JPH03106752A - Original automatic feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always discharge originals orderly to an original tray by providing a carrying means to change a speed of discharge to the original tray and the original tray to change the inclination angle of a direction in which the originals are received. CONSTITUTION:According to the thickness of an original and sheet quality, the carrying speed of an original, i.e. the rotation speed of a motor for carriage, is set to a speed as high as possible in a range in which a double feed and a jam are prevented from occurring. The inclination angle theta of an original tray 13 is set to a value, at which originals are orderly discharged, with the aid of a forward reverse motor 14. The rotation speed of the motor for convey ance and the inclination angle theta of the original tray 13 are individually set through operation effected by an operator.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder used in copying machines, document reading devices, etc. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder that feeds documents onto a platen glass in the order in which they are placed and discharges the documents from the platen glass to a document receiving tray.

[Conventional technology]

In the conventional automatic document feeding device as described above, the document discharge speed and the inclination angle of the document tray are constant. In such automatic document feeders, in order to increase the document processing speed, if the document ejection speed is increased, the document tends to fly out beyond the document tray, and if the inclination angle of the document tray is increased, the document When the originals are thin or flimsy, the originals tend to form a loop on the original tray, making it impossible to eject the originals in an orderly stack.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention was made with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to change the ejection speed and the inclination angle of the document tray depending on the type of document, such as its thickness and stiffness, so that the document can always be stacked neatly on the document tray. It can be discharged as if rising,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeding device that can increase processing speed depending on the type of document.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides an automatic document feeder that feeds originals placed on a document stacking section one by one onto a platen glass in the order in which they are placed, and discharges them from the platen glass to a document tray, in which the speed at which the documents are discharged to the document tray can be changed. The automatic document feeder is characterized by comprising a conveyance means and a document receiving tray whose inclination angle in the document receiving direction can be changed, and this configuration achieves the above object.

[Effect]

That is, the automatic document feeder of the present invention is capable of ejecting documents such that they are always stacked neatly on the document tray by changing the document ejection speed and the inclination angle of the document tray, and also achieves a high document processing speed. It is possible to select a combination of the document ejection speed and the inclination angle of the document tray.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below using illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial side view showing an example of an automatic document feeding apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a drive mechanism of a document feeding system.

In the figure, l is the document stacking part, 2 is the left and right pair,
The racks 2A provided at the bottom of each are engaged with a pinion 3A rotatably provided on the lower surface of the document stacking section l across the pinion 3, allowing for symmetrical movement towards and away from the pinion 3A. 4 is a document size sensor that detects the position of the rack 2A to provide document width information and therefore document size information; 5 is a document stacking section l;
The leading edge position regulating plate 6 aligns the leading edges of the sheet-like originals placed on the original sheet, and rotates in the direction of the arrow in contact with the top surface of the originals placed on the original stacking section l, and sends out the topmost original using frictional force. This is a friction feed roller, and when the friction feed roller 6 is displaced from the solid line position to the dotted line position, the tip position regulating plate 5 is also stopped from being urged to rotate counterclockwise around the support shaft 5A by a stopper (not shown). The document is moved from the solid line position to the dotted line position so as not to interfere with the feeding of the original.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a separating/feeding means that is protected from light pressure contact between a friction feeding bell I/7A that rotates in the direction of the arrow and a separating roller 7B that is stationary or rotates at a slow counterclockwise speed; 8 is a document sent by the separating/feeding means 7; 9 is a platen upper feeding belt that rotates in the direction of the arrow when placing the original on the exposure section on the platen glass IO and when ejecting the original from the platen glass IO to the original receiving tray l3; 9
A and 9B are driving rollers and driven rollers that tension the platen upper feeding belt 9, 9C is a tension roller of the platen upper feeding belt 9, and 9D is a roller that presses the platen upper feeding belt 9 against the upper surface of the platen glass IO. This is the presser foot roller.

When placing an original on the exposure section on the platen glass lO, the upper end of the platen glass 10 protrudes above the upper surface of the platen glass 10, as shown in the figure, to a blocking position, and the original is ejected from the exposure section to the original receiving tray l3. When the top edge is the platen glass l
This is an exposure part stopper that is moved to a retracted position below the upper surface of the exposure part. The exposure section stopper 11 is displaced so that it changes to the retracted position when the upper platen feed belt 9 starts rotating, and changes to the blocking position when the upper platen feed belt 9 stops rotating. As a result, the exposure section stopper 11 can stop the original at the exposure section with less resistance to the rotation of the upper platen feed belt 9, and can prevent the document from being ejected from the exposure section from being disturbed.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a paper discharge roller that rotates the document sent out from the exposure section by the upper platen feed belt 9 in the direction of the arrow and discharges it to the document receiving tray l3. The original tray l3 has an inclination angle θ as shown in the drawing because a worm gear 13A fixed to a rotating center shaft integral with the tray l3 is engaged with a worm gear 14A fixed to the shaft of a forward/reverse rotating motor l4. can be changed.

15 to 17 are the first to third document sensors provided in the document transport path from the document stacking section l to the document receiving tray l3, and 18 is the device frame l9 of the automatic document feeder that is located on the platen on the back side of the page in FIG. The device frame opening sensor is rotatable around an axis parallel to the surface of the glass 10 so that the front side of the paper surface can be opened to the surface of the platen glass 10, and detects whether or not the opening rotation is being made. be.

The document feeding system from the friction feed roller 6 to the paper ejection roller l2 is driven by speed control using, for example, a DC motor and an encoder or tachogenerator, which can switch the rotational speed in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 in at least two stages. This is done by a motor 20, such as a DC servo motor, in conjunction with the device.

That is, the rotation of the motor 20 is transmitted from the motor pulley 2l to the carrier pulley 22 by the timing belt, and further from the deceleration carrier pulley 23 that rotates integrally with the carrier pulley 22 to the roller pulley integrated with the pinch feed roller 8 by the timing belt. 8A and electromagnetic clutch 24
is transmitted to the input side boolean 25 of the electromagnetic clutch 2.
4 is in the ON state under the control of the control device, the rotation of the input pulley 25 causes the output shaft gear 27 integrated with the output shaft 26 and the friction feed bell i. The transmission is transmitted to the driving core gear 28, and is further transmitted from the core pulley 29 rotating integrally with the core gear 28 to the friction feed roller 6 and integrally t7 by a timing belt.
) o - The nipping pressure feed reroller 8, the friction feed reroller 6, and the separation feed means 7 are driven by the force transmitted to the shaft pulley 6A. Note that when the sorting roller 7B of the sorting and feeding means 7 rotates in a counterclockwise direction, the rotation thereof can be provided by, for example, a swing crank and a ratchet mechanism driven by rotation of the belt core shaft. The drive of the platen upper feed belt 9 and the paper ejection roller l2 is transmitted to the output side pulley 3l when the rotation of the carrier boolean 22 described above is in the ON state of the electromagnetic clutch 30 controlled by the control device. The rotation of the driven roller 9B of the platen upper feeding belt 9 is transmitted to the roller shaft pulley 9AP of the driving roller 9A of the platen upper feeding belt 9 by the timing vent.
This is done by being transmitted from BP to the roller shaft pulley 12P of the paper ejection roller l2 by a timing belt.

The operation of the automatic document feeder having the above structure will be further explained in the case of a copying machine.

When the device frame l9 is closed as shown in FIG.
8 detects that the device frame l9 is not opened, a document is placed on the document stacking section l, the first document sensor l4 detects that there is a document, and the document is sandwiched between the radiation position regulating plates 2 and then When the copy start button is pressed in the automatic document feeding mode where the document size sensor 4 detects the document size, the automatic document feeder operates as follows under the control of the copying machine's control device. do.

The friction feed roller 6 is lowered by a lifting means (not shown) and presses against the upper surface of the stacked documents, and then rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Then, move the topmost document onto the platen glass l with the leading edge hitting the exposure stopper l.
The exposed portion is placed on the exposed portion. That is, after the second document sensor l5 detects the leading edge of the document, the platen upper feed belt 9, etc. continues to rotate until a predetermined time period based on a timer or pulse count has elapsed, and the leading edge of the document hits the exposure section stopper 1l. Approximately 5 to 10 mm before this, the motor 9'20 in Fig. M2 is stopped by applying a motor brake, thereby stopping the platen upper feed belt 8, etc., and the original is brought into contact with the exposure section stopper 11 by the inertia force generated during that time. This is done by If an original is placed on the exposure section before this feeding, the original is placed in the original receiving tray l3 by the rotation of the platen upper feeding belt 9 and then by the rotation of the ejecting roller l2 driven as described above. It is discharged as is. The rotation of the friction feed roller 6 is stopped during this feeding so that the trailing edge of the document, which is determined by the document size information from the detection of the leading edge of the document by the second document sensor 15, is stopped by the separating and feeding means 7 in order to prevent double feeding of documents. This is done by turning off the electromagnetic clutch 24 before reaching the position. At the same time, the friction feed roller 6 is also raised to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

Scanning exposure is repeated for the specified number of copies by moving the scanning optical system such as the exposure lamp 32 in the direction of the bold arrow on the document brought to the exposure section, thereby obtaining the specified number of copies of copy paper. It becomes like this.

This scanning exposure is performed with strokes set based on document size information in order to increase copying productivity.

During the above-mentioned scanning exposure, the friction feed reroller 6 and its elevating means,
The sorting and feeding means 7, the pinch feed reroller 8, etc. are driven to bring the next document to a standby position where the leading edge occupies an appropriate position from the pinch feed roller 7 to the entrance of the platen upper feed belt 9, and then it is stopped. be done. During this time, since the motor 19 shown in FIG. 2 rotates, the electromagnetic clutch 30 is turned off so that the upper platen feed belt 9 does not rotate. At this time, the rotational speed of the motor 20 is made slower than the rotational speed at which the previous original is fed into the exposure section, thereby ensuring that double feeding of originals can be prevented. This does not reduce copying productivity. The standby position for the next document is
It is determined by the time from when the N document sensor l5 detects the leading edge of the document until the friction feed roller 6 and the like are stopped.

When the friction feed reroller 6 stops, the trailing edge of the document in the standby position has not yet come off the friction feed roller 6.
The friction feed roller 6 does not return to the solid line position in FIG.

When the scanning exposure of the document in the exposure section is completed, there is no need to wait for the scanning optical system to return to the solid line position, and the rotation from the friction feed roller 6 to the ejection roller l2 is performed in the same manner as in the previous feeding. As a result, the original on the platen glass lO is ejected to the original receiving tray l3, and the next original is brought to the exposure section on the platen glass 10 with its leading edge abutted against the exposure section stopper 11.

Scanning exposure is performed again on the original brought to the exposure unit, and during the scanning exposure, the original is fed from the original stacking unit l to the standby position, and when the scanning exposure is completed, the original is ejected from the exposure unit and the original in the standby position is exposed. The first step is to send the information to the
W. This process is repeated until the document sensor l5 detects that there is no document.

Then, when the last original for which the first original sensor l5 detects that there is no original is scanned and exposed in the exposure section, the next original is not fed to the standby position, and the scanning exposure is completed and the last original is scanned. When the document is completely discharged to the document tray l3, the motor 20 and the like are stopped, and the series of operations of the automatic document feeder is completed.

The document detection information of the third document sensor l7 is used as a count of the number of documents, an off signal for the motor 20, or a detection signal indicating that the document that should be stopped by the exposure section stopper 11 has passed the exposure section stopper 11. It is used as a prohibition signal for scanning exposure, etc. to be performed. Furthermore, on the copying machine main body side, when the scanning optical system returns to the solid line position and the last copy sheet of the specified number of copies of the last document is finished being ejected from the machine, everything stops and the series of copying operations ends.

Separability of the original by the friction feed roller 6 and the separating feed means 7,
If the document is of a thickness and quality that is suitable for conveyance by the upper platen feed belt 9 and stopability by the exposure section stopper 11, and has suitable flexibility and stiffness, It is possible to increase the productivity of copying in the automatic document feeding mode by increasing the speed of feeding and discharging the document from the exposure section to the document receiving tray l3. In this case, if the inclination angle θ of the document tray l3 is small, the document sent out at high speed from the paper ejection roller l2 may fall over the document tray l3 and fall from the document tray l3. In order to prevent this, the first
In the automatic document feeder shown in the figure, the inclination angle .theta. of the document receiving tray l3 is increased by the forward/reverse rotating motor l4. As a result, the automatic document feeder can transport documents at high speed to increase copying productivity, and can stack documents in an orderly manner when discharging the documents to the document receiving tray l3. However, if the document is weak, loops are likely to occur in the document at such a large inclination angle θ as described above, making it impossible to eject the document in an orderly manner. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to rotate the forward/reverse rotation motor l4 in the opposite direction to reduce the inclination angle θ, and in some cases, to make it a negative angle. Furthermore, if the document is of paper quality that is poor in separation, conveyance, and stoppage properties, double feeding or jamming of the document is likely to occur, so the conveyance speed must be lowered to prevent this.

In the illustrated automatic document feeder, the document conveyance speed, that is, the rotational speed of the motor 20, can be set as high as possible without causing double feeding or jamming, depending on the document thickness, paper quality, etc. Further, the inclination angle θ of the original document tray 13 can be set to an angle at which originals are ejected in an orderly manner by the forward/reverse rotating motor 14.

The rotational speed of the motor 25 and the inclination angle θ of the document tray l3 can be set individually by the operator, or they can be set simultaneously by pressing different selection buttons depending on the thickness and paper quality of the document. You can also make yourself feel like you're being beaten.

The present invention is not limited to the illustrated example in which the document feeding system is driven by a single motor or the inclination angle of the document tray is changed by the meshing of a worm and a worm gear, and the speed at which the document is ejected to the tray is Any device may be used as long as it can be changed in at least two steps and the inclination angle of the saucer can also be changed in at least two steps.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the automatic document feeder of the present invention, the speed at which documents are ejected to the document tray and the inclination angle of the document tray are set so that the documents are always delivered to the document tray in an orderly manner and the highest possible document processing speed is obtained. can do.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial side view showing an example of an automatic document feeding apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a drive mechanism of a document feeding system. l... Original loading section 7... Sorting and feeding means 9... Platen upper feeding bell IO... Platen glass l2... Ejecting roller l3^... Worm gear 14A... Worm 24.30 ...Electromagnetic clutch

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic document feeder that feeds the originals placed on the document stacking section one by one onto the platen glass and discharges them from the platen glass to the document tray, the speed of ejection to the document tray can be changed. 1. An automatic document feeder comprising: a means for feeding documents; and a document receiving tray whose inclination angle in a document receiving direction can be changed. (2) A patent in which when the ejection speed of the conveying means changes from high to low or vice versa, the inclination angle, with the positive inclination being the inclination of the document rising above the horizontal of the document tray, changes from large to small or vice versa. An automatic document feeder according to claim 1.