JP2992699B2 - Document feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for feeding a document, and more particularly to a method for feeding a document on a platen of an image forming apparatus in a back-and-forth direction.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for subjecting a plurality of originals to exposure processing simultaneously or for each original.

[Prior art] In recent years, in order to secure an increasing storage space for documents,
In order to make it possible to copy two originals as one copy, a feeding method called a so-called two-in-one system or a continuous feeding system in which a plurality of originals are arranged on a platen and exposed at the same time is used. ing.

In order to send a plurality of originals onto the platen of the image forming apparatus, it is desirable that the relative position between the preceding original and the next original can be freely controlled. In particular, it is required that both originals be fed continuously without a gap.

Conventionally, for such a purpose, in the registration roller provided between the separation unit and the conveyance unit of the apparatus, the rear end of the preceding document is located at the pressure contact portion of the registration roller,
Thereafter, a succeeding document is abutted against the registration roller, and then the two documents are fed onto a platen in a state of abutting.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional method, the rear end of the preceding original and the front end of the next original cannot be overlapped, and even in the best case, there is no gap. However, in many cases, some gaps are usually formed during the conveyance, and there has been a problem that the gap between the originals cannot be adjusted when two originals are simultaneously copied.

Conversely, the ends of both documents may interfere with each other during conveyance, causing skew.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
In a so-called two-in-one document feeder,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a document feeder capable of reliably transporting two originals onto a platen and arranging two originals side by side without any gap.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a document feeder that continuously supplies two documents on a platen and arranges two documents side by side on the platen. Feeding means for feeding the original onto the platen, conveying means for conveying the original from the feeding means to an exposure position on the platen, and two originals superimposed at a predetermined position between the feeding means and the conveying means; And a control means for controlling the feeding means and the conveying means so as to supply the liquid onto the platen.

[Operation] In the document feeder according to the present invention, when the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the next document overlap, the document is fed immediately after the registration roller in order to prevent mutual interference. Providing a stepped portion for lowering the end, immediately after the trailing edge of the preceding document has passed through the registration roller, temporarily stopping the transporting unit, and the next document to be transported is located at the trailing edge of the preceding document. In an apparatus configured to restart the transport unit at a position where the originals overlap by a predetermined amount and feed both originals in an overlapped manner, the preceding original falls into a step portion when passing through the registration rollers, and temporarily stops there. Then, the next document starts to advance from the registration roller, and when the document has advanced by a predetermined overlap amount, the transport unit is started again, and both documents are sent by overlap feed. In addition, the trailing edge of the preceding document falls on the stepped portion as described above, and the next document to be fed proceeds from above, so that they do not interfere with each other.

In the document feeder according to the present invention, when the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the next document overlap, the trailing edge of the preceding document is positioned immediately after the registration roller to prevent mutual interference. A guide means for guiding the next document is provided, and the next document is temporarily stopped at a position where a predetermined amount of the leading end of the next document has come out of the registration roller, and at the same time, the preceding document is reversely fed so as to reverse the preceding document. In the feeding device configured so that the rear end portion and the protruding front end portion of the next document are overlapped, after passing through the guide means, the rear end of the document moving backwards is moved to the front end of the next document by the guide means. Since the document can be avoided upward or downward so as to avoid the copy, the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the next document can be overlapped without interference, and when a predetermined overlap occurs, both documents begin to advance together. .

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is an overall view of a first embodiment of a document feeding apparatus in which a feeding method according to the present invention is implemented, and FIG. 2 shows a main part thereof.

The document feeder 10 is placed on the upper surface of a platen P of the image forming apparatus C, and has a document tray 11 on which documents are placed, a paper feed unit 20 that separates and feeds the documents, and a document on the platen P It comprises a transport section 40 for transport and localization, a discharge section 50 for discharging an exposed document, and a discharge tray 12 for stacking the discharged documents.

The paper feed unit 20 includes a pickup roller 21 that feeds out the lowermost sheet of the stacked originals, a weight leaf spring 22 that presses the uppermost sheet, a separation roller 24 that separates from the lowermost sheet, and blocks the second sheet or more. Separation pad 25 and registration rollers 30, 31
Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), an outer guide plate 26 and an inner guide plate 27 for curving the rear end of the document from the separation roller 24 to the registration rollers 30 and 31 are provided. The inversion space 28 is formed by this.

In addition, the registration rollers 30 and 31 are MOTs which are variable driving sources.
An introduction path 33 for guiding a document to a position immediately before the conveyance unit 40 is provided downstream of the connection path I.

A size sensor 32 for detecting the size of the original by detecting the front end and the rear end of the original through the reverse space 28.
Are arranged.

Further, the outer guide plate 26 is provided with guide means 29 for preventing the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the next transported document from interfering with each other as shown in the figure.

The transport unit 40 is connected to a variable-speed MOT II, and is configured by stretching a transport belt 43 around a pair of belt rollers 41 and 42.
A plurality of press rollers 44 are provided on the platen side of 43.

The discharge unit 50 includes a discharge guide 52 and a reverse feed guide 54 that surround the discharge roller 52, and discharges the exposed document as it is. 53 are provided.

The feeding device 10 is provided with a control device (not shown), and its operation will be described in the following description of the operation.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 (b) and 3.

In the document feeder 10 of this type, one of a normal single-sheet feed mode and a continuous feed mode is normally selected.
A description will be given of a case of a so-called continuous feeding mode in which the sheet is sent onto the platen P of the main unit C).

When the start button is pressed, the feeding device 10 starts feeding the first document in accordance with a command from the main device C (S1). Subsequently, the separating operation is performed, and for the first time, the first original is 1
The sheets are separated and sent (S2).

Subsequently, the leading edge of the document is detected (S3), and if the leading edge is detected (S4), the trailing edge of the document is subsequently detected. At this time, the timer TM1 is started (S5), while the second document is detected. Feeding and separation (S8, S
9).

The first document is temporarily stopped by the timer TM1 being up (S6, S7). At this time, the rear end of the first document is located at a position past the guide means 29 provided on the outer guide plate 26.

On the other hand, when the leading end of the second original is detected by the size sensor 32 (S10), the timer TM2 starts,
At the time-up (S11), the document is sent together with the first document by the transport unit 40, and each operation of stopping the fixed position and exposing two sheets simultaneously is performed (S12, 13, 14).

During the operation of the timer TM2, the leading end of the second document advances so as to ride on the guide means 29 (FIG. 2 (b)).
(See FIG. 3), when the time comes up when the rollers hit the registration rollers 30 and 31 without interfering with the trailing edge of the first document, the leading edge thereof overlaps with the trailing edge of the first document.
The rear portion of the document is greatly curved in the reverse space 28, and the skew attitude that may have occurred at the time of separation is corrected.

Next, a second embodiment of the feeding device which realizes the feeding method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b).

In the feeding device 60 of the second embodiment, the preceding original is stopped immediately after exiting the registration rollers 30 and 31, and the next original is overlapped and fed when the originals protrude from the registration rollers 30 and 31 by a predetermined amount. That is.

In the above operation, the rear end of the preceding
Immediately after exiting 0 and 31, there is provided a step 61 into which the rear end falls. The trailing edge of the preceding document extends along the introduction path 33 due to the rigidity of the document itself, and does not interfere with the leading edge of the succeeding document (see FIG. 4B).

Next, a third embodiment of the feeding device which realizes the feeding method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b).

In the feeding device 70 of the third embodiment, the registration rollers 30,
A guide means 71 is provided in the introduction path 33 immediately downstream of the 31, as shown in the figure. The guide means 71 is formed of a thin elastic material in a forward tilted posture, and easily passes the original in the signal direction, but guides the original in the reverse direction toward its base. The continuation of progress is not allowed.

Then, the operation is as follows.
When the vehicle exits 30 or 31, the vehicle is temporarily stopped, and then the vehicle is retracted by a predetermined amount. Then, the next original is transferred to the registration roller 30,
At the time when a predetermined amount is protruded from 31, both originals are overlapped and fed.

When the trailing edge of the preceding document is reversed, it is avoided by the guide means 71 to the upper side of the introduction path 33 as shown in FIG. 5 (b) and interferes with the leading edge of the following document to be followed. Absent.

Further, since the registration roller and the transport section are driven by separate variable drive sources MOT I and MOT II, the relative position between the preceding document and the next document can be freely controlled by controlling the overlap. Can be controlled. Note that the registration roller and the transport unit may be configured by one motor, and a variable speed clutch may be connected to one of the resist roller or the transport unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the document feeder, FIG. 2 (a) is a structural view of the same main part, FIG. 2 (b) is an operation explanatory diagram, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation, FIG. a) is the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 (b) is an operation explanatory view of the same embodiment, FIG. 5 (a) is a main part structural view of the same third embodiment, and FIG. 5 (b) is an operation explanatory view of the same. is there. 10 Document feeder (first embodiment) 20 Sheet feeder 29 Guide means 40 Transport unit 60 Document feeder (second embodiment) 61 Step 70 Document feeder (third embodiment) 71: Guide unit MOT I: Registration roller drive motor MOT: Transport unit drive motor

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Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] An original feeder for feeding two originals continuously on a platen and arranging the two originals side by side on the platen; and a feeding means for feeding the originals onto the platen; Conveying means for conveying the original from the feeding means to an exposure position on the platen, and two originals superimposed at a predetermined position between the feeding means and the conveying means, and fed onto the platen. A document feeder comprising: said feed means; and control means for controlling said transport means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising driving means for individually driving the document conveying speeds of said feeding means and said conveying means, respectively, and adjusting an interval between two documents fed onto a platen. Item 2. The document feeder according to Item 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a guide unit provided at a predetermined position between said feeding unit and said conveying unit, for guiding a succeeding document on one side of the preceding document. Document feeder as described. 4. The document feeding device according to claim 3, wherein said guide member is a flexible plate-shaped member. 5. The control means reversely feeds a preceding document passing through the plate member and guides the preceding document to one surface of the plate member, and directs a subsequent document to the other surface of the plate member. 5. The document feeder according to claim 4, wherein the feeder and the transporter are controlled to guide the document.