JP7172249B2 - image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a document feeding and reading device and an image forming device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a document conveying and reading apparatus that conveys a document and reads an image of the conveyed document.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-101001 describes a document transport path on the lower surface of a top plate, an image reading device that reads images of the front side and the back side of the document transported on the document transport path, and a document that has been read by the image reading device and ejected. An image forming apparatus is described that includes a paper delivery section for receiving paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a document feeding/reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus that match the placement order of documents.

The present invention relates to a document feeding and reading apparatus that conveys a document and reads an image of the document, and includes a document discharge port for discharging the document, and a discharged document on which the document discharged from the document discharge port is placed. a document placing portion, a lifting member for lifting a document placed on the discharged document placing portion, and a document placed on the discharged document placing portion provided downstream of the lifting member in a document discharging direction. a first conveying roller that conveys the document by rotating in contact with the bottom surface of the first conveying roller; , and a second conveying roller that rotates in contact with the bottom surface of the next conveyed document .

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a document feeding/reading device and an image forming apparatus that match the placement order of documents.

1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 1 that is an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a top view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a top view of a document placement surface (discharged document placement section) 220 of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a front view showing a specific example of a document placement surface (discharged document placement portion) 220 shown in FIG. 4; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 7 is a top view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 6;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each drawing for explaining the embodiments of the present invention, constituent elements such as members and constituent parts having the same function or shape are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and will be described once. We omit the explanation.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 1 that is one embodiment of the present invention. The X-axis direction shown in FIG. 1 is the width direction of the image forming apparatus 1 , the Y-axis direction is the height direction of the image forming apparatus 1 , and the Z-axis direction is the depth direction of the image forming apparatus 1 .

The image forming apparatus 1 includes a document conveying and reading device 100 for conveying a document and reading an image of the conveyed document, a top plate 300 having an upper surface on which an article is placed, and placed on the top plate 300. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation section 400 for receiving operation input to the image forming apparatus 1, an image forming section 60 for forming an image on a sheet, and an ejection/receiving section 200 for storing the ejected document and sheet.

The image forming apparatus 1 also includes an internal sheet stacking portion 10 on which sheets to be supplied to the image forming portion 60 are placed, and a second internal sheet stacking portion on which sheets to be supplied to the image forming portion 60 are placed. 15 are provided inside the device.

The image forming apparatus 1 further includes a sheet placing section 20 on which a sheet to be fed to the image forming section 60 is placed on the right side surface 500 in the width direction (X direction). A side surface 500 of the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a document placement section 110 on which a document to be supplied is placed. The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 can be opened and retracted with respect to the image forming apparatus 1, and FIG. 1 shows the retracted state.

The discharge storage section 200 includes a document placement surface (discharged document placement section) 220 on which the discharged document is placed, and a sheet placement surface (discharged sheet placement section) on which the discharged sheet is placed. 240 and a second sheet placement surface (second discharged sheet placement portion) 250 on which discharged sheets are placed. Note that the discharge/accommodation section 200 having the document placement surface 220 may be configured to be included in the document feeding/reading apparatus 100 .

The discharge/accommodation section 200 is covered with a top plate 300 on the upper side in the height direction (Y-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1, and covered with a side surface 500 on the right side in the width direction (X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1. The rear side of the image forming apparatus 1 in the depth direction (Z-axis direction) is covered with a rear side surface 550 . As a result, confidentiality of the document ejected onto the document placement surface 220 and the sheets ejected onto the sheet placement surface 240 and the second sheet placement surface 250 can be ensured.

The discharge/accommodation section 200 also has an opening 210 that opens to the front side surface on the front side in the depth direction (Z-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 and the left side surface on the left side in the width direction (X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 . is formed, and the document placement surface 220 , the sheet placement surface 240 , and the second sheet placement surface 250 are exposed to the outside of the image forming apparatus 1 through the opening 210 . As a result, the document ejected onto the document placement surface 220 and the sheet ejected onto the sheet placement surface 240 can be easily removed from the image forming apparatus 1 .

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view seen from . The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 are shown in a state of being released from the image forming apparatus 1 . The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 protrude outward from the outer peripheral edge of the top plate 300 in the right direction in the width direction (X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 . The top plate 300 is loaded onto the upper surface 600 of the device.

The document conveying and reading apparatus 100 includes a document feeding section 130 that feeds the document placed on the document placing section 110 into the apparatus, and a document conveying section 150 that conveys the document fed from the document feeding section 130 . and an image reading unit 160 that reads the upper surface of the document transported by the document transport unit 150 as the first surface (front surface), and the lower surface (bottom surface) of the document transported by the document transport unit 150 as the second surface (back surface). A second image reading section 170 for reading and a document discharging section 180 for discharging the document conveyed by the document conveying section 150 are provided. An empty space 101 is formed between the upper portion of the document feeding and reading device 100 and the lower portion of the top plate 300 . Document feeding and reading apparatus 100 including image reading section 160 and second image reading section 170 is arranged below operation section 400 .

Document feeding section 130 includes document feeding rollers 134 for feeding the document from document placing section 110 . Document feeding roller 134 feeds the document from document placing portion 110 by rotating in contact with the upper surface of the document placed on document placing portion 110 . When a plurality of documents are stacked on the document placing portion 110 , the document feeding portion 130 feeds the uppermost document among the documents placed on the document placing portion 110 .

The document conveying unit 150 includes a pair of conveying rollers 152 and 153 for conveying the document fed from the document feeding unit 130, a second pair of conveying rollers 154 for conveying the document conveyed from the pair of conveying rollers 152 and 153, 155.

The document discharge section 180 has a document discharge opening 182 for discharging the document toward the document placement surface 220 and a document discharge opening 182 for conveying the document conveyed from the second conveying roller pair 154 and 155 toward the document discharge opening 182 . A roller pair 184, 185 is provided. The discharge/accommodation section 200 is a space facing the document discharge port 182 , and is formed so as to receive the document discharged from the document discharge port 182 . The document is discharged from the document discharge port 182 toward the left side in the width direction (horizontal direction, X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 . Document conveying portion 150 and document ejection portion 180 are configured to eject the document placed on document placement portion 110 from document ejection portion 180 without turning over the document.

The image forming apparatus 1 includes an internal sheet feeding portion 11 that feeds a sheet placed on the internal sheet stacking portion 10 to the image forming portion 60 and a sheet placed on the second internal sheet stacking portion 15 . to the image forming unit 60; a sheet feeding unit 30 for feeding the sheet placed on the sheet placing unit 20 to the image forming unit 60 inside the apparatus; A sheet conveying unit 40 conveys sheets fed from the internal sheet feeding unit 11, the second internal sheet feeding unit 16, and the sheet feeding unit 30, and the image forming unit 60 described above. A fixing section 70 for fixing an image thereon and a sheet discharge section 80 for discharging a sheet on which an image is fixed are provided. Here, the document discharge section 180 described above is arranged above the sheet discharge section 80 .

The sheet feeding portion 30 includes a sheet sensor 32 that detects the presence or absence of a sheet placed on the sheet stacking portion 20 and a sheet feeding roller 34 that feeds the sheet from the sheet stacking portion 20 . When the sheet sensor 32 detects the presence of a sheet, the sheet feeding roller 34 rotates in contact with the bottom surface of the sheet placed on the sheet stacking portion 20 to feed the sheet from the sheet stacking portion 20 . . When a plurality of sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking portion 20 , the sheet feeding portion 30 feeds the lowest sheet among the sheets placed on the sheet stacking portion 20 .

The sheet conveying unit 40 includes a pair of conveying rollers 42 and 43 that convey the sheet toward the image forming unit 60, a conveying switching unit 48 that switches the conveying destination of the sheet on the downstream side of the fixing unit 70, and a sheet on which the image is fixed. a second conveying roller pair 44, 45 that reverses and conveys, a third conveying roller pair 46 that conveys the sheet conveyed from the second conveying roller pair 44, 45 toward the conveying roller pair 42, 43; 47.

The image forming unit 60 corresponds to the images read by the toner storage units 62B, 62C, 62M, and 62Y that store black, cyan, magenta, and yellow toners, and the image reading unit 160 and the second image reading unit 170. A writing unit 63 that generates image writing light, image forming units 64B, 64C, 64M, and 64Y that form black, cyan, magenta, and yellow images with the image writing light generated by the writing unit 63, and an image forming unit 64B. , 64C, 64M, and 64Y are superimposed and transferred onto a sheet.

The transfer unit 66 has an intermediate transfer belt 67 on which images of respective colors formed by the image forming units 64B, 64C, 64M, and 64Y are superimposed and primarily transferred, and the image transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 67 is duplicated onto a sheet. and a secondary transfer portion 68 for subsequent transfer.

The sheet ejection portion 80 includes a sheet ejection port 82 that ejects the sheet toward the sheet placement surface 240, a pair of sheet ejection rollers 84 and 85 that conveys the sheet toward the sheet ejection port 82, and a second sheet placement surface. A second sheet discharge port 92 for discharging the sheet toward the surface 250 and a second sheet discharge roller pair 94 and 95 for conveying the sheet toward the second sheet discharge port 92 are provided. The discharge/accommodation portion 200 is a space facing the sheet discharge port 82 and the second sheet discharge port 92 , and is formed to receive the sheets discharged from the sheet discharge port 82 and the second sheet discharge port 92 . The sheet is discharged from the sheet discharge port 82 and the second sheet discharge port 92 toward the left side in the width direction (horizontal direction, X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 .

In the case of single-sided image formation, the sheet conveying portion 40 and the sheet discharging portion 80 discharge the sheet from the sheet discharging portion 80 so that the surface on which the image is formed by the image forming portion 60 faces downward.

In the case of single-sided image formation, the sheet conveyed from the fixing unit 70 is conveyed by the conveying switching unit 48 toward the pair of sheet discharge rollers 84 and 85 or the pair of second sheet discharge rollers 94 and 95 . Alternatively, the sheet is discharged from the second sheet discharge port 92 .

In the case of double-sided image formation, the sheet conveyed from the fixing section 70 is conveyed toward the second sheet discharge port 92 by the conveyance switching section 48 . Before the sheet is completely discharged from the second sheet discharge port 92, the second sheet discharge roller pair 94, 95 rotates in the reverse direction, so that the sheet is directed toward the second conveying roller pair 44, 45. Conveyed in reverse.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 are stored in the image forming apparatus 1 .

The outer peripheral edge of the top plate 300 is the same as the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface 600 of the image forming apparatus 1 . Since the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface 600 of the image forming apparatus 1 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a specific example of the document placement surface (discharged document placement section) 220 of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the document placement surface (discharged document placement section) 220 shown in FIG.

Ejected document placement section 220 includes a lifting member 222 that lifts a document placed on placement surface 220A of discharged document placement section 220, and a document placed on placement surface 220A of ejected document placement section 220. A transport roller 226 that transports a document by rotating in contact with the bottom surface of the document sensor 230 that is arranged above the placement surface 220A of the discharged document placement section 220 and detects the presence or absence of the document (rear end). and a second document sensor 232 arranged on the upstream side (right side in the X-axis direction in the figure) in the document ejection direction (left side in the X-axis direction in the figure) of the lifting member 222 to detect the presence or absence of the document (leading edge). , is provided.

The lifting member 222 is provided with a second transport roller 224 that rotates in contact with the bottom surface of the document. A plurality of transport rollers 224 and 226 may be provided in the document width direction (the Z-axis direction in the drawing) and the document transport direction (the X-axis direction in the drawing). Also, by providing a regulating member for regulating the edges of the originals stacked on the placement surface 220A, the leading edges of the originals may be aligned and the originals may be prevented from falling off.

The lifting member 222 can move upward from the loading surface 220A from a height substantially equal to the loading surface 220A using a fulcrum 222A as a rotation axis. It can be lifted above 220A. Lifting member 222 is driven and controlled based on the output of document sensor 230 . The conveying roller 226 is rotationally driven and controlled based on the output of the second document sensor 232 .

In the above configuration, when the document is ejected from the document ejection section 180 and placed on the placement surface 220A, the lifting member 222 moves the fulcrum 222A before the next document D1 is ejected from the document ejection section 180. It starts to move upward from the center, and lifts the rear end of the document D0 placed on the placement surface 220A so as to be above the document discharge port 182. FIG. The height (angle of rotation) at which the lifting member 222 moves is determined based on the output from the document sensor 230 so that the trailing edge of the document D0 placed on the placement surface 220A is above the document exit 182. controlled.

When the next document D1 is discharged from the document discharge unit 180 and the second document sensor 232 detects the next document D1 (leading edge), the conveying roller 226 is started to rotate after a predetermined time elapses.

When the next document D1 passes under the trailing end of the preceding document D0 lifted by the lifting member 222, the lifting member 222 starts to move downward and returns to a position almost at the same height as the placement surface 220A. . Here, when the next document D1 contacts the lifting member 222, the second transport roller 224 contacts the bottom surface of the next document D1 and rotates, thereby preventing the next document D1 from being ejected by the lifting member 222. less likely to be

When the next document D1 reaches the transport roller 226, the transport roller 226 contacts the bottom surface of the next document D1 and rotates, thereby transporting the next document D1 between the preceding document D0 and the placement surface 220A. The conveying roller 226 is carried out only when the next document D1 is conveyed, and is stopped otherwise.

As described above, the next document D1 ejected from the document ejection section 180 can be stacked under the preceding document D0 placed on the placement surface 220A. As a result, the originals can be stacked (from the bottom) on the placement surface 220A in an order different from the order of the originals discharged from the original discharge section 180 .

Further, by transporting the next document between the preceding document and the placement surface 220A by the transport roller 226, the next document can be stacked under the preceding document against the weight of the preceding document. .

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the document D1 is sequentially fed by the feeding roller 134 from the uppermost document D1, and the document placed on the document placement section 110 is discharged from the document discharge section 180 without being reversed. Therefore, when the documents D1, D2, and D3 are stacked face up (front side up) on the document placement unit 110 in order from the top, the documents D1 and D2 are stacked face up (front side up) from the document ejection unit 180. , D3.

Here, by using the configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the documents D1, D2, and D3 discharged from the document discharge section 180 in the order D1, D2, and D3 are placed on the placement surface 220A in the order D1, D2, and D3. can be loaded from above.

As a result, the front and back sides of the documents stacked on the discharged document placement section 220 and the stacking order can be made the same as the front and back sides and the stacking order of the documents on the document placement section 110 .

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modification of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 are shown in a state of being released from the image forming apparatus 1 . The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 protrude outward from the outer peripheral edge of the top plate 300 in the right direction in the width direction (X-axis direction) of the image forming apparatus 1 .

7 is a top view of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 6. FIG. The sheet stacking portion 20 and the document stacking portion 110 are stored in the image forming apparatus 1 .

The outer peripheral edge of the top plate 300 is larger than the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface 600 of the image forming apparatus 1 . Since the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface 600 of the image forming apparatus 1 in FIG.

As described above, the document conveying and reading apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the document discharge section 180 that discharges the document, and the discharged document placement section on which the document discharged from the document discharge section 180 is placed. (document placement surface) 220 and a lifting member 222 for lifting the document placed on the discharged document placement section 220 .

With this configuration, the next document ejected from the document ejection section 180 can be stacked under the preceding document placed on the placement surface 220A. As a result, the originals can be stacked (from the bottom) on the placement surface 220A in an order different from the order of the originals discharged from the original discharge section 180 .

The document conveying and reading device 100 includes a document placing portion 110 on which a document is placed, a document feeding portion 130 which feeds the uppermost document out of the documents placed on the document placing portion, and a document feeding portion 130 . and a document conveying unit 150 that conveys a document fed from the document conveying unit 150 and the document discharge unit 180 , without inverting the document placed on the document placing unit 110 from the document discharging unit 180 . Discharge. As a result, the front and back sides of the documents stacked on the discharged document placement section 220 and the stacking order can be made the same as the front and back sides and the stacking order of the documents on the document placement section 110 .

The document conveying and reading apparatus 100 has a top plate 300 having an area larger than the projected floor area of the apparatus, and a document placing section 110 which can be stored in the main body of the apparatus. It protrudes outside from the outer peripheral edge of the top plate 300 in an open state.

The document conveying and reading device 100 is arranged above the discharged document placing section 220 , has a document sensor 230 for detecting the document, and controls a lifting member 222 based on the output of the document sensor 230 . As a result, the lifting member 222 can be controlled according to the state of the document, and the next document can be reliably stacked under the preceding document.

The document conveying and reading device 100 further includes a conveying roller 226 that conveys the document by rotating in contact with the bottom surface of the document placed on the discharged document placing section 220 . As a result, the next document can be reliably stacked under the preceding document against the weight of the preceding document.

The document feeding and reading device 100 includes a second document sensor 232 that is arranged upstream of the lifting member 222 in the document discharge direction and that detects the document. Control. As a result, the transport rollers can be controlled in accordance with the timing at which the next document is discharged, and the next document can be reliably stacked under the preceding document.

An image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the document feeding and reading device 100 described above. The document discharge unit 180 is provided with a document discharge port 182 for discharging a document, and the image forming apparatus 1 has a sheet discharge port 82 for discharging a sheet on which an image is formed, and at least one side surface of the device. In addition, the document ejection port 182 and the sheet ejection port 82 face the ejection accommodating portion 200 that accommodates the document ejected from the document ejection port 182 and the sheet ejected from the sheet ejection port 82 . As a result, it is possible to easily take out the document and the sheet from the image forming apparatus 1 while ensuring confidentiality of the discharged document and the sheet.

1 Image Forming Devices 82, 92 Sheet Eject Port 100 Document Feeding and Reading Device 110 Document Placement Section 130 Document Feeding Portion 150 Document Transport Portion 180 Document Ejection Portion 182 Document Eject Port 200 Ejection Accommodating Portion 220 surface)
222 Lifting member 222 Conveying roller 226
230 document sensor 232 second document sensor 300 top plate

JP 2007-078994

Claims (7)

A document conveying and reading device for conveying a document and reading an image of the conveyed document,
a document ejection unit for ejecting documents;
an ejected document placement section on which the document ejected from the document ejection section is placed;
a lifting member for lifting the document placed on the ejected document placing section;
a first conveying roller provided on the downstream side of the lifting member in the document discharge direction, and for conveying the document by rotating in contact with the bottom surface of the document placed on the discharged document placing section;
a second conveying roller provided on the lifting member, lifted together with the lifting member, and rotated in contact with the bottom surface of the next conveyed document on the upstream side of the first conveying roller in the document discharging direction; ,
A document feeding and reading device comprising: The lifting member is movable about a fulcrum from the placement surface of the discharged document placement section,
2. The document conveying and reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fulcrum is provided upstream of the second conveying roller in the document discharge direction. a manuscript placement unit for placing a manuscript;
a document feeding unit for feeding the uppermost document out of the documents placed on the document placing unit;
a document conveying unit that conveys the document fed from the document feeding unit;
wherein the document conveying section and the document discharge section discharge the document placed on the document placement section from the document discharge section without reversing the document ;
A top plate having an area larger than the projected area of the floor of the apparatus is arranged above the apparatus, and the document placement section is provided so as to be storable in the apparatus main body, and the document placement section is opened from the apparatus main body and the top board is provided. 3. The document feeding and reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the document feeding and reading device protrudes outside from the outer peripheral edge of the. 4. The document according to claim 1, further comprising a document sensor arranged above said ejected document placing section for detecting a document, and said lifting member being controlled based on an output of said document sensor. Conveyor reader. A second document sensor for detecting the document is arranged upstream of the lifting member in the document discharge direction, and the first conveying roller is controlled based on the output of the second document sensor. 2. The document feeding and reading apparatus according to claim 1 . A document feeding and reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet based on an image read by an image reading unit .

The document discharge unit is provided with a document discharge port for discharging the document, and
a sheet ejection port for ejecting a sheet on which an image is formed;
A discharge container that is open to at least one side of the apparatus and faces the document discharge port and the sheet discharge port, and stores the document discharged from the document discharge port and the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising a unit.

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