JP2657232B2 - Automatic document feed mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feed mechanism, and more particularly, to a document transport cover that is openably and closably attached to a document copy position of an image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeding mechanism for automatically transporting and setting a document placed on a tray to a document copy position, copying the document, and sending the document outside the apparatus.

(Prior art)

Generally, an opening / closing cover is provided at a document copy position (upper surface) of an image forming apparatus, for example, a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, and the like. In order to automatically transport a document from a paper feed tray to the document copy position, A document conveying means is provided on the opening / closing cover. The document conveying means is of a conventional conveying belt type. The conveying belt conveys a document from a paper feed tray to a document copying position, and after copying is completed, sends the document out of the copying machine.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, the document conveying means of such a conventional automatic document feeder detects a document from a paper feed tray, and after copying the original document at the predetermined position on the document copying position surface along the conveyance path, performs copying. Just do. For this reason, if the orientation of the original and the copy paper are different, for example, if an A4-size original is set horizontally on the paper feed tray and the A4-size copy paper cassette is There is a problem of copying.

In addition, to prevent such erroneous copying in advance,
It is considered to stop the copying operation (prohibit α). However, even if such an operation for preventing erroneous copying is performed, there is an inconvenience that the operator must once open the document transport cover and change the direction of the document or change the cassette of the copy paper and copy again. .

Such a conventional automatic document feed mechanism further has the following disadvantage in positioning the original on the original copy position surface. In the positioning in the transport direction, it can be accurately performed by detecting the original and aligning the leading ends thereof. However, since the positioning of the document in the width direction is performed only by the regulation of the guide member of the sheet feed tray, there is a possibility that the document may be shifted when the document is conveyed from the sheet feed tray to the document copy position. And with only the transport belt of the conventional automatic document feeder,
There is a problem that the route cannot be corrected for such a shift.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even if the orientation of a document and a copy sheet are different, it is possible to automatically perform copying without causing miscopy, and a route in the width direction of the document is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feed mechanism capable of correction.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a document placed on a paper feed tray is automatically transported and set to a document copy position by a document transport cover which is openably and closably attached to a document copy position of the image forming apparatus. Then, in the automatic document feeding mechanism for feeding the document to the outside of the apparatus, the automatic document feeding mechanism according to the present invention includes a spherical roller disposed on a conveyance path of the automatic document feeding mechanism, and a rotating spherical roller. And a second driving unit that rotates the spherical roller and rotates the document on the transport path via the spherical roller. And

Further, the automatic document feeder according to the present invention is characterized in that the spherical rollers are embedded in an inner surface of the transport cover or in the transport cover and are arranged in a transport path.

Further, the automatic document feed mechanism of the present invention is characterized in that the spherical rollers are mounted on the paper feed tray, and are arranged in the conveyance path so as to abut on the paper feed tray surface with the document on the paper feed tray interposed therebetween. And

[Action]

According to the automatic document feed mechanism according to the present invention, the original is placed on the paper feed tray and then sent between the original transport cover and the original copy position surface.

When the spherical rollers are arranged on the document transport cover, in the transport in the document transport cover, which is a transport path, the first driving unit is driven to rotate the spherical rollers to move the original to the copy position. It moves along the transport direction on the surface and positions it. The position and size of the document are detected by the detecting means in the same manner as in the related art.

If the orientation of the original matches the orientation of the copy paper cassette or the like, copying is performed as it is, and after completion, it is sent out of the copying machine. On the other hand, if the orientation of the original is different from the orientation of the copy paper cassette or the like, the second driving means is driven to rotate the spherical roller, and the original is moved 90 degrees on the original copy position surface via the spherical roller.転 換 Change direction. Then, copying is performed while changing the angle.

Thus, even if the orientation of the original and the copy paper are different,
Copying can be done automatically without miscopying.

In addition, moving the original on the original copy position plane by the first driving means means moving the original in the transport direction on the original copy position plane when the original is not rotated by the second drive means. Become. However, when the document is rotated by the second driving means, the document can be moved not only in the transport direction but also in the width direction of the document by the first driving means. For this reason, the original from the paper feed tray can be accurately positioned in the width direction by correcting the route on the original copy position surface without using guide materials etc. placed on the original copy position as in the past. it can.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, if spherical rollers are provided on the sheet feeding tray, the route of the document can be corrected in advance. Because of this,
Even if the originals are placed roughly on the paper feed tray without being aligned, the originals can be accurately sent to the original copy position.

(Preferred embodiment of the invention)

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the automatic document feeder according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a copying machine provided with an automatic document feeding mechanism according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper surface of the copying machine 10, a copy surface 12 as an original copy position and an operation panel are formed. A paper feed tray 14 is provided on the right side of the copy surface 12, and a document transport cover 16 faces the copy surface 12.
Are mounted to be openable and closable via hinges 18, 18.

An original 20 is placed on the paper feed tray 14, and the original 20 is supplied to the copy surface 12 through the inside of the insertion opening cover 22. Although not shown, a document detector is provided in the insertion slot cover 22.

A plurality of spherical rollers 24, 24,
Are provided so as to protrude, and the spherical roller 24 comes into contact with the copying surface 12 when the document conveying cover 16 is closed. The spherical roller 24 is made of a synthetic resin or the like, and has a higher coefficient of friction with the document 20 than with the glass and the document 20. Therefore, when the spherical roller 24 rotates, the document 20 slides on the copy surface 12 which is a glass surface.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, drive motors 26 and 28 for rotating the respective spherical rollers 24 are provided in the document transport cover 16 respectively. The drive shaft 30 of the first drive motor 26 is disposed in parallel (in the horizontal direction) with the cover surface 16A.
A drive roller 32 is attached to 0. Drive roller 3
2 and the spherical roller 24 are larger than the frictional force between the spherical roller 24 and the original and the copy surface 12, and the spherical roller 24 is a first drive motor.
It is rotated about the horizontal direction by 26. Accordingly, the original 20 is moved on the copy surface 12 by the first drive motor 26.

The first drive motor 26 is supported by a support cover 34 made of a bent plate, and the support cover 34 is attached to the drive shaft 36 of the second drive motor 28 on its upper surface. When the second drive motor 28 is rotationally driven, the entire first drive motor 26 is rotated via the support cover 34, and further the drive roller 32
The spherical roller 24 is also rotated via. Such a spherical roller
Due to the rotation of the document 24, the document 20 is rotated on the copy surface 12 and its direction is changed.

According to the automatic document feeder of the present invention configured as described above, the document 20 is placed on the paper feed tray 14 and then sent between the document transport cover 16 and the copy surface 12. Manuscript 20
The first drive motor 26 is driven to transport each spherical roller 24.
Is performed by rotating the document, as shown in FIG. 5 (A).
20 is once positioned on the copy surface 12.

The position, size and state of the document 20 are detected by the detecting means during or after the conveyance. Here, if the orientation of the original 20 matches the orientation of the copy paper cassette or the like, copying is performed as it is, and after completion, it is sent out of the copying machine. On the other hand, if the orientation of the original 20 is different from the orientation of the copy paper cassette or the like, the first drive motor 26 is rotated in reverse, and the center of the original 20 is shifted to the central spherical roller 24A as shown in FIG. Is returned to come to the position.

Next, the document 20 is rotated at an angle of 90 ° as shown in FIG. 5 (C). As the operation, the first drive motor 26 of the central spherical roller 24A is stopped, and only the second drive motor 28 is driven to rotate the spherical roller 24A as shown in FIG. On the other hand, each spherical roller 24, 24 around the central spherical roller 24A
.. Indicate that the first drive motor 26 and the second drive motor 28 are simultaneously driven appropriately so that the document 20 moves in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. The drive timing of these drive motors is performed based on a control mechanism provided in a transport cover (not shown).

In the state after this operation, each drive roller 32 is once separated from the spherical roller 24, the second drive motor 28 corrects the direction of the first drive motor 26 in the transport direction, and then contacts the spherical roller 24 again. Touch The document 20 whose direction has been turned by 90 ° is again moved to the position for positioning the copy surface 12 by the first drive motor 26 as shown in FIG. 5 (D). Then, the original 20 is copied, and after completion, sent out of the copying machine 10. This allows
Even if the orientation of the original and the copy sheet are different, copying can be performed automatically without erroneous copying.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a description has been given of a wrong insertion direction of the document 20. However, the spherical roller 24 is not used only for inserting the document 20 due to such a mistake. For example, in the case of the original 20 shown in FIG. 5A, if the original 20 is shifted in the width direction (the direction of the arrow B),
An operation of temporarily separating the drive roller 32 of the first drive motor 26 from the spherical roller 24 is performed. Next, the first drive motor 26 is rotated via the second drive motor 28, and the original 20 is rotated by the drive rotation of the first drive motor 26 via the spherical roller 24 as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. Move in the direction.

As a result, even when the document 20 from the paper feed tray 14 is slightly deviated from the conveyance path, the correction of the route of the document and the positioning correction in the width direction can be performed.

Heretofore, in order to regulate the width direction of the original 20 on the copy surface 12, a guide member is provided inside about 3 mm, but such a guide member is not required in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a copying machine provided with an automatic document feeder according to another embodiment of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the copying machine 10 has a transport cover 40 different from that of FIG.
A single spherical roller 24 is provided at the center of the inner surface of the transport cover 40 so as to protrude therefrom. The spherical roller 24 is made of a material similar to that shown in FIG. 1, and is rotated by a first drive motor 26 and a second drive motor 28.

A pair of conveyor belts 42, 42 are provided on both sides of the spherical roller 24.
The transport belt 42 is driven by a drive device (not shown), and the original 20 moves forward and backward on the copy surface 12 by the transport belts 42 and 42.

According to the automatic document feeder of the present invention configured as described above, the document 20 is placed on the paper feed tray 14 and then sent between the document transport cover 16 and the copy surface 12. Manuscript 20
Is carried by the conveyor belts 42, 42 and the spherical roller 24. As shown in FIG. 5A, the original 20 is once positioned on the copy surface 12. During this time, the conveyor belt 42 and the spherical roller
Numeral 24 rotates or moves in the directions of the respective arrows as shown in FIG. 8 (A).

The position, size and state of the document 20 are detected by the detecting means during or after the conveyance. If the direction of the original 20 is different from the direction of the copy paper cassette or the like, the first drive motor 26 is rotated in the reverse direction as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the document 20 is retracted until the center thereof comes to the position of the spherical roller 24.

Next, the document 20 is rotated at an angle of 90 ° as shown in FIG. 5 (C). As the operation, the conveyor belt 42 is moved upward to temporarily separate from the original, and the spherical roller 24 is rotated only by the second drive motor 28 as shown in FIG. 8C.

After the rotation, the drive roller 32 in contact with the spherical roller 24 moves upward, the conveying belt 42 moves downward again, and is again moved to the position for positioning the copy surface 12 as shown in FIG. 5 (D). Then, the original 20 is copied, and after completion, sent out of the copying machine 10. As a result, even if the orientations of the original and the copy sheet are different, copying can be performed automatically without causing erroneous copying.

In the above embodiment, the spherical rollers 24 are provided on the transport cover. However, as a second invention, the spherical rollers 24 may be arranged on the paper feed tray 14. When the original is placed, the spherical roller 24 comes into contact with the surface of the paper feed tray 14 with the original on the paper feed tray 14 interposed therebetween.

According to the automatic document feeding mechanism having such a configuration, since the spherical roller 24 has the same function as that shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to easily change the route of the document from when the document is fed to the paper feed tray 14. In addition, it is possible to eliminate the displacement in the width direction at the copy position of the original. For this reason, the originals 20 can be roughly placed on the paper feed tray 14 without being aligned.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the automatic document feeder of the present invention configured as described above, a spherical roller is provided in the conveyance path of the automatic document feeder, and the spherical roller is provided with a first drive unit and a second drive unit, Since the original is moved on the original copy position surface via the spherical roller and the original is rotated on the original copy position surface, first, the automatic original feed mechanism is different in the orientation between the original and the copy paper. Even if a mistake is made, copying can be performed automatically without causing miscopying. Second, in such a configuration, positioning correction or route correction in the width direction of the document is also possible.

In addition, when the spherical roller is mounted on the paper feed tray in addition to the above-described configuration, the route of the document can be easily changed at the time of paper feeding, and the displacement in the width direction at the copy position of the document can be eliminated. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a copying machine provided with an automatic document feed mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the automatic document feed mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the spherical roller and the driving means. FIGS. 5 (A) to 5 (D) are diagrams showing a process of moving an original on a copy surface during operation of the automatic original feed mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of an automatic document feed mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a copying machine provided with an automatic document feed mechanism of another embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 7A to 7D are process diagrams showing the operation procedure of the transport cover surface of the automatic document feeder shown in FIG. 10… Copy machine, 12… Copy side, 14… Paper tray, 16,
40… Cover cover, 16A, 40A …… Cover surface, 20
… Original, 24… spherical roller, 26… first drive motor,
28: second drive motor, 42: transport belt.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hidehiro Tabuchi 1-2-28 Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kuniaki Nakano 1-2-2 Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 28 Inside Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Matsuo 1-2-2 Tamatsuzo, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A 64-1544 (JP, A) JP-A 58-148138 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An original transport cover, which is openably and closably opposed to an original copy position of an image forming apparatus, automatically transports and sets an original placed on a paper feed tray to an original copy position. In the automatic document feeding mechanism for feeding out, a spherical roller disposed on a conveyance path of the automatic document feeding mechanism; a first roller for rotating the spherical roller and moving a document on the conveyance path via the spherical roller; An automatic document feeding mechanism, comprising: a driving unit; and a second driving unit configured to rotate the spherical roller and rotate the document on the conveyance path via the spherical roller. 2. The automatic document feed mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said spherical roller is embedded in an inner surface of said transport cover or in the transport cover and is arranged in a transport path. 3. The paper feeding tray according to claim 1, wherein said spherical roller is mounted on said paper feed tray, and is arranged in a transport path so as to abut on a paper feed tray surface with a document on said paper feed tray interposed therebetween.
Document automatic feed mechanism.