JPH0251826B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a document storage cassette for a copying machine. Copying machines equipped with a sheet-like original feeding device are known, in which a large number of sheet-like originals are stacked on a mounting table, and the sheets are automatically separated and fed one by one starting from the topmost one. This is effective in increasing the efficiency and saving labor of copying work.

However, with conventional devices, the amount of documents that can be loaded at one time is small, and as the amount of information has increased in recent years, it has not been possible to adequately meet the demand for processing large amounts of documents at one time. I can't say that.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional apparatus. In this case, the number of original documents that can be stacked on the mounting table 1 is limited to about 50 to 100 sheets at most, depending on the paper thickness. The reason for this limitation is due to the separation performance of the separation roller 2 and the reversing roller 3, which rotates in the same direction as the separation roller 2 and rotates in the opposite direction at the rubbing portion. That is, the angle α between the straight line connecting the rotation centers of both rollers 2 and 3 and the straight line connecting the intersection of the document O with the separation roller 2 and the rotation center of the separation roller 2 is a constant angle (experimentally about 30 degrees). This is because if it exceeds this, the separation performance will deteriorate.

In order to counter this, it is possible to increase the diameter of the separation roller 2, but even if the diameter is doubled, the amount of documents loaded will only be doubled.
Furthermore, this is not an effective means because it increases the size of the device.

On the other hand, with conventional devices, the documents must be properly aligned and stacked on the loading table each time copying is performed, which wastes time.
Another drawback is that it places a heavy burden on the operator.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is intended to increase the loading capacity of originals, to efficiently load originals, and to provide a copying machine with other effective functions. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a document storage cassette.

That is, the present invention is capable of loading and storing sheet-like originals, is removably attached to the original feeding section of a copying machine, and has optional input for setting operational information of the copying machine such as the number of copies and copy size. A document storage cassette for a copying machine, comprising: an operable transmission information means; and a connector that, when inserted into the feeding section, electrically connects to the copying machine and transmits the operation information. .

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 denotes a document feeding device main body of a copying machine, on which a pair of separating rollers 2 and reversing rollers 3 constituting a sheet document feeding section are rotatably supported. At the front side of the separating roller 2 and reversing roller 3 in the document advancing direction, the main body 4 of the apparatus
A pair of registration rollers 5 is rotatably supported.
Reference numeral 6 designates a document cassette guide plate serving as a support means for removably supporting a cassette (original cassette) 21 for storing a sheet-like document O in a feeding section of the main body of the apparatus. It has an L-shape and is fixed to the main body 4 of the device. A paper feed roller 7 is disposed above the guide plate 6 and near the separation roller. The paper feed roller 7 is rotatably supported by one end of a cover member 8 that is swingably attached to the separation roller shaft 2a.
Power is transmitted from a to the belt 9 via the belt 9. A tension spring 10 is stretched between the other end of the cover member 8 and the device body 4, and a lever 1 is connected to the other end of the cover member 8 via a shaft 11.
2 is suspended. 13 is a guide for the bar 12. A through hole 12a is formed in the lower part of the bar 12,
An operating lever 14 having a cam portion 14a on the lower surface is inserted into the through hole 12a. One end of the operating lever 14 protrudes from the through hole 6a of the vertical piece ₆₁ of the guide plate 6, and the other end is connected to the other end of a compression spring 16 whose one end is fixed within the cylinder 15. A cassette positioning protrusion 17 is provided on the inner surface of the vertical piece ₆₁ . A claw 18 for document cassette locking is rotatably supported near the edge of the horizontal piece ₆₂ , and the spring force of a torsion spring 20 interposed between the shaft 19 and the claw 18 causes the tip of the claw to be rotated. The horizontal piece ₆₂ is held in such a way that it tends to protrude from the through hole 6b.

The document cassette 21 has a box shape, and a document loading table 22 is swingably provided inside the document cassette 21.
That is, a plurality of compression springs 23 are provided between the lower surface of the paper feeding side of the loading table 22 and the bottom surface of the cassette, and the non-paper feeding side is supported by the cassette 21 via a hinge 22a. On the non-sheet feeding side of the document cassette 21, a lock release lever 24 is pivotally supported on the side wall of the cassette between the mounting table 22 and the bottom surface of the cassette. A compression spring 25 is provided between the lower surface of one end of the lever 24 and the bottom surface of the cassette, and the spring force causes the lower surface of the other end of the lever 24 to be slid on the bottom of the cassette, and an operating lever 26 provided to prevent it from falling out. It is brought into contact with the end face of. An operating portion 26a of the operating lever 26 protrudes from the outer surface of the bottom of the cassette.

In the above configuration, when the document cassette is not loaded,
The actuating lever 14 moves to the right by the spring force of the compression spring 16, and its cam portion 14a engages with the inner surface of the lower part of the through hole 12a of the bar 12, so that the bar 12
is lowered against the spring force of the tension spring 10, swinging the paper feeding roller 7 clockwise via the cover member 8, and separating it from the paper feeding surface.

When feeding paper, first place it on the loading table 2 of the original cassette 21.
2. A large amount (of course, a small amount is also possible) of originals O are stacked on the paper. In this case, if the thickness of the document O is within a predetermined range, the uppermost document is always held within a certain range by the spring force of the compression spring 22. Next, when the original cassette 21 is loaded while sliding it on the guide plate 6, the protrusion 17 fits into the hole 21a on the side wall of the cassette, positioning the original cassette 21, and the positioning of the original cassette 21 is performed by the projection 17 fitting into the hole 21a on the side wall of the cassette. Hole 21
The pawl 18 engages with the document cassette 21, thereby locking the document cassette 21. At the same time, the operating lever 14 is pushed to the left by the side surface of the cassette against the spring force of the compression spring 16, and the cam portion 14a is separated from the lower inner surface of the bar 12, so that the cover member 8 is moved by the spring force of the tension spring 10. The paper feed roller 7 swings counterclockwise through the document O and comes into contact with the uppermost document O. When the paper feed roller 7 is brought into contact with the document O in this manner, the position of the uppermost document will not be shifted.

Thereafter, the paper feed roller 7 rotates counterclockwise in response to a paper feed signal, and the original O is sent out from the original cassette 21.The originals are separated and fed one by one by the counterclockwise rotation of the separation roller 2 and reversing roller 3. be done. Then, the document O is temporarily stopped at the position of the register roller pair 5, and after being timed with other copying mechanisms, it is fed to the exposure section.

After copying is completed, push in the operating lever 26 and use the lever 24 to connect the pawl 18 and the hole 2 at the bottom of the cassette.
1b and pulls out the document cassette 21 to the left. As the document cassette 21 is pulled out, the operating lever 14 moves to the left and swings the paper feed roller 7 clockwise as described above to separate it from the paper feeding surface. There is no possibility that the edges of the paper feed roller 7 will collide and damage the paper feed roller 7.

The document cassette 21 has a transmission information display section 27 including arbitrary input means such as a numeric keypad, as shown in the example in FIG.
(operable transmission information means) is provided. The transmission information display section 27 includes, for example, an input and lock switch 28, a numeric keypad 29 for inputting the number of copies, a number of copies display section 30, and self-illuminating switches 31a to 31b for selecting the copy size. These devices have a built-in battery, and while they are convenient for simply transmitting information, they can be used even better if further improvements are made. In other words, the information mentioned above (number of copies, size of copies, etc.) is used as is as operation information of the copying machine.

Returning to FIG. 1, the connector 32a is fixed to the cassette side, and the connector 32b is attached to the main body side. Therefore, when the cassette is inserted into the main body, information such as the number of copies inputted into the cassette is transferred to the connected connectors 32a, 3.
By configuring the circuit to give priority to the operating section of the main body via 2b (this is easily possible with existing technology), copy paper can be obtained with reliable copy information.

With this configuration, when there is a dedicated operator for the copying machine, various types of information can be securely and easily transmitted in a locked state, which is extremely effective in resolving problems in copying operations. .

FIG. 3 shows a copying machine to which the present invention is applied, but since the structure is well known, the explanation will be omitted. Note that the feeding device may be provided at the position indicated by arrow A.

As described above, the present invention stores sheet-like originals in a cassette and attaches and detaches them to the feeding section of the main body of a copying machine. Therefore, it is possible to load a large amount of originals, and copying a large number of originals can be carried out efficiently. be able to.
In addition, since it is easy to replace the cassette and store documents in the cassette, the burden on the operator is reduced, and interruptions such as small-volume copying during large-volume copying can be quickly dealt with by attaching and detaching the cassette. Can be done.

Further, the cassette is provided with optional input means for setting operation information of the copying machine such as the number of copies and copy size, and an operable transmission information means, and the cassette is inserted into the feeding section. Then, since it has a connector that electrically connects the cassette and the main body of the apparatus to transmit the operation information, the transmission information means transfers the original cassette in which the operation information of the copying machine, such as the number of copies and copy size, has been set, to the apparatus. By attaching it to the paper feed section of the main body, information such as the number of copies inputted in the cassette is transmitted to the main body of the apparatus via the mutual communication connector provided on the cassette side and the main body side of the apparatus. By configuring the control circuit to give priority to the control section of the main unit, it is possible to have the device perform copying operations using reliable copying information, and in cases where there is a dedicated operator for the copying machine, various information can be locked. The information can be transmitted reliably and easily in the same state, and is extremely effective in resolving problems in copying operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a conventional example. O is a sheet manuscript, and 21 is a cassette.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device for stacking and storing sheet-like originals, detachably attachable to the original feeding section of a copying machine, and for setting operation information of the copying machine such as the number of copies and copy size. A document storage cassette for a copying machine, comprising: an operable transmission information means provided with an arbitrary input means; and a connector that, when inserted into the feeding section, electrically connects to the copying machine and transmits the operation information. .