JPH0192136A - Automatic original feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to copy an intermediate page of a continuous sheet without the sheet being cut, by providing a means for carrying out switching operation an automatic mode automatically repeating copying operation and a manual mode effected by a signal from a manual feed switch. CONSTITUTION:A semiautomatic original conveyance sensor 27 detects the leading end of a continuous sheet 30 set on a paper feed tray 3, and after the sheet coming once to a stop at a preregistration gate 23, the sheet is conveyed by a conveying belt 24 to a copying position where it is copied. Thereafter, in an automatic mode, a continuous sheet sensor 41 detects sprocket holes in one page to be copied. In a manual mode, the sheet is conveyed by one page each time when a manual feed switch is turned on, and a copy waiting condition is set up. Accordingly, the feed switch is repeatedly depressed by a necessary number of times until a required page comes onto a platen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder that automatically conveys a document to a document table such as a platen glass in a copying machine or the like.

[Conventional technology]

In a typical copying machine, the original to be copied is a sheet-like original.

However, in some cases, it may be desired to copy a document in continuous form. For example, the printer output of a combicoater is usually continuous paper called CF (computer form), which must be continuously fed for copying.

For this reason, CF F (computer f
An automatic document feeder called an automatic document feeder (orm fee-der) is used. For example, it is known that continuous paper is conveyed by rotating sprocket wheels by engaging sprocket wheels with sprocket holes drilled at both ends of the continuous paper. However, this method has problems in terms of cost and workability because the feeding device becomes larger and is retrofitted as an optional device to the copying machine.

Therefore, one of the methods for feeding continuous sheets using the conventional document feeder for single sheet documents is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-7245.
It is disclosed in Publication No. 5. This is the position of the sprocket hole drilled in the continuous paper.

By optically detecting the width, number, etc., it is calculated as 1.
The amount of movement for one page is determined, and the rollers are used to convey the amount by that amount. According to this method, since the continuous paper is conveyed by rollers in the same way as the cut document, it is possible to feed the continuous paper without an additional device.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the method described in the above-mentioned publication, once copying is started, the continuous paper is automatically and repeatedly fed at a constant pitch to copy each page. Therefore, in order to copy only the pages in the middle of continuous paper or the necessary pages, it is necessary to separate and set the continuous paper each time. For this reason, there have been problems in that the continuous paper is separated, causing problems in subsequent handling, and in that workability is poor.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to copy continuous paper originals in the same way as cut-sheet originals without providing any special additional equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeder that can easily copy any page of continuous paper.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic document feeder of the present invention detects sprocket holes formed in continuous paper and conveys the continuous paper at a constant pitch. Switching is performed between an automatic mode in which the process of carrying out the copying operation after conveying the continuous paper by the fixed pitch is automatically repeated, and a manual mode in which the continuous paper is conveyed by the fixed pitch and then waiting for a copying instruction based on a signal from the manual feed switch. It is characterized by having a means.

[Effect]

In the automatic document feeder of the present invention, when copying continuous paper, it is possible to select between automatic mode and manual mode. In automatic mode, continuous paper is repeatedly fed at a fixed pitch, e.g. one page at a time, and each page is automatically copied, but in manual mode, continuous paper is fed repeatedly at a fixed pitch, e.g., one page at a time, and each page is copied automatically. The data is sent at the fixed pitch and waits for a copying instruction. Therefore, by turning on the manual feed switch a necessary number of times, the area to be copied can be arbitrarily selected, and by copying in this state, only the necessary area is copied.

[Embodiment 2 Hereinafter, the features of the present invention will be specifically explained based on an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of a copying machine to which an automatic document feeder according to the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 1 indicates a copying machine main body, and this copying machine main body 1
An automatic document feeder 2 is provided on the top surface of the . Further, a paper feed tray 3 is provided on one side of the copying machine main body 1, and a discharge tray 4 is provided on the other side.

When the leading edge of the continuous paper 30 placed in a folded state on the paper feed tray 3 is inserted into the manual document feed section 27 of the automatic document feeder 2, the paper is detected by the semi-automatic document feed sensor 27a, and the document feed roller (not shown in FIG. 2) into the automatic document feeder 2. Then, after being stopped at the registration gate 23, the document is placed at a predetermined position on the platen glass 25 by a document conveying belt 24 provided within the device 2. At this time, the leading edge of the continuous paper 30 is positioned by the registration gate 26, and then copying is automatically performed. When the copying is completed, the continuous paper 30 is fed by the document conveying belt 24 at a constant pitch, for example, by one page, and copying is performed again. At this time, continuous paper 30
As will be described later, conveyance control is performed by detecting sprocket holes using a continuous paper sensor 41. From then on, this operation is automatically repeated, and the continuous paper 3 after copying is
0 is ejected into the ejection tray 4 in a folded state.

Next, details of the automatic document feeder 2 will be explained with reference to FIG.

The automatic document feeder 2 is capable of conveying both single-sheet documents and continuous sheets.

First, the case of copying a cut original will be explained.

A cut document tray 21 is provided on the top surface of the automatic document feeder 2, and the cut document placed on the tray 21 is
The document is transported by document feed rollers 22a, 22b, and 22c, and its leading end is positioned by a preregistration gate 23. Then, for example, the preregistration gate 23 is opened in synchronization with the timing of copying within the copying machine main body 1, and the cut original is sent out, and placed at a predetermined position on the platen glass 25 by the original transport belt 24. At this time, the leading edge of the cut document is positioned by the registration gate 26. When copying is completed, the original sheet is discharged by the original transport belt 24.

Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated.

Next, the case of copying continuous paper will be explained.

When the continuous paper 30 is inserted into the manual document feeding section 27, the document feeding rollers 27b, 22c and the document conveying belt 24
The paper is conveyed onto the platen glass 25 and copied. At this time, the copying of the first page is the same as that of a single sheet original, but from the second page onward, the preregistration gate 23 and the registration gate 26 are inactive, and the positioning of the continuous paper 30 is This is done by detecting the positions of sprocket holes 30a drilled at both ends of the continuous paper 30 shown in FIG. In the figure, 30b indicates perforations formed between each page.

Conveyance and positioning control of continuous paper will be explained below.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a block diagram for controlling the operation of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A continuous paper sensor 41 is disposed in front of the manual document feeding section 27. This continuous paper sensor 41 detects the sprocket hole 30a of the continuous paper 30, and the hole detection signal from the continuous paper sensor 41 is sent to the control circuit 42. supply to.

Then, a DC servo motor 4 for driving the document conveying belt 24 is driven according to the position, width, number, etc. of the detected holes.
The continuous paper 30 is positioned by returning to the drive system including the drive motor 44 of the document feed roller 27b and the document feed roller 27b and controlling the feed amount. At this time, the encoder output from the DC servo motor 43 is fed back to the control circuit 42, and the rotational speed is detected. Note that the feed amount for one page of continuous paper is set in advance according to the continuous paper.

Details of this continuous paper positioning operation will be described later.

Further, the rotation of the drive roller 24a of the document conveyance belt 24 driven by the servo motor 43 is transmitted to the document feed roller 22c via the transmission belt 28a, and similarly, the rotation of the driven roller 24b of the document conveyance belt 24 is transmitted to the document feed roller 22c via the transmission belt 28a. )
It is transmitted to the exit roller 26a via 28b.

The control circuit 42 and the copying machine main body 1 are connected by a communication line 50, so that necessary information can be exchanged between the control circuit 42 and the copying machine main body 1. For example, on the copying machine main unit 1 side, you can select between single-sheet original copying and continuous paper copying, and when copying continuous paper, you can select manual mode and automatic mode. Accordingly, the control operation in the control circuit 42 is switched.

The control circuit 42 also includes a manual feed switch 45.
The signal from

Now, if the automatic mode for automatically copying continuous paper is selected, the feeding and copying of one page of continuous paper is automatically repeated.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the continuous paper 30 placed in a folded state on the paper feed tray 3 is moved by the automatic document feeder 2 onto a platen glass 25 provided on the top surface of the copying machine. The paper is transported one page at a time, and after copying is performed, it is ejected to the ejection tray 3 side in a folded state. This operation is repeated automatically.

In the case of the manual mode, each time the manual feed switch 45 is turned on, only one page of the continuous paper 30 is conveyed, and the machine waits for a copying instruction. Therefore, it is only necessary to turn on the manual feed switch 45 a necessary number of times until the page that needs to be copied appears on the platen glass 25, and then copy the page.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of a flowchart for controlling the conveyance of continuous paper. Further, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of servo motor control, and FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a hole detection routine.

As can be seen from the flowchart in FIG. 5, when a document is set, it is first determined whether the paper transport mode is continuous paper mode or not. If it is not the continuous paper mode, the process proceeds to another mode processing routine, but if it is the continuous paper mode, it is further determined whether or not it is the automatic mode. If the automatic mode is selected, the servo motor 43 is controlled, the continuous paper 30 is conveyed by a predetermined pinch, and the first page is placed on the platen glass 25, after which a copying operation is automatically performed. . When copying is completed, if there is a subsequent sheet, the servo motor 43 is then controlled to convey and copy the next page. Note that the presence or absence of subsequent paper can be determined, for example, by a separately provided sensor 46.
(See Figure 3).

These operations are repeated until the paper runs out or until a stop instruction is given by the user.

Next, if it is continuous paper mode but not automatic mode, that is, if it is manual mode, the key waits for manual input, and the servo motor 43 is controlled only when the manual feed switch 45 is turned on. 2 sheets of paper are transported. In this state, when a copying switch (not shown) provided on the side of the copying machine main body 1 is turned on, the copying operation is performed, and then the machine waits for manual input of the key again.

Next, the servo motor control routine will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

To explain the outline of this servo motor control routine, here, one page of continuous paper 30 is divided into a plurality of zones for each sprocket hole 30a, and the continuous paper sensor 41 is used to control the continuous paper 30 for each zone. sprocket hole 30
a, and supplies the hole detection signal to the control circuit 42, which detects the position, width, number, etc. of the sprocket holes 30a, and controls the servo motor so that one page of the continuous paper 30 is accurately fed. 43 to accelerate the continuous paper 30,
Controls constant speed running and deceleration.

When the servo motor control routine starts, it is determined whether the copy mode is continuous paper mode or not. If it is continuous paper mode, the registration correction value, which is a mechanical correction value for the feed amount, is stored in the memory in the control circuit. After that, the continuous paper size is also stored in the same memory. In addition,
Here, the size of the continuous paper 30 is the size of the sprocket hole 3.
It is expressed as a large number of 0a. Then, the final position and deceleration position are calculated from the size of the continuous paper 30, and the defective zone counter is also cleared. This bad zone counter is
This is to count when a hole that is not a regular sprocket hole is detected. Next, after starting a hole detection routine to be described later, the servo motor 43 is accelerated to a set speed. Then, when a predetermined deceleration position is reached, the servo motor 43 is reduced to a low speed, and when the final position is reached, the servo motor 43 is stopped, the hole detection routine is stopped, and the process returns to the start. Note that if a speed error occurs during control of the servo motor 43, the operation of the servo motor 43 is stopped.

Next, the hole detection routine will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the hole detection routine is started, first, the zone width counter that counts the encoder output of the DC servo motor 43 is cleared, and then the continuous paper sensor 41 starts detecting holes. This zone width counter detects the width Z of the zone shown in FIG. Assuming that the first part is the paper part, it is determined whether the value of the zone width counter is equal to a specified value, that is, the pitch of the holes. Initially, the content of the zone width counter is "o", so
The hole detection operation is repeated.

When a hole is detected, it is detected whether a large amount counter is operating. This large counter is located at the sprocket hole 30a.
This is for detecting a large amount of the paper, and for example, the large amount is detected by counting a pulse signal obtained by gated pulses of a constant period with the output of the continuous paper sensor 41.

Initially, the value of the width counter is 0'', so the operation of the width counter is started and its value increases at regular intervals.Then, the presence or absence of paper is detected.At this time, the content of the zone width counter is "0", so the paper detection operation is repeated until the paper passes through the hole.

When paper is detected, the operation of the wide range counter is stopped, and by measuring the value of this large range counter, it is determined whether the detected hole is a regular one. If the hole is normal, the final position.

After correcting the deceleration position and the zone width counter, it is determined whether the continuous paper 30 has reached the corrected zone boundary. When the modified zone boundary is reached, the contents of the zone pointer are incremented by 1 and then the process returns to the start. This zone pointer indicates in which part of one page the zone currently being detected is located.

If the detected hole is not a regular one, it is determined whether the value of the zone width counter is equal to the specified value, and if the value is equal, the content of the zone pointer is incremented by one.

If there is no abnormality in the previous zone, the process returns to the start after clearing the defective zone counter. Note that the defective zone counter counts the number of zones determined to be defective. If there is an abnormality in the previous zone, the contents of the defective zone counter are incremented by one. Then, if the content of the defective zone counter becomes 3, the operation is terminated after performing jam processing, but if not, the operation returns to the start.

Further, when the value of the zone width counter is detected immediately after the start is the specified value, the process jumps to point B2.

By repeating the above operations and detecting the position 2 width and number of sprocket holes 30a of the continuous paper 30, the amount of movement of the continuous paper 30 is accurately controlled in each mode.

In the above embodiment, the constant pitch corresponds to one page, and the continuous paper is conveyed in units of one page. However, for example, when two pages can be copied at the same time, Alternatively, continuous paper may be conveyed page by page.

Further, the above-mentioned zone pointer, defective zone counter, zone width counter, large size counter, etc. can be allocated to an appropriate area of the memory provided in the control circuit 42.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, continuous paper can be fed by a fixed pitch each time the manual feed switch is turned on, so only intermediate pages or necessary pages can be fed without separating the continuous paper. You can make copies by scratching and picking.

Therefore, there will be no problems such as hindrance to the subsequent handling of paper or deterioration of workability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an example of a copying machine to which the automatic document feeder is applied, and FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the automatic document feeder. 4 is a plan view for explaining continuous paper, and FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the automatic document feeder.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a servo motor control routine, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a hole detection routine. l: Copying machine main body 2: Automatic document feeder 3: Paper feed tray 4: Ejection tray 21: Single sheet document trays 22a, 22b, 22c, 27b: Document feed roller 23 Nibble registration storage Yong gate 24: Document transport bell ) 24a: Drive roller 24b
= Driven roller 25 Nibraten glass 26: Registration gate 26a: Exit roller 27: Manual document feed section 28
a, 28b: Transmission belt 30: Continuous paper 30a: Sprocket hole 30b = Perforation 41: Continuous paper sensor 46: Sensor 50: Communication line

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic document feeder that detects sprocket holes formed in continuous paper and conveys the continuous paper at a constant pitch, the process of carrying out a copying operation after conveying the continuous paper by the constant pitch is automatically repeated. The automatic document feeder is characterized in that it is provided with means for switching between an automatic mode in which the continuous paper is carried out in response to a signal from a manual feed switch, and a manual mode in which the continuous paper is conveyed by the predetermined pitch and then waits for a copying instruction based on a signal from a manual feed switch.