JPH0488361A - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the exchanging time of documents and to improve productivity in an image processing by providing a second placing table which can be extended in a direction prolonging the placing table to the outside of the table. CONSTITUTION:A dummy tray (the second placing table) 12 is arranged above the document tray for a document ejection tray 62. When the document tray 1 is in the position (shown by a fully line), which is used in the case of the switch back mode, a surface is formed so that a tray surface is extended. When the length of a sheet documents P set on the document tray 1 is large and/or small sizes in the carrying direction, a sheet ejecting operation of the switch back mode is performed; when the documents of small size are set, a sheet ejecting operation of the closed loop mode is performed. Additionally, in the ejection from an ejection path III, the minimum area of the placing table is maintained; in the ejection from an ejection path II, the documents are placed in the area obtained by adding the area of the second placing table 12 to the area of the sheet material placing table. Thus, at the time of the ejection from either the ejection path II or III, matching performance and refeeding performance are steadily provided, and operability can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is applicable to an automatic document feeder, in particular, for example, a copying machine,
The present invention relates to a document feeding device that conveys and places a sheet document at a predetermined position in an image forming section or the like in an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a document feeding device has been used to automatically transport and place a document at a predetermined reading position on the platen of a copying machine serving as an image forming device, and to place the document back onto the original sheet material loading table after image formation has been completed. There is a document transport device that is designed to return the document. This type of document feeding device includes a switchback type circulating document feeding device (hereinafter referred to as switchback RDF) as shown in FIG. 7, and a closed loop type circulating document feeding device (hereinafter referred to as closed loop RDF) shown in FIG. ).

In FIG. 7, the switchback RDF C sequentially separates one sheet at a time from the bottom of the document stack P on the document tray 1, transports and stops them at a predetermined position on the platen 3 of the copying machine main body A, and Image reading is performed by an optical system within the copying machine. By switching back the sheet document P after image reading to the same side as the side on which it was carried into the platen 3, the sheet document P is carried out from the platen 3, and the sheet document P is carried out by the large roller 49 rotating in the direction of the arrow and the roller 49a that abuts it. The document is conveyed to the top of the document bundle P on the document tray 1. The sheet originals P are carried out and reloaded from the same side as the side from which they were fed, and this operation is repeated in sequence to form images using a plurality of sheet originals P.

In the case of this type of switchback RDF C, the image-processed sheet original P is carried in from the same side as the leading edge of the stack of originals P to be loaded on the original tray 1, and is reloaded on the original tray 1 due to the inclination. The trailing edge of the sheet original P always falls under its own weight toward the paper feed port, and the end thereof is aligned with the paper feed port. Therefore, even if sheet originals P having different lengths in the transport direction are stacked on the original tray 1, the leading edges of the originals are always aligned.

In addition, even for large-sized originals with different lengths in the transport direction, by extending the length of the original tray 1 using the auxiliary tray la, the paper path and transport operation can be maintained without any hindrance, and the consistency can be improved. (It is possible to reload the sheet original P onto the original tray l.

On the other hand, the closed-loop RDF D shown in FIG. 8 separates the originals one by one starting from the lowest one of the stack of originals P on the original tray 1, transports and stops them at a predetermined position on the platen 3 of the copying machine main body A, and reads the images. Then, on the side opposite to the side from which it was brought into platen 3 (
This configuration sequentially repeats the operations of carrying out the document bundle P to the right side in the figure, and carrying out and reloading it to the top of the document bundle P on the document tray 1 from the side opposite to the side from which the sheets were fed.

In the case of this type of closed-loop RDF, when replacing the image-processed sheet original P on the platen 3 with the next unprocessed original, the processed original begins to be transferred at the same time as the image processing is completed, and then transferred to the platen 3 at the same time. Since the original carrying operation can be started next, the original can be replaced without any loss of time, and the time required to replace the sheet original P can be shortened compared to the above-described switchback RDF C.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned switchback RDF C, there is a loss time between the end of document processing and the start of the next document loading operation until the processed document is securely held in the downstream next conveyance means. There were certain limits to increasing processing productivity.

Also, in closed loop RDF D, there is no loss time compared to switchback RDF C. However, if the ejected originals are reloaded onto the original bundle P from the side opposite to the leading edge of the original in the paper feeding direction on the original tray 1, and sheet originals P of different sizes are mixed in the transport direction, Since the ejection port is located behind the rear edge of the largest document, there is a risk that the leading edge of the document to be ejected will collide with the rear edge of the document that has already been placed and is to be fed. Circulation cannot be performed. Therefore, this type of apparatus has the disadvantage that it can only process document bundles P having the same length in the transport direction.

In addition, in order to prevent the leading edge of the ejected document from colliding with the rear end of the document stack P that has already been set, the document ejection port must be placed near the rear end of the document stack P that is set on the document tray 1. Therefore, it is necessary to change the position of the paper ejection port depending on the size of the sheet document P. Therefore, the length of the path leading from the platen 3 to the paper ejection port must also be changed, resulting in a rather complicated structure and high cost. Further, since there are considerable limitations on the configuration in changing the length of the paper ejection path, the range of document sizes that can be accommodated is inevitably limited.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional switchback R.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder that adopts only the respective advantages of DF and closed-loop RDF and eliminates their respective disadvantages, thereby making it possible to increase the productivity of image processing by shortening the document exchange time. This is the purpose.

Furthermore, when discharging the sheets from the sheet discharging path (1) to the sheet material loading table surface, the area of the sheet material loading table surface must be made as small as possible to improve sheet discharge consistency and to prevent conveyance failures from occurring during sheet refeeding. Furthermore, when the sheet material is discharged from the sheet discharge path (1), the surface of the loading platform is inclined to create a return effect due to its own weight and improve paper refeeding performance, so it is desirable that the area be as large as possible. Of the above two items, if the former is given priority, there is a possibility that conveyance defects, etc. will occur in the latter, and if the latter is given priority, alignment defects, paper feeding defects, etc. will occur in the former. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeder that eliminates this fear.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example. For example, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. A sheet material separating means 41.42 sequentially feeds out the sheet materials P on the material loading table 1 one by one starting from the lowest one, and the sheet materials P separated by the sheet material separating means 41.42 are sent to the image reading section 3. a first sheet discharge path (3) that returns to the sheet material loading platform 1 from the same side as the sheet transport path of the image reading section 3; and a sheet feeding path of the image reading section 3. and a second sheet discharge path (3) that returns to the sheet material loading table from the opposite side.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized by providing a second loading platform that forms the same plane outside the sheet material loading platform.

[Effect]

Based on the above configuration, when the sheet document P set on the document tray 1 has a large size in the conveyance direction or a mixture of large and small sizes, the sheet document P set on the document tray 1 is ejected in the switchback mode. In the case of a small size, closed-loop mode paper ejection operation can be performed, improving the productivity of image processing.

Furthermore, by providing a second loading platform that forms the same plane outside the sheet material loading platform, when the sheet material is discharged from the discharge path (■), the minimum area of the loading platform itself can be maintained, and the sheet material can be discharged from the discharge path ■.
When the documents are discharged from the sheet material stacking table, the document can be stacked using the area of the sheet material stacking table plus the second stacking table.

Note that the above-mentioned symbols in parentheses are shown for reference to the drawings, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in any way.

〔Example〕

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

In FIG. 1, an RDF (circulating document feeder of the present invention) B, which is a sheet material conveyance device, has a document tray l above it, and a drive roller 31 and a turn roller 3 below it.
A wide belt 2 wound around the belt 2 is arranged. This wide belt 2 is in contact with the platen 3 of the copying machine main body A, and conveys the sheet original P placed on the original tray 1 and places it on a predetermined position on the platen 3. The sheet document P on 3 is carried out onto the document tray 1.

Further, a pair of width direction regulating plates 33 are arranged on the document tray 1 so as to be slidable in the width direction of the sheet document P.
The width direction of the sheet original P placed on the original tray 1 is regulated to improve stability during feeding of the sheet original P and to improve the stability of the sheet original P placed on the original tray 1.
Consistency is ensured when moving upwards. The width direction regulating plate 33a has a built-in jogging mechanism, and presses each sheet of the original P carried onto the original tray l against the original reference guide 33 to further improve alignment. Furthermore, the document tray lifting mechanism 95.97.9
9 makes it possible to swing between the solid line position and the chain line position in the figure about the swing center 35.

Further, within the tray surface, an auxiliary tray 72 is arranged so that only the protruding member 11 protrudes when stored, and is located at the position shown by the broken line in FIG. Supported. As shown in FIG. 3, the protruding member 11 has a chevron-like shape so that the leading edge of the stacked originals is inclined downward, and the rear end is also inclined downward. The summit 11a of this mountain is located downstream (or upstream) of the partition member 7. The height of this mountain peak is 6.5 mm, and the climbing slope is 15 mm.
°.

Therefore, when the tray 1 becomes horizontal, the slope of the mountain forms a gap between the slope of the guide 5A where the roller 5 is located and the path.

In addition, the tray surface near the partition member, which will be described later, is lower than the other surfaces as shown in Figure 4, and when the stacked originals are placed along the tray surface, the partition member is lower than the top surface of the document stack. The amount of protrusion is reduced as much as possible.

Furthermore, a dummy tray (second loading platform) 12 is disposed at the upper part of the document tray side of the document output tray 62, which will be described later, so that when the document tray 1 is in the switchback mode position (solid line position W), The upper surface is formed to extend the tray surface. In this case, the tray 72 is of a size that is used in a closed state, and the leading edge of the document discharged from the roller 50 reaches the dummy tray 12, and then moves downward inside the tray 1 and is aligned within the tray. Ru.

Adjacent to the document tray 1, a stopper 3 is moved up and down by a half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 5 and a stopper solenoid 92.
7 is provided, and the sheet document P set on the document tray 1 is regulated by the protruding stopper 37 and cannot advance downstream.

When the copying conditions are input on the operation panel of the copying machine and the start key is pressed, the stopper 37 sinks to open the path for the sheet original P, and the sheet original P is fed by the paper feed roller 5. and advance downstream. At this time, the partition member 7 connected to the partition member motor 39 built in the document standard guide 33 on the document tray 1 rotates and rides on the uppermost sheet document P, separating the unprocessed document and the processed document. Make a distinction.

A conveying roller 41 and a separating belt 42, which constitute a separating section, are disposed downstream of the stopper 37, and each rotates in the direction of the arrow to separate the sheet originals P advanced from the original tray 1 one by one. and transported further downstream.

Further, a weight 43 is provided above the stopper 37, and the sheet document P on the document tray 1 is small and the sheet document P cannot be moved to the separation section 4 by the feeding force of the paper feed roller 5 alone.
1.If you cannot advance to 42, wait solenoid 4
5, the sheet document P is moved downward by the feed roller 5.
The feeding force of the paper feeding roller 5 is improved by sandwiching it between the paper feeding roller 5 and the paper feeding roller 5. A document regulating plate 46 is provided near the separating belt 42 to prevent a large number of sheet documents P from entering the separating section 41, 42 at one time.

A document feeding path I is configured from the separation section 41, 42 to the platen 3. Induce. Further, in the vicinity of the paper feed roller 5, an entry sensor 47a, which is a transmission type optical sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet document P placed on the document tray 1;
47b is arranged.

A large roller 49 is disposed on the left side of the main body of the RDF B, and a first document discharge path (1) extends from the platen 3, around the outer circumference of the large roller 49, and above the document tray 1.
is configured. Further, a document reversing path (2) is configured, which branches from above the large roller 49 of the first document ejecting path (2) and for reversing the front and back sides of the double-sided document, and the downstream portion of this document reversing path (2) is configured as described above. It merges with the document feeding path l.

A first paper ejection roller 5 is provided on the downstream side of the first document ejection path ■.
0 is provided, and the sheet document P conveyed through the first document discharge path (3) is conveyed to the top of the document bundle P on the document tray 1.

The wide belt 2 disposed above the platen 3 transports and places the sheet document P at a predetermined position on the platen 3.
After reading the image, it is carried out from the platen 3.

A feeding roller 51 is disposed at the confluence of the document feeding path and the document reversing path (2), and this feeding roller 51 forms a loop around the sheet document P that has reached it. Prevents skewing. Near the upstream side of the feed roller 51, there is a paper feed sensor 52a which is a transmission type optical sensor that detects the front and rear edges of the sheet document P.

52b is provided, and the sheet original P that has passed through either the original feeding path or the original reversing path (2) can be detected.

Reversing sensors 53a and 53b, which are transmissive optical sensors, are arranged below the large roller 49 in the first document discharge path 49 to detect the sheet document P carried out from the platen 3, and the large roller 49 and the first paper ejection roller 50, a sheet document P that passes through the first document discharge path ■ and is carried out onto the document tray L passes through the first document discharge path ■. The first paper ejection sensor 55 is a transmission type optical sensor that detects
a and 55b are provided.

A reversing flapper 56 for switching the bus is disposed at a portion where the first document ejection path ■ branches into the document reversing path ■, and the reversing flapper solenoid 90 is turned on and off.
F is used to switch buses by swinging between the solid line position and the chain line position in the figure.

In addition, 81a to 95 in FIG. 2 are roller rotation or switching plungers.

Further, on the right side of the main body of RDF B, a second document discharge path ■ is configured to carry out the sheet document P after the image reading on the platen 3 is carried out in the opposite direction to the direction in which it is carried into the platen 3. There is.

In the second document discharge path (■), a first conveyance roller 59 for conveying the sheet document P in the second document discharge path (■), a second
Conveyance rollers 60 are provided respectively, and a second document discharge roller 61 is provided on the downstream side of the second document discharge path (2), and the second document discharge roller 61 is provided on the downstream side of the second document discharge path (2). The sheet original P is carried out to the top of the original bundle P on the original tray 1.

A document discharge tray 62 is disposed above the second document discharge path (■), and the second document discharge path (■) branches from near the downstream of the first conveyance roller 59, and the document discharge tray 62 is arranged above the second document discharge path (■). A third document discharge path (3) extending to the tray 62 is configured. A paper ejection flapper 63 for switching the conveyance path is provided at the branching part of the second document ejection path (■) and the third document ejection path (2). When turned off, the path is switched by swinging between the solid line position and the chain line position in the figure.

A third paper ejection roller 6 is provided on the downstream side of the third document ejection path V.
6 is provided, and the sheet document P conveyed through the third document discharge path V is conveyed onto the document discharge tray 62 . Inside the second document ejection path, there is a sheet document P in the second document ejection path.
A second paper ejection sensor 67a is a transmission type optical sensor for detecting the front end and rear end of the sheet.

67b is disposed between the platen 3 and the first transport roller 59, and a second transport roller 67b is disposed between the branch part of the second document discharge path (■) and the third document discharge path (■) and the second conveyance roller 60. 3 Paper discharge sensor 6
9a and 69b are provided.

Next, the drive system of the RDF B of the present invention will be explained using FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows a drive system diagram showing motors and solenoids for driving each conveyance roller and flapper.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 81 indicates a separation motor,
This separation motor 81 drives the conveyance roller 41 and the separation belt 42, which are separation sections, in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

The belt motor 82 drives the feed roller 51 and a drive port 31 for driving the wide belt 2 via a feed roller clutch 83, and further rotates the rotation of the drive roller 31 by the wide belt 2. In addition to transmitting the signal to the roller 32, the first conveying roller 59 is also driven.

Further, a brake 8 is provided on the motor shaft of the belt motor 82.
5 is provided to ensure the position of the wide belt 2 when it stops.

The separation motor 81 drives the feeding roller 51 via a separation clutch 86. The reversing motor 87 drives the large roller 49 and the first paper discharge roller 50. Reference numeral 89 indicates a paper ejection motor, and this paper ejection motor 89 is connected to the second conveyance roller 60 and the third paper ejection roller 66.
The two drive the two.

On the shaft of each motor are clock discs 81a, 82a, 87a, 89 with a plurality of slits formed therein.
Clock sensors 81b, 82b, 87b, 89b, etc., which generate pulses by recognizing each slit with a transmission type optical sensor, are provided. By counting the rotation of each motor using clock sensors 81b, 82b, 87b, and 89b, the amount of rotation of each conveying roller can be measured.
The amount of movement of the sheet document P can be detected.

Reference numeral 90 indicates a reversing flapper solenoid 57 for swinging the reversing flapper 56. When the reversing flapper 56 is OFF, the reversing flapper 56 is at the solid line position in the figure, and the sheet document P that has passed through the first document discharge path is carried out onto the document tray 1, and when turned on, the sheet document P passing through the first document discharge path (2) is guided to the document reversing path (2).

Reference numeral 99 indicates a paper ejection flapper solenoid for swinging the paper ejection flapper 63, and when it is OFF, it is at the solid line position in the figure, and the sheet original P that has passed through the second original paper ejection path is transferred to the original tray. When ON, the sheet document P passing through the second document discharge path V is guided to the third document discharge path V, and is conveyed to the document discharge tray 62.

The stopper solenoid 92 drives the stopper 37 to move up and down, and is in the position shown in the figure when it is OFF to prevent the document bundle P on the document tray 1 from advancing toward the downstream side, and when it is ON.
At times, the stopper 37 sinks to open the path for the sheet document P.

Reference numeral 93 indicates a weight solenoid, which swings the weight 43 up and down. When it is OFF, it is in the position shown in the figure, and when it is ON, the weight 43 is lowered and the sheet original is placed on the paper feed roller 5. By pressing P, the conveyance force by the paper feed roller 5 is increased.

In FIG. 5, another sheet material conveying device F is provided and connected to the outside of the sheet material conveying device B, and a sheet document P conveyed from the sheet material conveying device F is passed through the document carrying path ■. The document can be carried into the second document discharge path (3) and transported to the document tray 1.

Therefore, after the image-processed sheet original P is transferred to the second original output tray 62, the sheet original P from the external sheet material conveying device F is transferred onto the first original tray l, and the image processing operation is performed. By repeating the restart operation, it becomes possible to perform image processing on a large-capacity original sheet MP.

Furthermore, if the next user sets the sheet document P to be image-processed in advance on the external sheet material conveyance device F as shown in FIG. 5 while the previous user is processing the image, the next user can There is no need to wait on the spot until the user's processing is completed, and the m-image processing device also operates continuously, making it possible to perform efficient work and effectively operating the sheet material conveying device. be able to.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

5 step (represented by S in the figure) At step 1, perform the tray UP process to raise the document tray 1 to the position indicated by the solid line in Figure 1. In the initial state where no documents are set, the tray is always raised and the operation is performed. This makes it easy for people to set up.

Then, in step 52, the entrance sensor 47 detects whether or not a document has been set, and the operation is started by turning on a copy key on the operation section of the copying machine main body (not shown).

Next, in 5tep4, separation processing, which will be described later, is performed to feed the lowest sheet of the document bundle.

Next, the document separated in step 5 is conveyed onto the platen 3 after being subjected to paper feeding processing, which will be described later. When the paper feeding process is completed, the copying machine will start the copying operation.
Proceed to step 7, and determine whether the partition lever has fallen. If the determination is positive, the document is a single document, so wait for the copying machine to finish copying (step 9), and perform switchback paper ejection processing. is started (steplO), and document conveyance control is ended. The original passes through paths n and n to tray 1.
will be returned to.

If a negative judgment is made regarding the partition lever at step 7 (if there are multiple documents), the results of the document size detection process performed during the paper feeding process at step 5 and the mixed document specification on the operation panel of the copier main body are determined. The flow of conveyance control is determined according to the result of the determination as to whether or not the transfer has occurred (step 8).

In the case of this embodiment, the original size is A4 and mixed originals are not specified, so at 5 tepH, tray DOWN processing is performed to lower the original tray 1 to the position indicated by the broken line in Fig. 1, and the closed loop paper ejection processing described later is executed. Prepare to improve the consistency of the output document at the time of printing.

Then, separate the next document (step 4')
, and after performing the pre-feeding process described later (step 13)
, wait for the copying machine to finish copying (step 9')
, 5tep14, it is determined whether the switchback circulation flag is set. In the case of this example,
In step 5, the switchback circulation flag is not set because the determination is negative, and the process proceeds to step 15 to start the closed-loop ejection process (the scanned original is ejected to tray 1 through bus ■), which will be described later. Te (ste)
p15), performs paper feeding processing for the next document (step 5'
).

When the paper feeding process is completed, the copying machine starts the copying operation (step 6'), and determines whether the partition lever has fallen or fallen during the copying (step 8'), and if the determination is negative, the process continues. .

In 5step7', if the judgment is affirmative,
Since this document is the final document, we wait for the copying machine to finish copying (step 9'), and then determine whether the switchback discharge flag is set (step 9').
14') In this embodiment, since the determination is negative as described above, the process proceeds to step 15', starts the closed loop paper ejection process, and then waits for the ejection process of all documents to be completed (step 16).

Next, it is determined whether the circulation is the final circulation (s
step 17), if it is the final circulation, move document tray 1 to the first
In order to raise the tray to the position indicated by the solid line in the figure, tray UP processing is performed to return the tray to its initial state (step 1'), and document conveyance control is ended. In step 17, if the determination is negative, it is determined whether the number of original sheets is 4 or less (step
p18), if the determination is affirmative, a switchback circulation flag is set (step 19), and the process returns to the separation process in step 5. If the determination is negative, the process directly returns to step 4. This is to perform optimal control depending on the number of originals.

In order to raise the document tray 1 to the position shown by the solid line in Fig. 1 at 5 tepl, perform the tray UP process, and make sure that the tray is raised in the initial state where no documents are set.
It is designed to be easy for the operator to set up.

Then, in step 52, the entrance sensor 47 detects whether a document has been set, and the operation is started by turning on a copy key in the operation section of the copying machine main body A (not shown).

Next, at step 54, separation processing, which will be described later, is performed to feed the lowest one sheet of the document bundle.

Next, the document separated in step 5 is conveyed onto the platen 3 after being subjected to paper feeding processing, which will be described later. When the paper feeding process is completed, the copying machine main body A starts the copying operation.5tep6), 5t
Proceeding to ep7, it is determined whether the partition lever 120 has fallen or not. If the determination is affirmative, since the original is a single original, the process waits for the copying machine A to finish copying (step 9).
, starts switchback paper ejection processing, which will be described later, and ends document conveyance control. The original is returned to tray 1 through the path ■'→■.

If the determination is negative in step 5, transport control is performed according to the result of the document size detection process performed during the paper feeding process in step 5 and the determination result of whether or not mixed document specification has been performed on the operation section of the copying machine main body A. determine the flow of
p8). In the case of this embodiment, since the original size is A3 and there is no mixed original specification, the process proceeds to step 512 and sets the switchback circulation flag.

Then, separate the next document (step 4')
, and after performing the pre-feeding process described later (step 13)
, wait for copying machine A to finish copying (step 9').
), in step 14 it is determined whether the switchback circulation flag is set. In the case of this embodiment, since the affirmative determination was made in step 5, the switchback circulation flag is set, and the switchback paper ejection process (described later) is started (step 15), and the next document is fed ( step 5'). When the paper feeding process is completed, the copying machine will start the copying operation in steps 5 and 6.
'), it is determined whether the partition lever has fallen during the copying (step 7'), and if the determination is negative, 5te
Return to p4' and continue processing.

If the determination is affirmative in step 7', this is the final document, so wait for the copying machine to finish copying (step 9'), and then determine whether the switchback discharge flag is set. (step
14'), in this embodiment, as described above, the judgment is affirmative, so after proceeding to step 1 '0' and starting the switchback paper ejection processing, the ejection processing of all originals is completed. (step 16).

Next, it is determined whether the circulation is the final circulation (s
step 17), if it is the final circulation, set document tray L to the first
In order to raise the tray to the position indicated by the solid line, a tray UP process is performed to return the tray to its initial state (step 1'), and document conveyance control is ended. In step 17, if the determination is negative, it is determined whether the number of original sheets is 4 or less, and (st
ep18), if the determination is affirmative, a switchback circulation flag is set (step 19), and the process returns to the separation process in step 5. If the determination is negative, the process directly returns to step 4. This is to perform optimal control depending on the number of originals.

~ At 5 tepl of the copy A4 5' mode, perform the tray UP process to raise the original tray 1 to the position indicated by the solid line in Figure 1, and make sure that the tray is always raised in the initial state when no originals are set.
It is designed to be easy for the operator to set up.

Then, in step 52, the population sensor 47 detects whether a document has been set, and the operation is started by turning on a copy key on the operation section of the copying machine main body (not shown).

The following is the same as the case of document A3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, by providing a second loading platform outside the tray, it is possible to stably supply consistency and refeeding performance even when ejecting from either of the ejection paths, thereby improving performance. There is an effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1, 2(a) and 2(b) are main sectional views of the automatic conveyance device according to the present invention, 3(a), 3(b) are perspective views of the document tray section, and 4th figure is the tray 5 is a main sectional view showing an example with a reservation function, 6 is a flowchart, and 7 and 8 are main sectional views of conventional examples. It is a diagram. l...Tray 11...Protrusion member 7...Partition member 72...Subtray 12...Dummy tray

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic document feeder having a sheet material loading table on which originals to be image-processed are loaded, and a conveying means for feeding the originals from the loading table, guiding them to the image processing section, and ejecting them onto the loading table surface again. , an automatic document feeder characterized in that it has a second loading table surface extending in a direction extending the loading table surface outside the loading table. (2) The automatic document feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material loading table is swingable.