JP2829862B2 - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder for automatically sending a document projected by an overhead projector.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional overhead projector has, for example, at least one storage unit for storing a document and a document sending unit for sending a document from the storage unit. The automatic movement of the fed document is being performed.

Further, in another conventional example, an intermittent roller that feeds paper from a storage box, an intermittent belt conveyor that transports paper to a predetermined position and feeds the tray to a tray, and a control device that moves the belt conveyor at a predetermined timing may be provided. As a characteristic, the paper is automatically fed by combining a microcomputer for controlling the flow of the paper and a motor.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-described overhead projector, the orientation of the document with respect to the feeding direction is determined to be either vertical or horizontal. For this reason, for example, a document on which an image is created in a horizontal direction may be sent to a platen in a vertical state. In this case, the presenter must change the orientation of the document from portrait to landscape on the document table, and the explanation is interrupted without troublesome lights.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder capable of feeding both a document on which an image is created vertically and a document on which an image is created horizontally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an automatic document feeder described in the claims.

Means for Solving the Problems Reference is made to the embodiment shown in FIGS. The automatic document feeder 1 automatically conveys a document on which characters and images are described.

At least one document storage container (in the embodiment, a stocker
12a and 12b) store a plurality of originals 200. An original 200 (FIG. 2) is placed on the original surface (the original glass 11 in the embodiment).

Feeding means (in the embodiment, paper supply / discharge belts 16a to 16d and horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b) are arranged on the outer periphery of the original surface in parallel with the original transport direction, and transport the original 200 in the forward and reverse directions. In the embodiment, the portrait document 200 is fed by the paper supply / discharge belts 16a to 16d. The horizontal original 200 is the feed / discharge belt 16a-16d
Is sent from the horizontal conveying belts 15a to 15b. The detecting means (19a, 19b in the embodiment) detects a document in the horizontal direction. on the other hand,
The detecting means (20a, 20b in the embodiment) detects a document in the vertical direction. The control means 21 controls the feed amount of the feed means based on the detection results of these detection means.

Function Stores multiple portrait and landscape documents to be projected in the document storage container.

A horizontally oriented original is sent to the original surface by a first feeding unit, and a vertically oriented original is sent to the original surface by a second sending unit. The first feeding means is arranged on the outer periphery of the document surface in a direction parallel to the direction in which the document is transported, and engages with a part of the edge of the horizontally oriented document to transport the horizontally oriented document. The second feeding means is disposed at an intermediate portion between the document surface and the document storage container, engages a part of the edge of the vertical document, engages a part of the edge of the vertical document, and Conveys the document.

When the first feeding means or the second feeding means feeds a horizontally or vertically oriented original onto the original surface, the detecting means sets the portrait / vertical orientation of the original.
Detect the side. The control means controls the feed amount of the document based on the detection information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention applied to an overhead projector will be described with reference to the drawings.

 Please refer to FIG.

The automatic document feeder 1 feeds documents from a base 10, a document glass 11 on which documents are placed, stockers 12a and 12b for placing documents, horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b for transporting documents, and stockers 12a and 12b. Feeding and discharging belts 16a to 16d for discharging paper, separating friction materials 17a to 17d for assisting the feeding and discharging of the feeding and discharging belt 16,
It has a drive motor 18 and a control device 21 for operating the horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b, the paper supply and discharge belts 16a to 16d.

[Base 10] The base 10 of the automatic document feeder 1 can be used by being mounted on a main body 152 of an overhead projector 150 as shown in FIG. That is, the base
The upper part of the main body 152 is fitted into the concave portion 10a between the ten stocker mounting portions 10b. This upper portion is a portion that is originally used as a document placing surface of the overhead 150. Overhead 15
Reference numeral 0 denotes a head unit 104 provided via an arm 103.

[Stockers 12a, 12b] The stocker 12a in FIG. 1 has a hopper plate 13a for carrying out the vertical and horizontal documents to the paper supply / discharge belts 16a, 16b, and the vertical and horizontal documents at predetermined positions. There are provided two document guides 14a for adjusting to the original.

Similarly, the stocker 12b is provided with a hopper plate 13a for transporting the originals in the vertical and horizontal directions to the paper supply / discharge belts 16c and 16d, and two original guides 14b for adjusting the originals in the vertical and horizontal directions. Have been.

[Original document detection sensors 19a and 19b and original document vertical detection sensor 20
a, 20b] The base 10 is provided with horizontal document detection sensors 19a, 19b. The horizontal document detection sensors 19a and 19b are used for the horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b.
And near the original glass 11. On the other hand, the vertical document detection sensors 20a and 20b are provided near the document glass 11 and near the paper supply / discharge belts 16a and 16c, respectively. These sensors are connected to the control device 21.

[Control device 21 and drive motor 18] The drive motor 18 controlled by the control device 21 includes a drive shaft
Connected to 18a. The drive shaft 18a is connected to the horizontal transport belt 15.
a, 15b, pulleys 30, 31 at one end and paper feed / discharge belts 16a, 16
It is connected to pulleys 32 and 33 of b.

On the other hand, the shaft 18b is connected to pulleys 34, 35 at the other ends of the horizontal transport belts 15a, 15b and pulleys 36, 37 of the paper supply / discharge belts 16c, 16d.

The drive motor 18 is controlled by the control device 21 to rotate forward or reverse. This motor is, for example, a pulse motor.

[Document Supply / Discharge System] As shown in FIG. 3, the hopper plate 13a of the discharge side stocker 12a has one end attached by a pin 13f and the other end supported by a spring 40 against the bottom of the stocker 12a. I have.

Similarly, the hopper plate 1 in the paper supply side stocker 12b
3b has one end attached by a pin 13g and the other end supported by a spring 41 against the bottom of the stocker 12b.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, supporting portions 42 and 43 are fixed inside the base 10. This support part 42 has two shafts 4
4 passes. Two shafts 45 pass through the support portion 43. The separation friction members 17a and 17b are provided. Shaft 45,45
Separate friction members 17c and 17d are provided on the upper part of the head. Axis 44,
44 is fixed to the plate 50. The upper part of the shafts 45, 45 is fixed to the plate 51. The shaft 46a of the solenoid 46 is fixed to the plate 50. The shaft 47a of the solenoid 47 is fixed to the plate 51.

The separation friction members 17a and 17b correspond to the paper feeding and discharging belts 16a and 16b, respectively. The separation friction materials 17c and 17d are the paper feeding and discharging belts 16c and 1
6d respectively. A reinforcing spring 48 is interposed between the separation friction members 17c and 17d and the support portion. A reinforcing spring 49 is interposed between the separation friction members 17a and 17b and the support portion 43.

As shown in FIG. 4, a stopper 44a of the hopper plate 13a is further fixed to the shaft 46a. The stopper 45a of the hopper plate 13b is fixed to the shaft 47a.

The separation friction members 17c and 17d are inserted into the hole 52a on the upper portion of the base 10, and the separation friction members 17a and 17b are inserted into the hole 53a.

The solenoids 46 and 47 are controlled by the control device 21 (see FIG. 1).

[Operation] The operation of the embodiment will be described from the above configuration.

As shown in FIG. 2, the base 10 of the automatic document feeder of the present invention is placed on the document glass surface 11 of the overhead projector 1.

Stocker mounting parts on both sides of base 10 as shown in FIG.
The stockers 12a, 12b are mounted on 10b, 10b, respectively. At this time, the mounting portion 52 fits between the stoppers 44a of the shaft 46a as shown in FIG.

An original 200 is positioned on the original glass 11 of the base 10 shown in FIG. The original 200 is a commonly used transparent or translucent paper or film.

The light from the light source inside the main body 152 shown in FIG.
Through, the light is reflected by the reflector of the head unit 104,
Characters and images are projected on a screen (not shown).

In the case of using the apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the presenter also needs to explain a document in a horizontal position also called a horizontal direction and a document in a vertical position also called a vertical direction. There is no need to use a hand to change the position of the original document. Therefore, it is possible to concentrate on the explanation.

The document at the horizontal position means a case where the feeding direction of the document 200 indicated by an arrow A and the longitudinal direction of the document 200 are orthogonal to each other as shown in FIG.

The document in the vertical position refers to a case where the feeding direction of the document 200 indicated by the arrow A and the longitudinal direction of the document 200 match as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the original 200 in the horizontal position is conveyed.

The presenter places the document 200 on the hopper plates 13a and 13b of the stockers 12a and 12b in accordance with the document guides 14 and 14b.

 Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG.

The presenter selects whether the document is conveyed in the forward direction or the reverse direction. A case where the document 200 is automatically fed from the stockers 12b to 12a (forward direction) will be described.

First, as shown in FIG.
The hopper plate 13b and the separated friction members 17a, 17b are in a pushed up state. On the other hand, the hopper plate 1 of the stocker 12a on the discharge side
3b and the separated friction members 17c and 17d are in a lowered state.

In FIG. 3, the shaft 47a of the solenoid 47 is extended. The hopper plate 13b is raised by a spring 41 in the figure, but when the document 200 is placed in the stocker 12b, the spring 41 is slightly contracted by its weight, and the hopper plate 13b is slightly lowered. The separation friction members 17a and 17b are also pushed up by the reinforcing spring 49 before being transported.

At the time of conveyance, the motor 18 shown in FIG. 1 is driven, and the original 200 is sent by the paper supply / discharge belts 16c and 16d. The hopper plate 13b is inclined with respect to the paper feed / discharge belts 16c and 16d and the spring 41
Powered by For this reason, the sheet feeding / discharging belt is urged by the hopper plate, so that the document can be sent without idling.

Only the uppermost original is the paper feed / discharge belt 16c, 16
d and the separating friction materials 17a and 17b, and only the first original is fed in the direction of arrow A. That is, double feeding is prevented.

In the fed document, the horizontal leading edge of the document is detected by a document horizontal detection sensor 19b located near the document glass 11 and near the horizontal transport belts 15, 15b. The detected information is transmitted to a control device 21 such as a microcomputer. The motor 200 is driven by a predetermined feed amount of the original at the horizontal position set in the control device to convey the original 200.
As a result, the original at the horizontal position stops at the center on the original glass 11 as shown in FIG. That is, it stops at a predetermined position.

Since the horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b are arranged at the corners as shown in the figure, the document is not optically kicked. A flowchart of the operation in the above-described control device is shown in FIG. 7, which will be described later.

In a state where the document is stopped on the document glass 11, the presenter can select the conveyance direction of the document. Selection is performed by a remote controller or a switch. In other words, stocker 12
There are two cases where paper is discharged to a or 12b.

When the presenter selects the stocker 12a, the control device 21
Is notified of the selection result. The control device 21 is a horizontal conveyor belt
15a and 15b and the paper supply and discharge belts 16a and 16b are driven. The original is discharged to the stocker 12a in the direction of arrow A. At the time of paper ejection, the trailing edge of the document 200 at the horizontal position is detected by the document horizontal detection sensor 19a on the side of the stocker 12a. The detection information is sent to the control device 21, and the operation of the drive motor 18 is stopped.
The same operation is performed when the presenter selects the stocker 12b.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows a case where the original 200 in the vertical position is conveyed.

The original is placed on the hopper plate 13b of the stocker 12a in FIG. As in the case of the original at the horizontal position, the original 200 is conveyed by the paper supply / discharge belt 16 and sent out onto the original glass 11 while being sandwiched between the paper supply / discharge belts 16c, 16d and the separation friction materials 17a, 17b. The feeding direction is indicated by an arrow A in the figure.

The original is in the vicinity of the original glass 11 and the paper feed / discharge belt 16c,
The vertical edge of the document is detected by the document length detection sensor 20b at a position near 16d. The original document horizontal detection sensor 19b is located at a position where the original document does not touch a vertical original. Document vertical detection sensor
The position 20b may be provided between the two paper feeding and discharging belts 16c and 16d.

The result of detection by the document vertical detection sensor 20b is transmitted to the control unit 2
1 and drives the paper supply / discharge belts 16c and 16d so as to convey the document by the feed amount of the vertical position set in the control device. As a result, the original in the vertical position at the center of the original glass 11 stops. At this time, the original in the vertical position on the original glass 11
The front and rear edges of 200 are in contact with one of the front and rear paper feeding and discharging belts 16. This is to enable the original 200 to be later discharged to the stocker 12a or 12b. Further, the paper supply / discharge belts 16a to 16d are arranged so as not to be optically kicked.

In this state, the presenter can select the transport direction. That is, the sheet can be discharged to the stocker 12a or 12b.

When the presenter selects the stocker 12a and discharges the paper to the stocker 12a, the selection result is transmitted to the control device 21. The control device 21 drives the paper supply / discharge belts 16a and 16b, and discharges the document to the stocker 12a. At the time of paper ejection, the trailing edge of the document in the vertical position is detected by the document vertical detection sensor 20a. This detection information is sent to the control device 21, and the motor 18 is stopped at a predetermined position.

The same operation is performed when the presenter selects the stocker 12b.

In the above two cases, only the original in the horizontal position or the vertical position has been described as an example. However, even if the originals in the vertical and horizontal positions are used together or mixedly arranged in each stocker, they can be transported.

[Flowchart of Operation] Next, a flowchart in the control device 21 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. Reference is also made to FIGS.

First, as the first stage, when the original power supply is turned on, the original reset is performed via the control device 21 by the "START" signal of 100 in FIG.

Next, the direction of document feeding is set by the presenter's selection (101 in FIG. 7). If it is the forward direction, the process proceeds to the initial setting 102, where the initial setting is performed in the control device 21. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the hopper plate 13b on the paper feed side is raised and the hopper plate 13a on the paper discharge side is lowered (104 in FIG. 7). The initial setting of the document feed amount of the drive motor 18 is transmitted to the drive motor 18 (106 in FIG. 7). The drive motor 18 drives the horizontal transport belts 15a and 15b and the paper supply / discharge belts 16a to 16d, and the original 200 is sent to the vicinity of the original glass 11 as shown in FIGS.

Even if it is selected in the opposite direction, it moves to the initial setting 103,
The hopper plate 13a on the paper feeding side is raised (10 in FIG. 7).
5), the drive of the drive motor 18 by transmitting the document feed amount of the drive motor 18 is performed by the control device 21 (10 in FIG. 7).
7).

As a second stage, original document horizontal detection sensors 19a and 19b or original vertical detection sensors 20a and 20b
Detects the horizontal or vertical edge of the document to determine the horizontal or vertical position of the document (108 in FIG. 7). If it is determined that the original is in the vertical position, the feed amount of the original in the vertical position is set to the drive motor 18 (109 in FIG. 7). If it is determined that the original is in the same horizontal position, the feed amount of the original in the horizontal position is
It is set to 18 (110 in FIG. 7). After the feed amount of the document at the vertical position or the horizontal position is set, the hopper plate 13a or 13b on the paper feed side is lowered (111 in FIG. 7). The drive motor 18 is operated by the control device 21 in accordance with the transport direction selected by the presenter, and the original is fed.

In the third stage, the trailing edge of the document at the horizontal position or the vertical position is detected by the document horizontal detection sensor or the document vertical detection sensor (112 in FIG. 7). Upon receiving the detection information, the control device 21 stops the drive motor 18 at a predetermined position (the seventh position).
113 in the figure).

After the above operation, the control device 21 waits for the input of the transport direction of the next document (return to 101 in FIG. 7).

The original is sent from the stocker 12b to the original glass 11,
The paper can be discharged to the stocker 12a or discharged to the stocker 12b. Further, the original can be sent from the stocker 12a to the original glass 11 and discharged to the stocker 12b or the stocker 12a. In any case, it depends on the choice of the presenter.

 Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

As described above, when the automatic document feeder of the present invention is applied to, for example, an overhead projector, the document to be projected can be used both vertically and horizontally in the feed direction. Therefore, the inconvenience of the presenter manually replacing the original document as in the related art is eliminated, and the presenter can concentrate on only the explanation, so that the operability can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the automatic document feeder of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view when this embodiment is set to an overhead projector, FIG. 3 is a view showing the structure of the embodiment, FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the stocker, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a case of sending a document in a horizontal position, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a case of sending a document in a vertical position, and FIG. It is a figure showing a flow. 10 Base 11 Document glass 12a, 12b Stocker 13a, 13b Hopper plate 14a, 14b Document guide 15a, 15b Horizontal transport belt 16a to 16d Feed / discharge belt 17a 17d: Separation friction material 18: Drive motor 19a, 19b: Original document horizontal detection sensor 20a, 20b: Original document vertical detection sensor 21: Control device

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An automatic document feeder for automatically transporting a plurality of originals on which characters and images are described, wherein all the originals are fixed size originals and at least a plurality of originals are stored vertically and horizontally. One document storage container, a document surface on which the document is placed, and a document outer peripheral surface which is arranged in a direction parallel to the document conveying direction,
First feeding means which engages a part of the edge of the horizontal document and conveys the horizontal document; and is disposed at an intermediate portion between the document surface and the document storage container, and engages with a part of the edge of the vertical document. Second feeding means for conveying a vertically oriented original; detecting means for detecting whether the original is arranged vertically or horizontally; first feeding means based on the detection result of the detecting means Or the second
An automatic document feeder, comprising: a control unit for controlling a feed amount of the document to be fed in a horizontal or vertical direction.