, and then the card transport lever 111 (card rear end pushing part 113) is moved so that the user transports the card C stacked at the lowermost position. Slide to ADF5 side.

Further, when the card C is transported in this manner, the card insertion slot 7 of the closed manual feed tray 61 as shown in FIG. 6 serves as a feeding slot for transporting the card C by the document transport auxiliary device 100.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the stacking case 102 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5 (card insertion slot 7) is a substantially linear conveyance path inclined so as to become higher along the downstream of the conveyance path. Have Since the stacking case 102 has a function of continuously transporting the card C to the entrance of the transport path, the document transport auxiliary device 100 has the same inclination as the manual document transport path 64 of the ADF 5 as shown in FIGS. It has a linear conveyance path.
Then, it is attached so that the position of the carry-out port 115 of the auxiliary document conveyance device 100 (see FIG. 8) coincides with the position of the card insertion port 7 which is the conveyance inlet in a state where the manual feed tray 61 of the ADF 5 is closed.

Further, as will be described in detail later, in the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the card C placed on the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 is inserted into the carry-out port 115 or the card insertion. Two surfaces are provided on the gate component 120 that is opened and closed by a conveying force that is conveyed toward the mouth 7.
Specifically, the gate member 120 that is urged by the compression spring 140 in the urging direction perpendicular (substantially parallel to the direction of gravity) and can be opened and closed by displacing in the urging direction has the following two surfaces. Provided.
When the gate component 120 is closed, the first surface 121 that contacts the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and the biasing direction by the compression spring 140 when the card C contacts and opens during transportation are opposite to each other. It is the 2nd surface 122 which receives the force displaced in a direction.

Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the second surface provided on the gate component 120 of the present embodiment is configured so as to be higher toward the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the card C, and in the urging direction by the compression spring 140. They are not orthogonal.
Further, as described above, by using the compression spring 140 as the urging member that urges the gate component 120, it is possible to contribute to cost reduction and space saving of the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100.

Next, the basic configuration of the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 and the positional relationship with the ADF 5 (reading apparatus 6) will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the document transport assisting apparatus 100 and the positional relationship with the ADF 5. 8A is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the document conveyance assisting device 100, FIG. 8B is an explanatory diagram of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction in the ADF 5, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a main scanning direction and a sub scanning direction in the apparatus 100. FIG.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for transporting the card C by the document transport assisting apparatus 100. FIG. 9A shows a state in which the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 is exposed, and FIG. FIG. 9C shows a state where C is loaded, and FIG. 9C shows a state where the loaded card C is pressurized. 9D shows a state where the card carrying lever 111 is slid (moved) and the card C is carried out from the carry-out port 115 provided in the guide portion 130. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the document transport assisting apparatus 100 includes a stacking case 102 having a card stacking unit 112 for stacking cards C, and an additivity supported so as to be openable and closable with respect to the stacking case 102. A pressure mechanism 101 is provided.
Further, the card rear end pushing part 113 for pushing the card C in the carrying direction, the card carrying lever 111 that the user holds and slides to move the card C, and the closed pressure mechanism 101 are unlocked. A pressure mechanism release button 114 is also provided.
Further, on the downstream side of the card conveying direction, which is the document conveying direction of the stacking case 102, a carry-out port 115 for carrying out the card C is provided, and opening / closing of the gate component 120 that opens and closes the carry-out port 115 is guided (guided). A guide portion 130 is formed. The guide portion 130 is formed with a rectangular carry-out port 115 through which the card C to be conveyed passes, and is configured so that the placement surface 105 of the card stacking portion 112 is substantially flush with the lower portion of the carry-out port 115. ing.
The pressurizing mechanism 101 has a pressurizing plate 118 that pressurizes the card C stacked on the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 when closed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8B, the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction in the ADF 5 (reading device 6) are the conveyance direction in which the card C is inserted from the card insertion slot 7 of the closed manual feed tray 61. The document width direction perpendicular to the sub-scanning is the main scanning direction. In other words, the conveyance direction of the card C inserted from the card insertion slot 7 corresponds to the sub-scanning direction, and the width direction of the card C corresponds to the main scanning direction.
On the other hand, when these directions are applied to the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5, the card conveyance lever 111 is slid and moved to extrude the card C to move the card rear end extrusion component 113 or the card C. The conveyance direction corresponds to the sub-scanning direction. A direction parallel to the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and perpendicular to the card C transport direction corresponds to the main scanning direction.

  The procedure for transporting the card C by the document transport assisting device 100 is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 9A, the pressurizing mechanism 101 is rotated and opened to expose the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112. As shown in FIG. 9B, the card C is stacked on the mounting surface 105 of the exposed card stacking unit 112. When the card C is loaded, the pressure mechanism 101 is closed to pressurize the card C as shown in FIG. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9D, the card carrying lever 111 is slid to carry out the card C from the carry-out port 115 provided in the guide portion 130.

Next, the separation mechanism of the card C by the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the card C separating mechanism by the document conveyance assisting device 100. FIG. 10 (a) is a perspective explanatory view of the pressurizing mechanism 101 in an open state, and FIGS. 10 (b) and 10 (c). ) Is an explanatory diagram when one card C is placed. FIG. 10D and FIG. 10E are explanatory diagrams when a plurality of cards C are stacked. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the force generated in the second card when a plurality of cards C are stacked.
Here, in FIG. 10B to FIG. 10E and FIG. 11, the conveyance direction of the card C is shown in a substantially horizontal direction. The biasing direction of the gate component 120 by the spring 140 is configured to be substantially vertical.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of this embodiment is provided such that the biasing direction of the gate component 120 by the compression spring 140 is substantially parallel to the direction of gravity. The biasing direction of the gate component 120 by 140 is substantially vertical.

In the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the card C pushes up the gate component 120 by the conveyance force of the card C as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10E in order to cope with various card thicknesses. I opened it. Further, a compression spring 140 is provided on the upper part of the gate part 120 so that a closing force is generated when the card C pushes up the gate part 120 to open the gate part 120.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, when only one card C is placed on the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and conveyed in the direction of the arrow, the card C The front end of the contact portion abuts on the second surface 122 which is an oblique corner cut portion of the gate component 120. The gate component 120 is pushed up by the component force of this contact, and is lifted obliquely upward in the figure to open the gate.
Here, until the card C comes into contact with the gate component 120, the first surface 121 parallel to the placement surface 105 is placed on the card stacking unit 112 by the weight of the gate component 120 and the urging force of the compression spring 140. It is in contact with the mounting surface 105 and closed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10D and 10E, when a plurality of cards C are placed on the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and conveyed in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the first The leading end of the card C comes into contact with the second surface 122 which is an oblique corner cut portion of the gate component 120, and the gate component 120 is raised.
However, when the first card C at the bottom is transported, a frictional force with the first card C is generated on the second card that is immediately above it, so the first card C In conjunction with this, there is a possibility that the second card is also conveyed by pushing up the gate part 120 together to cause double feeding.
In order to prevent this double feed, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the design value of the closing force of the gate component 120 is “the component force of the frictional force between the second card and the first card C”. The closing force of the gate component 120 is set to 0.2 N including the tolerance so as to exceed 0.08 N ″.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the document transport assisting apparatus 100 according to this embodiment described above has a card stacking unit 112 that functions as a document tray having a mounting surface 105 as a document mounting surface on which cards C are stacked. have. In addition, a card transport lever 111 that functions as a transport means for transporting the card C loaded on the upper surface toward the card insertion port 7 that is a feeding port provided near the middle of the document transport path 55 of the ADF 5 is also provided. ing. Further, it also includes a gate component 120 that is biased by a compression spring 140 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and that can be opened and closed by being displaced in the biasing direction.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, the gate component 120 is opened when the document is brought into contact with the first surface 121 such as the first surface 121 that contacts the placement surface 105 when closed, and the document is opened when the document is conveyed. And a second surface such as a second surface 122 that receives a force in a direction opposite to the biasing direction.

By configuring in this way, the following effects can be achieved.
In a conventional document transport auxiliary device, when used in a configuration for transporting a document toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a transport path of an automatic document transport device, there is a device such as an automatic document transport device provided with the same. There was a problem of increasing the size and cost.
Specifically, it is necessary to secure the length of the rotation rib or document table (arm length) for separating the document by a predetermined length, and the distance from the line of action of the force applied to the document to the rotation center. Therefore, there is a high risk that the size of the horizontal direction of an automatic document feeder or the like provided with this will increase.
In addition, since the contact portion when the rotating rib presses the document is a point, a high torque drive motor that rotates the document table is necessary to give a predetermined conveyance resistance force to separate the document. As a result, the cost of the automatic document feeder becomes high.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the gate component 120 material that separates the plurality of cards C is urged by the compression spring 140 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the placement surface 105 and contacts the placement surface 105 when closed. It is a member having a first surface 121 that contacts and a second surface 122 that receives a force in a direction opposite to the biasing direction when the card C abuts and opens during conveyance.
Therefore, the size in the horizontal direction can be reduced and the compression spring 140 can be used as the urging member, compared to the configuration in which the conventional rotating rib or document table for separating the document is provided, and the cost can be increased with the conventional configuration. There is no need to provide the high-torque drive motor.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the document transport assisting apparatus 100 that can prevent the apparatus such as the ADF 5 including the document transport assisting apparatus 100 from being increased in size and cost.

Here, in order to separate the card C, a method of simply separating the card C by providing a hole slightly larger than the thickness of the card C at the same position as the gate component 120 is conceivable. The reason why the card C is separated by opening and closing the gate component 120 will be described.
As described above, since there are many needs for scanning of medical cards such as examination tickets and identification cards in medical work, scanning of various card C thicknesses of 0.8 [mm] or less is also supported. It is desirable.
However, for large hospitals, JIS standard 0.76 [mm] thickness is standardized for large hospitals, but it is about 0.5 [mm] for relatively small hospitals and is used by hospitals. The thickness of the examination ticket to be used was different.

In the method of providing a hole slightly larger than the thickness of the card C described above, for example, a hole for separating a card having a thickness of 0.76 [mm], which is a thickness of JIS standard often used in hospitals, is used. If the processing tolerance is included, the hole generally has a height of about 0.85 [mm] to 0.9 [mm].
On the other hand, similarly to the card with a thickness of 0.76 [mm], when a 0.48 [mm] card, which is a thickness of JIS standard often used in hospitals, is separated using this hole, If it is two sheets, the thickness is about 0.96 [mm]. For this reason, depending on the processing tolerance of the hole, two 0.48 [mm] cards may be passed (multiple feed), or the two cards may be jammed in the middle of passing through the hole and cannot be conveyed. Thus, it is difficult to convey the document stably.

In addition, additional costs are incurred to increase the machining accuracy and make the hole as high as about 0.85 [mm]. In other words, the method of providing holes in accordance with the card thickness at the same position has a demerit that it is difficult to cope with various card thicknesses and the card thickness is limited.
On the other hand, in the separation method using the gate component 120 having the configuration of the present embodiment, the gate component 120 is displaced and opened / closed by the thickness of the card C, so that only the gate component 120 and the biasing member are provided. Cards of various types can be transported stably.

With the configuration as described above, the document transport assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can achieve the following effects.
As described above, the conventional document transport auxiliary device includes an automatic document transport provided with a document transporting device that feeds a document toward a feeding port provided near the middle of the transport path of the automatic document transport device. There has been a problem that a device such as a device is increased in size or cost.
Specifically, it is necessary to secure the length of the rotation rib or document table (arm length) for separating the document by a predetermined length, and the distance from the line of action of the force applied to the document to the rotation center. Therefore, there is a high risk that the size of the horizontal direction of an automatic document feeder or the like provided with this will increase.
In addition, since the contact portion when the rotating rib presses the document is a point, a high torque drive motor that rotates the document table is necessary to give a predetermined conveyance resistance force to separate the document. As a result, the cost of the automatic document feeder becomes high.

On the other hand, in the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 of this embodiment described above, the gate component 120 for separating the card C as described above is a member having the following two surfaces.
The card C is in contact with the first surface 121 that is urged by the compression spring 140 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and that contacts the mounting surface 105 when closed. And a second surface 122 that receives a force that is displaced in a direction opposite to the biasing direction.
Therefore, the size in the horizontal direction can be reduced and the compression spring 140 can be used as the urging member, compared to the configuration in which the conventional rotating rib or document table for separating the document is provided, and the cost can be increased with the conventional configuration. There is no need to provide the high-torque drive motor.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the document transport assisting apparatus 100 that can prevent the ADF 5 including the document transport assisting apparatus 100, the reading device 6 including the same, and the copying machine 1 including these from increasing in size and cost.

In the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 of the present embodiment, it is preferable that the thickness of the card C to be conveyed is set to 0.48 [mm] or more and 0.78 [mm] or less.
According to this, cards C having various thicknesses of 0.48 [mm] or more and 0.78 [mm] or less can be reliably conveyed.
More specifically, with a thickness of about 0.4 mm [mm] and 0.78 [mm] in conformity with JIS II standards, a thickness of about 0.5 [mm], which is often found in hospital examination tickets. Can also handle manuscripts.

In the document conveyance auxiliary device 100, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the card C to be conveyed are preferably 53.98 [mm] and 85.60 [mm], respectively.
According to this, the following effects can be produced.
The size of the card C described above is a card size that conforms to the JIS II standard and is often conveyed toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle portion of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5.
For this reason, many of hospital examination tickets, credit cards, cash cards, driver's licenses, my number cards, and the like can be suitably transported.

Further, in the document conveyance auxiliary device 100, the document to be conveyed is at least one of “carrier sheet”, “plastic card”, “postcard”, “envelope”, “form”, “clear file”, and “business card”. It is preferable.
According to this, even an original thicker than a general sheet original S can be suitably conveyed toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle part of the original conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5.

Further, it is preferable that the document conveyance assisting device 100 is configured to be detachable from the ADF 5.
According to this, the ADF 5, the reading device 6, and the copying machine 1 which are removed from the ADF 5 and attached when the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 is not used can be miniaturized.

(Example 2)
First, a diagram of Example 2 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle portion of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. It explains using.
The document transport assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment only in the configuration relating to being orthogonal to the urging direction of the second surface 122 provided on the gate component 120.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first embodiment described above, and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished.
First, before describing the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the evaluation result of the prototype of the document conveyance assisting apparatus to which the configuration of the first embodiment described above is applied, and a new problem to be considered from the evaluation result. explain.
12 is an evaluation result of the prototype of the document conveyance auxiliary device to which the configuration of the first embodiment is applied, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the reaction force from the gate component 120.

As shown in the evaluation result of FIG. 12, when the document was transported to the automatic document feeder using the prototype of the document transport assisting device, the evaluation was Δ regarding the transport resistance of the evaluation item (5).
There is a problem that the conveyance resistance is 7.2 [N] with respect to the target value 6 [N], that is, the conveyance resistance is large and an appropriate conveyance resistance cannot be given, and there is room for improvement in operability. It was. Further, as an impression at the time of evaluation, the card conveying lever 111 was slightly reluctant.
One of the main factors of this conveyance resistance is that when it is attempted to convey as shown in FIG. 13B, it contacts the gate component 120 during card conveyance as shown in FIG. 13A. The reaction force from the gate component 120 is mentioned.
The reason is that, in the evaluation, the conveyance resistance is 7.2 [N] which is the maximum value when the leading end of the card abuts against the gate during card conveyance.

Therefore, the examination is repeated by paying attention to the angle with the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 with which the front end of the card C abuts when the card is conveyed, and the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is orthogonal to the urging direction by the compression spring 140. It has been found that the conveyance resistance can be suitably reduced.
Next, the contents examined will be briefly described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the conveyance resistance when the angle of the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is changed to two angles. 14 (a) and 14 (b) are explanatory views of an example in which the original contact surface is not orthogonal to the direction of the urging force. FIGS. 14 (c) and 14 (d) are the original contact surface. It is explanatory drawing when is orthogonal to the action direction of urging | biasing force.

In the configuration in which the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is not orthogonal to the urging direction by the compression spring 140 as shown in FIG. It becomes as follows.
Since the document contact surface of the gate component is not orthogonal to the direction of the urging force, a component of the reaction force of the gate push-up force is generated as shown in FIG. 14B, and the reaction force of the generated gate push-up force is reduced. The resultant force of the component force and the friction force becomes the card document conveyance resistance. For this reason, a conveyance resistance force becomes larger than the structure where the 2nd surface 122 of the gate component 120 mentioned later is orthogonal to the urging | biasing direction by the compression spring 140 mentioned later.
On the other hand, in the configuration in which the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is orthogonal to the urging direction by the compression spring 140 as shown in FIG. 14C, the reaction force of the gate push-up force as shown in FIG. Is not generated, and the resultant force of the frictional force becomes the conveyance resistance of the card document and becomes small.

For these reasons, in order to generate the same gate pushing force as that shown in FIG. 14C in the configuration shown in FIG. 14A, a larger conveying force than in the case shown in FIG. 14C is required. It becomes. Therefore, the conveyance resistance is also larger than in the case of FIG.
In short, in order to generate a gate pushing force of the same magnitude, the case of FIGS. 14C and 14D is more transported than the case of FIGS. 14A and 14B. Since the reaction force of the force is small, it can be realized with a small conveying force.
Accordingly, the conveyance resistance is less in the case of FIGS. 14C and 14D.

Next, a specific configuration of the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the conveyance direction of the card C by the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100. 17A and 17B are explanatory views of the gate component 120. FIG. 17A is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the gate component 120, and FIG. 17B is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the gate component 120.
As shown in FIG. 15, in the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the second surface 122, which is a document contact surface on which the document contacts when the gate component 120 is transported, is attached to the gate component 120 by the compression spring 140. It is orthogonal to the direction of force. That is, the angle formed by the biasing direction of the gate component 120 by the compression spring 140 and the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is 90 [°].
Here, since the biasing direction of the gate component 120 by the compression spring 140 is provided so as to be substantially parallel to the direction of gravity, the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 is substantially parallel.

Then, when the card C is conveyed along the placement surface 105, the card C abuts against the gate component 120 and then opens to push up the gate component 120. The gate opening / closing direction, which is the opening / closing direction of the gate component 120 at this time, is also substantially parallel to the direction of gravity, that is, substantially perpendicular.
The card C that pushes up (opens) the gate component 120 and passes below the gate component 120 is delivered to the second document transport mechanism 204 of the ADF 5.
Here, as shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and 17 (b), the gate component 120 includes a second surface 122, which is a transporting document contact surface on which the transported card C first contacts, and a document. The first surface 121 is a surface that is in contact with the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 at times other than the above.

Next, the operation of the gate component 120 when the card C is transported will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the gate component 120 when the card C is transported. 18A is an explanatory diagram when the first card C1 (original) is started to be transported, and FIG. 18B is a diagram illustrating the first card C1 first hitting the second surface 122 of the gate component 120. It is explanatory drawing at the time of contact. FIG. 18C is an explanatory diagram during document conveyance when the first card C1 pushes up the gate component 120 and finishes opening, and the document is conveyed under the gate component 120. FIG. It is explanatory drawing after the conveyance of the 1st card | curd C1 by the auxiliary | assistant apparatus 100 is complete | finished.

  As shown in FIG. 18A, when conveyance of a plurality of cards C (originals) is started, all the cards C including the first card C1 are positioned upstream in the card conveyance direction by the action of gravity. is doing. In this state, the first surface 121 of the gate component 120 is in a closed state in contact with the placement surface 105. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 18B, the front end of the first card C1 in the card conveying direction (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the front end of the document) comes into contact with the second surface 122 of the gate component 120. After the contact, as shown in FIG. 18 (c), the leading edge of the document pushes up the gate member 120 and is moved upward by the conveying force for conveying the first card C1, and the gate component is opened. It passes while sliding on the first surface of 120.

Then, as shown in FIG. 18D, when the conveyance of the first card C1 from the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 is completed, the gate component 120 that has been displaced upward is subjected to the urging force and the own weight of the compression spring 140. As a result, the first surface 121 returns to the closed state where it abuts against the placement surface 105.
By repeating the operation as described above, a plurality of cards C accommodated in the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 can be conveyed (carryed out) continuously from the stacking case 102.

  The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, so that the reaction force (during conveyance) (the second surface 122 of the gate part 120 is not perpendicular to the urging direction). The card C can be transported with a small transport force since the transport reaction force) can be reduced.

(Example 3)
First, a diagram of Example 3 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle portion of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. It explains using.
The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to this embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments described above only in the configuration related to the action line of the urging force acting on the gate part 120 and the action line of the gate part 120 by its own weight.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first and second embodiments and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished. In the following description, a configuration when the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is applied to the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a region where an action line of the urging force acting on the gate part 120 of the present embodiment, an action line of its own weight of the gate part 120, and two action lines exist. FIG. 19A shows two action lines and two action lines when the first card C1 first contacts the second surface 122, that is, when the gate component 120 is closed. It is explanatory drawing of the area | region to perform. FIG. 19B is an explanatory diagram of two action lines when the first card C1 pushes up the second surface 122 (gate component 120) and a region where the two action lines exist. .

In the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of this embodiment, the gate member 120 is operated by the compression spring 140 so that the action line due to the compression spring 140 and the action line due to the weight of the gate part 120 are in the relationship shown in FIG. And the shape of the gate component 120 and the like.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19A, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the action line of the urging force by the compression spring 140 and the action line of the gravity center position of the gate component 120 substantially coincide with each other in the cross section in the main scanning direction. It is configured to do.
In addition, the two lines of action that are substantially coincident with each other are that the card stacking portion 112 of the card stacking unit 112 is closed when the gate component 120 is closed from the contact position where the tip of the card C1 to be conveyed starts to contact the second surface 122 of the gate component 120. It exists in the area | region to the edge part position of the 2nd surface 122 which is contact | abutting to the mounting surface 105. FIG. That is, the two substantially matching action lines are within the range in which the gate component 120 moves while being pushed up while the tip of the card C1 being conveyed is in contact with the second surface 122 of the gate component 120, that is, FIG. a) It is configured so as to be located in a region indicated by R in the drawing.

  The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, so that the gate component 120 can be supported (lifted) by the gate pushing force more effectively. Can be supported. Therefore, the card C1 can be transported with a smaller transport force.

Conversely, as shown in FIG. 19A, either the action line due to the compression spring 140 or the action line due to the dead weight of the gate component 120 is located outside the region indicated by R in FIG. 19B. If this is the case, the gate push-up force, the biasing force by the compression spring 140, and the gate gravity center position will be different.
If they are different from each other, a rotational moment larger than that shown in FIG. 19A is generated, and the frictional force when the gate part 120 comes into contact with the guide part 130 that guides the gate part 120 causes the conveyance resistance. There is a risk that the conveyance resistance will eventually increase.

Example 4
Next, a plurality of examples 4 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment will be described. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 19 used in the description of the first embodiment.
The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the first to third embodiments described above, the configuration of the first surface 121 and the second surface of the gate component 120, and the gate sliding portion 125 of the gate component 120 that slides relative to each other. Only the configuration relating to the guide sliding portion 135 of the guide portion 130 is different.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first to third embodiments described above, and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished. In the following description, a configuration when the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is applied to the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of the gate sliding part 125 of the gate part 120 and the guide sliding part 135 of the guide part 130 that slide with each other when the gate part 120 is displaced.
First, a configuration example of the gate component 120 that can be suitably used in the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
(Configuration example 1)
When the card C is conveyed as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, at least a part of the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 with which the card C abuts is made of a rubber material.
By configuring in this way, the following effects can be achieved.
Contacting the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 prevents the card C from being damaged. Further, since the frictional force generated between the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 and the card C can be increased, the effect of separating the first card C1 from the plurality of cards C can be enhanced.

(Configuration example 2)
17A and 17B, at least a part of the first surface 121 of the gate component 120 that comes into contact with the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 is made of a rubber material.
With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112 and the gate component 120 from being damaged when the gate component 120 comes into contact with the mounting surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112. .

(Configuration example 3)
17A and 17B, at least a part of the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 with which the card C abuts during conveyance is made of a POM material.
By comprising in this way, the slidability of the card | curd C with respect to the 2nd surface 122 of the gate component 120 can be improved (it can be made favorable).

(Configuration example 4)
17A and 17B, at least a part of the second surface 122 of the gate component 120 with which the card C abuts during conveyance is made of a POM material.
By comprising in this way, the slidability of the card | curd C with respect to the gate component 120 1st surface 121 can be improved.

(Configuration example 5)
Next, the gate sliding part 125 of the gate part 120 that slides with each other when the gate part 120 is displaced, and the guide sliding of the guide part 130, which can be suitably used in the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 of the present embodiment. Configuration Example 5 according to the unit 135 will be described with reference to FIG.
In this configuration example, the gate sliding portion 125 of the gate component 120 that slides with each other when the gate component 120 is displaced and the guide sliding portion 135 of the guide portion 130 are configured as follows.
At least a part of the gate sliding portion 125 of the gate component 120 and the guide sliding portion 135 of the guide portion 130 shown in FIG. 20 is made of POM material.
With this configuration, the sliding property of the gate sliding portion 125 of the gate component 120 with respect to the guide sliding portion 135 of the guide portion 130 can be enhanced.

(Example 5)
Next, Example 5 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle portion of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Will be described.
The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is configured to convey between the above-described first to fourth embodiments and the guide part 130 that guides the gate part 120 in the biasing direction and the gate part 120 in the biasing direction. The only difference is that a gap corresponding to the maximum thickness of the card C is provided.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first to fourth embodiments described above, and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished. In the following description, a configuration when the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is applied to the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of the amount of displacement in the biasing direction of the gate component 120 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 21A is an explanatory diagram when the first card C1 first comes into contact with the second surface 122 of the gate component 120, that is, the gate component 120 is closed. FIG. 18C is an explanatory diagram in which the first card C1 pushes up the gate part 120 and finishes opening, while the document being conveyed under the gate part 120 is being conveyed, that is, the gate part 120 is open. is there.

In the separation method using the gate component 120 according to the first to fourth embodiments, since the gate component 120 is displaced and opened / closed by the thickness of the card C, various types can be obtained only by providing the gate component 120 and the biasing member. Can be stably conveyed.
However, if an incorrect card thicker than the maximum thickness of the specification document conveyed by the document conveyance assisting device 100 is placed on the placement surface 105 of the card stacking unit 112, the wrong card is conveyed toward the ADF 5. , There is a risk of clogging in the manual document conveyance path 64 of the ADF 5.

Therefore, in the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 originally conveys the gate part 120 between the guide part 130 that guides the gate part 120 in the urging direction and the gate part 120 in the urging direction. A gap corresponding to the maximum thickness of the specification document (card) to be used is provided.
Specifically, the gap 137 between the end part of the gate part 120 in the urging direction and the guide part 130 when the gate part 120 shown in FIG. 21A is in the closed state is set to the maximum thickness of the specification document to be conveyed, In the closed state shown in FIG. 21B, the gap 137 ′ is eliminated by contact.
With this configuration, by providing a portion that contacts the gate component 120 so that the maximum amount of displacement of the gate component 120 is equal to the thickness of the thickest document (card), a non-standard thickness can be obtained. It is possible to prevent the original from being conveyed.

(Example 6)
Next, Example 6 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Will be described.
The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the arrangement of the compression spring 140 in the width direction of the card C perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the card C of the gate component 120 and the card C to be conveyed. Only the point relating to the center position in the width direction of the head is different. That is, the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment relates to the first to fifth embodiments described above, the arrangement of the compression spring 140 in the main scanning direction of the gate component 120, and the center position in the width direction of the card C to be conveyed. Only the point is different.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first to fifth embodiments described above, and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished. In the following description, a configuration when the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is applied to the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of the compression spring 140 and the center position in the width direction of the card C to be conveyed in the main scanning direction of the gate component 120 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 22A is an explanatory diagram of the cross-sectional positions of FIG. 22B and FIG. 22C used for explaining the arrangement of the compression springs 140 and the center position in the width direction of the card C to be conveyed. FIG. 22B is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which two first compression springs 140a and a second compression spring 140b are provided, and FIG. 22C is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which one compression spring 140 is provided.
In this embodiment, in explaining the arrangement of the compression springs 140 and the center position in the width direction of the card C to be conveyed, FIG. 22A is a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the main scanning direction of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100. 22B and 22B in the d1-d1 cross section shown in FIG.

  In the original conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, in the main scanning direction, as shown in FIG. 22B, the central position in the main scanning direction of the card C1 to be conveyed is the central position in the main scanning direction of the gate component 120. It is comprised so that it may become. The gate component 120 is biased by a first compression spring 140a and a second compression spring 140b disposed along the main scanning direction, and the first compression spring 140a and the second compression spring 140b are connected to the gate component 120. One of the 120 cards C1 is installed near both ends in the width direction (main scanning direction). In addition, the central position of the card C1 conveyed in the width direction of the card C1 substantially coincides with the position of the line of action of the resultant force of the two compression springs 140a and 140b in the width direction of the card C1. It is configured to do.

By configuring in this way, the following effects can be achieved.
The card C1 conveyed using the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 has a certain length in the width direction (about 54 [mm]). For this reason, as shown in FIG. 22 (b), it is better to install two gates at least one at each end than at the center of the gate component 120 by one compression spring 140. The card C1 can be conveyed stably with respect to the end of the component 120 and the gate component 120 rotating.

(Example 7)
Next, a plurality of examples 7 of the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document conveyance path 55 of the ADF 5 (reading device 6) of the present embodiment will be described. An example of the configuration will be given and described with reference to the drawings.
The document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 of the present embodiment has a configuration in which a gap in the urging direction corresponding to the maximum thickness of the specification document is provided between the gate component 120 and the guide unit 130 (for example, Example 5), and a compression spring. The only difference is that a configuration example regarding how to provide 140 is defined.
Therefore, the configuration similar to the configuration described in the first to sixth embodiments, and the operation and effect thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In addition, similar members will be described with the same reference numerals unless particularly distinguished. In the following description, a configuration when the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is applied to the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

In the following description, a configuration having (forming) the first concave portion 128 and the like and the convex portion 126 only on the gate component 120 side with which the compression spring 140 abuts (is connected) will be described. It is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the first concave portion 128 or the like and the convex portion 126 only on the guide portion 130 side with which the compression spring 140 abuts, or the gate component 120 side with which the compression spring 140 abuts and the guide portion 130 side with the first The present invention can also be applied to a configuration having the concave portion 128 or the like and the convex portion 126.
FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of two configuration examples in the case where the first recess 128 or the like is provided only in the gate component 120 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the structural example 6 in the case of having the 1st recessed part 128 substantially corresponding to the outer diameter of this. FIG. 23B shows the second recess 129 having an inner diameter wider than the outer diameter of the compression spring 140 only in the gate component 120 and the inner diameter of the compression spring 140 protruding from the bottom of the second recess 129. It is explanatory drawing of the structural example 7 which has the convex part 126 to do.

In the configuration of the fifth embodiment described above, since the height of the compression spring 140 at the time of maximum compression is not taken into consideration, a recess for accommodating the compression spring 140 is necessarily provided at least between the gate component 120 and the guide portion 130. It is necessary to provide it.
Therefore, in the configuration example 6 and the configuration example 7, at least one of the convex portion 126 that positions the compression spring 140 and that substantially matches the inner diameter of the compression spring 140 and the first recess portion 128 that substantially matches the outer shape of the compression spring 140. This is configured to have the contact portion 124 of the gate component 120.
(Configuration example 6)
In this configuration example, as shown in FIG. 23 (a), only the gate component 120 is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the compression spring 140 and is deeper (longer) than the compression spring height (length). One recess 128 is provided.
(Configuration example 7)
In the present configuration example, as shown in FIG. 23B, at the time of contact, only the gate component 120 has a second recess 129 having an inner diameter wider than the outer diameter of the compression spring 140, and the second recess 129. A convex portion 126 that substantially matches the inner diameter of the compression spring 140 protruding from the bottom portion is provided.

By configuring as in the above configuration example 6 and configuration example 7, the following effects can be achieved.
By providing the first concave portion 128 whose outer diameter substantially matches the outer shape of the compression spring 140 or the convex portion substantially matching the inner diameter of the compression spring 140 inside the second concave portion 129, the concave portion positions the biasing member at the same time. Also, it serves as a guide for the urging member, and the processing cost can be reduced.

In addition, the ADF 5 of the present embodiment includes document transport assisting means for transporting the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle part of the document transport path 55, and any of the above-described document transport assisting means. It is preferable that the document transport assisting device 100 is provided.
According to this, it is possible to provide the ADF 5 that can achieve the same effects as any of the document conveyance assisting devices 100 described above.

Further, the reading device 6 of the present embodiment includes an ADF 5 provided with a document conveyance assisting unit that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle part of the document conveyance path 55, and serves as a document conveyance assisting unit. The ADF 5 provided with any of the above-described document conveyance auxiliary devices 100 is provided.
According to this, it is possible to provide the reading device 6 that can achieve the same effects as the ADF 5 provided with any one of the document conveyance assisting devices 100 described above.

Further, the copying machine 1 of the present embodiment includes an ADF 5 provided with a document conveyance auxiliary unit that conveys the card C toward the card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of the middle of the document conveyance path 55, and serves as a document conveyance auxiliary unit. The ADF 5 provided with any of the above-described document conveyance auxiliary devices 100 is provided.
According to this, it is possible to provide the copying machine 1 that can achieve the same effect as the ADF 5 provided with any one of the document conveyance assisting devices 100 described above.

As described above, the present embodiment has been described with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the configuration including the above-described document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, and the scope does not depart from the gist. The design may be changed.
In this embodiment, the example applied to the document conveyance auxiliary device 100 attached to the ADF 5 (manual feed tray 61) having the reading device 6 of the electrophotographic copying machine 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. Absent. For example, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet type (gel jet type) copying machine.
Further, although the example applied to the document conveyance assisting apparatus 100 that assists the document conveyance of the ADF 5 having the reading device 6 has been described, it is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a configuration that assists sheet conveyance of a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet including a card or the like.

What was demonstrated above is an example, and there exists an effect peculiar for every following aspect.
(Aspect 1)
When a plurality of originals are stacked on an original stacking unit such as the card stacking unit 112, the number of originals such as a card C being conveyed toward a feeding port such as the card insertion port 7 of an automatic document feeder such as the ADF 5 In a document transport assisting device such as the document transport assisting device 100 that assists document transport by the automatic document transport device, the document transport assisting device includes a placement surface 105 of the document stacking unit. A card transport lever 111 for transporting a document stacked on a document placement surface toward a feeding port such as a card insertion slot 7 provided near a middle portion of a transport path such as a document transport path 55 of the automatic document transport device. And a gate component that is urged by a biasing member such as a compression spring 140 in a direction toward the document placement surface and that can open and close a carry-out port such as the carry-out port 115 by being displaced in the biasing direction. The opening / closing member includes a first surface 121 such as a first surface 121 that contacts the document placement surface when closed, and the attachment member when the document contacts and opens during document transportation. And a second surface such as the second surface 122 that receives a force that is displaced in a direction opposite to the biasing direction.

According to this, the following effects can be produced.
In a conventional document transport auxiliary device, when used in a configuration for transporting a document toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a transport path of an automatic document transport device, there is a device such as an automatic document transport device provided with the same. There was a problem of increasing the size and cost.
Specifically, it is necessary to secure the length of the rotation rib or document table (arm length) for separating the document by a predetermined length, and the distance from the line of action of the force applied to the document to the rotation center. Therefore, there is a high risk that the size of the horizontal direction of an automatic document feeder or the like provided with this will increase.
In addition, since the contact portion when the rotating rib presses the document is a point, a high torque drive motor that rotates the document table is necessary to give a predetermined conveyance resistance force to separate the document. As a result, the cost of the automatic document feeder becomes high.

On the other hand, in this aspect, the opening / closing member that separates the document is urged by the urging member in the direction toward the document placement surface, and contacts the document placement surface when closed, and when the document is conveyed A member having a second surface that receives a force that is displaced in a direction opposite to the biasing direction when the document contacts and opens.
Accordingly, the size in the horizontal direction can be reduced and a spring or the like can be used as an urging member, compared to a configuration in which a conventional rotating rib or document table for separating documents is provided. There is no need to provide a high torque drive motor.
Therefore, it is possible to provide a document conveyance assisting device that can suppress an increase in the size and cost of an apparatus such as an automatic document conveyance device including the document conveyance assisting device.

(Aspect 2)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to (Aspect 1), the urging direction by the urging member is a substantially vertical direction.
According to this, the urging force and the own weight can be set in the guiding direction, and the opening / closing member can be opened / closed efficiently.

(Aspect 3)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to (Aspect 1) or (Aspect 2), the second surface of the opening / closing member is orthogonal to the urging direction.
According to this, compared to the configuration in which the second surface of the opening / closing member is not orthogonal to the urging direction, the original can be conveyed with a smaller conveying force because the reaction force (conveying reaction force) when conveying can be reduced.

(Aspect 4)
(Aspect 2) or (Aspect 3), a biasing force for biasing the opening / closing member on a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the transport direction when transporting a document having a cross section or the like perpendicular to the main scanning direction. And the action line of the force due to the weight of the opening / closing member substantially coincide with each other, and the two action lines substantially coincide with each other when the conveyed document starts to contact the second surface of the opening / closing member. It exists in the area | region from the contact position to the edge part position of the said 2nd surface which is contact | abutting to the said document mounting surface when the said opening / closing member is closed.
According to this, the document can be conveyed with a smaller conveying force.

(Aspect 5)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 4), at least a part of the second surface of the opening / closing member with which the document abuts during conveyance is made of a rubber material. .
According to this, it is possible to prevent the original from being damaged by coming into contact with the second surface of the opening / closing member, and to increase the frictional force generated between the second surface of the opening / closing member and the original, thereby separating the original. Can be increased.

(Aspect 6)
(Aspect 1) to (Aspect 4), in the document conveyance auxiliary device, at least a part of the first surface of the opening / closing member contacting the document placement surface is made of a rubber material. And
According to this, it is possible to prevent the original placement surface and the opening / closing member from being damaged when the open / close member contacts the original placement surface.

(Aspect 7)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 4), at least a part of the second surface of the opening / closing member with which the document contacts during conveyance is made of POM material. .
According to this, the slidability of the document with respect to the second surface of the opening / closing member can be enhanced.

(Aspect 8)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 4), at least a part of the first surface of the opening / closing member that is in contact with the document placement surface is made of a POM material. And
According to this, the slidability of the document with respect to the first surface of the opening / closing member can be enhanced.

(Aspect 9)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 8), a sliding portion such as the gate sliding portion 125 of the opening / closing member, a guide portion 130 for guiding the opening / closing member in the biasing direction, and the like. According to this, at least a part of the guide portion such as the guide sliding portion 135 of the guide member is made of POM material. This makes it possible to improve the slidability of the opening / closing member with respect to the guide member.

(Aspect 10)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 9), between the opening / closing member and a guide member such as a guide portion 130 that guides the opening / closing member in the biasing direction in the biasing direction. In addition, a gap corresponding to the maximum thickness of the specification document conveyed by the document conveyance auxiliary device is provided.
According to this, by providing a portion that contacts the opening / closing member so that the maximum displacement of the opening / closing member is equal to the thickness of the thickest document, it is possible to convey a document with a nonstandard thickness. It can be prevented in advance.

(Aspect 11)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 10), the urging member is a compression spring such as a compression spring 140.
This can contribute to cost reduction and space saving of the document conveyance auxiliary device.

(Aspect 12)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 11), the opening / closing member includes a first compression spring 140a disposed along a document width direction orthogonal to a document conveyance direction such as a main scanning direction. The biasing members are biased by a plurality of biasing members such as the second compression spring 140b, and two biasing members of the plurality of biasing members are 1 near both ends of the opening / closing member in the document width direction. The center positions of the documents that are installed one by one and that are conveyed in the document width direction substantially coincide with the positions of the action lines of the resultant force of the urging forces of the plurality of urging members in the document width direction.

According to this, the following effects can be produced.
A document such as a card C conveyed using the document conveyance auxiliary device has a certain length in the document width direction (about 54 [mm]). For this reason, rather than urging the central part of the opening / closing member with one urging member, it is more likely that two ends are installed, at least one at each end, and the end of the opening / closing member is caught. A document can be conveyed stably against rotation.

(Aspect 13)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 12), a convex portion such as a convex portion 126 that substantially matches an inner diameter of the biasing member for positioning the biasing member, and the attachment At least one of the concave portions such as the first concave portion 128 that substantially matches the outer shape of the biasing member is guided by a contact portion such as the contact portion 124 with which the biasing member of the opening / closing member abuts, or the opening / closing member is guided. The opening / closing member of the guide member is provided on any one of the contact surfaces such as the contact surface 134 that contacts in the urging direction.

According to this, the following effects can be produced.
For example, in the configuration of (Aspect 10), since the height of the urging member at the time of maximum compression is not taken into consideration, it is inevitably necessary to provide a recess for storing the urging member.
Therefore, in this aspect, the concave portion positions the biasing member by providing a shape in which the outer diameter of the concave portion substantially matches the outer shape of the biasing member, or a convex portion that substantially matches the inner diameter of the biasing member inside the concave portion. At the same time, it also serves as a guide for the urging member, and the processing cost can be reduced.

(Aspect 14)
(Aspect 1) to (Aspect 13) is characterized in that the thickness of the original to be conveyed is not less than 0.48 [mm] and not more than 0.78 [mm].
According to this, documents with various thicknesses of 0.48 [mm] or more and 0.78 [mm] or less can be reliably conveyed. More specifically, with a thickness of about 0.4 mm [mm] and 0.78 [mm] in conformity with JIS II standards, a thickness of about 0.5 [mm], which is often found in hospital examination tickets. Can also handle manuscripts.

(Aspect 15)
In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Mode 1) to (Mode 14), the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the document to be transported are 53.98 [mm] and 85.60 [mm], respectively. To do.
According to this, the following effects can be produced.
It is a card size conforming to the JIS II standard, which is often transported toward a feeding port provided near the middle of the transport path of the automatic document transport device, and is a hospital examination ticket, credit card, cash card, driver's license. Many of my number cards etc. can be conveyed suitably.

(Aspect 16)
(Aspect 1) In the original conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of (Aspect 15), the original to be conveyed is “carrier sheet”, “plastic card”, “postcard”, “envelope”, “form”, “clear file”, And / or “business card”.
According to this, even a document such as a card C that is thicker than a document such as a general sheet document S is directed to a feeding port provided near the middle of the transport path of the automatic document transport device. Therefore, it can be transported suitably.

(Aspect 17)
In any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 16), the document conveyance auxiliary device is configured to be detachable from the automatic document conveyance device.
According to this, it is possible to reduce the size of an automatic document conveyance device or the like that is detached from the document conveyance auxiliary device and attached when the document conveyance auxiliary device is not used.

(Aspect 18)
In an automatic document conveying apparatus such as an ADF 5 provided with a document conveying auxiliary means for conveying a document such as a card C toward a feeding port such as a card insertion slot 7 provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a conveying path such as a document conveying path 55 The document transport assisting means includes a document transport assisting device such as the document transport assisting device 100 according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 17).
According to this, it is possible to provide an automatic document conveyance device that can achieve the same effects as any one of the document conveyance auxiliary device according to (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 17).

(Aspect 19)
An automatic document conveyance device such as ADF 5 provided with document conveyance auxiliary means for conveying a document such as a card C toward a feeding port such as a card insertion port 7 provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a conveyance route such as the document conveyance route 55 In an original reading apparatus such as the reading apparatus 6 provided, an automatic original conveying apparatus provided with an original conveying auxiliary apparatus such as the original conveying auxiliary apparatus 100 according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 17) as the original conveying auxiliary means. It is characterized by providing.
According to this, it is possible to provide a document reading device that can achieve the same effect as the automatic document transport device provided with the document transport auxiliary device of any one of (Mode 1) to (Mode 17).

(Aspect 20)
An automatic document conveyance device such as ADF 5 provided with document conveyance auxiliary means for conveying a document such as a card C toward a feeding port such as a card insertion port 7 provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a conveyance route such as the document conveyance route 55 The image forming apparatus such as the copying machine 1 includes an automatic document conveyance device provided with a document conveyance assistance device such as the document conveyance assistance device 100 according to any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 17) as the document conveyance assistance unit. It is characterized by that.
According to this, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can achieve the same effect as the automatic document feeder provided with the document feeder auxiliary device of any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 17).

1 Copier 4 Image Reading Unit 5 ADF
6 Reading Device 7 Card Insertion Port 55 Document Transport Path 56 Paper Discharge Tray 61 Manual Tray 62 Manual Feed Port 64 Manual Document Transport Path 100 Document Transport Auxiliary Device 101 Pressing Mechanism 102 Stacking Case 111 Card Transport Lever 112 Card Stacking Section 113 Card rear end pushing part 115 Unloading port 118 Pressure plate 120 Gate part 121 First surface 122 Second surface 124 Contact part 125 Gate sliding part 126 Projection part 128 First recess part 129 Second recess part 130 Guide part 134 Contact surface 135 Guide sliding portion 137 Clearance 140 Compression spring 140a First compression spring (one provided at both ends)
140b Second compression spring (one provided at both ends)
204 Second document transport mechanism C card C1 card (first sheet)
S sheet manuscript

Japanese Patent No. 4907460

Claims (20)

The number of documents conveyed toward the feeding port of the automatic document feeder is restricted to one when a plurality of documents are stacked on the document stacking unit, and assists the document conveyance by the automatic document feeder. In the document transport auxiliary device,
The document transport assisting device includes a transport unit configured to transport a document stacked on a document placement surface of the document stacking unit toward a feeding port provided near a midway of a transport path of the automatic document transport device; An opening / closing member that is biased by a biasing member in a direction toward the document placement surface and can be opened and closed by being displaced in the biasing direction;
The opening / closing member includes a first surface that contacts the document placement surface when closed, and a second surface that receives a force that is displaced in a direction opposite to the biasing direction when the document contacts and opens during document conveyance. A document conveyance auxiliary device characterized by comprising: In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to claim 1,
The document conveyance assisting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the urging direction of the urging member is a substantially vertical direction. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to claim 1 or 2,
The document transport assisting device, wherein the second surface of the opening / closing member is orthogonal to the urging direction. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to claim 2 or 3,
The action line of the urging force that urges the opening / closing member on a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the conveyance direction when conveying the document substantially coincides with the action line of the force due to the weight of the opening / closing member,
The two lines of action that substantially coincide with each other are in contact with the document placement surface when the opening / closing member is closed from a contact position at which the conveyed document starts to contact the second surface of the opening / closing member. An auxiliary apparatus for conveying a document, wherein the auxiliary apparatus exists in a region up to an end position of the second surface. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
At least a part of the second surface of the opening / closing member with which the document abuts during transportation is made of a rubber material. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
At least a part of the first surface of the opening / closing member that comes into contact with the document placement surface is made of a rubber material. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
At least a part of the second surface of the opening / closing member with which the document abuts during transportation is made of a POM material. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
At least a part of the first surface of the opening / closing member that contacts the document placement surface is made of a POM material. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
At least a part of the sliding portion of the opening / closing member and the guide portion of the guide member that guides the opening / closing member in the urging direction is made of a POM material. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
In the urging direction, a gap corresponding to the maximum thickness of the specification document conveyed by the document conveyance auxiliary device is provided between the guide member that guides the opening / closing member in the urging direction and the opening / closing member. A document transport assisting device. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The document conveyance assisting device, wherein the biasing member is a compression spring. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
The opening / closing member is urged by a plurality of urging members arranged along the document width direction orthogonal to the document conveyance direction,
Two urging members among the plurality of urging members are installed one by one near both ends of the document width direction of the opening and closing member,
A document conveyance assisting device, wherein a central position of a document conveyed in the document width direction substantially coincides with a position of an action line of a resultant force of the urging force by the plurality of urging members in the document width direction. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The biasing member of the opening / closing member is at least one of a convex portion that substantially matches the inner diameter of the biasing member for positioning the biasing member and a concave portion that substantially matches the outer shape of the biasing member. A document conveyance assisting device, comprising: an abutting portion on which the abutment contacts, or an abutting surface on which the opening / closing member of the guide member for guiding the opening / closing member abuts in the urging direction. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 13,
A document transport assisting device, wherein a thickness of a document to be transported is 0.48 [mm] or more and 0.78 [mm] or less. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
An apparatus for assisting document conveyance, characterized in that the vertical and horizontal dimensions of a document to be conveyed are 53.98 [mm] and 85.60 [mm], respectively. In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
Document transport assisting device, wherein the document to be transported is at least one of “carrier sheet”, “plastic card”, “postcard”, “envelope”, “form”, “clear file”, and “business card” . In the document conveyance auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 16,
A document transport assisting device configured to be detachable from the automatic document transport device. In an automatic document feeder provided with a document conveyance auxiliary means for conveying a document toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of a conveyance path,
An automatic document conveyance device comprising the document conveyance assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 17 as the document conveyance assistance unit. In an original reading apparatus provided with an automatic original conveying apparatus provided with an original conveying auxiliary means for conveying an original toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle portion of the conveying path,
An original reading apparatus comprising an automatic original conveying apparatus provided with the original conveying auxiliary apparatus according to claim 1 as the original conveying auxiliary means. In an image forming apparatus provided with an automatic document conveying device provided with a document conveying auxiliary means for conveying a document toward a feeding port provided in the vicinity of a middle part of a conveying path,
An image forming apparatus comprising: an automatic document conveying device provided with the document conveying auxiliary device according to claim 1 as the document conveying assisting unit.

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