JP4347272B2 - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine. For example, an automatic document that can save space by providing a document discharge table below a document placing table. The present invention relates to a transport device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and facsimile machines are required to be faster and more multifunctional, and further space saving is required. Accordingly, an automatic document feeder provided in the image forming apparatus accordingly. The space saving (hereinafter simply referred to as ADF) is further required.

  In order to satisfy these requirements, in the conventional ADF, as shown in FIG. 6, a paper discharge tray 2 is installed below a document tray 1 on which a document bundle made up of a plurality of documents can be placed. After separating the document placed on the document tray 1, the sheet is fed onto the slit glass provided below the ADF through the reverse path, and then discharged onto the sheet discharge table 2. The structure is adopted.

  However, in such an ADF, the document tray 1 and the paper discharge tray 2 have a two-layer structure, and the distance between the document tray 1 and the paper discharge tray 2 is also short in order to reduce the vertical space. Therefore, in order to take out the original from the paper discharge tray 2, as shown in FIG. 7, the user puts his hand between the original tray 1 and the paper discharge base 2 to bend or pull out the original P. Therefore, there is a problem that the document take-out performance becomes very bad.

  Further, it is necessary to align the documents taken out from the paper discharge tray 2 or before placing the documents on the document tray 1, but since there is no space for aligning the documents, such a space is preferably secured. There was also a need.

  Therefore, the present invention can easily take out the document discharged to the document discharge table, and easily align the document placed on the document table or the document discharged to the document discharge table. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder having a space capable of performing the following.

The automatic document feeder of the present invention is provided with a document placing table for placing a document and extending in the same direction as the document feeding direction, and is provided below the document placing table, and is fed from the document placing table. A document discharge tray for discharging the document in a discharge direction opposite to the document supply direction, so that the document supply direction and the document discharge direction are left and right. open the automatic document feeder the document table and the document discharge tray is disposed in the automatic document feeder body, the the document table, along the sheet feeding direction of the front side and the document of the document table A cutout portion is formed, and at least the document discharge table portion positioned below the cutout portion extends to the front side of the document discharge table and extends in the document discharge direction. Ri and the automatic document transportable in the sheet discharge direction downstream side of the document A planar recess extending to the apparatus main body end portion is formed, the discharged document placed extending over the discharging direction of the document to a position higher than the concave portion of the document discharge tray portion except the recess It is characterized by forming a part.

By this configuration, when a document is discharged onto the original discharge table, by inserting a finger between the recess and the document formed on the document discharge tray can be taken out document sheet discharge direction and the front side The document can be taken out easily.

Further, when aligning a document to be placed on a document placement table or a document ejected to a document delivery table, the document can be aligned by abutting against the flat concave portion formed on the document delivery table. . In this case, since the cutout portion formed in the document table is to avoid a space of the recess, the document can be easily align and secure a space for aligning the originals.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the automatic document feeder described above .

By this configuration, when a document is discharged onto the original discharge table, by inserting a finger between the recess and the document formed on the document discharge tray can be taken out document sheet discharge direction and the front side Thus, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can improve the document take-out performance.
Further, when aligning a document to be placed on a document placement table or a document ejected to a document delivery table, the document can be aligned by abutting against the flat concave portion formed on the document delivery table. In addition, at this time, since the notch portion formed on the document placing table avoids the space of the concave portion, an image forming apparatus that can secure the space for aligning the documents and easily align the documents is provided. Can do.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily take out a document ejected to a document delivery table, and to place a document placed on a document placement table or a document ejected to a document delivery table. Thus, it is possible to provide an automatic document feeder having a space that can be easily aligned.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 5 show an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine (image forming apparatus). A slit glass 2 and a contact glass 3 are provided on an upper portion of a main body 1a of the copying machine 1. The slit glass 2 has an area corresponding to an image of several lines of the original, and the contact glass 3 has a slightly larger area than the original of the maximum size.

  An exposure lamp 4 and a first mirror 5 are provided below the slit glass 2 and the contact glass 3. The exposure lamp 4 and the first mirror 5 read the original placed on the contact glass 3. 1 is moved in the horizontal direction in FIG. 1 below the contact glass 3 and when reading a document on the reading position of the slit glass 2 (the portion irradiated with the light from the exposure lamp 4 in FIG. 1). Is stopped below the slit glass 2, and the exposure lamp 4 irradiates the original surface with light, and then the reflected light passes through a first mirror 5 and an optical system such as a lens (not shown) as is well known. An image of the original is directly formed on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum, and toner or the like is attached to the electrostatic latent image and transferred to a recording paper. Reflected light from the first mirror 5 and an image sensor such as a CCD through an optical system such as a lens (not shown). The optical signal is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor, and an image is formed on the recording paper by various image forming means using this signal. Transcript.

  The mode in which the exposure lamp 4 and the first mirror 5 are moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 below the contact glass 3 to read the image of the document corresponds to the second reading mode. A mode in which reading is performed while stopped below the slit glass 2 corresponds to the first reading mode.

  An automatic document feeder (hereinafter simply referred to as ADF) 6 is mounted on the upper portion of the copying machine 1, and this ADF 6 is connected to the copying machine 1 through a hinge (not shown) and can be opened and closed with respect to the copying machine 1. It has become.

  A document placed on the contact glass 3 is pressed on the lower surface of the ADF 6 against the contact glass 3, and a white sheet 7a serving as a white reference when reading the document on the lower surface and a cushion provided on the upper surface of the white sheet 7a. A pressure plate 8 having a material 7b is provided.

  A document placing table 9 is provided above the ADF 6, and a document bundle made up of a plurality of documents is placed on the document placing table 9 with the document surface facing upward. Further, a pair of side fences 20a and 20b are provided on the document placing table 9, and one of the side fences 20a moves in the width direction of the document so that the document is sandwiched with the side fence 20b. The width direction is aligned.

  The document bundle placed on the document table 9 is movably provided at a position indicated by a solid line and a broken line, and after being fed by a call roller 10 that can come into contact with or separate from the document bundle, both are rotated clockwise. The uppermost original is separated by a separation roller pair composed of a rotating separation roller 11 and a reverse roller 12.

The original document separated by the separation roller pair is conveyed onto the slit glass 2 through the paper feed path 14 by the conveyance roller pair 13 rotating at a conveyance speed (rotational speed) V1.

  A guide member 15 is disposed between the slit glass 2 and the contact glass 3, and the upper surface of the guide member 15 is inclined. Further, a conveying roller 21 is provided on the guide member 15, and the conveying roller 21 conveys the document onto the paper discharge path 16.

  Then, after the document surface is read by the exposure lamp 4 or the like that stops below the slit glass 2, it is scooped upward by the guide member 15, and then discharged to the paper discharge path 16. An end of the paper discharge path 16 is formed on the upper surface of the pressure plate 8 by a pair of paper discharge rollers 17, and the document surface is a lower surface on the document discharge table 18 disposed below the document table 9. The paper is discharged in the state.

  In the present embodiment, the document table 9 and the document discharge table 18 are arranged so that the document table 9 extends in the same direction as the document conveyance direction, and the document conveyance direction is the left-right direction. ing.

  A white guide member 19 is provided on the slit glass 2, and the white guide member 19 constitutes a white reference when reading a document and constitutes a part of a document transport path.

The relationship between the conveyance speed (rotation speed) V1 of the conveyance roller pair 13 and the conveyance speed (rotation speed) V2 of the conveyance roller 21 and the discharge roller pair 17 is V1 <V2 = V1 × 1.01. The transport speed V2 of 21 is set to be about 1% faster than the transport speed V1 of the transport roller pair 13. In the present embodiment, the separation roller pair composed of the separation roller 11 and the reverse roller 12, the conveyance roller pair 13, the paper feed path 14, the paper discharge path 16, and the paper discharge roller pair 17 constitute a document conveying means. Yes.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a notch 9a is formed at a predetermined position on the front side of the document placing table 9, and the front side of the document discharge table 18 including the lower side of the notch 9a. A flat concave portion 18a is formed in this portion, and a step 18b is formed at the boundary between the concave portion 18a and the original paper discharge tray 18 portion (including the discharged original document placement portion) excluding the concave portion 18a . .

  Next, the operation will be described.

  First, when reading an original in the second reading mode, the ADF 6 is opened through a hinge, and then the original is placed on the contact glass 3. Then, the ADF 6 is closed and the original is placed on the contact glass 3 by the pressure plate 8. Press. In this state, when a start switch provided in the copying machine 1 is pressed, the exposure lamp 4 and the first mirror 5 move in the horizontal direction in FIG. The read image of the original is transferred onto the recording paper by the image forming means.

  On the other hand, when reading a document in the first reading mode, a document bundle is placed on the document placing table 9 with the document surface facing upward, and when the start switch is pressed, the calling roller 10 moves to a position indicated by a broken line. The original bundle is fed by rotating in contact with the original bundle.

  In the original bundle, the uppermost original is separated by a separation roller pair including a separation roller 11 and a reverse roller 12, and then the separated original is conveyed toward the slit glass 2 by the conveyance roller pair 13.

  When the original is conveyed onto the slit glass 2, reading of the original is started with the exposure lamp 4 and the first mirror 5 being stopped below the slit glass 2.

  Next, when the document that has passed through the reading position on the slit glass 2 comes into contact with the guide member 15, the leading end of the document is sandwiched between the transport roller 21 and the guide member 15. It is scooped up by the guide member 15 and guided to the paper discharge path 16.

  At this time, since the conveying speed V2 of the conveying roller pair 13 is set to be about 1% faster than the conveying speed V1 of the conveying roller 21, the original is brought out of contact with the surface of the slit glass 2 and is white. The surface of the guide member 19 that contacts one side of the guide member 19 is scooped up by the guide member 15 while maintaining a very small state. Next, the document guided to the paper discharge path 16 by the conveyance roller 21 is discharged onto the document discharge table 18 by the discharge roller pair 17.

  In the present embodiment, a notch 9a is formed at a predetermined location on the near side of the document table 9, and a flat portion is formed on the near side of the document discharge table 18 including the lower portion of the notch 9a. Since the recess 18a is formed, when the document is taken out from the document delivery table 18, the user can take out the document P by inserting a finger between the recess 18a and the document P as shown in FIG. The takeout property can be improved.

Further, when aligning a document placed on the document or the document table 9 taken out from the originals delivery table 18, it is possible to align the originals P as shown in FIG. At this time, since the notch portion 9a is avoided space of the concave portion 18a, the document can be easily align and secure the space for aligning the originals P.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the document placed on the document placing table 9 is fed and turned over and then fed to the document delivery table 18, the document placing means 9 and the document are disposed. The paper discharge tray 18 can have a two-layer structure, and the installation space for the ADF 6 can be reduced.

  As described above, the automatic document feeder according to the present invention can easily take out the document ejected to the document delivery table, and can also be used for the document placed on the document placement table or the document delivery table. An automatic document transport device that has an effect of easily obtaining a space where the discharged documents can be aligned and can save space by providing a document discharge table below the document table. Useful as such.

1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention, and is a schematic configuration diagram thereof. 1 is an external perspective view of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment. 1 is a top view of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state which takes out the original document from the original document discharge stand of one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state which aligns a document in the planar recessed part of one Embodiment. FIG. 10 is an external perspective view of a conventional automatic document feeder. It is a figure which shows the state which takes out a document from the conventional document discharge stand.

Explanation of symbols

6 ADF (Automatic Document Feeder)
9 Document table 9a Notch
11 Separation roller (document transport means)
12 Reverse roller (document transport means)
13 Transport roller pair (document transport means)
14 Paper feed path (document transport means)
16 Paper ejection path (document transport means)
17 Discharge roller pair (document transport means)
18 Document delivery tray
18a recess
18b steps

Claims (2)

A document table that places the document and extends in the same direction as the document feeding direction;
A document discharge table provided below the document table and from which a document fed from the document table is discharged in a discharge direction opposite to the document feed direction ;
In the automatic document feeder original table and the document discharge tray is disposed in the automatic document feeder body to the sheet discharge direction of the paper feed direction and the document of the document is in the lateral direction,
The document platen, thereby forming the original placing front and the notch which is open along the sheet feeding direction of the document table,
On the document discharge tray portion located below at least the notch, as well as extending to the front side of the document output tray, the paper discharge direction downstream side of Wataru Ri and the document in the sheet discharging direction of the document Forming a planar recess extending to the end of the automatic document feeder main body in
An automatic document feeder, wherein a discharge document placement portion extending in the document discharge direction is formed at a position higher than the recess of the document discharge table portion excluding the recess.   An image forming apparatus having the automatic document feeder according to claim 1.

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