JP3283579B2 - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder which is arranged on a document table of a copying machine, separates a bundle of documents one by one, and feeds the bundle to an exposure section of the copying machine. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder with improved operability of members.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automatic document feeder (hereinafter abbreviated as ADF) of a copying machine has been widely used. A document aligning member is provided on the document feeder of the ADF so that all the documents are sent to an appropriate position on a document mounting table (contact glass) without being skewed. ing. That is, when using ADF,
After the document bundle is aligned vertically and horizontally, the document is aligned with the document alignment member and set on the document feeder. At this time, the document alignment member can be manually moved so as to match the document size. As an example of the document alignment member, a unit that moves the document alignment member of the document supply unit to match the size of the document, and a unit that detects the amount of movement of the document alignment member are provided.
An automatic document feeder for automatically selecting a recording sheet of an appropriate size according to the moving amount to prevent erroneous copying is disclosed in
No. 0-132846.

[0003]

However, in the conventional automatic document feeder described above, the correspondence between the document size and the recording paper is used, and the operability when setting the document using the document alignment member is improved. It was not something. Normally, when setting a document on the document feeder of the ADF, it is necessary to use both hands, for example, to adjust the position of the document alignment member with the left hand and insert the document with the right hand. Is the original document size and A
When the position of the document alignment member of the DF is different, it may be troublesome to adjust the document alignment member. In particular, when both hands are occupied, it becomes difficult to adjust the document alignment member. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder capable of solving the above-mentioned conventional problems and easily setting a document by using a document alignment member with a minimum number of operations. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gist of the present invention is to provide a document feeder for setting a document bundle and a document for aligning a document bundle set on the document feeder. An aligning member, driving means for driving the original aligning member by a driving motor, original detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an original set on the original feeder, and transmission of power of the driving motor of the driving means on / off. The clutch means to be turned off, and when it is detected by the document detecting means that the document is not set, the clutch means and the drive motor are both turned on, and the document aligning member is moved to the driving means by the maximum width home position. in the automatic document feeder and a control means for operating to open up, rhino before Symbol original home position of the original alignment member
Home position setting means for arbitrarily setting according to the size, and a plurality of size detecting means arranged at each home position to detect the position of the document alignment member ,
When the document alignment member is located at the maximum width home position
In case, by the pre-Symbol home position setting means, a document of support
When the home position corresponding to the size is set, the drive means is controlled by said control means to said size detecting means in accordance with the setting <br/> constant is turned on, also in the second aspect, document A document feeder for setting a bundle and this document
Document alignment unit for aligning a bundle of documents set on the feeder
And a drive for driving the original alignment member by a drive motor.
Moving means, and the presence or absence of a document set on the document feeder.
Document detecting means for detecting, and a driving motor of the driving means
Clutch means for turning on / off power transmission, and the original
The detection means detects that the original is not set.
The clutch means and the drive motor are both turned on.
And the drive means is connected to the home
Control means for operating to open up to the
In the automatic document feeder, the home of the document alignment member
To set the position arbitrarily according to the size of the document
Home position setting means and each home position
Multiple sizes to be placed and detect the position of the document alignment member
Detecting means, and the home position setting means
The home position according to the size of the original
The size detection means according to the setting is turned on.
Controlling the driving means by the control means until
It is in.

[0005]

Therefore, in the first aspect, the original alignment member is
When located in a large home position, the user
Most frequently used by home position setting means
When you set the home position according to the size of the original,
Drive until the size detection means according to the setting is turned on
The means are controlled by the control means. Therefore, when a document is not set, the document alignment member is always open to the set home position.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, the user is provided with a home
The most frequently used originals are supported by the
When you set the home position according to the size,
Drive means until the size detection means corresponding to
It is controlled by control means. Therefore, the original is set
The document alignment member is always set to the home
It is in a state where it is open to the session.

[0007]

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, an ADF 1 includes a document feeder 3 on which a document is placed, a document supply unit 20 that supplies the document bundle placed on the document feeder 3 one by one sequentially from the lowest document,
A transport unit 21 that transports the original supplied by the original supply unit 20 to a predetermined position on the contact glass 26 of the copying machine 2
And a reversing / discharging unit 22 for reversing and discharging the original. The document supply unit 20 is provided with a call-out roller 14, a separation belt 15, and a separation roller 16 for pulling out the lowest document of the document bundle on the document tray 3, and a position facing the leading end of the set document. A document sensor 17 serving as a document detecting means detects a supplied document and outputs a signal for aligning the document, and a registration sensor 18 is disposed at a predetermined position.
The document detection sensor 17 is constituted by a photo interrupter, and is turned on when a document is inserted at an opposing position, and detects the document. The transport unit 21 includes a belt driving roller 23 that drives the transport belt 19, and a transport belt 19.
And a plurality of pressure rollers 27 for pressing the conveying belt 19 against the upper surface of the contact glass 26. The fixing roller 24 fixes the original conveyed by pressing it against the contact glass 26 at a predetermined position. .
The reversing / discharging section 22 has a turn roller 28, a deflecting claw 29, and a discharge roller 30.
The document is inverted by the operation of 8 and the deflection claw 29. The exposed document is discharged via the discharge roller 30.

Next, the configuration of the document feeder 3 will be described in detail. The ADF of this embodiment is of the A3 original document vertical feed system, the original reference position is the left center, and the widths of A3 vertical and A4 horizontal are the same and the maximum width. Referring to FIG.
, Side fences 5 and 6 as a pair of document alignment members movable in a direction (horizontal direction of A4 document) perpendicular to a feeding direction (direction of arrow A) to the document insertion slot 4 are arranged. That is, the guide groove 7 provided in the document tray 3
A pin (not shown) or the like attached to the side fences 5 and 6 is fitted into the guide fence, and the pin is guided by the guide groove 7, whereby the movement is smoothly performed. As described above, the side fences 5 and 6 move the document so as to sandwich the document from both sides, thereby performing document alignment work, lateral registration (alignment) of the document, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the moving mechanism of the side fences 5 and 6 has a first rack gear 9 and a second rack gear 10 fixed to the side fences 5 and 6, respectively, and is sandwiched between the first rack gear 9 and the second rack gear 10. A pinion gear 11 in which these gears simultaneously mesh from both sides is rotatably fixed to the document feeder 3 at a position where the gears are to be engaged. The first rack gear 9 and the second rack gear 10 are provided with guide grooves 9a and 10a, respectively, and pins (not shown) mounted on the document feed table 3 are fitted into the grooves 9a and 10a to guide the movement of each gear. I do. At least one of the side fences 5 and 6 is provided with a sector 35 and a document size sensor 36 serving as a size detecting means for detecting the sector 35 on the document feed table 3 or the apparatus main body side, and detects the size of the document. The document size sensor 36 is attached by the number of document sizes (36a, 36b, 36c, etc.), and uses a transmission type photo interrupter (not limited to the transmission type photo interrupter but other elements. Is also good).

The mechanism for driving the pinion gear 11 has a clutch 32 and a clutch gear 33 mounted on the shaft of the pinion gear 11, as shown in FIG.
4 are engaged. The clutch 32 uses an electromagnetic clutch, and the worm gear 34 uses
This is because the drive motor 31 is used sideways to save space. In this configuration, the clutch 32 is normally disengaged (off), and the pinion gear 11 can rotate freely, so that as shown in FIG.
Can be freely moved by hand, and when one side fence 5 is moved by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow B, the other side fence 6 is also moved by the same amount in the direction of arrow C in conjunction therewith. As described above, the document can be positioned at the center position by being moved between the side fences 5 and 6 only by moving one side fence by hand. When automatically moving the side fences 5 and 6, the clutch 32 is turned on and the drive motor 31 is rotated.

Next, a series of operations in which the side fences 5 and 6 automatically return to the home position of the maximum width of the document will be described. Since the ADF of this embodiment uses the A3 vertical feed system, when the side fences 5 and 6 are opened to the maximum width, the maximum original can be set to two types of sizes for A3 vertical feed and A4 horizontal feed. . Among these, when using A4 landscape, the reading distance of the optical system is shorter when using A4 landscape than when using A4 portrait, and the number of sheets that can be copied per minute is larger than when using A4 portrait. Is often used. Thus, generally speaking, A
Since four documents are often used, the position where the side fences 5 and 6 are opened to the maximum width is the most frequently used position. Therefore, if the side fences 5 and 6 always return to the home position of the maximum width automatically after use of the ADF, the side fences 5 and 6 are narrowed when a document such as B4 or B5 smaller than this width is set. You just need to do that. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the processing routine in which the side fences 5 and 6 return to the home position having the maximum width. In the figure, when the document detection sensor 17 is switched from on to off after the copy is started, it is determined that the copy operation has been completed, and the document size sensor 36 detects the side fence 5.
If it is determined that the positions 6 and 6 are not the positions of the maximum width, the clutch 32 is turned on and the drive motor 31 rotates. Thus, the drive motor 31 continues to rotate until the sector 35 of the side fence 6 reaches the position of the document size sensor 36 located at the position of the maximum width. On the other hand, when the document size sensor 36 determines that the side fences 5 and 6 have reached the maximum width, the control is not performed and the process returns to the main routine (not shown).

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which the home positions of the side fences 5 and 6 can be arbitrarily set instead of being fixed to the maximum width of the ADF. In the above-described embodiment, the maximum width in the A3 vertical feed system is set. However, depending on the user, a copier may be used in consideration of a case where a smaller size such as B5 width is the most frequently used original size. 2 is provided with a home position setting switch 37 as a home position setting means, and by operating this switch, the side fences 5 and 6 are operated.
Is set arbitrarily to a width that is convenient for the user. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a processing routine for arbitrarily setting the home positions of the side fences 5 and 6 by the home position setting switch 37 in this manner. In the figure, when the document detection sensor 17 is switched from on to off after the copy is started, it is determined that the copying operation has been completed, and the position of the side fences 5 and 6 is set by the document size sensor 36 to the home position setting switch. If it is determined that the position is not the position set by 37, the clutch 32 is turned on.
Then, it is determined whether the position of the side fences 5 and 6 is wider or narrower than the set home position, and the drive motor 31 is rotated forward or backward accordingly. Thus, the drive motor continues to rotate until the sector 35 of the side fence 6 reaches the position of the document size sensor 36 located at the set home position. On the other hand, when it is determined by the document size sensor 36 that the side fences 5 and 6 have reached the set home positions, the control is not performed and the process returns to the main routine.

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which, when the side fences 5 and 6 are at the home position, the bundle of documents is set and then the side fences 5 and 6 are automatically moved to the document position with one touch. A document size designation switch 38 as alignment position designation means is provided in the operation unit of the copying machine 2, and when this switch is turned on, the clutch 32 is turned on and the side fences 5 and 6 are driven to the position of the document bundle. It is moved by the motor 31. In this case, AD
When the document size designation switch 38 is turned on and the side fences 5 and 6 are widened while the F is in operation, the document bundle collapses. On the contrary, if the side fences 5 and 6 are narrowed, the document bundle is compressed and bent.
Since the drive motor 31 may be disturbed, the document insertion port 4
The document detection sensor 17 detects whether or not a document is inserted into the document, and when the document is inserted (when the ADF is operating)
Is a configuration in which the side fences 5 and 6 do not move even when the document size designation switch 38 is turned on.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a processing routine by the document size designation switch 38. In the figure, when the document detection sensor 17 is switched from on to off after the copy is started, it is determined that the copying operation has been completed, and if it is on, the control does not proceed until it is turned off. Next, it is determined whether or not the document size is designated by the document size designation switch 38. When the document size is designated, the clutch 32 is turned on, and the control does not proceed until the designation is made. Then, the designated document size is compared with the current size, and the drive motor 31 is rotated forward or backward depending on whether the designated document size is larger or smaller than the current size. As a result, the drive motor continues to rotate until the sector 35 of the side fence 6 reaches the position of the document size sensor 36 located at the position of the designated document size. When the side fences 5 and 6 reach the designated size, the drive motor 31 stops. As described above, when the original size of the bundle of originals to be set is different from the home position of the side fences 5 and 6, the side fences 5 and 6 are automatically set by designating the original size with the original size designation switch 38. Move to the specified position.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit of the microcomputer of the ADF having all the functions of the above embodiment has a size detection sensor 36, a home position setting switch 37, a document size designation switch 38, and a document detection sensor 17 as shown in FIG. Is input to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 40, and the CPU 40 outputs a control signal for driving the drive motor 31 or turning on / off the clutch 32 based on the input signal.

[0016]

As described above, according to the first aspect, the document aligning member is moved to the home position having the maximum width.
In the automatic document feeder which is opened at, the home position setting means of the document alignment member, a plurality of size detection means for detecting the position of the document alignment member, and the size detection means according to the setting by the home position setting means are turned on. Control means for driving the driving means until the document alignment member becomes the maximum width of the home
Without returning to the position, the width of the most frequently used document size set by the home position setting means is automatically returned, and in most cases, the trouble of manually moving the document alignment member can be omitted.

According to the second aspect, the document alignment member is
Check the home position setting means and the position of the document alignment member.
A plurality of size detecting means to be known and the home position
The size detection means is turned on according to the setting by the setting means
Control means for driving the driving means until
After using the ADF, the document alignment member
The most frequently used source set by the
Automatically returns to the manuscript size width, and in most cases
The labor of moving the material by hand can be saved.

[0018]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a document feeder provided with a document alignment member of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a moving mechanism of a document alignment member.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a clutch and a drive motor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating control for opening a document alignment member to a home position having a maximum width.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating control for opening a document to a home position set by a document alignment member.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating control for moving the document alignment member to a width of a designated document size.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration for controlling the operation of the document alignment member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Document Feeding Table 5, 6 Document Alignment Member 9, 10, 11 etc Driving Means 17 Document Detecting Means 31 Drive Motor 32, 33 Clutch Means 36 Size Detecting Means 37 Home Position Setting Means 38 Alignment Position Designating Means 40 Control Means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuya Hiruma 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Yamada 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo (56) References JP-A-64-2957 (JP, A) JP-A-3-44124 (JP, U) JP-A-58-159535 (JP, U) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 1/04 324

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A document feeder for setting a document bundle;
A document aligning member for aligning a bundle of documents set on the document feeder, a driving unit for driving the document aligner by a drive motor, and a document detecting unit for detecting the presence or absence of a document set on the document feeder Clutch means for turning on and off the transmission of the power of the drive motor of the drive means,
When the document that has not been set is detected by the document detecting unit, the to both turn the clutch means and the drive motor, and opens the document aligning member to the drive means to the home position of the <br/> maximum width as in the automatic document feeder and a control means for operating the home position before Symbol original orientation member on the size of the original
And the home position setting means for setting arbitrarily according, located in each home positions, and a plurality of the size detecting means for detecting the position of the document alignment member, the document
When the alignment member is located at the maximum width of the home position
To, by the front Symbol home position setting means, a document of rhino
An automatic document feeder, wherein when the home position is set according to the position, the drive unit is controlled by the control unit until the size detection unit according to the setting is turned on. A document feeder for setting a document bundle;
An original for aligning the bundle of originals set on this original
The document alignment member and the document alignment member are driven by a drive motor.
Driving means for moving, and a document set on the document feeder
Document detection means for detecting the presence or absence of
Clutch means for turning on / off the transmission of the power of the motor;
A document is not set by the document detection means
Is detected, the clutch means and the drive motor are turned off.
Both are turned on, and the drive unit is provided with the original aligning member.
Control means for operating to open to the home position;
In the automatic document feeder provided with, the home position of the document alignment member is set to the size of the document.
Home position setting means for arbitrarily setting according to
And at each home position,
A plurality of size detecting means for detecting the
The home position setting means, ho according to the size of the original document
When the home position is set, the
The drive unit is controlled until the size detection unit is turned on.
Automatic document feeder characterized by being controlled by control means
Place.