JPH01133833A - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a double-folded document to be fed by manual insertion by providing a separating means, which detaches a separating member, separating a document, from a feed roller, and controlling the separating member to be detached from and brought into contact with the feed roller through a control means by an instruction of the operator. CONSTITUTION:An automatic document feeder 1 detects by a sensor 4 a document 3 to be set to a document bed 2, and rotating a feed roller 7 when a start button is pressed, only the lowermost document 3 is fed by resistance of a separating roll 10 to a read part by paired conveying rollers 8. 9. Here in case of feeding the document of double fold or the like, when an operator turns on a release switch 21, a control circuit 6 separates the separating roll 10 from the feed roller 7 by a separating means 19, enabling the document to be fed by hand insertion. Next turning on the document sensor 4 not in the predetermined time and not turning on the start button, when the release switch 21 is switched to an off-position, turning off a light emitting diode 26, the separating means 19 is turned off.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder, and more particularly to an automatic document feeder capable of feeding a folded document or the like.

(Prior Art) Copying machines, facsimile machines, and the like often copy or transmit a large number of original documents at once. In such cases, it would be inefficient to manually feed the originals one by one. Therefore, automatic document feeders have been used conventionally.

This automatic document feeder separates documents placed on a document table one by one using a feed roller and a separation member and feeds them to a reading device or the like. In other words, the feed roller feeds the document by touching the document at the bottom or top of the document table.
At this time, since other documents may be fed together with the document, they are separated by a separating member. This separating member is made of a separating roller or separating rubber, and is in contact with the feed roller. Therefore, the documents are separated and fed one by one between the separating member and the feed roller.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional automatic document feeder, the separating member is in constant contact with the feed roller, so that the document is folded in half or the front side of the paper is Since the separation member tries to separate the originals to which the originals have been attached, there is a problem in that they cannot be fed smoothly.

(Object of the Invention) Therefore, the present invention provides a separating means for separating the separating member and the feed roller, and drives the separating means in response to an operator's instruction to separate the separating member.
The purpose of this invention is to improve the convenience and workability of an automatic document feeder by making it possible to manually feed folded documents and the like.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a document table on which a plurality of originals can be stacked, and a document tray in which a document placed on the document table is placed in contact with the lowest or highest document. An automatic document feeder that feeds documents one by one on a document table, which includes a feed roller that feeds documents, and a separation member that comes into contact with the feed roller and separates only the bottom or top documents from other documents. The feeding device is characterized in that it is provided with a separating means for separating the separating member from the feed roller, and a control means for controlling the drive of the separating means in response to instructions from an operator to cause the separating member to approach and separate. It is something.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained based on examples.

1 to 3 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an automatic document feeder 1, and the automatic document feeder 1 is applied, for example, as an automatic document feeder that feeds a document to a scanner of a facsimile machine.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a document table, and a plurality of documents 3 can be placed on the document table 2. As shown in FIG. The presence or absence of the document 3 on the document table 2 is detected by a document sensor 4, and the detection signal of the document sensor 4 is sent to a control circuit (control means) 6 via an OR circuit 5.
is input.

A control signal SCI from a control circuit 6 is input to the other input terminal of the OR circuit 5. As the document sensor 4, for example, a micro-sinch is used, and when it detects the document 3 (when the document 3 is present), it outputs an "H" (high level) signal.

The lowest document 3 on the document table 2 is in contact with a feed roller 7, and the feed roller 7 is driven by a drive motor (not shown) and rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure. This drive motor is controlled by a control circuit 6, and when the feed roller 7 is rotated by this drive motor, the document 3
is conveyed in 8 and 9 directions. A separation roller (separation member) 10 is in contact with the feed roller rough, and the separation roller 10 is supported by a support plate 11, as shown in FIG.

The support plate 11 is rotatably supported by a shaft 12, and is biased toward the feed roller 7 (counterclockwise) by a coil spring 13 wound around the shaft 12. Therefore, the separating roller 10 is pressed against the feed roller rough with a predetermined pressure by the biasing force of the coil spring 13, and applies a predetermined frictional force to the document 3 fed by the feed roller rough, thereby separating the lowermost document 3 from other documents. Separate from original 3. The support plate 11 includes a bracket 1 formed on the support plate 11.
4 to a rod 15, and the rod 15 is connected to one end of an L-shaped arm 16. The L-shaped arm 16 is rotatably supported at its bent portion, and a shaft 18 of an electromagnetic solenoid 17 is attached to the other end.
are connected. The electromagnetic solenoid 17 has a control circuit 6
The drive signal from 11 electromagnetic solenoid 1 is human-powered.
7 is driven based on this drive signal to move the shaft 18 in the axial direction (horizontal direction in the figure).

That is, when the drive signal is an on signal, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is turned on and moves the shaft 18 to the left in the figure, causing the L-shaped arm 16 to rotate counterclockwise. L
When the letter-shaped arm 16 rotates counterclockwise, the support plate 11
rotates clockwise, and the separation roller 10 moves to the feed roller 7.
separate from

On the other hand, when the drive signal is an off signal, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is turned off, moves the shaft 18 rightward in the figure, and rotates the L-shaped arm 16 clockwise. When the L-shaped arm 16 rotates clockwise, the support plate 11 rotates counterclockwise, and the separation roller 10 is pressed against the feed roller 7 by the biasing force of the coil spring 13. Therefore, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 including the support plate 11, the shaft 12, the coil spring 13, the rod 15, the L-shaped arm 16, and the shaft 18 collectively constitute a separating means 19 for separating the separating roller 10 from the feed roller 7. There is.

A document sensor 20 is provided between the conveyance roller 8 and the conveyance roller 9 to detect the document 3 fed from the conveyance roller 9.
is provided, and as the document sensor 20, for example, a micro-sinch is used. When the document sensor 20 detects the document 3, it outputs an "H" signal to the control circuit 6.

On the other hand, a release switch 21 for instructing the operation of the separation means 19 is provided in the operating section of equipment to which the automatic document feeder 1 is applied, for example, a facsimile machine. It is detected by R3, R2, capacitor C, and a predetermined power supply VD. The on/off signal of the release switch 21 is ORed via the inverter 22.
The control signal S from the control circuit 6 is input to one input terminal of the circuit 23, and the control signal S from the control circuit 6 is input to the other input terminal of the OR circuit 23.
C2 is input. The output of the OR circuit 23 is input to the flip-flop 24, and the Q of the flip-flop 24 is
The output is input to the control circuit 6 via the inverter 25. Further, the output of the inverter 25 is connected to a light emitting diode (display means) 26 via a resistor R3, and a predetermined power source 9 is applied to the light emitting diode 26.

When the release switch 21 is turned on, the flip-flop 2
4 is inputted to the control circuit 6 via the inverter 25, and the light emitting diode 26 is turned on by this on signal. In this on state, the control signal S from the control circuit 6
When C is switched to a release signal that releases the separation of the separation rollers 10 by the separation means 19, the ON signal from the flip-flop 24 is switched to an OFF signal, and the light emitting diode 2
6 goes out.

On the other hand, when an ON signal is input from the flip-flop 24 to the control circuit 6, the control circuit 6 outputs an ON drive signal to the electromagnetic solenoid 17, and also outputs an ON signal using the control signal SC.

Next, the effect will be explained.

In the automatic document feeder 1, when a document 3 is set on a document table 2, a document sensor 4 detects the document 3, and when a start button of a device (such as a facsimile machine) is pressed, a feed roller drive motor is activated. rotates and feeds the originals 3 one by one toward the transport rollers 8 and 9. That is, the feed roller 7 is in contact with the lowest document 3 among the documents 3 placed on the document table 2, and the feed roller 7 attempts to feed this document 3 by rotating. Due to the friction between the documents 3 and 3, other documents 3 are also pushed onto the document table 2 along with the document 3 on the bottom row.
There is a risk of being sent from. However, a separation roller 10 is pressed against the feed roller 7 by the spring force of a coil spring 13, and this separation roller 10 acts as a predetermined resistance force on the passage of the document 3. Therefore, only the lowest document 3 is sent out from the document table 2, and after being detected by the document sensor 20, the sent document 3 is sent to a reading section of a device (not shown) by a conveying roller 8.9. .

However, if the document 3 placed on the document table 2 is a single sheet and has not undergone any processing such as pasting, it will be separated and sent one by one as described above, but the document 3 placed on the document table 2 will be If the sent document 3 is a document folded in half or a document with paper or the like pasted on the document 3, the separation roller 10 will act to separate the document and the document will not be fed smoothly.

Therefore, when feeding a document folded in half or the like, the operator turns on the release switch 21, and the separating roller 10 is separated from the feed roller 7 by the separating means 19 and fed. Hereinafter, the operation when feeding the folded document in half will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the release switch 21 is turned on (step P).

), the light emitting diode 26 lights up and an on signal is input to the control circuit 6, and the control circuit 6 outputs an on drive signal to the electromagnetic solenoid 17 to instruct the separating means 19 to separate the separating rollers 10, and also controls the The signal SC2 is turned on (step pg). That is, when an ON drive signal is input, the electromagnetic solenoid 17 moves the shaft 18 to the left, rotates the support plate 11 clockwise, and separates the separation roller 10 from the feed roller 7 .

Next, the control circuit 6 determines whether the document 3 is manually fed and the document sensor 4 is turned on within a predetermined time T, or whether the start button of the device is pressed, and whether the release switch 21
Steps P, l,
P4, P5) If the start button is not pressed within the predetermined time T1 or the release switch 21 is turned off, it is determined that there is no intention to manually feed the document 3, and the process proceeds to step pea. At step PI4, the drive signal to the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is switched from an on signal to an off signal, and the output of the flip-flop 24 is switched to an off signal using the control signal SC as an off signal, thereby turning off the light emitting diode 26.

When the start button is pressed within a predetermined time period T (step P4), the drive motor of the feed roller rough is driven to rotate the feed roller 7 and feed the document 3 that has been manually fed, while also preventing an error from occurring. If an error such as a jam in the document 3 has occurred, wait until the error is cleared or the release switch 21 is turned off (Step P7, p
a), proceed to step PI4. This error state is determined based on whether the document sensor 20 is turned on or not, and whether a jam or the like has occurred. If no error has occurred, proceed to step P6), and then proceed to step P to check whether feeding of the document 3 has been completed.

), when the feeding is not completed, output an "H" signal to the OR circuit 5 as the control signal SC, step P.

), checking for the completion of feeding of document 3 while checking for errors (steps Pb, P9).
, P+o).

When feeding of the set original 3 is completed (step P9), check whether the next original 3 has been fed within the predetermined time T2 and whether the release switch 21 is turned off. When the next document 3 is fed, the process returns to step P6 and repeats the above-described process (step P6 to step P, 2). If the next document 3 is not fed within the predetermined time T2 or the release switch 21 is turned off, it is determined that there is no intention to feed the document 3 manually, and the process proceeds to step PI4, where the light emitting diode 2
6, the separation means 19 is released, etc. That is, the control circuit 6 switches the control signal SCz to an OFF signal to turn off the light emitting diode 26, and sets the control signal SC to an "L" signal. Also, the drive signal to the electromagnetic solenoid 17 is turned off to cancel the operation of the separating means 19, and the separating roller 10
is pressed against the feed roller rough.

Note that, in step P12, it is determined based on the detection signal of the document sensor 20 whether or not the next document 3 has been fed.

In this way, by turning on the release switch 21,
By activating the separating means 19, the separating roller 10 is separated from the feed roller 7, and the separating action by the separating roller 10 can be stopped, so that folded documents, etc., can be fed manually without jamming. can do. Therefore, the workability and convenience of the automatic document feeder 1 are improved.

Further, after the release switch 21 is turned on, a predetermined period of time ('
(r+) When the original 3 is not set or when the next original 3 is not fed for a predetermined period of time (T2) after the original 3 has been fed -, the separation of the separating rollers 10 by the separating means 19 is released. Therefore, when the operator attempts to automatically feed a normal document 3 next time, the separation roller 10 is in pressure contact with the feed roller rough, and the document 3 can be separated by the separation roller 10. Therefore, it is possible to prevent misfeeds such as double feeds in which a plurality of documents 3 are fed in an overlapping manner.

In the above embodiment, a case was explained in which the separation roller 10 was used as the separation member, but the invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 4, a separation rubber 31 may be attached to the tip of the support plate 11. Good too.

(Effects) According to the present invention, it is possible to manually feed a folded document or the like, and the convenience and workability of the automatic document feeder can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the automatic document feeder of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the automatic document feeder, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the separating means. The perspective view and FIG. 3 are flowcharts showing the separation processing operation. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the separating means of another embodiment of the automatic document feeder of the present invention. ■... Automatic document feeder, 2... Original table, 3... Original, 4... Original sensor, 5... OR Circuit, 6... Control circuit (control means), 7...
Feed roller, 10...Separation roller (separation member), 11...
... Support plate 12 ... Shaft 13 ... Coil spring 16 ... L-shaped arm 17 ... Electromagnetic solenoid 18 ... Shaft 20 ...Document sensor, 21...Release switch, 26...Light emitting diode (display means), 31.
...Separation rubber (separation member).

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A document table on which multiple originals can be placed one on top of the other, a feed roller that touches the bottom or top document placed on the document table and feeds the document, and a feed roller corresponding to the feed roller. an automatic document feeder that feeds documents one by one on a document table, the separation member separating only the bottom or top document from other documents, the separation member being separated from the feed roller; What is claimed is: 1. An automatic document feeder comprising: a separation means for separating the separation member; and a control means for controlling the driving of the separation means according to instructions from an operator to cause the separation member to come into contact with and separate from the separation member. (2) When a new document is not fed for a predetermined period of time after a document is fed on the document table in a separated state in which the separating member is separated from the feed roller, the control means controls the separating member in the separated state. The automatic document feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic document feeding device is configured to release the automatic document feeding device. (3) When the separation member is separated from the feed roller by the separation means, display means is provided for displaying the separation state.
The automatic document feeder according to item 1 or 2.