JPH041161Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a document conveying device for a copying machine that circulates a document to be copied along a certain circulation path and performs exposure scanning.

``Prior art'' When copying a long original, if the original is placed on a platen glass as in a general copying machine, the size of the original copied at one time is the same as the size of the platen glass. subject to restrictions. However, a copying machine having a large-sized platen glass is too large, which is undesirable in terms of equipment cost and installation space.

Therefore, in order to copy long originals, a document conveying device as shown in FIG. 9, for example, is employed.

This document conveying device is provided with an endless belt 11 that circulates the document 10 along a fixed circulation path.

Original 1 is inserted from the original table 12 through the original insertion slot 13.
0 onto this endless belt 11, idlers 14 ₁ to 1 provided at various places on the endless belt 11
The document 10 is brought into close contact with the outer periphery of the endless belt 11 by _the guides 15 ₁ and 15 ₂ and is conveyed as the endless belt 11 rotates in the direction of the arrow 17 .

When the leading edge of the paper 10 goes under the endless belt 11 as shown in FIG.
pass through. In this exposure scanning section 19, the ninth
As shown in the figure, the document 10 is irradiated by a light source 21, and the reflected light 22 is exposed to the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 24 in a slit shape through an optical lens 23.
An electrostatic latent image is formed. Photosensitive drum 24 is indicated by arrow 2
The toner rotates in five directions, toner is attached thereto by a developing device 26, and the toner is transferred by a transfer device 29 onto copy paper 28 fed from a paper feed drum 27. The copy paper 28 passes through a fixing device 30, is cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 31, and is discharged.

Here, assume that the operator inputs an instruction requiring, for example, five copies into an operation panel (not shown). At this time, the original 10 is conveyed from the left side to the upper surface of the endless belt 11 as shown in FIG. 11, and then conveyed again toward the exposure scanning section as shown in FIG. 10. In this way, the original 10 is transported 5 times along the circulation path defined by the endless belt 11.
After being circulated, it is discharged.

On the other hand, the guide pawl 33 shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 12 is supported to rotate about its shaft 34. As shown in FIGS. The solenoid 35 is the guide pawl 34
The direction of the tip 38 of the guide claw 33 is switched by reciprocating the lever 36 connected to the rear end in the direction of the arrow 37. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, it is determined whether the document 10 advances along the circulation path (arrow 39 in FIG. 10) or the ejection path (arrow 40 in FIG. 12) for discharging the document. A switch is made.

The original 10 that has proceeded along the ejection path 40 is ejected onto the original ejection table 41 via the ejection rollers 14 ₄ , 14 ₅ and the guide 15 ₃ shown in FIG.

``Problems to be solved by the invention'' Now, according to such a copying machine, it is possible to copy a document with a length corresponding to the circulation path length, that is, the entire length of the endless belt shown in FIG. You can also cycle through it repeatedly to get multiple copies.

However, if a document 10 whose length exceeds the entire length of the endless belt 11 is inserted, the following trouble will occur.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are explanatory diagrams thereof.

When a document 10 whose length exceeds the entire length of the endless belt 11 is wrapped around the endless belt 11, the trailing end 10 ₁ becomes the leading edge 10 ₂
It overlaps on top of and starts circulation. In this case, even if the guide claw 33 rotates to guide the document 10 to the ejection path 40, the tip 38 cannot be inserted between the leading end ₁₀₂ of the document 10 and the endless belt 11.

Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to stop the operation of the copying machine and manually eject the document 10, and _the portion of the leading edge ₁₀₂ below the trailing edge 101 of the document 10 is not exposed and scanned. , you won't even get a complete copy. In severe cases, the original may be damaged.

This invention was developed with the above points in mind.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a document conveying device for a copying machine that can detect when a document whose length is longer than the document circulation path is fed in and take appropriate measures. It is something.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a document conveyance device for a copying machine that is capable of copying documents whose length is longer than the length of the circulation path.

"Means for Solving the Problem" The document feeding device of the copying machine of the present invention circulates the document inserted from the document insertion slot along a fixed circulation path, and each time the document passes through the exposure scanning section. In a copying machine that performs exposure scanning to obtain copies,
A measuring device that measures the length of the original along the circulation path, and a measuring device that measures the length of the original in the direction along the circulation path, and a measuring device that measures the length of the original in the direction along the circulation path, and a measuring device that measures the length of the original in the direction along the circulation path, and a measuring device that measures the length of the original in the direction along the circulation path. A path switching device that switches to one of the ejection paths and a document ejection port that ejects documents passing through the ejection path are provided. The device is characterized in that it operates to switch the document path to the ejection path when the signal is issued.

"Function" When a document is inserted, this document conveyance device measures the length of the document, and immediately discharges documents longer than a certain length after completing one exposure scan without circulating the document.

At this time, since this original passes through the exposure scanning section once, only one normal copy can be obtained. If the copy paper is roll-type, in principle it is possible to copy a long document corresponding to the length of the copy that can be supplied.

At this time, if the document ejection port is provided near the document insertion port, when two or more copies are desired, the operator can insert the ejected document as is into the document insertion port, making it easier to handle.

Of course, if a document is inserted that is less than the length of the circulation path, it is possible to circulate the document as usual and obtain two or more copies.

``Embodiment'' (Description of Block) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main parts of a document conveying device of a copying machine according to the present invention. In this figure, the same parts as in FIG. 9 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanation will be omitted.

In the figure, the endless belt 11 is stretched around four rollers 51 ₁ to 51 ₄ and is rotationally driven in the direction of an arrow 17 by a drive roller 51 ₁ of these rollers. A pair of document insertion rollers 53 are provided between the document insertion opening 13 and the drive roller 51 ₁ to guide the leading edge of the document 10 between the drive roller 51 ₁ and the idler 14 ₁ . On both sides of the document insertion roller 53, document passage detection sensors S1 and S2 are provided.

These sensors S1 and S2 detect the presence of the original 10 by irradiating light onto the surface of the original 10 and capturing the reflected light when the original 10 is directly below them. When the document 10 is not under the sensor, there is no reflected light, so it is possible to determine whether there is a document at that position. A sensor S3 having a similar structure is arranged near the center of the upper surface of the endless belt 11.

Further, a document discharge port 55 is provided directly below the document insertion port 13, and a document table 56 is attached to receive the document 10 discharged from the document discharge port 55. A document discharge roller 57 is provided behind the document discharge port 55 to discharge the document 10 onto the document table 56 .

This document conveying device has two modes: a mode in which the document 10 is conveyed below the drive roller ₅₁₁ along a circulation path shown by an arrow 61 in FIG. You can switch to . For this purpose, a guide pawl 62 is provided at the lower left portion of the drive roller 51 ₁ . As shown in FIG. 7, the guide pawl 62 is supported to rotate around a shaft 63, and the solenoid L2 moves the lever 64 fixed to the shaft 63 at the arrow 65. The direction of the tip 66 of the guide claw 62 is changed by reciprocating in the direction.

The control unit 70 shown in FIG. 1 sends and receives signals necessary to control the operations of each part of the document conveying device, but control signal lines etc. that are unnecessary for explaining the operation of the present invention are not shown. do not have.

In the figure, sensors S1, S2, and S3 are connected to an input port 71, and a document insertion roller 53, a document discharge roller 57, a drive roller ₅₁₁ , and two solenoids L1 and L2 are connected to an output port 72.

In the control unit 70, a microprocessor 73 receives the outputs of the sensors S1, S2, and S3 from the input port 71 through the bus line 76, stores them in a random access memory (RAM) 75,
It is configured to read programs and comparison data from a read-only memory (ROM) 74, perform calculations, and drive a solenoid or the like through an output port 72.

(Description of Mechanisms of Each Part) FIG. 2 is a mechanical diagram of the vicinity of the drive roller 51 ₁ and document insertion roller 53.

In the document conveying device of this embodiment, the distance D between the sensor S2 and the idler 14 ₁ located above the drive roller 51 ₁ is such that the surface of the endless belt ₁₁ that is in contact with the outside of the drive roller 51 1 is
₁ The length is set to be approximately equal to or slightly shorter than the length of half a revolution.

FIG. 3 shows that the solenoid L1 is pushing the lever 36, and the document 10 is conveyed downward along the guide pawl 33 and the guide ₁₅₁ .

Further, FIG. 4 shows the solenoid L1 operating in the opposite direction to guide the document 10 to be ejected onto the eject table 41 shown in FIG. In the present invention, the state shown in FIG. 4 will be explained assuming that the solenoid L1 is turned on.

In addition, in FIG. 5, the solenoid L2 is connected to the lever 64.
is pressed, and the document 10 is pushed between the guide claw 62 and the guide 1.
5 ₂ upwardly, that is, transported to the circulation path 61. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the solenoid L2 operates in the opposite direction to pull the lever 64, and the document 10 is conveyed toward the ejection path 60.

In this invention, the state shown in Fig. 6 is the solenoid L2.
The following explanation assumes that is turned on. Further, this guide claw 62 will be described as an example of a path switching device that guides the document to either the circulation path 61 or the ejection path 60.

The shape of the guide pawl 62 rotated by the solenoid L2 and its attachment are shown in FIG. Solenoid L2, push rod 81,
The positional relationship between the lever 64, the shaft 63, and the guide claw 62 is as shown in the figure. Push rod 81 and lever 64 are rotatably connected via pin 82. The guide claw 62 and the lever 64 are connected to the shaft 6.
It is fixed to 3. An appropriate number of guide claws 62 are attached to the shaft 63 in the longitudinal direction.

(Description of Flowchart) The document conveying device of the copying machine of the present invention having the above configuration operates according to a program written in the ROM element 74 incorporated in the control section 70 shown in FIG.

An example of a flowchart of this program is shown in FIG.

The flowchart in FIG. 8 measures the length of the original 10 during the main program, and when the length is longer than a certain length, operates (turns on) the solenoid L2 shown in FIG. This is a subroutine that controls a series of operations for discharging water from the machine.

This flowchart will be explained with reference to FIG. Note that this flowchart describes processing that cannot be considered program execution, that is, the operation of sensors, etc.
This means that when each sensor etc. operates, the microprocessor reads the output signal.

First, when the original 10 is inserted through the original insertion slot 13, the sensor S1 detects the entry and turns on (step). After this sensor S1 is turned on, the document insertion roller 53 and the drive roller ₅₁₁ are started (step). Also, the solenoid L1 is turned off (step). Then, the counter for counting the originals is cleared to zero (step). This counter counts the document length by a loop created on the program, and starts when the leading edge of the document 10 passes under the sensor S3, and stops when the trailing edge of the document passes under the sensor S2. If the program loop is processed once in 1 millisecond and the count is increased by 1 each time, then if the document transport speed is 100 mm per second, the length can be measured at 1 mm per count. The actual length of the document can be obtained by adding the length corresponding to the distance between the sensor S2 and the sensor S3 to this count value. Immediately after the document 10 passes the document insertion roller, the sensor S2 is turned on (step). Next, manuscript 10
When the object moves further on the endless belt 11 and comes under the sensor S3, the sensor S3 is turned on (step).

Here, it is confirmed that both sensors S2 and S3 are on (step), and the document length counter is incremented. This is a process of adding "1" at a time to the initial value "0" (step). Then, it is determined whether this value exceeds the allowable document length (step),
Execute the length measurement loop (loop) repeatedly.

If the document length exceeds the allowable value, the sensor S
2 and S3 are on, the solenoid L2 is turned on to eject the original 10 from the original ejection port 55 (step), and the original ejection roller 57 is driven (step). When this process is completed, this subroutine exits.

On the other hand, when sensor S2 is turned off and only sensor S3 is turned on during the execution of the length measurement loop (loop), it is determined that the document length is less than the allowable value (step), and solenoid L2 is turned off to read the document. is guided to the circulation path 61 (step). after that,
The original 10 is circulated until a predetermined number of copies are made (step), and after this is completed, the solenoid L1
Turn on and eject the document to the eject slot (step). In this way, the subroutine is exited.

Note that when sensor S3 is off and sensor S2 is on, it is assumed that a trouble has occurred and that problem is processed (step).

In the document feeder of the above embodiment, even if the operator specifies the number of copies in advance,
If the document length exceeds the allowable value, the specification is ignored and the document is ejected. The operator sees that the document has been ejected from the ejection port, or knows this from an alarm sound or display that is output at the same time as the solenoid L2 is turned on.

"Modification" The document conveying device of the copying machine of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, it is also possible for the operator to input an instruction to directly turn on the solenoid L2 from the operation panel.

In this way, the operator can, in FIG.
By inserting the original 10 through the insertion port 13 and ejecting it to the nearby ejection port 55, it is possible to facilitate the work of copying the original one sheet at a time.

The length of the document 10 can be measured in various ways, such as by rotating a touch roller or by detecting the number of rotations of a drive roller. Furthermore, the shape and structure of the guide pawl used in the path switch may be modified in various ways so as to have the same type of function.

``Effect of the invention'' The copying machine document feeder of the invention described above automatically detects even if the operator inadvertently inserts a document that exceeds the allowable length, and the exposure scanning section is activated once. After passing through, the original is ejected. At this time, there is no possibility that a defective copy will occur or that the document cannot be ejected.

Furthermore, since the document ejection location can be selected as necessary, copying work can be made more efficient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the document conveying device of a copying machine according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 7 are mechanical diagrams of its main parts, FIG. 8 is a flowchart explaining its operation, The figure is a mechanical diagram of a conventional document transport device.
FIGS. 10 to 14 are explanatory diagrams of the operation. 10... Original, 13... Original insertion slot, 19...
Exposure scanning section, 55... Original discharge port, 60... Discharge path, 61... Circulation path, 62... Path switching device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. In a copying machine that circulates an original inserted through an original insertion slot along a certain circulation path and performs exposure scanning each time the original passes through an exposure scanning section to make a copy. , a measuring device that measures the length of the document in the direction along the circulation path, and a measuring device that measures the length of the document in the direction along the circulation path; A path switching device is provided for switching to one of the ejection paths for ejecting the document, and a document ejection port for ejecting the document passing through the ejection path. 1. A document conveyance device for a copying machine, which operates to switch the path of the document to the ejection path when a signal indicating that the document length exceeds a certain length is issued. 2. The document conveyance device for a copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the document discharge port is provided near the document insertion port.