JPH04179647A - Document automatic feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an improper paper feed by regularly arranging a document point end, when a document is set, and pressing a document call out roll associated with release action of a stopper for pressing the document, in the case of a document automatic feeder for a copying machine or the like. CONSTITUTION:After a document is set to collide against a stopper 5, when it is turned in a direction of arrow mark and placed in a release position, a retaining plate 4 is pressed down with its point end pressed to a call out roll 3a by turning in the direction of arrow mark of the stopper 5. Accordingly, the document is pressed by the call out roll 3a and successively fed out from the document in the lowermost position.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder, in particular, to feed documents one by one from a document stack consisting of a plurality of documents to a predetermined document exposure position, and expose the documents. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeding device that is suitable for an automatic circulation type feeding device that returns the completed document to the stack of documents and repeatedly circulates the document to feed the document to an exposure position.

[Conventional technology]

When making multiple copies from a multi-page original using a copying machine, as a means of automatically feeding the original onto the contact glass of the copying machine to save time, it is possible to stack the original in page order and place it on the original table. The originals are extracted one by one from the bottom of the original stack placed on the original stack and fed onto the contact glass of the copying machine main body. After the original exposure has been completed, the originals are placed on the original placing table. Automatic document circulation feed in which each document is returned and stacked on top of the stack, and is fed onto the contact glass by repeatedly circulating each document in page order through a circulation path consisting of a paper feed path and a return path for a number of times equivalent to the number of copies to be made. Transfer device (Recycle)
Document Handler J), lower RD
(abbreviated as H) is used.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Generally, in the above-mentioned RDH, the original is repeatedly circulated, so depending on the environmental conditions (particularly low temperature and low humidity),
Static electricity is likely to be generated, causing documents to stick to each other and to the table. Particularly when feeding paper, if the paper is used as a sketch paper, the original, the table, and the space between the originals will rub against each other, which will generate static electricity and cause paper feeding failures. Also, due to the paper quality of the copied manuscripts from overseas,
Because it has poor smoothness and is easily affected by static electricity, paper feeding failures such as non-feeding and double feeding are likely to occur during paper feeding.

On the other hand, since the discharge section to the document tray is equipped with a static eliminator, it is possible to eliminate static electricity from the ejected documents to some extent, but when there are many documents, the weight of the documents also increases, and the lowest documents are not placed in close contact with each other. It becomes easier to do. In such a state, static electricity is likely to be generated during paper feeding, and there is a problem that the static electricity removal effect during paper ejection is not effective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeding device that can eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional devices and prevent paper feeding failures.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose consists of a table for setting the original, a stopper for aligning the leading edge of the original and applying pressure to the original, a separation roller for separating and feeding the lowest original, and a separation roller that draws the original from the position of the stopper to the separation unit and feeds the original. In an automatic document feeder equipped with a paper feeding section consisting of a calling roller for feeding, when the stopper is released, the first means is provided with a pressing means that presses the original against the calling roller in conjunction with the stopper. Ru.

Further, the above object is achieved by a second means in which the pressing means in the first means is made of an elastic material such as Mylar.

[Effect]

According to the first means, when drawing the original from the stopper to the separating section, the pressing means wedges the leading edge of the original from the lowest position and presses the original against the drawing roller with a sufficient pressing force.

According to the second means, by making the pressing means an elastic body,
A constant pressure is obtained regardless of the thickness of the original or the number of sheets.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration of an RDH as an embodiment of the present invention. This RDH is a copier main body 100
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 other than the left and right ends of the upper part of the case. A paper feeding unit 70 comprising a paper feeding mechanism that sequentially feeds sheets of paper onto the contact glass 101 one by one from the bottom of the stack of paper stacks placed on the paper stack 101 and a downward running part are in sliding contact 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 paper feed unit to a predetermined original exposure position on the contact glass 101, and discharges the original from above the contact glass 101 after exposing the original. A reversing unit 72 that reverses the original that has been
and a return section 73 for returning the document reversed by the reversing section 72 to the upper east of the document on the paper feed table l.

Hereinafter, each of the paper feed section, conveyance section, reversal section, and 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 conveying direction. Near the front end of the paper feed table I in the paper feeding direction, two calling rollers 3a and 3b having a missing circular portion are placed in a position that does not protrude from the document placement surface when the missing circular portion is on top. are provided before and after.

A pressing 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 holding plate 4, a stopper 5 is provided which rotates about its rear end as a fulcrum and is displaced between a retracted position shown by a broken line in FIG. 1 and an operating position shown by a solid line. In the operating position, the toes of stopper 7 and pawl 5 touch table l.
It comes into contact with the top surface or the top surface of the set stack of originals, and collides with the center nail when setting the stack of originals and the leading edge of the original that is circulated and returned to the top of the stack of originals on the table l from the rear to prevent skew. It has the function of correction.

The document bundle pressed against the calling roller 3a by the holding plate 4 is reliably conveyed to the separating section by rotating the calling rollers 3a and 3b in synchronization.

Reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 is a document set sensor that detects that the document stack is placed on the table 1, and in response to the detection signal, rotates the calling rollers 3a, 3b by a certain amount to convey the document stack.

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 originals at the above position in cooperation with a separating section consisting of a separating section and a separating roller 8. The separation roller 8 rotates in the direction of moving the document in the conveyance direction at a speed where the circumferential speed becomes the document conveyance speed, and on the other hand,
The endless belt 7 is in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the separation roller 8 over a circumferential length thereof, and is moved at a low speed of, for example, about 1720 mph of the original transport speed in the opposite direction to the original transport direction (direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1). By appropriately setting the friction coefficient between the separation roller 8 and the document, the friction coefficient between the endless belt 7 and the document, and the friction coefficient between the documents, the document bundle is separated by the calling rollers 3a and 3b. If there is only one document sent out from the bottom, it is conveyed directly to the pull-out rollers 9 and 10 on the downstream side, and if there are two or more documents, it is conveyed to the lowest one.
Only the sheets are separated and conveyed toward the pull-out rollers 9.10.

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
Even if the drive of the document is turned off, the document continues to rotate, reducing the load on document conveyance and allowing the document to be conveyed at a predetermined speed. The separation roller 8 is driven on and off by a clutch (not shown), and 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 turned off. Drive is cut off. The registration sensor 11 also serves as a detection means for detecting the trailing edge of the original and controlling the original to stop at a predetermined exposure position on the contact glass 101.

The above-mentioned calling rollers 3a, 3b, separation roller 8, and pull-out roller 9 can be driven by a single motor or 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 lower 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 in pressure contact with the reversing roller 15, and a position indicated by a solid line and a broken line in FIG. 1 on the downstream side thereof. A displaceable switching pawl 14 is provided between them. In the double-sided document mode, the switching claw 14 is switched to the position indicated by the broken line.
When ejecting a double-sided exposed original in single-sided original mode or double-sided original mode, in which a single-sided exposed original is reversed and sent to the transport section 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 reversal sensor 17 is provided between the pressure roller 16 and the switching pawl 14, facing the reversing roller 15, and thereby controls the drive timing of the conveyor belt 12. Conveyor belt 1
2 and the reversing roller 15 are each driven by a single motor (not shown).

(Return section) The return section 73 moves the top of the paper feed table 1 in the document transport direction (
Paper ejection unit 1 movable in the horizontal direction (in Fig. 1)
8 is connected to the rear part of the paper discharging unit 18 in the transport direction, expands and contracts according to the movement of the paper discharging unit 18, and
8 and the upper surface of the paper feed table 1, which forms a document transport path between the guide plate 8 and the upper surface of the paper feed table 1;
It is composed of:

The above-mentioned guide plates include a plurality of (three in this example) guide plates 21 and 2 that can be stacked on top of each other and made to expand and contract.
2.23, and by moving the ejection unit 18, the overlapping of each guide plate 21, 22, 23 changes and expands and contracts. Each guide plate 21, 22.
The guide plates 23 are sequentially overlapped outwardly in the order of the document conveyance direction so that the front end of the document conveyed through the conveyance path will not be caught by the overlapping portion of the guide plate. Above each guide plate 21, 22, 23 is an exterior cover 24.
．． 25 and 26 have their rear ends fixed to the rising parts formed by bending the rear ends of each guide plate upward, and, like the guide plates,
They are provided so that they can be expanded and contracted by being superimposed on each other.

Note that 103 is a partition sensor, and 104 is a static elimination brush.

Figure 2 is an enlarged configuration diagram of the paper feed section, which is the main part of the present invention;
4, 5, and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the document feeding process, and FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing the positional relationship of the stopper, the holding plate, and the calling roller.

The stopper 5, which rotates around the fulcrum 102, has the function of suppressing the protrusion of the leading edge when setting the original, and the function of the stopper 5, which prevents the tip from protruding when the original is set, and when the set original is called to the separating section,
, 3b come into contact with the document before completing one rotation, and call the document and press it against the rollers 3a, 3b, thereby performing pressing during paper feeding, and 1. It has a function of correcting the skew by abutting the leading edges of the originals that are circulated and being returned from the rear onto the table 1, and separating the originals before being fed and the originals that have returned. In addition, a flexible presser plate 4 (made of an elastic material such as Mylar) is provided at the tip of the stopper 5, and when the stopper 5 rotates, the tip pushes the base of the original document. is pressed against the left-hand calling roller 3a, and when drawing the original into the separation section, the leading edge of the original is shaped into a wedge shape to improve the paper feeding performance of the original. Here, the pressing force by the stopper 5 is greater than the pressing force by the presser plate 4, and the main pressing means is S)-/Pa 5.

In addition, the calling roller 3, the holding plate 4, and the stopper 5 are the seventh
The arrangement is as shown in the figure.

Further, a static eliminating brush 105 is provided at an angle near the center of the document table l in a position that does not interfere with the movement of the side fence, and the tip of the brush is in contact with the document. 41 is an extrusion plate.

Next, the document feeding operation will be explained based on FIGS. 3 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, after the document is set against the stopper 5, the stopper 5 is released by a paper feed signal from the copying machine, the push-out plate 41 is advanced from the rear, and the calling rollers 3a and 3b are reversed. Rotate clockwise to draw the original into the separation section. At this time, by releasing the stopper 5, the holding plate 4 presses the document from the leading edge to the left-hand calling roller 3a, so that the conveying force of the calling roller 3a is obtained, and the leading edge of the document is is pushed forward (see Figure 4). After a predetermined period of time, the stopper 5 comes down and presses the document early before the calling rollers 3a, 3b complete one rotation (see FIG. 5). after that,
As shown in FIG. 6, the lowest recording paper is separated and fed one by one by the separation belt 7 and the separation roller 8. At this time, the calling rollers 3a and 3b cooperate with the separation roller 8. and rotates further to help feed the bottom paper.

Note that the holding plate 4 may be composed of a thin temporary spring, or
Mylar that has been electrostatically treated will be more effective against static electricity. Furthermore, if the document table 1 is made of metal, the generation of static electricity will be reduced, but the present embodiment in which the document table 1 is made of an insulator and the static electricity removal brush 105 is added is more effective in eliminating static electricity from the document.

Further, in the above embodiment, the RDH is taken as an example, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained especially in an automatic document feeder (ADF) that does not circulate.

C Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the invention set forth in claim 1, the leading edge of the original is provided with a pressing means that presses the leading edge of the original against the rollers in conjunction with the pressure release (opening) of the stopper. Since the sheets can be formed into wedges sequentially starting from the lowest sheet, and the originals can be sufficiently pressed against the calling rollers, it is possible to reliably separate and transport the originals one by one.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 2, by using an elastic body as the pressing means, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, it is possible to obtain more reliable paper feeding and conveying performance regardless of the thickness or number of documents. becomes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic document circulation feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged block diagram of a paper feeding section which is the main part of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the document feeding process, and FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing the positional relationship of the stopper, the holding plate, and the calling roller. 3a, 3b... Calling roller, 4... Holding plate, 5
--・Stroke 7 bar, 7... Separation belt, 8... Separation roller, 104.105...#, electric brush. Figure 3 Figure 5. Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A table to set the original, a stopper that aligns the leading edge of the original and applies pressure to the original, a separation roller that separates and feeds the lowest original, and draws the original from the stopper position to the separation unit and feeds it. An automatic document feeder equipped with a paper feeding section consisting of a calling roller, which is characterized in that the automatic document feeding device is provided with a pressing means that presses the original against the calling roller in conjunction with the stopper when the stopper is released. sending device. (2) The automatic document feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing means is made of an elastic material such as Mylar.