JPH0489777A - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten document changing time and improve productivity of picture image processing by making the proximity of a partition member on a sheet material loading base surface lower than another surface. CONSTITUTION:The tray surface in proximity to a partition member 7 is set lower than another surface, and when a loaded document is placed along the tray surface, the partition member 7 reduces the amount protruding from the upper surface of a document bundle as much as possible. By making the proximity of the partition member of the document tray upper surface lower than another surface, such a simple constitution prevents the document from entering the partition member and jamming without making a device complicated and increasing the number of parts.

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 feeder includes a switchback type circulation document feeder (hereinafter referred to as switchback RDF) as shown in FIG. 27, and a closed loop type circulation document feeder (hereinafter referred to as closed loop RDF) as shown in FIG. ).

In FIG. 7, the switchback RDF C sequentially separates the originals one by one from the bottom of the stack of originals P on the original tray 1, and transports and stops them at a predetermined position on the platen 3 of the main body A of the copying machine. , the image is read 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-size originals with different lengths in the transport direction, by extending the length of the original tray l with the auxiliary tray la, the paper path and transport operation can be equally disturbed (and the consistency can be maintained). It is often possible to reload the sheet originals P onto the original tray 1.

On the other hand, the closed-loop RDF D shown in FIG. 8 separates one sheet at a time from the lowest document stack P on the document tray L, transports and stops the sheets 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 L, 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 discharge port must also be changed, resulting in a rather complex configuration 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 improves the productivity of image processing by shortening the document exchange time by employing only the respective advantages of the conventional switchback RDF and closed loop RDF described above as an example, and eliminating each disadvantage. The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeding device that can increase the number of documents.

[Problem that the invention is trying to solve]

Furthermore, although having two paper ejection paths may cause the following inconvenience, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeding apparatus that does not cause such inconveniences.

l) Two partition members are required to reliably separate treated and untreated sheet materials, which increases costs.

2) Sorting using one partition member complicates speed control and ejection angle when ejecting sheets from both directions.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example. For example, when shown with reference to FIGS. 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 sheet feeding path I leading to the sheet feeding path I, a first sheet discharging path ■ which returns to the sheet material loading table l from the same side as the sheet feeding path I of the image reading section 3, and a sheet feeding path I of the image reading section 3. A second sheet discharge path (3) that returns to the sheet material loading table from the opposite side to the sheet material loading platform.

Furthermore, it is characterized in that the area near the partition member on the surface of the sheet material loading table is lower than other surfaces.

[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, and In the case of a small size, closed-loop mode paper ejection operation can be performed, improving the productivity of image processing.

Furthermore, by lowering the area near the partition member on the sheet material loading table surface than the other surfaces, a partitioning operation is performed at the lowest part of the stack of originals that has settled on the sheet material loading table surface, and the originals discharged onto the loading table surface are separated. Climb into the parts,
It is designed to prevent the sheet material from being damaged or jammed due to collision.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. isn't it.

〔Example〕

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

In FIG. 1, RDF (circulating document feeder of the present invention) B, which is a sheet material conveyance device, has a document tray 1 above, and a drive roller 31 and a turn roller 3 below.
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 document P carried onto the document tray 1 against the document reference guide 33 to further improve consistency.

Furthermore, the document tray lifting mechanism 95.97.99
It is allowed to swing between a solid line position and a chain line position in the figure around a 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 slope of the climb is 15°.

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 upper east surface of the original. 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 l is in the switchback mode position (solid line position), the tray The upper surface is formed to extend the 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 to be 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 disposed, and the sheet original P when set on the original tray l 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 conveyance roller 41 and a separation belt 42, which constitute a separation section, are disposed downstream of the stopper 37, and each rotates in the direction of the arrow to separate the sheet documents P advanced from the document tray L one by one. and transported further downstream.

Further, a weight 43 is provided above the stopper 37, and since the sheet document P on the document tray l is small, the sheet document P cannot be moved to the separation section 4 by the feeding force of the paper feed roller 5 alone.
1, 4.2, the weight solenoid 45 moves the sheet document P downward to sandwich the sheet document P between it and the paper feed roller 5, thereby improving the feeding force of the paper feed roller 5. A document regulating plate 46 is provided near the separating belt 42, and the sheet document P is placed in the separating section 41, 42.
It is designed to prevent multiple pieces from entering at once.

A document feeding path (■) is formed from the separating section 41, 42 to the platen 3. This document feeding path I is bent and connected to the conveying path on the platen 3, and the sheet document P is transferred onto 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 L;
-47b is placed.

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 periphery of the six rollers 49 and extends above the document tray l.
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 is designed to merge with the document feed route.

A first paper ejection roller 5 is provided on the downstream side of the first document ejection path H.
0 is provided, and the sheet document P conveyed through the first document discharge path 2 is conveyed to the top of the document bundle P on the document tray l.

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 (■), 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 document P that has passed through either the document feeding path (2) or the document 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 ejection path (2) to detect the sheet document P carried out from the platen 3.
Further, in the first document ejection path (■) between the large roller 49 and the first ejection roller 50, a sheet document that passes through the first document ejection path (■) and is carried out onto the document tray L is inserted. The first paper ejection sensor 55a is a transmission type optical sensor that detects the passage of P.
, 55b are provided.

A reversing flapper 56 for switching paths is disposed at a portion where the first document ejection path (■) branches into the original reversing path (2).
F, the path is switched 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 respectively disposed, and a second discharge roller 61 is disposed on the downstream side of the second document discharge path (■) to convey the second document discharge path (■). The sheet document P thus prepared is carried out to the top of the document bundle P on the document 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 disposed at the branching portion of the second document ejection path (■) and the third document ejection path V. 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 ■.
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 the drive roller 31 that drives the wide belt 2 via a feed roller clutch 83. Furthermore, the rotation of the drive roller 31 is transferred to the turn roller 32 by the wide belt 2. At the same time, the first conveyance 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.
On the shaft of each motor are clock disks 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. A clock sensor 81 controls the rotation of each motor.
By clock counting using clocks b, 82b, 87b, and 89b, the amount of rotation of each transport roller can be measured, and 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 (2) 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 at the position shown in the figure when turned OFF to prevent the document bundle P on the document tray l from advancing toward the downstream side, and when turned 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 document P is transferred to the second document discharge tray 62, the sheet document P from the external sheet material conveyance device F is transferred onto the first document tray 1 and the image processing operation is performed. By repeating the restart operation, image processing of a large-volume sheet document P becomes possible.

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 image processing device can also operate continuously, so that efficient work can be done and the sheet material conveying device can be operated effectively. I can do it.

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

At step 5 (represented by S in the diagram), 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 continued. 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 step 5, the lowest one of the document bundles is fed (separation processing to be described later is performed).

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 ■ and ■ to tray l.
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 path ■), 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 main body starts the copying operation (step 6'), and it is determined whether the partition lever has fallen during the copying (step 8'), and if the determination is negative, the process is continued.

If the result in step 7' is affirmative, 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. (ste
p14'), in this embodiment, as described above, the determination is negative, so the process proceeds to step 15', starts closed-loop paper ejection processing, and then waits for the ejection processing 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, and if the determination is affirmative, the original is a single original, so the process waits for the copying to the copying machine body to be completed (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 (ste
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.5tep6'
), determine whether the partition lever has fallen during the copying (step 7'), and if the determination is negative, proceed to 5 steps.
Return to step 4' and continue processing.

If the result in step 7' is affirmative, 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. (ste
p14. ), in this embodiment, as described above, the determination is affirmative, so the process proceeds to step 5, starts the switchback 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, 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.

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 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 making the area near the partition member on the top surface of the document tray lower than other surfaces, it is possible to prevent documents from getting stuck in the partition member or jamming with a simple configuration without complicating the device or increasing the number of parts. It has the effect of preventing

[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) and 3(b) are perspective views of the document tray section, and 4th figure is the tray surface. Fig. 5 is a main sectional view showing an example with a reservation function, Fig. 6 is a flowchart, and Figs. 7 and 8 are main sectional views of conventional examples. It is. l...Tray 11...Protrusion member 7...Partition member 72...Subtray 12...Dummy tray

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A sheet material loading table on which sheet materials to be image-processed are loaded, a conveying means for feeding the sheet materials from the loading table, leading them to the image processing section, and discharging them onto the surface of the loading table again; An automatic document feeder comprising a partition member for separating unprocessed sheet materials and processed sheet materials, characterized in that the vicinity of the partition member on a sheet material stacking table surface is lower than other surfaces.