JP2021098569A - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet conveying device and an image forming apparatus that relax the limitation of the number of sheets to be loaded while preventing the pages from being out of order in the straight path method.SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus, sheets loaded on a document tray 2 having a sheet mounting surface 2a are fed one by one from the top, and the sheet is changed from the posture in which a first side is an upper surface to the posture in which a second side is the upper surface by a paper discharge guide 9, then the posture changed paper is discharged to a paper discharged tray 10 having a sheet mounting surface 10a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an image reader and an image forming apparatus having the same.

Conventionally, an image reading device such as a scanner or an image reading device provided in a copying machine or the like is provided with a document feeding device for continuously feeding a document. This image reading device conveys a document to a predetermined reading position and reads an image while moving the document.

The transport path for reading the image of the original can be roughly classified into two methods. Here, it is called a U-pass method and a striking path method. In the U-pass method, the transport path from the paper feeding section to the paper ejection section is curved in a U shape. By passing the conveyed document through the U-shaped transfer path, the upper surface and the lower surface of the document are exchanged. Therefore, when the loaded documents are fed in order from the top, the page order in the paper feed tray and the page order in the output tray do not get out of order.

However, the U-pass method has a drawback that the operating noise becomes loud because the document is bent and transported while rubbing against the guide surface of the transport path.

On the other hand, in the straight pass method, the original is conveyed from the paper feed section to the image reading section and the paper ejection section without being greatly bent, so that the straight pass method can reduce the operating noise as compared with the U pass method.

In this straight pass method, when the loaded documents are fed in order from the top, the page order in the paper feed tray and the page order in the output tray are out of order. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-16484 proposes a method of feeding paper in order from the bottommost sheet among the loaded sheets in order to make the page order in the paper feeding section and the page order in the paper ejection section match. ing.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-16484

However, in a configuration in which paper is fed in order from the bottommost sheet among the loaded sheets, the weight of all the documents above the paper to be fed acts on the sheet to be fed. In this case, the sheet to be fed needs to be fed against the frictional force due to the weight of the upper sheet, and there is a problem that the sheet cannot be fed when the number of loaded papers is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to propose a sheet transfer device in which the limitation on the number of loaded sheets is relaxed while preventing the page order from being out of order in the straight pass method.

The present invention is an image reading device, in which a first loading means on which a sheet is loaded with the first surface as the upper surface and the uppermost sheet among the sheets loaded on the first loading means are separated and fed. The feeding means for feeding in the direction, the transporting means for transporting the sheet fed by the feeding means, and the transporting means arranged downstream of the first loading means in the feeding direction and being transported by the transporting means. A reading means for reading an image of a sheet and a second surface, which is arranged on the downstream side in the feeding direction of the reading means and the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is the opposite surface of the first surface, is on the upper surface. It has a second loading means for being loaded as a vehicle, and a means for changing the posture of the fed seat from a posture in which the first surface is the upper surface to a posture in which the second surface is the upper surface. It is a feature.

According to the present invention, in the straight pass method, since the upper surface and the lower surface of the sheets fed one by one from the top are exchanged, it is possible to provide a sheet transfer device in which the limitation on the number of loaded sheets is relaxed while preventing the page order from being out of order. Can be done.

Cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention Sectional drawing of the image reader which concerns on this invention Side view of the image reader according to the present invention Cross-sectional view of the transport section of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Perspective view of the document tray portion of the image reader according to the present invention. Side view of the output tray portion of the image reader according to the present invention. A plan view and a cross-sectional view of a paper ejection portion of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Cross-sectional view of the paper ejection portion of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, etc. of the components described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to those unless otherwise specified. Absent. Further, in the present embodiment, the document tray, the paper output tray, and the scanner unit are tilted in order to improve operability, but the present invention is also applied to an image reading device in which the document tray, the paper output tray, and the scanner unit are not tilted. be able to.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 101 has an image reading apparatus 103 including a sheet conveying apparatus 1.

The image reading device 103 includes a scanner unit 701 and a sheet conveying device 1 capable of feeding a document as a sheet. Platen glass is arranged on the upper surface of the scanner unit 701. The scanning unit 701 rotatably supports the sheet transport device 1. When the sheet transfer device 1 is rotated upward, the platen glass is exposed. The scanner unit 701 reads an image of a document placed on a platen glass. The sheet transfer device 1 will be described in detail later. The form incorporated in the image forming apparatus 101 as the image reading apparatus 103 is illustrated here. However, the image reading device 103 may be used as a single device.

Further, the image forming apparatus 101 includes an image forming unit 112 that forms an image by a known electrophotographic method. The image forming unit 112 includes a photoconductor, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a fixing device. The exposure apparatus forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor based on the image information acquired by the image reading apparatus 103. The developing apparatus develops the electrostatic latent image into a developer image with toner. The transfer device transfers the developer image to the conveyed recording medium. The fixing device fixes the developer image on the recording medium to the recording medium.

Further, the image forming apparatus 101 has an operation unit 111, and the user can cause the image forming apparatus 101 to perform a desired operation by the operation unit 111. Further, in the present embodiment, the side on which the operation unit 111 is attached and the operator who operates the operation unit 111 stands is the front surface of the image forming apparatus 101. Hereinafter, the direction from the center to the front side of the image forming apparatus 101 will be described as the front side, and the opposite direction will be described as the back side.

Next, a schematic configuration of the image reading device will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the image reading device 103. FIG. 3 is a side view of the image reading device 103 as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

The image reading device 103 includes a document tray 2, a feeding roller 4, a paper feeding roller 5, a separation roller 6, a transport roller 7, a paper ejection roller 8, a paper ejection guide 9, and a paper ejection tray 10. The image reading device 103 includes image reading units 151 and 201 as reading means for reading the image of the sheet to be conveyed. In the image reading device 103, the feeding roller 4, the paper feeding roller 5, and the separation roller 6 are the feeding means for feeding the highest sheet among the sheets loaded on the document tray 2, the transport roller 7, and the paper ejection roller 8. It is a means of transportation.

In the present embodiment, the direction in which the feeding roller 4 feeds out the sheet is the feeding direction F, and the direction in which the feeding roller 7 and the paper ejection roller 8 feed out the sheet is the feeding direction. Image reading units 151 and 201 are arranged on the downstream side in the feeding direction F from the document tray 2. The paper ejection tray 10 is arranged on the downstream side in the feeding direction F from the image reading units 151 and 201. That is, in the feeding direction F, the document tray 2, the image reading units 151, 201, and the paper ejection tray 10 are arranged in this order, and the document tray 2, the image reading units 151, 201, and the paper ejection tray 10 are arranged in this order.

As shown in FIG. 3, the document D is loaded on the sheet mounting surface 2a of the document tray 2, which is the first loading means. At this time, the surface of the document D facing the sheet mounting surface 2a is the lower surface, and the surface opposite to the sheet mounting surface 2a is the upper surface. The sheet mounting surface 2a is inclined to the back side at an angle θ1 with respect to the vertical surface G parallel to the feeding direction F of the sheet, and the document D is inclined to the back side at an angle θ1 with respect to the vertical surface G. It is loaded in the state. In the present embodiment, the angle θ1 is set to 30 °, but the value is not limited to this value, and 0 ° <θ1 <90 ° may be used. As will be described later, when the sheet transporting device 1 ejects the original, the sheet conveying device 1 tilts the posture of the original to the back side at an angle θ1 with respect to the vertical plane G by the paper ejection guide 9 which is a changing means. Change to a posture that is tilted toward you. At this time, if θ1 is small, depending on the behavior of the document, problems such as the angle of the document being inverted at a position different from the desired timing may occur. Further, if θ1 is too large, the movement of the document becomes large when the posture of the document is changed, which puts a burden on the document. Therefore, it is desirable that the angle θ1 is in the range of 20 ° to 40 °.

The rotation shaft of the feed roller 4 is arranged so as to be inclined by an angle θ1 with respect to the vertical plane G, similarly to the seat mounting surface 2a. When the feeding roller 4 is rotationally driven, the document D loaded on the document tray 2 is conveyed from the upper one toward the paper feeding roller 5. At this time, a plurality of documents D may be conveyed by the feeding roller 4.

Further, the feeding roller 4 is supported by an arm 4a that rotates at the same rotation center as the rotation center of the paper feed roller 5. By rotating the arm 4a, the feeding roller 4 can move to the feeding position and the retracting position. As a result, when the document D is not fed, the feeding roller 4 moves to the retracted position and stands by so as not to come into contact with the document D.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the operation from the paper feed roller 5 to the paper discharge roller 8 until the document D is ejected will be described. The rotation shafts of the paper feed roller 5, the separation roller 6, the transport roller 7, and the paper discharge roller 8 are all arranged in a state of being tilted by θ1 with respect to the vertical plane G in the same manner as the feed roller 4. .. When a plurality of documents D are conveyed to the paper feed roller 5 by the feed roller 4, the document D is the most due to the frictional force between the paper feed roller 5 and the separation roller 6 spring-urged from below. It is separated one by one from the one on the upper side. The separated document D is fed to the transport roller 7, and then fed to the paper ejection guide 9 by the paper ejection roller 8 while reading the images on both sides by the front and back image reading units 151 and 201.

Next, the configuration of the document tray 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the document tray 2 according to the present invention.

The document tray 2 is formed by a sheet mounting surface 2a in which the surface of the document D is in contact, a sheet abutting surface 2b in which the end of the document D abuts, and an extension tray 2c. As described above, the sheet mounting surface 2a is inclined to the back side with respect to the vertical surface G by an angle θ1, and the longitudinal direction of the sheet abutting surface 2b is formed so as to be parallel to the document feeding direction F. There is. The sub-scanning width of the sheet mounting surface 2a and the sheet abutting surface 2b should be as small as possible because it leads to the miniaturization of the apparatus main body. When setting the document D having a width equal to or larger than this sub-scanning width, the extension tray 2c can be pulled out from the sheet mounting surface 2a and the sheet abutting surface 2b to hold the document D without sagging.

When the user sets a plurality of documents D in the document tray 2, one side (hereinafter referred to as the tip) on the downstream side in the transport direction of the two sides perpendicular to the document feeding direction F is the document abutting portion. By abutting against (not shown) and setting, the tips of the original D are aligned. The document abutting portion is in a position where the tip of the document D to be placed on the document tray 2 can be abutted by closing the sheet feeding path when the feeding roller 4 is in the retracted position. Then, the feeding roller 4 is configured to move in conjunction with the rotation of the feeding roller 4 when moving to the feeding position to open the feeding path.

Further, since the sheet mounting surface 2a is tilted to the back side with respect to the vertical surface G by an angle θ1, one of the two sides parallel to the document feeding direction F due to its own weight is the lower side in the vertical direction (hereinafter, The left edge is called) abuts on the sheet abutting surface 2b, and the left edge of the document D is aligned. As a result, even if several types of documents D having different lengths in the main scanning direction and the feeding direction F are set in the document tray 2, the tips and left ends of the respective types of documents D are aligned at the same position, so that they are the same. It becomes possible to flow in a job.

On the other hand, in the above-described configuration, when the angle consisting of the sheet mounting surface 2a and the sheet abutting surface 2b is 90 ° or more, the sheet abutting surface 2b at the end of the document on the abutted side is in the lateral direction. The movement cannot be regulated. Therefore, when the document D abuts on the sheet abutting surface 2b, the end of the abutting document due to the stiffness of the document itself or its own weight slides in the direction opposite to the sheet mounting surface 2a and curls up. As a result, when the document D is fed to the paper feed roller 5 and the separation roller 6 by the paper feed roller 4, there is a possibility that a paper feed failure may occur. Therefore, by forming a surface so that the angle θ2 composed of the sheet mounting surface 2a and the sheet abutting surface 2b becomes an acute angle, the end of the document on the abutted side can be regulated by the sheet abutting surface 2b. It is possible to prevent the original D from being curled up.

However, since the angle θ2 composed of the sheet mounting surface 2a and the sheet abutting surface 2b is set to less than 90 °, the position of the left end of the document D set in the document tray 2 is different for each document. Therefore, when the image reading units 151 and 201 read the document D conveyed by various rollers, the left end of the document D may be displaced from the image reading units 151 and 201 for each document. In response to this problem, in the present embodiment, the left edge of the scanned image is aligned by reading the image with the left edge of the document D displaced and electrically correcting the image. Instead of the electrical correction, a mechanical mechanism may be provided so as to align the left ends of the document D before the images on both sides are read by the image reading units 151 and 201. In the present embodiment, the angle θ2 is set to 75 °, but the angle is not limited to this angle.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the operation after the document D is fed to the paper ejection guide 9 which is the changing means by the paper ejection roller 8 will be described. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 2, which is a side view of the paper ejection guide 9 and the paper ejection tray 10.

The paper discharge guide 9 has a paper discharge guide surface 9a that is inclined with respect to the transport direction, and the paper discharge guide surface 9a has a shape that is inclined toward the vertical surface G toward the downstream side of the transport. When the paper ejection guide surface 9a comes into contact with the document D being conveyed, the posture of the document D tilted to the back side with respect to the vertical plane G can be changed so as to tilt toward the front side.

Here, of the two sides parallel to the feeding direction F of the document D, when the document D is loaded on the document tray 2, the upper side is the first side and the lower side is the second side. When the document D comes into contact with the paper ejection guide surface 9a, the posture is changed so that the document D falls from the back side to the front side. Therefore, the first side of the document D is always located above the second side during transportation. is there. That is, when the document D is being conveyed, the paper ejection guide 9 is tilted to the back side with respect to the vertical plane G without changing the vertical relationship of the two sides parallel to the feeding direction F of the document D. Change the posture so that D is tilted toward you.

The paper ejection tray 10 which is the second loading means is formed with a sheet mounting surface 10a which is a surface for loading the ejected document D. The sheet mounting surface 10a has a shape that is inclined toward the front side by θ3 with respect to the vertical surface G.

When the document D is fed to the paper ejection guide 9, the document D is conveyed while changing its angular posture with respect to the vertical plane G while contacting the paper ejection guide surface 9a, and then ejected onto the sheet mounting surface 10a of the paper ejection tray 10. And loaded. Before the original D comes into contact with the paper ejection guide surface 9a, it is tilted to the back side at an angle θ1 with respect to the vertical surface G, but it is conveyed while being in contact with the paper ejection guide surface 9a in the direction of arrow E. The angle posture is changed to, and the paper is loaded on the sheet mounting surface 10a in a state of being tilted toward the front side at an angle θ3. Therefore, the upper surface and the lower surface of the document D are exchanged while the document D is being conveyed while being in contact with the paper ejection guide surface 9a. That is, the document loaded on the sheet mounting surface 2a with the first surface as the upper surface is loaded on the sheet mounting surface 10a with the second surface opposite to the first surface as the upper surface. In other words, when the document D is loaded on the sheet mounting surface 10a, the second surface of the document facing the sheet mounting surface 2a is the upper surface, and the first surface on the opposite side is the lower surface. Here, the upper surface of the document is a surface of the document loaded on the sheet mounting surface 2a or the sheet mounting surface 10 that can be seen when viewed from above vertically. Therefore, if the documents loaded on the sheet mounting surface 2a are fed one by one from the uppermost one, the page order of the documents on the sheet mounting surface 2a and the page order of the documents on the sheet mounting surface 10a will be displayed. Fits. In the method of feeding one sheet at a time from the document on the uppermost side of the document loaded on the sheet mounting surface 2a, it is less necessary to limit the number of sheets to be loaded as compared with the method of feeding from the bottom sheet. In the embodiment, it is possible to relax the limitation on the number of loaded sheets and to match the page order at the same time.

In the present embodiment, θ3 is set to 40 degrees, but the angle value is not limited to this, and 0 ° <θ3 <90 ° may be used.

In the present embodiment, the paper ejection guide 9 is illustrated as a means for changing the angular posture of the sheet with respect to the vertical surface G. On the other hand, as a means for changing the angular posture of the sheet with respect to the vertical surface G, for example, the following configuration may be used. A rotation mechanism for rotating the transport roller itself around a rotation center extending along the transport direction is provided. Then, the angle of the rotation axis of the transfer roller sandwiching the sheet with respect to the vertical surface parallel to the transfer direction is changed by a rotation mechanism as a changing means, so that the angle of the sheet with respect to the vertical surface G is changed.

In the above, the configuration in which the sheet transport device 1 has only the paper discharge tray 10 as the second loading means has been described. Next, using FIG. 7, the sheet transport device 1 has the paper discharge tray 10 and the paper discharge as the second loading means. The configuration having the tray 11 will be described. FIG. 7 is a front view of the output tray portion, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.

In the paper ejection tray 10, the originals are loaded on the sheet mounting surface 10a, and in the paper ejection tray 11, the originals are loaded on the sheet mounting surface 11a.

The document D that has been read is conveyed by the paper ejection roller 8 in the direction of the arrow (conveyance direction) in the drawing, the original document D is tilted toward you by the paper ejection guide 9, and is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 10. To. The ejected manuscript D is ejected while contacting the paper ejection guide 9, and the rear end of the ejected manuscript D stops in the vicinity of the paper ejection roller 8. For a large size document D1 such as A4 size (297 × 210) or A3 size (297 × 420), the document D1 is ejected so as to lean on the entire output tray 10 in the state as shown by the long dotted line in FIG. It will be paper. A small size document D2 such as an A5 size (148 × 210) or a postcard is ejected on the output tray 11 in a state like a short dotted line. As shown in FIG. 8, the small-sized original D2 is discharged on the sheet mounting surface 11a which is more inclined toward the vertical surface G than the sheet mounting surface 10a. Therefore, the small-sized original D2 is not hidden in the output tray 10, and both visibility and take-out are improved.

An example of means for separating the large-sized original D1 and the small-sized original D2 so that they are loaded on separate output trays will be described. The output tray 10 and the output tray 11 are arranged so that the side of the sheet mounting surface 10a and the sheet mounting surface 11a on the output roller 8 side are aligned. A notch smaller than the large-sized original D1 and larger than the smaller-sized original D2 is provided on the output roller 8 side of the output tray 10. By doing so, the large-sized document D1 does not pass through the notch and is loaded on the output tray 10, and the small-sized document D2 can be loaded on the output tray 11 through the notch. ..

D, D1, D2 Document 1 Sheet transport device 2 Document tray 2a Sheet mounting surface 2b Sheet abutting surface 2c Extension tray 4 Feeding roller 5 Paper feed roller 6 Separation roller 7 Transport roller 8 Paper discharge roller 9 Paper discharge guide 10 Discharge Paper tray 10a Sheet mounting surface 11 Paper ejection tray 11a Sheet mounting surface 103 Image reader

Claims (8)

A first loading means on which the sheet is loaded with the first surface as the upper surface,
A feeding means that separates the uppermost sheet among the sheets loaded on the first loading means and feeds the sheet in the feeding direction, and a feeding means.
A transport means for transporting the sheet fed by the feed means, and a transport means.
A reading means that is arranged downstream of the first loading means in the feeding direction and reads an image of a sheet conveyed by the conveying means.
A second loading means arranged on the downstream side in the feeding direction with respect to the reading means, and the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is loaded with the second surface, which is the surface opposite to the first surface, as the upper surface. ,
A means for changing the posture of the fed seat from a posture in which the first surface is the upper surface to a posture in which the second surface is the upper surface, and
An image reading device characterized by having. The changing means has a guide surface and
The sheet transport device according to claim 1, wherein the changing means changes the posture of the sheet by transporting the sheet while contacting the guide surface by the transport means. The first loading means has a first loading surface facing the second surface of the seat.
The second loading means has a second loading surface facing the first surface of the seat.
The first loading surface is inclined with respect to a vertical plane parallel to the feeding direction by the feeding means.
The image reading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second loading surface is inclined to the side opposite to the first loading means in a direction perpendicular to the vertical surface with respect to the vertical surface. The image reading device according to claim 3, wherein the first loading surface is inclined at an angle of 20 ° to 40 ° with respect to the vertical surface. The first loading means has an abutting surface that is in contact with the lower side in the vertical direction of the two sides of the sheet parallel to the feeding direction.
The image reading device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the angle formed by the first mounting surface and the abutting surface is an acute angle. The second loading means includes the second mounting surface and
A third mounting surface that is inclined at an angle larger than that of the second mounting surface with respect to the vertical surface.
Have,
3. The third aspect of the present invention is that a predetermined first size sheet is loaded on the second mounting surface, and a predetermined second size sheet smaller than the first size is loaded on the third mounting surface. The image reading device according to any one of 5 to 5. The second mounting surface has a notch having a size equal to or larger than the second size.
The image reading device according to claim 6, wherein the second size sheet passes through the notch and is loaded on the third mounting surface. An image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising an image reading apparatus and a forming means for forming an image on a recording material.

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