JPH01176725A - Automatic paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To copy and transmit a small-sized document such as a postcard or a business card by providing means for putting the small-sized document in a feed roller at an acute angle as compared with an angle of putting a document of an ordinary size from a document table to the feed roller, thereby guiding a document. CONSTITUTION:A document 19 of an ordinary size is placed on a document table 3 and fed along a guide plate 32 towards a feed roller 4. In case of small- sized documents 19a such as a postcard, a business card and the like, a guide member 66 having an insert hole 62 is turned round a pin 64 clockwise and disengaged from an engaging hole 54 to be put in a state shown in the drawing. The small-sized document 19a is passed through the insert hole 62 and fed in at an acute angle as compared with the document 19 of the ordinary size. Thus, smell-sized documents such as a business card, a postcard and the like can be copied and facsimile-transmitted.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is an automatic paper feeder suitable for application to facsimile machines, etc., and in particular an automatic paper feeder that can feed even small-sized originals. Regarding equipment.

[Background of the Invention] Facsimile machines that are popular for business and home use are usually equipped with an automatic paper feeder.

As is well known, automatic paper feeders can be used without operator intervention.
It has a function that automatically separates a plurality of originals one by one and transports them to the image reading means.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a main part of such a conventional automatic paper feeder 30. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes document feeding rollers, which are not shown, but are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper. A guide plate 32 with a predetermined inclination is arranged close to the feed roller 4, and a document table (described later)
This regulates the feeding direction of the document 19 placed on the document 3.

A pad pressure adjustment mechanism 40 is provided in sliding contact with the outer circumferential surface of this greening roller 4.

Pad pressure adjustment machine? As is well known, the It40 is composed of a temporary spring 41 having a predetermined shape (see FIG. 3) and a separation pad 42 attached to the lower surface of the temporary spring 41.
2 is adapted to come into sliding contact with the circumferential surface of the feed-in roller 4 with a predetermined pressure.

Therefore, the originals 19 placed on the original platen 3 are sequentially peeled off one by one by the cooperation of the feeding roller 4 and the separation pad 42, and the originals 19 placed on the original platen 3 are peeled off one by one by the optical reading means 10 provided inside the apparatus.
(See Figure 2) side.

This optical reading means 10 photoelectrically reads the image content of the document.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] By the way, in the automatic paper feeder 30 configured as described above, it is possible to stack several tens of original documents 19 and take them.
The angle of inclination of the document table 3 with respect to the feed roller 4 is set to be an obtuse angle.

Further, the size of the document 19 placed on the document table 3 is usually around A4 or 85 size. Therefore,
The minimum original size is about 85 size. Therefore, as will be described later, the structure is such that it is not possible to regulate originals 1N that are smaller than the minimum original size by the regulating plate 38'tJ that regulates the side surfaces of the placed originals.

Since both the feed-in roller 4 including the guide plate 32 and the separation means 40 are housed within the device housing, there is a short distance from the document table 3 to the feed-in roller 4. Relatively long.

For this reason, when the original is a small-sized original such as a business card or a card, it is difficult to place it correctly on the original table or the guide plate 32, and the small-sized original cannot be placed properly. It is often difficult to feed paper.

Furthermore, since these small-sized originals generally use thick paper in many cases, it is not possible to fold the originals correctly as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the present invention solves these problems and proposes an automatic paper feeder that can reliably feed even small-sized documents such as business cards. It is.

[Technical Means for Solving the Problem] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the present invention, the feeding angle of the document table with respect to the feeding roller of the document table on which a standard size original is placed is The apparatus is also characterized in that it is provided with means for folding in small-sized originals at an acute angle.

[Function] In the automatic paper feeder 30 according to the present invention, a normal size original 19 is placed on the original table 3 as usual, and the original is loaded.

In addition, a small-sized original loading means 60 is provided in the apparatus housing 2 so as to be openable and closable. Small size manuscript 19
When transmitting or copying a, this renormalization means 60 is rotated to a predetermined position (see Fig. 4).
.

In this state, the small-sized original 19a is inserted through the insertion hole 62 provided in the loading means 60.

In this way, since the green-feeding means 60 is provided above the document table 3, the small-sized original 19a is fed at an angle more acute than the edge angle of the document table 3 relative to the feed-in roller 4. (See Figure 6).

As a result, in the same way as the normal size original 19, the small size original JQ 19 a'tJ renormalization Ll-L4 can be renormalized as J:.

By simply providing the folding means 60 as shown, it becomes possible to transmit or copy small-sized originals.

[Embodiment] Next, a case in which an example of the automatic paper feeder according to the present invention is applied to the above-mentioned facsimile machine will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 and subsequent figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the entirety of a preferred facsimile machine to which the present invention is applied.

In the facsimile device 1 shown in the same figure, 2 indicates a device housing having a flat shape, and a placing table 3 on which a document is placed is formed in the upper center of the device case. It is renormalized inside 2.

The image information of the loaded original is converted into Denki No. 43 by an optical reading means (not shown)! i! ! The electrical signal is then sent to the other party via a communication line, or in some cases copied.

The original is stored in the device housing 2, which consists of the lower front side of the housing 2.
A hole 2a for inserting a document is formed on the upper surface thereof, and four portions 2b for inserting the document of a feeding means 60 (described later) provided for feeding a small-sized document are formed.

A display device 80 functioning as an operation display section is provided on the upper front side of the casing 2. 3a is a manuscript regulation board,
In this example, the configuration is such that originals of size 85 to 84 are detected by regulation.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the fir tree in FIG. 1.

A rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing (main body) 2 houses the above-mentioned document reading means 10 and recording means 20 for recording the received image data on recording paper 211-.

At the top of the housing 2, in the illustrated example, a document table 3 is provided that projects from the upper right to the lower left. The sheets (generally referred to as original 1r419) are fed to the optical reading means 10.

The original 19 that has entered the inside of the casing through the original insertion hole 2a is fed downward by the greening roller 4. and,
Until paper ejection [1-ra 5.6] is reached, the paper type is determined and the original 1^ image reading process is interrupted.

Therefore, the feeding roller 4 and the pair of paper ejection rollers 5, 6
A fluorescent lamp 11 is provided between the two and illuminates the surface of the document with its light. The reflected light (optical image information) thus obtained is transmitted to a pair of mirrors 12 arranged on the bottom side of the housing 2,
13, the light is guided to an image reading element 15 via a lens system 14.

In the image reading element 15, the optical surface information is converted into an electrical signal (image signal). The image signal is stored in a memory or sent to a communication line through an image processing system (not shown).

As the image reading element 15, a line sensor made of a charge transfer element such as a COD can be used. 17 shows the board on which the CCD 1.5 is mounted.

The document is conveyed downward at a predetermined speed, and in the embodiment, image information is read line by line and sequentially converted into image signals.

The document fed out at a predetermined speed is passed through a pair of paper ejection rollers 5 and 6.
In this example, the document can be ejected from the front bottom side of the housing 2 to a tray (not shown) for the document tray.

The recording means 20 records incoming image signals and images for copying (3
This is a means for reproducing the information as a visible image on the recording paper 21 based on the number. The recording means 20 is provided above the rear of the housing 2.

Therefore, roll paper (recording paper) 21 is placed in the center of the housing 2.
is set up so that it can rotate freely, and this record! It21 is sent out to the platen roller 22 side.

A recording element 23 is arranged on the upper surface of the platen roller 22 so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface of this roller.

Record f! As the element 23, a head or the like can be used in the rA hole in which a plurality of σ2 head elements are arranged in a line.

Therefore, when the recording paper 21 that has been conveyed to the upper surface of the platen roller 22 passes the thermal head 23, the incoming image information is recorded.

When the recording paper 21 on which image information is recorded is conveyed for a predetermined length, the automatic cutter device 24 is driven and the rear part of the recording paper 21 is automatically cut off. Therefore, this automatic cutter device 24 is composed of paper cutting blades 26a and 26b, and a driving means (not shown) for moving the blades up and down.

The automatic knot saw recording paper 21 is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 25 attached to the rear of the housing 2.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the automatic paper feeder 30 according to the present invention, the same figure is a cross-sectional view showing the feeding means 60 in a non-used state, and FIG. It is a diagram.

As shown in FIG. 3, the feeding means 60 is attached to the interior of the apparatus housing 2 so as to be openable and closable at a position close to the automatic paper feeding means 30 and facing the guide plate 32.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing details of the state of these installations,
A storage hole 52 of a predetermined size is formed at a predetermined position of the substrate 51, and the retracting means 60 can be stored in the storage hole 52 so as to be openable and closable. being done.

The retraction means 60 is composed of a flat plate 61 of a predetermined size, and an insertion hole 62 of a small size of 1 m 19 a is formed in the center of the flat plate 61 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the flat plate 61.

In the insertion means 60, the width of the insertion hole 62 is selected so that up to a size of about 86 size can be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the insertion hole 63 of the insertion hole 62 is designed to facilitate insertion of the original E 19 a.
It has an inclined surface as shown in the figure.

A support shaft 64 is attached to the left end side of the flat plate 6J, and this support shaft 64 is attached to the shaft hole 5 formed in the substrate 51.
3 is rotatably supported. A helical spring 65 is wound around this support shaft 64 and attached to the flat plate 61, and a predetermined biasing force is applied to the spring 65 against the flat plate 61. I try to do that.

On the other hand, a side plate 6I-5 is integrally formed on the right end side of the flat plate [51], and an engagement pin 67 that slightly protrudes outward is attached to the side plate 66, and is opposed to the engagement pin 67. For installation, there is an engagement hole 54 on the plate surface of the board 51.
is provided.

By engaging the engagement pin 67 with the engagement hole 54, the retraction means 60 is installed and housed in the base plate 51, and by disengaging the engagement, the retraction means 60 is installed.
is opened to a predetermined position (see Figure 4).

As shown in the figure, the right end tip of the flat plate 61 is formed into a tapered surface 68, which makes it easy to touch the tapered surface 68 with the fingers, thereby making it easy to open and close the edging means 60 together with the four parts 2b. That's what I do.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the retracting means 60 configured as described above is attached to the means 50 and the bracket retracting means 60 is closed. In this case, with the feeding means 60 open, the feeding means 60 is attached at a position where the angle between the document insertion hole 62 and the feeding roller 4 is an acute angle.

The angle to be set varies depending on the positional relationship between the retracting roller 4 and the pad pressure adjustment mechanism 40 and how they are drawn, but in the above example, the pad pressure adjustment is performed as shown in FIG. The angle is selected so that the mechanism 40 and the feeding roller 4 can easily feed even a thick, small-sized original 19a.

When the retracting means 60 is closed, the retracting means 60 is mounted substantially parallel to the guide plate 32 by the relative relationship between the base plate 51 and the guide plate 32 (selected).

Therefore, when configured in this way, the renormalization means 6
0 is in the closed state, there is no risk of hindering the placement and folding of a document 19 of normal size.

Therefore, as usual, the originals 19 are peeled off one after another and the
It is drawn into the inside of the device by the drawing roller 4.

Next, when you want to fold in a small-sized document 19u, turn the folding means 60 into the unloaded state as shown in FIG.
a is inserted into the l-ra 4 side.

In that case, the original +819 a is retracted at an acute angle and the roller 4 goes! Since the originals are loaded in the same way, even thick originals can be loaded without any problem and can be processed in the same way as normal originals.

Note that when using the feeding means 60, manual paper feeding is performed.

In the pad pressure adjustment mechanism 40 shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 44 is a row arm that rotates in rolling contact with the feed-in roller 4. As shown in FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention is configured to feed small-sized originals by using one folding means exclusively for small-sized originals.

With this configuration, even if the document is small in size and cannot normally be handled, it is possible to send the contents to the other party or copy the contents.

Furthermore, even if such a retracting means is provided, it can be configured to open and close freely, and is fixed to the device housing when not in use, so it will not cause any hindrance to normal document feeding. do not have. As a result, it is extremely convenient for practical use.

Therefore, the present invention is particularly suitable for application to the automatic paper feeding device of a facsimile machine as described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows one of the facsimile machines to which this invention can be applied.
1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a side view of the automatic sheet feeder, FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of the main part of the automatic sheet feeder according to the present invention, with the retraction means not in use, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the main part showing an example of the retraction means, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the paper feeding state when the retraction means is used, and FIG. 7 is a view of a normal document. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the paper feeding state of a small-sized original. 1...Facsimile machine 4...Feeding roller 10...Optical reading means 19...Normal size originals 1, 9a...Small size original 20...Recording means 30...Automatic feeding Paper device 40...pad pressure adjustment mechanism 32...guide plate 50...mounting means 51...mounting board 52...accommodating hole 60...retracting means 62...insertion hole 63...Insertion surface 1 Figure 6 Figure 8

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An automatic device characterized in that a document table on which a normal size document is placed is provided with means for feeding a small-sized document into the document table at a more acute angle than the feeding angle of the document table with respect to a feeding roller. Paper feed device. (2) The automatic paper feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feeding means is configured to be openable and closable. (3) The automatic paper feeder according to claim 2, wherein the feeding means is fixed to the device housing side so as not to interfere with feeding normal-sized originals when not in use. Device. (4) The automatic paper feeder according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the small-sized original is a thick original such as a business card or card.