JPH038674A - Manuscript automatic circulating feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly hold a guide means in its opened position at the time of jam processing by pivotally supporting a guide shaft on the machine frame of a manuscript automatic circulating feeder with its both ends, engaging the guide shaft with a guide means to integrally rotate it therewith, and providing a guide shaft lock mechanism on the guide means. CONSTITUTION:An upper guide (guide means) 24 is engagingly provided in such a manner as to be capable of sliding on a guide shaft 33 and integrally rotating therewith. Hence, the upper guide 24 of a manuscript return part can be contracted and expanded, and displaced to the length and position according to the manuscript size. Further, when the upper guide 24 is opened at the time of jam processing of the manuscript return part, a lock mechanism 74 is operated to hold the upper guide together with the guide shaft 33 in a position opened at a determined angle in relation to a lower guide (manuscript placing table) in such a manner as to be incapable of rotation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention feeds originals one by one from a document stack consisting of a plurality of originals to a predetermined original exposure position, and then returns the exposed originals to the originals. The present invention relates to an automatic document circulation feeding device that feeds the document to an exposure position by returning the document to a stack and repeatedly circulating the document.

When using a copying machine to make multiple copies from an original consisting of multiple sheets, the copying machine automatically feeds the originals onto the contact glass of the copying machine to save time. 1 from the bottom of the document stack placed on the document placement table
The originals are extracted sheet by sheet and fed onto the contact glass of the copying machine, and the exposed originals are returned and stacked on top of the stack of originals placed on the original platen to make a number of copies. An automatic document circulation feeding device (Recycle) feeds each document onto a contact glass by repeatedly circulating each document in page order through a circulation path consisting of a paper feed path and a return path a number of times corresponding to
automatic document feed
r (hereinafter abbreviated as RADF) is used.

For convenience of paper feeding, the document stack is placed with the leading edge of the document stack aligned with a predetermined position on the front end of the document mounting table, so the position of the trailing edge changes depending on the document size. Therefore, in order to return the returned original after the original exposure has been completed so that it is correctly overlapped with the stack of originals placed on the original platen, the ejection position of the returned original must be shifted according to the original size. In addition, it is necessary for the guide in the return path to expand and contract to easily follow changes in the length of the document return path leading to the ejection section where the position of the document ejected from the contact glass changes. be.

Therefore, the present inventors developed a RAD that can meet the above requirements.
F was proposed separately. In order to solve this problem, the RADF has a document return unit that is movable in the document feeding direction along the top surface of the document placement table, receives the document that is returned through the document return path, and places it on the document placement table. an ejection section having a means for ejecting the stack of originals above the upper surface thereof; and an ejection section connected to the rear of the ejection section, which expands and contracts according to the movement of the ejection section and whose rear end moves, and which is ejected from the reversing path. The guide means is formed of a plurality of mutually overlapping guide plates, and the guide means is arranged on the back side of the document mounting table in the document feeding direction. It is supported by an extending guide shaft having a circular cross section so as to be slidable in the axial direction and rotatable around the axis.

With the above configuration, the ejection section can easily change the ejection position according to the document size by moving the document placement table in the document feeding direction. The guides that make up the guide overlap each other and expand and contract, and in that case, the guide slides along the guide that supports the inner side of the guide, so the expansion and contraction is not hindered, and regardless of the expansion and contraction state of the guide. , the return path can be widened by opening the front side around the guide shaft on the back side.

By the way, as described above, the guide plate is rotated around the fixed guide shaft to open the space between the guide plate and the upper surface of the document table which forms the lower guide of the return path.

Hold the guide plate in its open position, and if you try to do so, there will be a locking mechanism between the open upper and lower guides.
However, in this device, the document transport path is between the upper guide and the lower guide, so it is difficult to provide a locking mechanism, and the upper guide has multiple guide plates. Since they overlap each other to expand and contract, and the rear end moves, providing a locking member at the rear end of the guide plate also complicates the mechanism.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the holding mechanism when the guide of the document return section of RADF is opened, the present invention aims to provide a document return path guide that can be overlapped and expanded and contracted, and whose rear end is movable when the document return path guide is opened. An object of the present invention is to provide a RADF having a locking mechanism with a simple configuration capable of holding the position of the RADF.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a guide means serving as an upper guide of the document return section, which is connected to the rear of the ejecting section and comprises a plurality of guide plates that can overlap with each other, and the guide means serves as an upper guide for the document returning section. The guide means expands and contracts accordingly, and its rear end moves.This guide means is supported slidably in the axial direction by a guide shaft that extends in the document feeding direction on the back side of the RADF, and rotates around its fine point. In a movable RADF, the guide shaft has both ends pivotally supported by the machine frame of the RADF, and engages with the guide means so as to rotate integrally,
The guide means is characterized by having a locking mechanism that restricts rotation of the guide shaft at a position where the guide means is opened at a predetermined angle with respect to the document placement table.

Since the guide means is engaged with the guide shaft so as to be slidable and rotate integrally with the guide shaft, the guide means can freely expand and contract and move its rear end according to the size of the document. .

However, since the guide means and the guide shaft rotate together, when the guide means is rotated to a position where it is open at a predetermined angle with respect to the document table serving as the lower guide, the guide shaft also rotates by that angle. However, since the locking mechanism operates and restricts the guide shaft from rotating, the guide means that rotates integrally with the guide shaft is also held in that position. By providing the locking mechanism at the end of the guide shaft,
This does not interfere with the sliding movement of the guide member.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on one drawing.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration of a RADF as an embodiment of the present invention. This RADF is the copying machine body 1
A paper feed table 1 is provided in a cover-type case that covers a contact glass 101 provided on the top surface of the contact glass 101, and a paper feed table 1 is provided over an area excluding the left and right ends of the upper part of the case, and a paper feed table is provided at the left end in the figure. A paper feeding section 70 includes a paper feeding mechanism that sequentially feeds sheets of paper onto the contact glass 101 from the bottom of the stack of paper placed on the contact glass 101, and a downward running section slides the paper over the entire length of the upper surface of the contact glass 101. A transport unit 71 includes a transport belt 12 that transports the original fed from the contact paper feeding unit to a predetermined original exposure position on the contact glass, and discharges the original from the contact glass after exposing the original, and the original sent out from the transport unit. A reversing section 72 for reversing the document, and a return section 73 for returning the document reversed by the reversing section onto the stack of documents on the sheet feeding table 1 are provided.

Hereinafter, each of the paper feeding section, the conveying section, the reversing section, and the return section will be explained in order.

Paper Feeding Unit> Side fences 2 are provided on both left and right sides of the front portion of the paper feeding table 1 within the minimum document placement range with respect to the conveyance direction. Near the front end of the paper feeding table 1 in the paper feeding direction, there are two calling rollers 3a having cutouts at the front and rear in the transport direction.
, 3b are provided at the front and rear in the conveyance direction at positions that do not protrude from the document placement surface when the cutout is on the top. As shown in FIG. 2, the shafts of the calling rollers 3a and 3b are provided with a slit plate 60 having a slit 61 at the end of the shaft that is detected by a photoelectric sensor 62, and a recess at a position corresponding to the cutout of the calling roller. A pressing roller 64 biased by a spring is engaged with the periphery of the positioning plate 63. With these mechanisms, the two calling rollers 3a and 3b rotate synchronously so that the cutouts are parallel to each other with the same phase, and the slit plate 6
1 and the photoelectric sensor 62 detect and stop the rotation angle at which the paper feed table 1 and the inside of the recess are on the same plane, and the positioning plate 63 and the pressing roller 64 reliably position and hold the sheet at that position. Ru.

A presser plate 4 is provided above the calling roller 3a, which is driven by a solenoid (not shown) and presses the leading end of the document down and against the calling roller 3a at a position shown by a chain line in FIG. Further above the presser plate 4, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3(a), a solenoid 67 rotates about the rear end as a fulcrum, and is in a retracted position shown by a broken line in FIG. 1 and an operation shown by a solid line. At the 0 operating position, the toe of the stopper 5 is disposed between the table 1 and the 0 position.
(see FIG. 3(b)), the set claw when setting the document stack, and the document that is circulated and returned from the rear to the top surface of the document stack on the table 1. It has the function of correcting skew by aligning the tips of the two.

The document bundle pressed against the calling roller 3a by the presser plate 4 is reliably conveyed to the separation section by the synchronous rotation of the calling rollers 3a and 3b.

Reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 is a document setting sensor that detects that a 1M document stack is set on the table 1, and based on the detection signal, rotates the calling rollers 3a and 3b by a certain amount.
The document bundle is conveyed to the position shown in FIG. 3(b).

The calling rollers 3a and 3b further include an endless belt 7.
It also has a function of reliably feeding the lowest sheet of the stack of documents at the above position in cooperation with a separation section consisting of a separation roller 8 and a separation roller 8. The separation roller 8 rotates in the direction in which the original is transported in the direction in which the peripheral speed becomes the original transport speed, while the endless belt 7 is in pressure contact with the separation roller 8 over a length on the circumferential surface, and rotates in the direction in which the original is transported. The document is moved in the opposite direction (direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1) at a low speed of, for example, approximately 1720 degrees of the document conveyance speed, and the friction coefficient between the separation roller 8 and the document and the friction coefficient between the endless belt 7 and the document are By appropriately setting the coefficient of friction and the coefficient of friction between originals, the number of originals sent out from below the original stack by the calling rollers 3a and 3b is 1.
In the case of sheets, the pull-out rollers 9 and 10 on the downstream side
If there are two or more sheets, only the lowest one is separated and transported toward the pull-out rollers 9 and 10.

The separation roller 8 has a built-in one-way clutch, and when the document is conveyed by the pull-out rollers 9 and 10, the separation roller 8
The one-separation roller 8, which rotates together even when the drive is turned off to lighten the document transport load and transport the document at a predetermined speed, is driven on and off by a clutch (not shown).
When the registration sensor 11 provided at the discharge section from the paper feed section 70 to the conveyance section 71 detects the leading edge of the document, the clutch is turned off and the drive to the separation roller 8 is interrupted. The registration sensor 11 also serves as a detection means for detecting the trailing edge of the document and controlling the document to stop at a predetermined exposure position on the contact glass 101.

The above-mentioned calling rollers 3a, 3b, separation roller 8.degree. pull-out roller 9 can be driven by a single motor, or can be driven by separate motors.

<Conveyance section> The conveyance section 71 consists of one wide conveyance belt 12 wrapped around a pair of rollers 65 and 66, the downward running part of which is pressed against the contact glass 101 by a plurality of pressure rollers 13, The document fed from the paper feed section 70 is conveyed to a predetermined exposure position, and after exposure is completed, the document is sent to the reversing section 72.

Reversing section> The reversing section 72 includes a reversing roller 15 provided along a reversing guide, a pressure roller 16 that presses against the reversing roller 15, and downstream thereof a position indicated by a solid line and a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. A displaceable switching pawl 14 is provided between them. The switching claw 14 is 1
In double-sided original mode, the position is switched to the position indicated by the dashed line.
When discharging a double-sided exposed original in the single-sided original mode or double-sided original mode, in which a single-sided exposed original is reversed and sent to the transport unit 71 again, the switching claw 14 is at the position shown by the solid line in the figure, and the switching claw 14 is in the position shown by the solid line in the figure. to be discharged. A reversing sensor 1 is located between the pressure roller 16 and the switching claw 14 and facing the reversing roller.
7 is provided, thereby controlling the drive timing of the conveyor belt 12. The conveyor belt and the reversing roller are each driven by a single motor (not shown).

Return unit> The return unit 73 moves the top of the paper feed table 1 in the document transport direction (
Paper discharge unit 1 movable in left and right directions in Figure 1)
8 and the rear part of the paper discharging unit in the transport direction, expands and contracts according to the movement of the paper discharging unit 18, and forms a document reversal path between the upper surface of the paper feeding table 1 and the rear part of the paper discharging unit 18. The guide plate 1 includes an intermediate belt 27 for conveying the document discharged from the reversing section 72 to the paper discharge unit 18.

The above-mentioned guide plates include a plurality of (three in this example) guide plates 21 and 22 that can be stacked on top of each other and made to expand and contract.
．． 23, and by moving the paper discharge unit 18, the overlapping of each guide plate changes and expands and contracts. The guide plates are arranged so as to overlap one another outwardly in the order of the document conveyance direction, so that the front end of the document conveyed through the return path does not get caught at the overlapping portion of the guide plates.

Exterior covers 24, 25, 26 are placed above each guide plate 21, 22, 23, and the rear end is fixed to a rising part formed by bending the rear end of each guide plate upward, similar to the guide plate. They are provided so that they can be expanded and contracted by being stacked on top of each other. Fourth
6 to 6 are diagrams showing the extended state, intermediate state, and contracted state of the guide plates 21, 22, 23 and the exterior cover 24.25°26. In these figures, the guide plate 23 and the exterior cover 26 at the rearmost part (the right end in the figures) have their rear ends rounded.
The storage process is shown in a state where the ADF is located at a position that corresponds to the rear end of the ADF.

However, the guide plate and the rearmost part of the exterior cover 23.
26 is not fixed at this position, but can slide between the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and the position shown by the chain line. When the guide plate 21, 22, 23 is extended and its rear end is positioned at the position indicated by the solid line, the distance between the front end surface 40 of the paper ejection unit 18 and the contact surface of the document front end surface of the stopper 5 is the minimum. The distance is set to be slightly longer than the length of the original. And the rearmost guide plate 2
3 and the exterior cover 26, with their rear ends aligned with the rear end of the RADF as shown by the chain lines in FIG. 1, and the guide plate and exterior cover overlapped to the most contracted state (that is, the state shown in FIG. 6). , the distance between the front end surface 40 of the paper ejection unit 18 at the position shown by the chain line in FIG. 1 and the document front end contact surface of the stopper 5 is slightly longer than the maximum document length. is set to . When the length of the document is between the minimum document length and the maximum document length, the guide plate and exterior cover are expanded and contracted accordingly, and the front end of the document is brought into contact with the front end surface 40 of the paper ejection unit 18 and the stopper 5. Just make sure that the distance to the surface is slightly longer than the length of the document.
That is, the front end surface 40 of the paper ejection unit 18 serves as a rear guide when placing a document on the paper feed table 1.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, the paper ejection unit 18 directly receives the original ejected from the outlet 30 of the reversing section 72.
Alternatively, a lower guide 29 is provided at a certain distance from the lower guide 29 which scoops up the original transported by the intermediate belt 27 on the table 1 which is the return surface of the return route and guides the document to be discharged at the upper part of the front end. An upper guide formed as the front end of the guide plate 21 and a pair of paper ejection rollers 19'' and 19' provided at the entrance and exit portions of the paper ejection unit conveyance path formed therebetween, respectively, and these paper ejection rollers. The front part of the exterior cover 24 serves as an exterior cover for the paper discharge unit 18.

The intermediate belt 27 is provided forward of the outlet 30 of the reversing section 72 and is divided into a plurality of strips in the width direction so that the upper surface of the upper running section thereof is flush with the upper surface of the document table 1. When the guide 22 is extended, a driven roller 28 is provided via a temporary spring at a position facing each strip of the intermediate belt, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, and the guide 22 is pulled out in the direction of arrow B. When the document is placed above the intermediate belt 27, the driven roller 28 presses against the intermediate belt 27 due to the force of the plate spring and conveys the document, and the guide 22 moves in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
If the intermediate belt is retracted backwards from above, the driven roller 2
8 is flipped up by a member 31 projecting upward from the table surface and retreated from the intermediate belt 27, and is stored behind the reversing section outlet 30 as shown in FIG. In this state,
The largest size document ejected from the reversing section outlet 30 is transported through the ejection unit transport path by the ejection roller pair 19'', 19' without being obstructed by the driven rollers or guide plates 22, 23, and is transported from the front end to the document table. The document is ejected onto the stack of originals placed above, collides with the stopper 5, corrects the skew, and is stacked on the stack of documents.

A seventh paper feed table 1 is provided between each strip of the intermediate belt 27 and in a range that becomes a return path due to the movement of the paper discharge unit 18.
As shown in the figure and FIG. 12, a plurality of parallel grooves 55 extending in the document transport direction are provided, and the lower end of the lower guide 29 has a comb-like shape that fits into these grooves 55 so as to be able to move smoothly. A protrusion 29a is provided. As a result, the document conveyed by the intermediate belt 27 and the driven roller 28 is reliably and smoothly scooped up by the lower guide 29 and discharged through the discharge section, regardless of the position of the discharge unit 18. The distance from the pressure roller 16 to the driven roller 28 of the ejection roller pair 19'' and d reversing section is set to be shorter than the length of the corresponding document size in the transport direction at any position of the ejection unit 18. This allows documents of any size to be transported smoothly without any problems.

Further, since a belt is used as a means for conveying the original discharged from the reversing section outlet 30 to the paper discharge unit 18, the guide plate is displaced according to the size of the original.

The guide plates 21, 22, 23, which can be expanded and contracted by overlapping each other, can be engaged with the belt even if the driven roller 28 is displaced over a considerable range. Exterior cover 24.25.26
As shown in FIG. 7, as a means for slidably supporting the paper ejection unit, there is a guide plate, an exterior cover, and a paper ejection unit that extends over the entire sliding range of the guide plate, exterior cover, and paper ejection unit on the back side when viewed from the RADF operator. A shaft 33 with a cross section different from a circular one, for example, a broken circular cross section, is rotatably supported at both ends by the RADF main body and extends parallel to the document conveyance direction, and is connected to each guide plate, exterior cover unit, and sheet ejection. A hole having the same shape as the shaft cross section of the support portion provided on the back side of the unit 18 is slidably fitted into the hole.

Links 35, 36, 3 are provided on the back and front sides of each guide plate 21, 22.23 over approximately the entire length of each guide plate.
7 is fixed to the guide plate 21.23, and the link 35.37 fixed to the guide plate 21.23 has a slit 35a extending almost the entire length.
37a, and two engaging pins 34' implanted at the ends of adjacent links at a certain distance in the longitudinal direction.
, 34'' are connected by engaging with the slits 35a and 37a.

A fixed shaft 39 having a length corresponding to the moving distance of the rearmost guide plate 23 is extended on the frame on the front side of the RADF.
In the figure of the guide plate 23, a recessed part of a lever 38 having a recessed part at the tip, which is swingably provided on the front right side of the guide plate 23, is slidably engaged by its own weight or by a spring force. R.A.
A guide rail 53 and a rack 50 are fixed to the other parts of the front frame of the DF in the document transport direction.
A plurality of rollers 47 are supported on the upper surface of the guide rail 53, and a binion 46 provided coaxially with the rollers 47 is engaged with the rack, and the binion 46 is connected to the motor. 20, the paper ejection unit 1
8 to a predetermined position according to the document size and then stopped. Positioning corresponding to the document size can be easily performed by engaging the click pin 45 provided on the front side of the paper ejection unit with the click groove 51 provided on the front frame of the RADF at a position corresponding to the standard paper size. can. Since the click grooves can be provided fairly close together, they can be provided to correspond to a variety of original sizes. However, when feeding an intermediate size original, the tip of the click pin 45 can be placed in the uneven surface of the inner surface of the frame. Secure by engaging with the surface. The click pin 45 can be engaged and disengaged from the click groove 51 or the inner surface of the frame using the lever 5 provided on the front end surface of the paper ejection unit.
This can be easily carried out by the operation in step 2, and the paper discharge unit 18 can be easily moved and engaged at a desired position.

The document conveyance path guide and the outer cover of the paper ejection unit 18 are formed as part of the guide plate 21 and the outer cover 24, respectively, but as shown in FIGS. Magnetic pins 49 are fixed to the front and rear sides of the vicinity of the paper roller pair 19'', respectively, so as to protrude downward. , a magnetic attraction means (permanent magnet) 48 having a slightly long groove transverse to the conveyance direction into which the pin 49 can fit is fixed, and by attracting the magnetic pin 49 to the magnetic attraction means 48, a guide is created. The plate 21 and the exterior cover 24 are locked to the main body of the paper ejection unit and can be easily removed to open the conveyance path.

The paper ejection unit 18 is slidably supported on the shaft 33 by support portions provided at two locations on the back side thereof, and one of the support portions supports the guide plate 21 so as to be slidable on the shaft 33. It is sandwiched between the bifurcated support parts with almost no gap. Therefore, the paper discharge unit 18, the guide plate 21, and the exterior cover 24 can always maintain their mutual positional relationship, and the paper discharge unit 18 can be moved by rotating the binion 46. , guide plate 21゜22.23 and exterior cover 24
．． 25.2G connects the slit of link 35.37 to link 3
As the engagement pin 34'' of No. 6 slides, it expands and contracts accordingly.

Near the front end of the exterior cover 25 of the central guide plate 22, there is a position that does not interfere with storage of the exterior covers 24, 25, 26, and approximately near the center when the exterior covers 24, 25, 26 are extended. A handle 32 is attached at the position.

As shown in FIG. 14(a), an arm 75 is fixed to one end of the guide shaft 33, and the opposite end and R
A locking member 7 is connected between one point on the frame 76 of the ADF.
4 connects both ends to arm 75 and R with stepped screws 90 and 90'.
It is rotatably attached to the ADF frame. As shown in FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b), the locking member 74 is composed of two members, a lower rail 92 and an upper rail 94, slidably overlapping each other, as shown in FIG. 14(b). Gotoku exterior cover 24, 25, 26 and guide plate 21, 22
．． 23 (hereinafter referred to as the paper ejection cover) is opened by lifting the front side, the locking member 74 will extend and stop extending at a predetermined position due to a mechanism described later, and will not return to its original position when you release your hand. is locked.

When closing the paper ejection cover, the lock between the two members of the locking member 74 is released by slightly lifting the front side, and the locking member 74 is contracted when the outer cover and the guide plate are closed.

To explain the mechanism for this in detail, a cam 91 having a V-shaped recess at both ends is rotatably attached to the lower rail 92 of the locking member 74, as shown in FIG. 15(a). , on the other hand, the upper rail 94 has the V of the cam 91 in the extended position.
The lever 93 that engages with the letter-shaped notch is formed by cutting and bending, and a portion of one flange of the upper rail 94 is notched.

Notches 95 and 96 are formed at both ends thereof.

The locking and releasing action of the locking member 74 having the above configuration is as follows:
This will be explained step by step with reference to FIG.

(a) shows a state in which the paper ejection cover is closed and the locking member 74 is retracted, and the lower rail 92 and the upper rail 94 completely overlap.

(b) shows the state when the paper ejection cover is opened and the locking member 74 is extended, the upper rail 94 is pulled out from the lower rail 92, and the lever 93 formed on the upper rail 94 is moved by the V-shaped cutout of the cam 91. When engaged with the notch, the cam 91 is no longer able to rotate at the position shown, and the upper rail 94 cannot be pulled out any further.

Therefore, when the handle 32 of the paper ejection cover is released, the paper ejection cover lowers due to its own weight, and the locking member attempts to contract. Therefore, as shown in figure (c), the upper rail 9
4 is stored in the lower rail 92 to some extent, the other V-shaped notch of the cam 91 engages with the notch 96 of the upper rail 94, and the upper rail 94 no longer enters the lower rail 92 and is ejected. The paper cover is locked in the open position.

When closing the paper ejection cover, first lift the paper ejection cover, the locking member is extended as shown in FIG. The side is suppressed, and the upper part of the same side engages with the notch 95 of the upper rail 94, the cam 91 cannot rotate any further, and the upper rail 94 cannot be pulled out any further, so the paper ejection cover is lowered. Then, the cam 91 is pushed by the notch 95 and rotates, returning to the state shown in FIG. is locked.

Therefore, regardless of the position of the paper ejection cover, by holding the handle 32 and lifting it up, the locks 38, 39, and 48, 49 at both ends of the guide plate are released, and the guide plate, exterior cover, and link are integrated. As shown in Fig. 12, it rotates integrally with the shaft 33 on the back side about its axis,
The document return path can be opened wide and held in that position.

In this case, the links 35, 36, 37 on each side fixed to each guide plate 21, 22, 23 engage two pins 34'34'' spaced apart in the conveying direction with the slit. Since the three links on each side are held in a straight line when viewed from the side, each guide plate and exterior cover will not fall apart or both ends will sag, and locks 38°, 39 and 48 .49 can be released without applying much force.

The paper output unit 18 is adjusted to the maximum original size! ! (the state shown in FIG. 6) to the position corresponding to the minimum original size (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1), the link 35,
Overlap state of 36.37 and guide shaft 33.39
8 to 11 show changes in the positional relationship with respect to each other in order. In addition.

For simplicity, only the back side is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, three links 35,
36 and 37 are overlapped, the link 35 is pulled out together with the paper discharge unit 18 and the guide plate 21 as shown in FIG. 9, and then the link 36 is pulled to the rear end of the link 35 as shown in FIG. The lever 38 is pulled out together with the guide plate 22, and finally all the links are integrated, and the lever 38 slides along the fixed shaft 39 and moves forward to a position corresponding to the minimum document size. When moving from a position corresponding to the minimum original size to a position corresponding to the maximum original size, the reverse is true.

By moving the guide plate and the outer cover in this manner, the guide plate and the outer cover are moved backward from the reversing section exit 30 (to the right in FIG. 1) when the maximum document size is accommodated, and the paper feed You can use the table without wasting it. Note that the method of pulling out the links above is just an example, and you may first pull out links 35 and 36 at the same time,
It is also possible to move all of the links 35, 36, 37 along the axis 39.

By the above-described operation, when the paper ejection unit is moved to a position corresponding to the document size, the guide for the document return path and the exterior cover are automatically formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the paper discharge unit 18 includes a partition plate 41, a partition plate operating mechanism (not shown), a partition plate sensor 43. Paper ejection sensor 42, positioning sensor 44 that detects whether the set position of the paper ejection unit 18 is correct.
is provided.

This positioning sensor 44 detects whether or not the set position of the paper ejection unit 18 is correct by detecting the kyphosis of the document set S against the stopper 5. If the rear edge of the document is not detected, the paper ejection unit 18 is far away from the rear edge of the original, or the paper ejection unit 18 has moved forward too far and the rear edge of the original is caught on the front wall 40 of the paper ejection unit. Therefore, the document feeding operation is prohibited and the paper ejection unit 18 is
Correct the set position. The paper ejection unit 18 can be moved using a lever 52 provided on the front surface of the paper ejection unit (see Fig. 7).
This can be done easily and smoothly by pressing and releasing the click.

Regarding the functions of the partition plate 41 and its related members,
Since it is the same as the conventional RADF, the explanation for the second part will be omitted.

Description of Operation> The document feeding operation by the RADF having the above configuration will be explained below using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, a stack of originals stacked in page order with the image side facing upward is placed on the paper feed table 1 with the leading edge of the stack colliding with the stopper 5, and then the side fences 2 are moved to hold both sides of the stack of originals. . Thereafter, the hanging mechanism unit 18 is set at a position suitable for the document size.

When a paper feed signal is transmitted by turning on the print key of the copying machine, the stopper claw solenoid and the presser plate solenoid are turned on, the stopper 5 is retracted from the leading edge of the paper bundle, and the presser plate 4 calls the document bundle to the roller 3a.

3b, the stack of originals is sent so as to form a wedge shape in which the originals advance from the lowest one by the rotation of the calling roller, and only the lowest original is separated by the endless belt 7 and separation roller 8, and then pulled out by the pull-out roller 9. sent to. When the leading edge of the document is detected by the registration sensor 11, the drive of the separation roller 8 is stopped by the clutch, the document is conveyed to the contact glass 101 only by the pull roller 9, and the document is conveyed to the contact glass 101 by the conveyor belt 12.
1. When the photoelectric sensor 62 shown in FIG. 2 detects the slit 61 of the slit plate 60, the driving of the calling rollers 3a and 3b is cut off, and the driving rollers 3a and 3b stop with their occluded surfaces aligned with the surface of the sheet feeding table 1. Registration sensor 11
After detecting the trailing edge of the document, the conveyor belt 12 is
is reversed, hits the original against the scale 68, and then stops.

As a result, the skew of the original is corrected and the original is stopped at a predetermined exposure position. In this state, original exposure scanning is performed. In response to the exposure scan end signal from the copying machine main body, the conveyor belt 12 rotates forward again, the original is sent to the reversing section 72 and makes a U-turn, and the single-sided original or double-sided original that has been exposed on both sides enters the return section 73.

Intermediate belt 27 and paper feed table 1 depending on the document size
and the retractable guide plates 21, 22, 23.
9 and discharged onto the stack of originals on the paper feed table 1 by paper discharge rollers 19'', 19'.

At a predetermined timing after the paper ejection sensor 42 of the paper ejection unit 18 detects the leading edge of the document, the stopper 5 comes into contact with the top of the document bundle as shown in FIG. 3(b), and the document is ejected from the paper ejection unit 18. When the leading edge of the original documents hits the stopper 5, the skew is corrected and the documents are stacked.

As shown in FIG. 3(a), if a rib 1a of an appropriate height is formed on the upper surface of the paper feed table 1 at a distance from the pawl provided at a distance from the stopper 5, the paper feed can be easily performed. The document placed on the table 1 is pushed by the stopper claw and waves so as to enter from the upper end of the rib, so that the document discharged from the paper discharge unit 18 is prevented from slipping under the stopper 5.

While the original on the contact glass 101 is being exposed and scanned, that is, before the exposure is completed, the drive is transmitted to the paper feed unit via the clutch, and the next original is separated and fed. By shortening the replacement interval and transporting at high speed, the total copy processing time can be shortened.

It is common knowledge that if the partition plate 41 is initially placed on top of the stack of originals, the partition plate sensor 43 detects that the partition plate has reached the lowest position, thereby detecting that the original has completed its cycle. be.

- Although the manuscripts that have been reviewed are in good shape to some extent, they are not sufficient and may be in a wavy state. Therefore, before the next paper feeding operation, the calling roller 3a is activated.

It is preferable to rotate the document 3b to apply vertical vibration to the document to arrange it. At this time, the presser plate 4 and the stopper 5 are retracted to a position away from the document, and the calling rollers 3a and 3b generate a conveying force in the conveying direction, so that the front end of the document bundle is separated by the separating roller 8 and the endless belt 7.
It advances to the vicinity of the pressure contact part, and is arranged into a wedge shape with the tip retracted from the lowest position. As a result of the above, the document stack is reset so as not to interfere with paper refeeding, and the next paper feeding operation is started in response to the paper feeding signal.

Summer-Next As described above, according to the present invention, the upper guide of the RADF document return section can be extended, contracted, and displaced to a length and position according to the document size, and no matter where the upper guide is located,
When the upper guide is opened for jam processing in the N document return section, the upper guide can be reliably held in that position with a simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration of an automatic document circulation feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the calling roller and its control mechanism, and FIG. 3(a) is a front view showing the document on the paper feed table and the stopper, and FIG.
) are side sectional views showing an enlarged view of the paper feeding section, Figures 4 and 5.
Figure 6 is a side sectional view showing the state of the guide plate and exterior cover when the paper discharge unit of the return section is in various positions, and Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the return section. Figures 8 to 11 are explanatory diagrams sequentially showing the overlapping state of the links provided on each guide plate when the return section guide plate changes from the most contracted state to the most expanded state, and Figure 12 is FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b) are a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the guide plate is opened, and FIGS. The figures are cross-sectional views showing how the guide shaft locking mechanism according to the present invention is installed. (a) shows the guide means in the closed state, (b) shows the open state, and FIGS. Side view and sectional view of the guide shaft locking mechanism, FIGS. 16(a) and (b)
, (c), and (d) are explanatory diagrams for sequentially explaining the sono action. 1...Paper feed table 3a, 3b...Calling roller 4...Press plate 5...Stopper 8...
・Separation roller 9...Pull out roller 12・
...Conveyor belt 15...Reversing roller 18...
Paper discharge unit (discharge section) 19', 19''... Paper discharge rollers 21.22.23... Guide plates 24, 25, 26... Exterior cover 27... Intermediate belt 28... Driven roller 29・
...lower guide 29a...comb-like protrusion 32.
...Handle 33...Shaft 34', 34
”...Engaging pin 35.36.37...Links 35a, 37a...Slit 38...Lever (locking means) 39...Fixed shaft 45...Click pin 4
6...Binion 48.49...Adsorption member 50...Rack 70...Paper feed section 72...Reversing section 74...Lock member 90.90'...Step screw 92... Lower rail 94...upper rail

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A document placing table for placing a document stack consisting of a plurality of original documents, and a front end portion of the document placing table for placing a document stack consisting of a plurality of original documents; a paper feeding section having a means for feeding lower originals one by one; transporting the originals fed from the paper feeding section to a document exposure position;
a conveying section having a conveying means for discharging the original after exposure of the original; a document return section configured to return the original discharged from the conveying section through a reversing path so as to be superimposed on the stack of originals placed on the document mounting table; The document return unit is movable in the document feeding direction along the top surface of the document placement table, receives the document returned through the document return path, and removes the document from the top surface of the document stack placed on the document placement table. It consists of a discharge part having a means for discharging from above, and a plurality of guide plates connected to the rear of the discharge part and capable of being superimposed on each other, and expands and contracts according to the movement of the discharge part, and whose rear end moves. a guide means forming an upper guide of the return path for returning the document discharged from the path to the discharge section, and the guide means is a guide provided extending in the document feeding direction on the back side of the document placing table. In an automatic document circulation feeding device that is slidably supported by a shaft in its axial direction and is rotatable about the axis of the guide shaft, the guide shaft has both ends attached to the automatic document circulation feeding device frame. and a locking mechanism that is pivotally supported and engaged with the guide means so as to rotate integrally therewith, and that restricts rotation of the guide shaft at a position where the guide means is opened at a predetermined angle with respect to the document mounting table. Features automatic document circulation feeding device.