JP2753109B2 - Document cassette feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document cassette supply device that can automatically select and automatically supply a desired document cassette holding a read document to an image reading device. .

[Prior Art] In the field of printing and plate making, an image scanning reading and reproducing system for electrically processing image information recorded on an original to create a film original for the purpose of streamlining work processes, improving image quality, etc. Used.

In this case, the image reading apparatus constituting the system performs two-dimensional reading of image information by performing main scanning while transporting the read document positioned and stored in the document cassette to the reading unit.

By the way, in the image reading apparatus, the document cassette is once conveyed to a reading section, and after reading the image information of the document in order to set image processing conditions, the document cassette is taken out and the condition is checked while looking at the document. May be set. When the setting of the conditions is completed, the document cassette is transported again to the reading unit, and the image information is read in accordance with the conditions.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when image information is read as described above, there is a possibility that another original cassette may be erroneously inserted when the original cassette is re-inserted into the image reading apparatus. In this case, if a document cassette is erroneously inserted, an erroneous condition is set for image information of another document.

In order to avoid such inconvenience, a cassette identification means is provided near the original cassette insertion slot of the image reading apparatus, and the cassette identification means identifies the original cassette to prevent erroneous insertion. is there.

However, in this case, whether the inserted original cassette is the desired one can be known only when the original cassette reaches the cassette identifying means. When the erroneous insertion is detected, the original Has to be inserted. For this reason, it sometimes takes a long time to read an image.

The present invention has been made in view of such inconvenience,
When supplying the document cassette to the image reading device,
An object of the present invention is to provide a document cassette supply device capable of detecting a position of a document cassette in advance and supplying a desired document cassette in a short time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a document cassette supply device for supplying a document cassette holding a read document to an image reading device, Cassette holding means having a plurality of steps to be accommodated and movable in the stacking direction of the steps, and separate from the cassette holding means only at a portion corresponding to the insertion opening of the document cassette in the document cassette supply device Cassette identification means for identifying the original cassette accommodated in the stepped portion when the original cassette is accommodated; and cassette holding means arranged at a portion corresponding to an insertion opening of the original cassette in the image reading apparatus. And cassette supply means for supplying the original cassette stored in the image reading device to the image reading device. After the cassette holding means is moved to a portion corresponding to the insertion slot of the image reading device based on the information of the document cassette, the cassette supply means supplies the document cassette to the image reading device. And

[Operation] As described above, in the original cassette supply device of the present invention, when the original cassette is stored in the step portion of the cassette holding means, the original cassette is identified in advance by the cassette identifying means, and the desired original cassette is provided. When the document cassette is supplied to the image reading apparatus, the step of storing the document cassette identified by the cassette identifying means is moved to a predetermined position, and then the document cassette is supplied to the image reading apparatus by the cassette supply means. I do.

[Embodiment] A document cassette supply apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a document cassette supply device 10 of the present embodiment. The document cassette supply device 10 is surrounded by a casing 12, and includes cassette holding means 16 for storing a document cassette 14, which will be described later, cassette identification means 18 for identifying the document cassette 14, and housed in the cassette holding means 16. A cassette supply unit 22 for supplying the original cassette 14 to the image reading device 20 to which the original cassette supply device 10 is connected;

Here, the original cassette supply device 10 and the image reading device
The document cassette 14 supplied to 20 is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the document cassette 14 holds a transmissive read document 28 between two supporting glass plates 26 surrounded by a frame 24 having a substantially rectangular shape. Are formed with V-shaped grooves 30a and 30b extending along the transport direction. In addition, a cassette identification unit 29 for identifying the original cassette 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14 is provided on the top surface of the frame body 24 in the transport direction front end. The cassette identifying section 29 is configured by combining a plurality of light transmitting sections 31a and light shielding sections 31b according to the original cassette 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14.

In FIG. 3, the image reading device 20 includes an insertion detecting means 36 such as a photo interrupter disposed near an insertion port 34 formed in a casing 32, a cassette identifying means 38, and the original cassette 14 for reading the image. The apparatus includes a transport unit 40 for transporting the image in the apparatus 20 and an image reading unit 42. Insertion detection means 36
Detects that the document cassette 14 has been inserted into the image reading device 20. Further, the cassette identification means 38
It identifies the original 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14, and is composed of, for example, a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The conveyance means 40 is provided with the document cassette 14
And a guide roller 44 that engages with the grooves 30a and 30b on the side of the document cassette 14. The image reading unit 42 includes a light source 46 and a light receiving element 48 such as a CCD, and reads an image by receiving light from the light source 46 transmitted through the original cassette 14 conveyed to the image reading unit 42 by the light receiving element 48. I do.

Next, the configuration of the document cassette supply device 10 will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, the casing 12 has a first lid part 50 and a second lid part 52 whose front and upper parts can be opened and closed.
At a predetermined position outside the first lid 50, a cassette insertion table 54 and an insertion slot 56 are provided. In a portion corresponding to the insertion opening 56 in the inside of the first lid portion 50, an insertion detecting means 58 such as a photo interrupter for detecting that the document cassette 14 has been inserted and a pair of carry-in rollers 60 are provided. The carry-in roller 60 carries the document cassette 14 into the document cassette supply device 10 by being rotationally driven by a motor 62. In addition, an insertion port 66 that is normally closed by a door 64 is provided above the insertion port 56, and the first lid 50 corresponding to the insertion port 66 has the same configuration as that described above. Insertion detecting means 68 for detecting that the original cassette 14 has been inserted.
And a carry-in roller 72 driven by a motor 70.

In this case, the document cassettes 14 can be supplied to the document cassette supply device 10 one by one through the insertion opening 56 or 66, and the plurality of document cassettes 14 can be supplied simultaneously by using the first lid 50. can do. Thus, the supply time of the document cassette 14 can be reduced.

The cassette holding means 16 includes a cage 76 supported by four guide bars 74a to 74d erected in the casing 12. The cage 76 is connected to a chain 84 via a worm gear 82 connected to a drive shaft 80 of a motor 78, as shown in FIG.
Can move in the vertical direction (Z direction). The drive shaft 80 is provided with a handle member 85 that can manually move the worm gear 82.

The cage 76 has a plurality of steps where the document cassette 14 is loaded.
A plurality of guide rollers 88 that engage with the grooves 30a and 30b provided on the side of the document cassette 14 are provided between the steps 86 with a predetermined gap. .

A portion of the side of the cage 76 corresponding to the carry-in roller 60 provided below the first lid 50 is provided with a cassette transport mechanism 90.
A is provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the cassette transport mechanism 90A has a motor 94A and a solenoid 96A fixed to the support plate 92A, and a drive plate 98A rotatably supported by the support plate 92A. The drive plate 98A has a substantially L-shape, and a bent portion thereof is supported by the support plate 92A, and a connecting portion 1 that stands upright at one end.
It is connected to solenoid 96A via 00A. Also drive plate
The other end of the 98A has a comb shape, and a guide roller 102A is provided at the tip of each comb shape. In this case, each guide roller 102A is connected to the wire 1 by a motor 94A.
The guide roller 88 is rotatable through the step 04A and is driven by a solenoid 96A between the steps 86 in the cage 76.
It is configured so that it can be entered between

On the other hand, a pair of nip rollers 106 and a cassette identifying means 18 are provided at a portion of the first lid 50 facing the insertion opening 56 with the cage 76 interposed therebetween. In this case, the cassette identifying means 18 includes a plurality of light emitting elements 108 and a plurality of light receiving elements 1
The document reading unit 10 is configured to read the data set in the cassette identification unit 29 of the document cassette 14.

A portion of the side of the cage 76 corresponding to the carry-in roller 72 provided above the first lid 50 is provided with a cassette transport mechanism 90.
B is provided. In this case, since the cassette transport mechanism 90B has the same configuration as the cassette transport mechanism 90A, the same reference numerals are appended with B and the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, two sets of nip rollers 112 and 114 are provided on the portion of the first lid 50 facing the insertion opening 66 with the cage 76 interposed therebetween. In this case, the nip rollers 112 and 114 are driven by a motor 118 fixed to a support plate 116.

The document cassette supply device 10 of the present embodiment and the image reading device 20 to which the document cassette supply device 10 is connected are basically configured as described above. Next, the operation thereof will be described.

First, the document cassette 14 holding the read document 28 as shown in FIG. 2 is inserted through the insertion port 56 of the document cassette supply device 10 (see FIG. 1). In this case, the document cassette supply device 10 detects that the document cassette 14 has been inserted by the insertion detecting means 58, rotates the carry-in roller 60 under the driving action of the motor 62, and moves the document cassette 14 to the cassette holding means 16 A predetermined step portion 86 of the cage 76 is loaded. In the cage 76, it is assumed that the stepped portion 86 in an empty state is arranged near the carry-in roller 60. In the document cassette 14, the guide roller 88 is formed by
It is held by engaging a, 30b.

When the original cassette 14 is carried into the predetermined position of the step portion 86, the cassette transport mechanism 90A is driven (FIGS. 5 and 6).
See figure). That is, when the solenoid 96A is energized,
The driving plate 98A rotates in the direction of arrow A via the connecting portion 100A,
A guide roller 102A provided at the tip of the driving plate 98A.
Enters between the step portions 86 and engages with the groove portions 30a and 30b of the document cassette 14. Next, the motor 94A is driven, and the guide roller 102A is rotated via the wire 104A, so that the leading end of the document cassette 14 is driven by the light emitting element 108 and the light receiving element 110 constituting the cassette identifying means 18 via the nip roller 106. (See FIG. 1).

In this case, at the leading end of the document cassette 14, a cassette identification in which a plurality of light transmitting portions 31a and a plurality of light shielding portions 31b set the type of the document cassette 14 and the identification symbol of the read document 28 held in the document cassette 14. A part 29 is provided. Therefore,
The document cassette supply device 10 reads the information of the document cassette 14 loaded in the step portion 86 by receiving the light output from the light emitting element 108 with the light receiving element 110 through the cassette identifying section 29. Can be recorded.

Further, the cassette identifying means 18 is disposed at a position where the leading end of the document cassette 14 inserted from the insertion opening 56 has passed through the step portion 86. Therefore, the cassette identifying section 29 provided at the leading end of the original cassette 14 is supplied to the reading position of the cassette identifying means 18 in a more stable state than when the original cassette 14 is near the insertion slot 56. As a result, the information in the document cassette 14 can be accurately read.

When the information from the document cassette 14 is read, the document cassette 14 is returned to a predetermined portion of the step portion 86 under the driving action of the cassette transport mechanism 90A, and then the driving plate 98A is rotated in the direction of arrow B by the solenoid 96A. And withdraw from the cage 76.

Next, the cage 76 moves in the arrow Z direction via the worm gear 82 and the chain 84 under the driving action of the motor 78,
It stops when the document cassette 14 moves to a position corresponding to the cassette transport mechanism 90B. Therefore, in the same manner as the cassette transfer mechanism 90A, the cassette transfer mechanism 90B
Is driven, and the original cassette 14 is carried out to the cassette supply means 22 side (see FIGS. 1 and 7). The cassette supply means 22 drives the motor 118 to rotate the nip rollers 112 and 114, and supplies the document cassette 14 to the image reading device 20 through the insertion port.

The image reading device 20 drives the conveyance unit 40 by detecting the document cassette 14 by the insertion detection unit 36, and conveys the document cassette 14 to the image reading unit 42. In this case, the cassette identification unit 38 reads information of the document cassette 14. In the image reading section 42, the light output from the light source 46 is transmitted to the light receiving element 48 through the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14.
And the image is read.

Here, the image reading apparatus 20 may set image processing conditions based on an image read from the read original 28.

In this case, the original cassette 14 from which the image has been once read by the image reading section 42 is returned to the original cassette supply device 10 again by the conveying means 40, and then the cassette insertion table is inserted from the insertion slot 56 by the same operation as described above. It is carried out on 54. Then, the worker reads the original 28 in the original cassette 14.
The image processing conditions are set while viewing. When the setting of the conditions is completed, the operator loads the original cassette 14 into the original cassette supply device 10 again.

By the way, the cassette holding means 16 has a plurality of steps 86, and each step 86 normally holds another document cassette 14. On the other hand, the image reading apparatus 20 must be supplied with the original cassette 14 in which image processing conditions have been set among the plurality of original cassettes 14.

In this case, the original cassette supply device 10
When the document cassette 14 is loaded,
Is detected by using the cassette identifying means 18 and stored. Therefore, the image reading device 20
When the original cassette 14 relating to the setting of the output condition is designated from the side, the original cassette supply device 10
The 14 loaded steps 86 can be immediately searched for and supplied to the image reading device 20. As a result, even when a plurality of document cassettes 14 are handled, a desired document cassette 14 can be accurately and quickly supplied to the image reading device 20 and read.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the document cassette supply device according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, in the document cassette supply device of the present invention, when the document cassette is stored in the stepped portion of the cassette holding means, the document cassette stored in the stepped portion is identified in advance by the cassette identifying means, and the desired document is stored. When the cassette is supplied to the image reading apparatus, after moving the stepped portion of the document cassette identified by the cassette identification means to a predetermined position, the cassette supply means transfers the document cassette to the image reading apparatus. Supplying.

Therefore, the image reading apparatus can immediately start an image reading operation with the original cassette supplied from the original cassette supply device as a desired one.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a document cassette supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a document cassette loaded in the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1 and an image reading device connected thereto, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are plan explanatory views of a cassette transport mechanism in the original cassette supply device shown in FIG. 10 document cassette supply device 14 document cassette 16 cassette holding device 18 cassette identification device 20 image reading device 22 cassette supply device 28 read document 29 cassette identification section 76 Cage 86 …… Steps 90A, 90B …… Cassette transport mechanism

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideharu Oshima 1-324 Uetake-cho, Omiya-shi, Saitama Fuji Photo Optical Machine Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-148842 (JP, A) JP-A-57- 195049 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 1/00-3/68

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A document cassette supply device for supplying a document cassette holding a document to be read to an image reading device, comprising: a plurality of steps for accommodating the document cassette; A movable cassette holding means, and a document cassette which is provided separately from the cassette holding means only at a portion corresponding to the insertion slot of the document cassette in the document cassette supply device and stores the document cassette stored in the step portion Cassette identification means for identifying when the document is read, and a cassette supply which is disposed at a position corresponding to the insertion slot of the document cassette in the image reading device and supplies the document cassette stored in the cassette holding means to the image reading device. Means, the cassette holding means based on the information of the desired document cassette identified by the cassette identification means A document cassette supply device, wherein the document cassette is supplied to the image reading device by the cassette supply unit after the document cassette is moved to a portion corresponding to the insertion port of the image reading device.