JPH01233466A - Image reading device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate unrequired original reading or image forming by controlling the scanning range of an image reading means by a reading control means based on the size of an original placed in a prescribed position on a platen so that the original alone is scanned. CONSTITUTION:The title devices are provided with the image reading means 131 performing the image reading of the original 2 placed in the prescribed position by the scanning of an exposure means 103. The original feeding outlet of an original feeding means is located in a first position rear to the prescribed position on the platen 101. A first original is fed and placed in the prescribed position and then carried to a downstream position that is a third position adjacent to the prescribed position after reading is finished, while a second original is fed and placed in the prescribed position. This procedure is repeated for a third and succeeding originals. During this continual feeding operation, a part not forming an image is formed on the platen 101 without changing a normal image scanning method. Time loss due to replacing the original is thereby minimized constantly regardless of size, and an unrequired image can be eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image reading device and an image forming device that are equipped with a document conveying means, and are particularly suitable for copying machines, facsimile machines, and the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine is sometimes used with an additional document transport device that automatically feeds a document to an exposure position and discharges the document after the exposure operation is completed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in conventional document conveying devices, regardless of the size of the document, the document is conveyed one by one to the copying position on the platen glass and stopped, and the document that has been exposed for copying is transferred. A method of transporting an original is used in which, at the same time as the original is ejected from the platen glass, the next original is transported to an image reading position, stopped, and exposed for copying, and the procedure is repeated. This document conveying method has a problem in that as the size of the document becomes smaller, the gap between the documents becomes wider, resulting in a loss of conveyance time, which in turn leads to a reduction in copying speed.

Additionally, if the conveyance speed is increased more than necessary to solve this problem, noise and wear of the conveyor belt will increase.
This has caused a serious drawback in that the damage to the document increases when a conveyance failure occurs.

Inventions that have solved the above-mentioned problems to some extent include:
For example, JP-A-60-140364 and JP-A-61-
There is a document feeding method for a copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 32836.

First, the original document feeding method described in the former Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 140384/1984 is as follows. In other words, when continuously copying originals smaller than the copyable size, the copying position (image reading position) set at the downstream position in the document transport direction on the platen glass surface of the copier is set on the opposite side of the platen glass ( The first document placed on the document tray (on the upstream side) is conveyed, and the document is brought into contact with a stopper and stopped. Subsequently, the second document is conveyed to a standby position set at an upstream position on the platen glass surface adjacent to the copying position, and the document is brought into contact with a stopper and stopped.

Next, in conjunction with ejecting the exposed first original to the downstream direction of the platen glass surface, the second original from the standby position is placed in the copying position and onto the original tray. The third original document is conveyed to the standby position and stopped, and the process is repeated.

However, in this conventional document feeding method, the document is stopped at the standby position using a mechanical stopper.
It is efficient when transporting an A4 document, which is half the maximum size of A3, but for small documents such as B5 or postcard size, it can only wait at a predetermined position with a stopper. The problem is that the distance between the printer and the original becomes wider than necessary, reducing copying efficiency. In addition, in this conventional document feeding method, the copying position on the platen glass is on the opposite side of the document tray, so the time it takes to transport the first document to the copying position is, for example, half of the maximum size A3. Even for a size ^4 original, the maximum transport time is required as in the case of the maximum size A3, which has the disadvantage that the work efficiency is not necessarily sufficient.

On the other hand, the document feeding method described in the latter Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-32838 is as follows. That is, a distance slightly longer than the length in the conveying direction of each document that is sequentially conveyed is detected, and the conveying cycle time required to run the conveying belt by this distance is set.
The first document on the document tray is conveyed and stopped by a paper feed roller and a conveyance belt to a copying position (image reading position) that is preset at a downstream position in the document conveyance direction on the platen glass. Subsequently, the second document is conveyed and stopped at an appropriate interval by a paper feed roller and a conveyance belt to a standby position set upstream of the platen glass adjacent to the copying position.

Next, in conjunction with ejecting the exposed first original in the downstream direction of the platen glass, the conveyor belt is run for the respective conveyance cycle times, so that the two originals in the standby position are The process of transporting the first original to the copying position, the third original to the standby position, and stopping is repeated. In this conventional example, the positioning means for stopping at each position is not a mechanical stopper, but is based on stop position control of the conveyor belt, so regardless of the size of the original, there is no difference between the original being read and the next one. Since the spacing between documents can be kept constant, the drawback of reduced copying efficiency due to document size is eliminated.

However, in this latter conventional method, the procedure of moving the second and subsequent documents for a predetermined transport cycle time and stopping at the standby position is performed at least once before reaching the copying position. Therefore, the more this transport and stop is repeated, the greater the possibility that the belt and document will slip and misalign, no matter how smoothly the transport belt's stop position can be controlled.
When the ring 1'l4Ii2 finally arrives at the copying position, it deviates from the predetermined position, resulting in a serious drawback in that the stopping accuracy, which is an important function of this ring 1'l4Ii2 feeding device, is degraded.

Furthermore, in this latter conventional method, although the disadvantage of reduced copying efficiency due to the difference in document size has been solved, it has the disadvantage that it is difficult to control the spacing between documents. In other words, the second document is fed from the document tray when the trailing edge of the first document passes through the document tray. If the speed of the paper feed roller is set too high, there is a problem that skewed document feeding and misfeeds are likely to occur.As a result, it is difficult to match the speed of the conveyor belt, so the speed of the feed roller is set to be slower than the speed of the conveyor belt. There is a need. Therefore,
The gap between the documents becomes larger than necessary due to the speed difference, and although the distance between the documents is uniform regardless of the size of the document, the problem arises that the copying efficiency is not necessarily sufficient.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned conventional method does not have a means for switching between the normal method of feeding originals one by one and the above-mentioned transportation method. If you perform image reading for the maximum size (for example, ^3 size) when the document is in the original position, images of documents other than those you want to perform image reading or image formation will also be read, and you may want to copy those images, etc. However, there has been a problem in that unnecessary images are also copied.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to minimize document transport time regardless of document size, maximize reading efficiency, minimize skew and misfeed without reducing stopping accuracy, and to The most efficient document transport control is achieved without increasing the document transport speed by adjusting the interval between the two, and unnecessary document reading and image formation that occur when documents are transported using the continuous feeding method are eliminated. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading device and an image forming device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is to transfer the first document separated from a stack of documents on a document loading table to a document exposure platen adjacent to a document loading port. The second document is conveyed to a predetermined position above and stopped, and the second document is conveyed to an upstream position adjacent to the document inlet and stopped.
At the same time, the second original is transported to the downstream position on the platen adjacent to the predetermined position, and the second original is transported to the predetermined position and stopped. For the third and subsequent originals, the original is an image reading means that scans the original on a platen conveyed by the original transport means to expose and read the image; a detection means that detects the size of the original; and a reading control means that determines the scanning range of the image reading means based on the size of the document being conveyed to a predetermined position on the platen. The feature is that image reading is not performed for the image.

In order to achieve the above object, the second aspect of the present invention is to convey the first document separated from the document stack on the document loading table to a predetermined position on the document exposure platen glass adjacent to the document loading port. Then, the second original is transported to the upstream position adjacent to the original inlet and stopped, and then the first original, which has undergone exposure processing, is transported to a predetermined position on the adjacent platen. At the same time as the document is transferred to the downstream position, the second document is conveyed to a predetermined position and stopped, and this procedure is repeated for the third and subsequent documents. An image reading device that scans the document on the conveyed platen with exposure to read the image, a detection device that detects the size of the document, and a size of the document being conveyed to a predetermined position on the platen detected by the detection device. Based on this, image formation uses only the image of the original at a predetermined position among the images read by the image reading means for image formation, and eliminates image formation on the original at a downstream position on the platen. The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means.

[Function] With the above configuration, the present invention adjusts the scanning range of the image reading means so that only the original is scanned based on the size of the original at a predetermined position on the platen when the original is transported by the transportation method. Since it is controlled by the reading control means, the conveyance time and reading time can be shortened, and unnecessary document reading and image formation can be avoided.

Further, according to the above configuration, when a document is conveyed by the continuous feeding method, only that document is used for image formation based on the size of the document at a predetermined position on the platen, and a downstream position on the platen is Since the image formation control means is controlled to eliminate (remove) image formation on originals located in the It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of image formation.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 (A), (B), and (C) show the internal structure of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus (copying apparatus) to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 100 is a main body of a copying machine having an image reading function and an image recording function, and 200
is a document conveyance device (hereinafter referred to as 80F) that automatically feeds documents.

A. Copying apparatus main body (100) In the main body 100, 101 is a document table glass (platen glass) on which a document is placed, 103 is an illumination lamp (exposure lamp) that illuminates the document, and 105, 107, and 109 are reflection lights of the document, respectively. A scanning reflecting mirror (scanning mirror) for changing the optical path of light; 111 is a lens having focusing and variable magnification functions; 113 is a fourth reflecting mirror (scanning mirror) for changing the optical path. 115 is an optical system motor that drives the optical system, and 117, 119, and 121 are sensors, respectively.

131 is a photosensitive drum, 133 is a main motor that drives the photosensitive drum 131, 135 is a high voltage unit, 137 is a blank exposure unit, 139 is a developing device, 141 is a transfer charger, 143 is a minute M charger, and 145 is a cleaning device. It is.

151 is the upper cassette, 153 is the lower cassette, 15
5 and 157 are paper feed rollers, and 159 is a registration roller. Further, 161 is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper on which an image has been recorded to the fixing side, 163 is a fixing device that fixes the conveyed recording paper by thermocompression bonding, and 167 is a sensor used for double-sided recording.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 131 described above is made of a seamless photoconductor using a photoconductor and an electric conductor. The motor H3 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Next, when the predetermined rotation control and potential control processing (preprocessing) of the drum 131 are completed, the original placed on the original platen glass 101 is moved to the first scanning mirror 1.
The light reflected from the original is illuminated by an illumination lamp 103 that is integrated with the scanner 05, and the reflected light from the original is transmitted to the first scanning mirror 105, the second scanning mirror 107, the third scanning mirror 109, and the lens 111.
.

The image is then formed on the drum 131 via the fourth scanning mirror 113.

The drum 131 is corona charged by a high pressure unit 135. After that, the image illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 (
The original image) is exposed to slit light, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 131.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 131 is transferred to a developing device 139.
The toner image is developed by a developing roller 140 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto a transfer paper by a transfer charger 141 as described later.

That is, the upper cassette 151 or the lower cassette 1
The transfer paper in 53 is fed into the main unit by paper feed rollers 155 or 157, and is sent toward the photosensitive drum 131 with accurate timing by registration rollers 159, so that the leading edge of the latent image and the leading edge of the transfer paper are aligned. Ru. Thereafter, the transfer paper passes between the transfer charger 141 and the drum 131, so that the toner image on the drum 131 is transferred onto the transfer paper.

After this transfer is completed, the transfer paper is separated from the tram 131 by a separation charger 143, guided to a fixing device 163 by a conveyor belt 161, fixed by pressure and heat, and then discharged from the main body 100 by an ejection roller 166. The paper is ejected to the paper tray T.

After the transfer, the drum 131 continues to rotate, and its surface is cleaned by a cleaning device 145 composed of a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

Figure 2 (^) shows the internal configuration of the ADF 200 described above.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a stacking tray (loading table) on which documents 2 are stacked and set. This tray 1 is arranged so as to be tilted downward in the direction of document feeding so that the document feeding side is lower. Then, the fed documents are stacked on the tray 1 in alignment in the sending direction. 4 is a half-moon-shaped roller;
It has the function of rotating in the direction of the arrow in this figure to feed the document to the downstream separation section, and when there is no document on tray 1, the roller 4 is controlled to stop with the notch facing upward. ing. A feeding roller 5 feeds the document on the tray l by rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Furthermore, 6a and 6b are separation rollers, and separation rollers 6a,
By rotating the separation belt 6 in the direction of the arrow in the figure by the fib, the lowest original among the originals stacked on the tray 1 is separated one by one in cooperation with the feeding roller 5. This feeding roller 5 and separation belt 6 constitute a separation supply section.

3a and 3b are transmission type photosensors for detecting the presence or absence of a document placed on the tray 1, and 3a is an LED (
A light emitting diode), 3b is composed of a phototransistor. The document sent from the 0-separation supply section 5.6 is
The feed rollers 9a passed through the sheet bath ■ and were pressed against each other.
, 9b and rotate the roller in the direction of the arrow in this figure.
1 is sent to the seat bus I11 above. feed roller 9a,
Paper feed sensors 8a and 8b disposed near the upstream side of paper feed sensor 9b are transmissive photosensors that detect the leading edge and trailing edge of the document.

The full-surface belt 11 placed close to the platen glass 101 is an endless belt with a width large enough to cover the entire surface of the sheet document, and its surface allows the document to slide on the platen glass 101 using frictional force. It has a sufficient coefficient of friction to allow conveyance in the direction of the arrow, and is wound around the drive roller loa and the turn roller 10b so that the full-surface belt 11 and the drive roller lea do not slip. ing.

The tenth discharge rollers 18a and 18b disposed at the entrance of the sheet path (■) downstream of the sheet path (III) are in pressure contact with each other, and are moved from the platen glass lot by the movement of the full-surface belt 11 in the direction of the solid line arrow in this figure. The ejected original is
The original is conveyed while rotating in the direction of the arrow in this figure, and the original is passed through the upwardly bent sheet path ■ and discharged to the second
It is sandwiched between the zero rollers 20a and 20b and discharged onto the upper discharge tray 24. A paper discharge sensor 19 provided in the middle of the sheet path (2) is a reflective photosensor that detects the leading edge and trailing edge of the document.

In addition, when double-sided document reading is performed, the document on the platen glass 101 is reversely conveyed to the sheet path ■ by the movement of the full-surface belt 11 in the reverse direction indicated by the dashed line arrow, and is reversed by the large reversing roller 16 that is in pressure contact with each other. After being gripped by the roller I7, the leading edge of the document is sent to the sheet path V along the roller 16 by the rotation of the large reversing roller 16 in the direction of the solid arrow in this figure.
9b and sent onto the platen glass 101 through the sheet path II again. As a result, the front and back of the document are reversed with respect to the platen glass 101.

Further, the feeding roller 5, half-moon roller 4, and separation rollers 6a, 6b of the above-mentioned separation supply section are each connected to a separation drive motor 7 via a transmission mechanism, and are driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

In addition, feed rollers 9a, 9b, belt drive roller 10
a, 10b and the large reversing roller 16 are each driven by a belt drive motor 12 via a transmission mechanism. This motor 12 can be rotated in forward and reverse directions. For example, when the motor 12 rotates in the forward rotation (CW) direction, all the rollers are rotated in the direction of the solid arrow, and on the other hand, when the motor 12 rotates in the forward rotation (CW) direction, all the rollers are rotated in the direction indicated by the solid line arrow.
When rotated in the direction, the belt drive roller 10a, fob
The large reversing roller 16 rotates in the direction of the chain arrow, but the feed rollers 9a and 9b are a clutch mechanism that does not rotate. An electromagnetic brake 13 , a clock disk 14 , and a clock generator 15 are connected to the rotating shaft of the belt drive motor 12 .
A pulse signal is generated from 5.

・Furthermore, the paper discharge number 10-ra 18a, 18b and the 20th
- The rollers 20a and 20b are each connected to a paper ejection drive motor 21 via a transmission mechanism, and are driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure. A clock disk 22 is attached to the rotating shaft of the paper ejection drive motor 21.
and a clock generator 23 are connected, and a pulse signal is generated from the clock generator 23 by the rotation of the motor 2.

B(1), 80F (200) Belt Conveyance Drive Mechanism FIG. 2(B) shows the configuration of the belt conveyance drive system of the above-mentioned A[1F200.

In this figure, a motor gear 50 is fixed to the main shaft of the motor 12, and this gear 50 is an integral belt-driven three-stage gear 5.
It meshes with one gear portion 51a of No. 1. 3 gear gear 5
1 is fixed to the belt drive shaft 10c of the drive roller 10a that drives the conveyor belt (full-surface belt) 11.
The belt 11 can be rotated by rotation of the motor 12. The three-stage gear 51 also includes a pulley part 51b and a gear part 51c, and the gear part 51c meshes with an idler gear (intermediate gear) 52 rotatably attached to a fixed shaft 53 fixed to the body. idler gear 5
2 meshes with the feed roller gear 54.

A one-way clutch is built in the feed roller gear 54, and a plurality of feed rollers 9 feed the document to the belt 11.
It engages with a feed roller shaft 62, which is a drive shaft to which a is fixed. This one-way clutch in the feed port lug gear 54 locks with the feed roller shaft 62 to transmit rotation when the motor 12 rotates in the CW force direction (forward rotation direction), and the motor 12 rotates in the CCW direction (reverse rotation direction). At this time, the feed roller shaft 62 is attached in a direction in which it idles. That is, only when the motor 12 rotates in the CW force direction, the feed roller 9a rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure and feeds the original toward the belt 11.

On the other hand, a timing belt 55 is connected between the pulley portion 51b of the three-stage gear 51 and the pulley portion 56a of the reversing pulley gear 56.
is stretched, and the first gear portion 56b of the reversing pulley gear 56 meshes with the first large roller gear 58. A one-way clutch is built in the dog roller gear 58, and is engaged with the large reversing roller shaft 63, which is a drive shaft to which the large reversing roller 16 is fixed. This large roller gear 5
The one-way clutch in 8 locks with the reversing large roller shaft 63 to transmit rotation when the motor 12 rotates in the CW force direction (forward rotation direction), and when the motor 12 rotates in the CCW direction (reverse rotation direction). It is attached in the direction of idling with the large inversion roller shaft 63.

Further, the second gear portion 56c of the reversing pulley gear 56 meshes with an idler gear 59 rotatably attached to the fixed shaft 60, and the idler gear 59 further meshes with a second large roller gear 61. For this reason, the reversing large roller shaft 6
The first large roller gear 58 and the second large roller gear 61, which are respectively attached to the rollers 3 and 3, are always rotating in opposite directions. A one-way clutch is also built into this second large roller gear 61, and the reversing large roller shaft 6
It is engaged with 3. The one-way clutch in the second large roller gear 61 rotates idly with the large reverse roller shaft 63 when the motor 12 rotates in the CW force direction, and locks with the large reverse roller shaft 63 when the motor 12 rotates in the CCW direction. is attached to.

That is, when the motor 12 rotates in the CW force direction, 50-+51a151b-5s-56a156b-
The driving force is transmitted from 58 to 63-16, and the large reversing roller 1
6 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure via the first large roller gear 58. On the other hand, when the motor 12 rotates in the CCW direction, 5O-51a751b-55-56a156c →59
→6l-=63-16 and the driving force is transmitted, and the large reversing roller 16 similarly rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure via the second large roller gear 61.

B(2), ADF (200) Separation and Supply Section Drive Mechanism FIG. 2 (C) shows the configuration of the separation and supply section drive system of the ADF 200 described above.

In this figure, a separation motor gear 72 is fixed to the main shaft 71 of the separation motor 7, and this gear 72 is a half-moon roller gear 73 fixed to one end of a half-moon roller shaft 74, which is a drive shaft to which a plurality of half-moon rollers 4 are fixed. It meshes with the.

A half-moon pulley 75 is fixed to the other end of the half-moon roller shaft 74, and this half-moon pulley 75 and the feeding roller gear pulley 7
A timing belt 76 is stretched between the pulley portion 77a and the timing belt 77a. The feed roller gear pulley 77 is engaged with one end of a feed roller shaft 81, which is a drive shaft to which a plurality of feed rollers 5 are fixed.

The gear portion 77b of the feed roller gear pulley 77 is connected to the fixed shaft 79.
The idler gear 78 is in mesh with a separation gear 80 fixed to the separation shaft 8 . A plurality of separation rollers 6b are fixed to the separation shaft 8.

As a result, the rotation of the separation motor 7 causes the half-moon roller 4.
Feeding roller5. and separation rollers 6a, 6b are driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2(A).

Further, a pulley 82 is fixed to the other end of the feed roller @81, and this pulley 82 is connected to the pulley 82 on the feed roller shaft 62.
4 via a belt 83.

An electromagnetic clutch 25 is provided between the feed roller shaft 62 and the pulley 84.

On the other hand, a one-way clutch is built in the feed roller gear pulley 77, and when the gear pulley 77 is rotated in the direction of driving the feed roller 5 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2(A), the feed roller shaft 81 It is installed in the direction that says. In other words, when the feed roller shaft 81 is rotated in the direction of the above-mentioned arrow, the shaft 81 and the pulley gear 77 will idle.

B (3), ADF (200) drive system operation In the above configuration, if the motor 12 rotates in the CW direction,
The feed roller shaft 62 of the feed roller 9a rotates. Subsequently, when the electromagnetic clutch 25 is turned on, the feed roller shaft 62
The rotation of the feed roller 5 is transmitted to the pulley 82 via the pulley 84 degree belt 83, and the feeding roller 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2(A). At this time, the feed roller shaft 8 is driven by the separation motor 7.
1, or even if there is such drive, if it is slower than the drive to the feed roller shaft 81 by the motor 12, the feed roller shaft 81 and the pulley gear 77 idle,
All rotations of the feed roller 5 are controlled by the motor 12.

Here, if a pulley ratio is set for the pulleys 84 and 82 so that the outer circumferential speed of the feed roller 9a and the outer circumferential speed of the feed roller 5 are the same, the loop formed within the sheet path I during this time can be maintained. It becomes possible to feed the document forward from the feed roller 9 while keeping the document in place.

Also, when the motor 12 is stopped, when the separation motor 7 is rotated and the electromagnetic clutch 25 is turned on, the following happens: 7→71→72→73→74→75→76→77→81
→82→83→84→62 The drive of the motor 7 is transmitted to the feed roller shaft 62, and the feed roller 59, separation roller 6b, half-moon roller 4, and feed roller 9a rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 (^). do. At this time, the one-way clutch in the feed roller gear 54 causes the feed roller @62 to rotate in the idling direction, so the separation drive system does not affect the belt conveyance drive shown in FIG. can be rotated.

As a result, the rotation of the separation motor 7 makes it possible to send out the document in the sheet bus 1 from the feed roller 9 onto the platen glass 101 in front.

C. Key Group (600) FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement and configuration of the operation section of the copying machine shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, 602 is an all reset key;
Press to return to standard mode.

604 is a copy start key (copy start key);
Press to start copying.

605 is a clear/stop key, which functions as a clear key during standby and as a stop key during copy recording. This clear key is pressed to cancel the set number of copies. Also, press the stop key to interrupt continuous copying. The copying operation stops after the copying at the time when the button is pressed is completed.

Numeric keys 606 are pressed to set the number of copies.

608 and 609 are copy density keys, which are pressed when manually adjusting the copy density; 610 is an AE key;
Press this button to automatically adjust the copy density according to the density of the original, or to cancel AE (automatic density adjustment) and switch to manual density adjustment. A cassette selection key 611 is pressed to select the upper cassette 151 or the interrupted cassette 153. Also, 80F20
When a document is placed on G, APS (automatic paper cassette selection) can be selected using this key 611. APS
When is selected, a cassette of the same size as the original is automatically selected.

612 is the same size key, which is pressed when making a copy at the same size (original size); 613 is the auto size change key, which automatically reduces or enlarges the original image according to the specified transfer paper size. 614 and 615 are zoom keys, which are pressed to specify any magnification between 64 and 142 zero. 61B and 617 are fixed size scaling keys, which are pressed when specifying reduction or enlargement of the fixed size.

Reference numeral 618 is a key designated when performing single-sided copying from a double-sided original, and when this key is designated, 80F20G performs a double-sided mode operation to be described later.

D. Display group (700) In FIG. 3, 701 is an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display, for example, one character consists of 5×7 dots and can display a 40-character message.

Further, 705 is a copy number display, which displays the number of copies or a self-diagnosis code. 706 is a used cassette indicator, which indicates the upper cassette 151 and the suspended cassette 153.
Display which one is selected.

708 is an AE display, and the AE key 610
Lights up when (automatic density adjustment) is selected.

710 is a ready/wait indicator, which is a two-color LED of green and orange; green lights up when ready (when copying is possible) and when waiting (when copying is not possible).
lights up orange.

E. Control device (800) FIG. 4 (^) shows an example of the circuit configuration of the control device 800 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. The processing device (CPLI) is a microcomputer μC0M87AD manufactured by NEC (NEC Corporation), for example.

803 is a read-only memory (ROM) in which a control procedure (control program) as shown in FIG. 5(A) according to the present invention is stored in advance;
Each component device connected via the bus is controlled according to the control procedure stored in Bfi3. 805 is a random access memory (RA) which is a main storage device used for storing human data and as a working storage area for the CPU 801.
M).

807 is an interface (110) that outputs a CPO 301 control signal to a load such as the main motor 133;
Reference numeral 9 represents an interface for manually inputting input signals from sensors such as the image tip sensor 121 and sending them to the CPO 301, and reference numeral 811 represents an interface for input/output control of the key group 600 and the display 1yoo. As these interfaces 807, 809, and 811, for example, an input/output circuit port μPD8255 manufactured by NEC is used.

Note that the display group 700 is each display device shown in FIG. 3, and uses LEDs and LCDs. Further, the key group 600 is each key shown in FIG. 3, and the CPO 301 can know which key has been pressed using a well-known key matrix.

F, ADF control device (900) Fig. 4 (B) is the ^DF for performing the operation of the present invention.
200 shows a circuit configuration of a control circuit of No. 200. The controller 820 of this control circuit is mainly composed of a well-known one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) that has built-in ROM, RAM, etc.
While exchanging signals with CPU801 of 00^DF2
Arithmetic control regarding 00 is performed.

Input ports 11 to I3 of the controller 820 receive signals 51. Signal S2 from sheet sensors 8a and 8b provided on the document transport bus
and a signal S3 from a paper discharge sensor 19b) provided on the paper discharge bus.

In addition, the microcomputer interrupt terminal INTI of the controller 820
- INT2 receives a signal from the belt clock interrupter 15 which detects the rotation of the motor by means of the clock disk 14 attached to the motor shaft of the belt drive motor 12 described above in FIG. A signal from the interrupter 23 is input. As will be described later, these signals serve as reference clocks for the amount of paper feed of the original, and are used for each counting operation by a counter inside the controller 820.

On the other hand, the output ports O1 to O0 of the controller 820. The above-mentioned operation signal for the minute+m drive motor 7, cw and ccw signals for operating the belt drive motor 12 in forward and reverse directions, and the electromagnetic brake 13. Paper discharge drive motor 21 and electromagnetic clutch 25
The operation signals of the drivers D, ~Ds, and
Control the output load via Da.

Further, the controller 820 is a CP of the copying apparatus main body 100.
Signals are exchanged with U801 via cable 901.

Therefore, the human-powered boats 14 to ■6 of the controller 820
A document feed signal, a document discharge signal, and a mode signal are respectively input to the drivers 0. ．． 0. A C0PY request signal and a document detection signal are outputted via. Each signal will be described later.

Reading of these input signals, turning on/off of the load, etc. is controlled by the microcomputer of the controller 820 according to the control program (control procedure) stored in the ROM in the controller 820 and shown in FIGS. 5 to 12 described later. be done.

First, the overall control operation of the CPU 801 of the main body 100 will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5(^).

When the user sets a stack of originals on the original tray 1 of the 80F200, the entrance original sensor 3 turns on (
Step 3501), then set either single-sided mode or duplex mode depending on the state of the keys on the operation unit 600 (step 5SO2), wait for manual input of the copy start key 604 (step S503), and start the copying process. . If it is determined in step S504 that the single-sided mode is set, first, by turning on the document feed signal (step s5os), the 80F200 single-sided mode process described later is performed (step s5oa), and the document is transferred to the platen. It stops at the exposure position of the glass 101.

When the document stops at the exposure position, the C0PY request signal is turned on from the controller 820 of the ADF 200 (step S507), so the document feed signal is turned off (step S5oa) and the illumination lamp 103 is turned on. S509), the optical system motor 115 is turned on to start document scanning (image scanning) (step S5lo).

At this time, the size of the fed original is small size (
For example, B5. A4), image scanning (
During the scanning), blank exposure is performed in parallel with the image scanning (step S13, 514).

Then, when the image scanning is completed (step 5515),
If the blank exposure is on, the blank exposure is turned off (step 3516), the process returns to step 3505, and the following steps 505 to 5516 are repeated to read the image.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 3504 that the duplex mode is set, the document feed signal is turned on (step S517) as in the single-sided mode, and the ADF 200 performs duplex mode processing (step S517), which will be described later.
18), proceed to step S507 described above. Thereafter, image reading is performed by performing the same processing as in the single-sided mode starting from step 3507.

Next, with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5(B) to 12, the operation explanatory diagram in FIG. 13, and the configuration diagram 80F in FIG.
The actual control operations when ADF single-sided mode (^) and ^DF double-sided mode (B) are each designated by the above keys will be explained.

A, (Single-sided mode Original 4 copy example JΔ Fig. 5 (B
) is the flowchart for controller 8 in single-sided mode.
20 control procedures are shown. In this example, the controller 820 first proceeds to step S1 to perform the separation process shown in FIG. 5(B), and in the separation process subroutine shown in FIG. Start the separation drive motor 7 to separate only one sheet! ! ](on)
(Step S101), when the motor 7 starts,
The half-moon roller 4 rotates and the document page ■ is placed on the sheet bus I.
Since the paper feed sensor 8 detects the leading edge of the document (step 3102), the separation loop timer is started (step 3103), and after the timer ends (time-up) (step 5S104), the separation drive motor 7 is started. Stop(
off) (step S105). As a result, the document is brought into contact with the nip portion of the feed rollers 9a and 9b, and is further stopped with a loop (curved shape) of a predetermined amount formed, which causes the document to be skewed when separated. This has the effect of correcting the skew even if it occurs.

Next, the process proceeds to step S2 in FIG. 5(B) where paper feeding processing is performed, and in the paper feeding processing subroutine shown in FIG. is driven (step S201), and the document is conveyed from sheet bus I to sheet bus II. At the same time, the size check counter in the controller 820, which counts based on the clock input from the belt crotter interrupter 15, is activated to begin measuring the document size (step S202). This counter is the controller 82
It is provided inside 0.

Then, as the document is transported, the trailing edge is detected by the paper feed sensors 8a and 8b.
At the same time as passing through (step S203), the above-mentioned size check counter is stopped (step S204).
In the size check subroutine shown in FIG. 9 based on the count data, the document size is determined (step S205), and at the same time, a registration counter R stops the document at the exposure position on the platen glass 101.
Start the GCN (Step 3206), until the registration counter RGCN finishes counting (Step 3).
208), the speed of the belt drive motor 12 is lowered in order to obtain an accurate stop without variation (step 3207), and the belt drive motor 12 is stopped (off) at the same time as the registration counter RGCN finishes counting (step 3209). ), and the electromagnetic brake 13 instantly stops document feeding, thereby causing the platen glass 101 to
Stop the document accurately at the upper exposure position (step 52
10).

Here, in the size check subroutine, as shown in FIG. 9, as a method of determining the document size, the distance from the nip position of the feed rollers 9a, 9b to the paper feed sensors 8a, 8b is added to the data of the size check count described above. The corrected size becomes the true original size. At this time, the amount of document feed and the count value by the belt clock interrupter definitely match (step 522
0). After that, the corrected original size data will be used to
．． The original size is determined as ^4°84, ^3, etc. (steps 5221 to 229), the size check counter is cleared, and the process returns (step 5230).

Next, after the above paper feeding process, step S in FIG. 5(B)
Proceed to step 3 and send the CQPY request signal to the copying machine main body 100 (
7) Output to CP0801. Copying device main unit cpυ8
01 temporarily turns off the document feed signal in response to the input of the copy request signal, and then operates the optical system to execute the exposure copying process for the document page ■ set on the platen glass 101 with the image surface facing downward. . Next, the image of the original page (2) is formed on the first side of the copy material (recording paper), and the copy material is discharged to the copy tray T with the image surface facing upward (see FIG. 1).

When the copying apparatus main body 100 is in the exposure process, as shown in FIG.
The program sequence proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether all original documents have been fed based on whether or not the artificial document sensors 3a and 3b are turned off.

At this point, since the image recording process for the document on the page ■ is still in progress, the entrance document sensors 6a and 8b are in the ON state, so next, it is determined whether the mode signal from the main body 100 is set to transport. (Step S5), when the determination is affirmative, it is further determined whether the document size of the page ■ is equal to or larger than ^4R based on the document size data obtained by the document size determination in the size check subroutine described above (Step S6).
, changes the flow of the program from then on. Here, the explanation will be continued assuming that the mode signal is a continuous transmission designation.

If the document size of the page ■ is smaller than ^4R, the process proceeds from step S6 to step S7, and the above-mentioned separation process (
Step St) is executed before the exposure process is completed for the document on the page ■, so that the next document ■ is fed to the roller 9.
a, 9b and stop in a state where a loop is formed.

Next, the process proceeds to step S8, where the copying apparatus main body! Upon completion of the exposure process for document page 00, the document feed signal is turned on, so the C0PY request signal is turned off in response to the turning on of the document feed signal, and the next operation begins (step S9).

In the next step StO, the paper discharge process 1 is started by an interruption, and the process returns to the above-mentioned step S2 to start the paper feeding process for the original on page 2.

Here, the processing procedure of the above-mentioned paper ejection processing 1 will be explained. The situation at the time when the paper ejection process 1 starts is as shown in the 13th page.
The situation is as shown in the figure (^). And the first
In the subroutine of paper ejection processing 1 in Figure O, the paper ejection sensor 1
9 detects the leading edge of the document on page ■ (step 3301).

However, at this time, in the paper ejection process l, the entire belt lO
is not driven, so step S is temporarily executed during this waiting period.
If you return to step 2 and feed the next document page ■, and then execute steps 53 to S7 in FIG. 5(B), the positional relationship of the documents will be as shown in FIG. 13(B). . Further, the paper discharge process 1 is also started for the page {circle around (3)} (step 310).

Furthermore, when the paper ejection sensor 19 detects the leading edge of the original on page ■ as shown in FIG.
- Start the belt counter BCI by the count value corresponding to the distance to the nip between the rollers 20a and 20b.Step 3
3Q2) and waits for the belt counter BCL to end (count up) (step 3303).

When the belt counter BCI has finished counting, the paper ejection drive motor 21 is turned on (step 5304).
Start pulling out the document on page ■ and wait for the paper ejection sensor 19 to detect the trailing edge of this document (step S
, 305).

After that, as shown in FIG. 13(D), the paper feeding process (step 32) for the original on page 2 is completed, and the entire surface belt 10 is
Even if it stops, the document on the page
b continues to be ejected in the direction of the arrow in this figure, and at the same time as the paper ejection sensor 19 detects the trailing edge of the document on page (2), the clock of the paper ejection clock interrupter 23 is counted in order to completely eject this original. A paper ejection counter is started (step 3306), and the speed of the paper ejection drive motor 21 is controlled until the paper ejection counter ends (step S307) to improve consistency when ejecting documents. , wait for the count from the paper ejection counter to finish (step 330B). When the count from the paper ejection counter finishes, the paper ejection drive motor 21 is turned off and the document is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 24, so this paper ejection process (Step 5309).

At this time, the feed amount by the paper ejection counter and the ejection roller 20
The feed amounts by a and 20b are definitely the same.

Furthermore, while the artificial document sensors 3a and 3b detect the document thereafter, the above-described processing sequence is repeated.

Thereafter, when the above-mentioned entrance document sensors 3a and 3b stop detecting the document, in this embodiment, when the paper feeding process for the document on page 2 is completed and the determination process in step S4 is executed, the inlet document If the sensors 3a and 3b are off, the determination is negative and the process proceeds to step Sll, where the document detection signal is turned off and the document discharge signal from the copying apparatus main body 100 is set (step S12). The C0PY request signal is turned off (step 313), and the paper ejection process 2 is started with an interrupt (step 514).

The positional relationship of the originals at this point is as shown in FIG. 13 (E), and as shown in FIG.
In the routine, the belt drive motor 1 is activated to eject the pages ■ and ■ remaining on the platen glass 101.
2 is turned on in normal rotation (step 5311).

At this time, the above-described paper ejection process 1 is being executed on the documents on pages ① and ② at the same time.

When the paper ejection sensor 19 detects the leading edge of the document on page ■ (
Step 3312), similarly to the above-mentioned paper ejection process 1, the counting operation of the first belt counter BCI is started (step S313), and when the counting of this counter BCI is completed (step S314), the paper ejection drive motor 21 (step S315), and further,
The counting operation of the second belt counter BC2 is started (step 5316), which determines the timing to permit the start of separation processing of the next document. The count value of counter BC2 up to the leaving position is set in advance. That is, as shown in FIG. 13(F), the counter value of the counter BC2 is set to ((document length)-1). 1 is the distance between the belt roller 10b and the sensor 19.

When the count of the belt counter BC2 is completed (step 5317), the belt drive motor 12 is turned off (step 5318), and the separation start permission flag is set (step 5319). The influence of this flag, which does not affect actual operation, will be discussed later.

After that, the sequence for aligning the ejected originals is executed and the process ends in the same way as in ejecting process 1 (steps 3320 to 3).
23).

Also, if the mode signal does not specify continuous feeding in step S5 of FIG. 5 (8), or if the document size is
If it is 4R or more, the above-mentioned transportation mode is stopped and the sequence is changed to one in which the document can be reliably pulled out by the paper ejection rollers 20a and 20b. Wait for the document feed signal from CPt1801 of 00 to be set, and when this signal is set, turn off the C0PY request signal (step 516).
, the above-mentioned paper ejection process 2 is started by an interruption (step 517).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 13(F), at step 5319 in the paper ejection process 2 for the document on page ■, it is detected that the separation start permission flag is set (step 51B), and at the same time, this flag is reset. Then, MIA filling is started for the next original, that is, the original on page 2 (step 519). Thereafter, as described above, the above-described process is repeated until all the originals are removed from the original tray l.

B. (Double-sided mode) In the case of double-sided document 2, the flowchart in Figure 6 shows the controller 8 in duplex mode.
20 control procedures are shown. When the duplex mode is designated, first, as in the single-sided mode, the above-described separation process is performed on the lowest document on the document tray l (pages ■/■, see FIG. 14 (^)) (step S51. (See FIG. 7), after performing the paper feeding process (step S52; see FIG. 8), the next step 553 is to perform the reversing process to copy page ■.
12, the belt drive motor 12 is turned on in reverse in order to drive the full-surface belt 11 and transport the document on the platen glass 101 from the sheet bus ■ to the sheet bus ■ (step 541G). ).

As a result, the original is transferred to the large reversing roller 16 and the small reversing roller 1.
7, moves upward in the sheet bus V along the rotation of the large reversing roller 16, and after the paper feed sensors 8a and 8b detect the leading edge of the document (step S402), the reversing loop counter is activated. After the counter finishes counting (step 3404), the belt drive motor 12 is turned off (step 5405).
As a result, a loop for correcting the skew is formed in the same way as in the separation process, and the loop is on standby (see FIG. 14(B)).

When the above-mentioned reversing process is completed, next, paper feeding process is performed in the same way as in the single-sided mode (step 554), and C0PY
The request signal is turned on (step 555), and when the document feed signal from the CPU 801 of the copying apparatus main body 100 (7) is set (step 556), the C0PY request signal is turned off (step 557).

Next, in order to copy the page ■, the above-mentioned inversion processing is performed (step 358), paper feeding processing is performed (step 559), and the C0PY request signal is turned on (step 5aO). If the next document is detected by determining the output state of the entrance document sensor 3,
Step 561), the process advances to step S62, waits for the document feed signal to be set from CPIIBol of the copying machine main body 100, and turns off the C0PY request signal (step 56).
3) Interruptly start the above-mentioned paper ejection process 2 (step 3)
64).

Further, the ejected document is placed at the predetermined position described above (Fig. 14 (E).
)) and the separation start permission flag is set (step 565), this separation start permission flag is reset (step 866), and step S described above is performed.
The process returns to step 51 and starts processing the next document. Thereafter, the above-described processing procedure is repeated until there are no documents left on the document stacking tray 1, that is, until the entrance document sensor 3 no longer detects any documents in step S61.
If the entrance document sensor 61 does not detect the document,
Proceeding to step S67, the document detection signal is turned off, and the process waits for the document discharge signal to be set from the CPt 1801 of the copying apparatus main body 100 (step 5613), and the C0PY request signal is turned off (step 567), followed by the aforementioned paper discharge process 2. and ends the process (step 370).

By performing the above-mentioned operations one after another on the originals loaded on the original platen 1, the same pages as the originals set on the platen 1 of the DF 200 will be placed on the output tray T of the copying device 100. Single-sided or double-sided copies can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, blank exposure means was used as a method for deleting images of redundant originals, but the present invention is not limited to this. The optical system scans the number of minutes,
The original at a downstream position on the platen glass may not be exposed to light.

In addition, instead of using the above-mentioned blank exposure means, it is possible to control the energization to the charger so as not to charge the photoreceptor in unnecessary areas, or to charge the latent image on the photoreceptor in unnecessary areas. Controlling the drive (power supply) to the developing device so as not to perform development, or controlling the recording material conveyance means and transfer charging to prevent unnecessary portions of the image on the photoreceptor from being transferred to the recording material. The object of the present invention can also be achieved by controlling devices and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to transport a document to a predetermined position on a platen and stop the document at that position. It is equipped with a document conveying means capable of continuous feeding, and has an image reading means for reading an image of the document stopped at the above-mentioned predetermined position by scanning with an exposure means, and the document conveying port of the document conveying means is located at the platen. It is located near the normal position value (first position), stops conveying the first document at a predetermined position, and after reading is finished, moves the first document to a downstream position (third position) adjacent to the above predetermined position. At the same time, the second document is conveyed and stopped at a predetermined position.
This procedure is repeated from the third document onwards, making it possible to create an area on the platen where no image will be formed during continuous feeding without changing the normal image scanning method, making it easier to replace originals. The advantage is that time loss is not affected by size and is always minimized, and unnecessary images can be deleted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied; FIG. B) is a plan view showing the configuration of the belt conveyance drive mechanism of the document conveyance device, FIG. Operation unit (operation panel) of the device in the example of
FIG. 4m is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the control system of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5(^) is a flowchart showing the overall control procedure of the embodiment of the present invention. , Fig. 5(B) is a flowchart showing the control procedure in the single-sided mode of the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the control procedure in the duplex mode of the embodiment of the present invention, g, Fig. 13 (＾) - Figure 14 (F) is a usage diagram showing the document conveyance state and positional relationship in the single-sided mode of the embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 14 (^) - Figure 14 (F) is the usage diagram in the duplex mode of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a usage diagram showing the conveyance state and positional relationship of a document. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Loading tray (loading table), 2... Document, 3a, 3b... Artificial document sensor, 6... Separation roller, 7... Separation drive motor, 8a, 8b... Paper feed Sensor, 9a, 9b...Feed roller, lea, 10b -...Roller, 12...Belt drive motor, l3...Electromagnetic brake, 15...Belt crotter interrupter, 16...Large reversal Roller, 17... Reversing roller, 19... Paper discharge sensor, 21... Paper discharge drive motor, 23... Paper discharge clock interrupter, 25... Electromagnetic clutch, 100... Image forming apparatus main body , 101... Original table glass (platen glass), 115
...Optical system motor, 117... Home position sensor, 121... Image tip sensor, 133... Main motor, 135... High pressure unit, 137... Blank exposure unit, 155.157...・Paper feed roller, 159...Registration roller, 200...Document feeder (^DF), 600...Key group, 700...Display group, 801...CPU of main unit, 820... 80F controller. Figure 2 (C)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) The first document separated from the document stack on the document loading table is conveyed to a predetermined position on the document exposure platen adjacent to the document loading port, and the second document is conveyed and stopped. Conveying the document to an upstream position adjacent to the document entry port and stopping the document, and then simultaneously conveying the first document that has undergone exposure processing to a downstream position on the platen adjacent to the predetermined position. , a document conveying means for conveying the second document to the predetermined position and stopping the document, and repeating this procedure for the third and subsequent documents; An image reading unit that scans the original on the platen by exposure scanning to read the image; a detection unit that detects the size of the original; and a size of the original that is detected by the detection unit and that is conveyed to the predetermined position on the platen. and a reading control means that determines a scanning range of the image reading means based on the size, and under the control of the reading control means, image reading is not performed for a document located at a downstream position on the platen. An image reading device characterized by: 2) After transporting the first document separated from the document stack on the document loading table to a predetermined position on the document exposure platen adjacent to the document loading port and stopping, the second document is transferred to the document stack. It is transported to an upstream position adjacent to the carry-in port and stopped, and then the first original, which has undergone exposure processing, is transported to a downstream position on the platen adjacent to the predetermined position, and at the same time, the second original is transported to a downstream position on the platen adjacent to the prescribed position. transporting the second original to the predetermined position and stopping;
For the third and subsequent documents, the document transport means repeats this procedure to transport the original; and the image reading means performs exposure scanning to read the image of the original on the platen, which is transported by the original transport means. a detecting means for detecting the size of the original document being conveyed to the predetermined position on the platen, which is detected by the detecting means; An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming control means that uses only the image of the document at the localization value for image formation, and excludes image formation on the document located at a downstream position on the platen.