JPH0583457B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a method of controlling an automatic sheet document feeding device such as an electrophotographic copying machine.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, various mechanisms have been proposed and implemented for this type of device, but in all of them, after feeding and conveying a single sheet original, after being exposed and conveyed by an electrophotographic copying machine, etc. The sheet original was ejected and the next original was fed and conveyed.

"Problem to be Solved by the Invention" The problem is that copying only one small original at a time on an electrophotographic copying machine equipped with a large document table is extremely inefficient in the use of the copying machine. It was hot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient method of controlling an automatic document feeder that conveys a document over its entire length onto a document platen and copies the document at once.

[Structure of the invention]

"Means for Solving the Problem" The present invention includes a first feeding means for feeding the original toward a reading position, and a first feeding means disposed upstream of the first feeding means to feed the original toward the reading position. a second feeding means for feeding the document toward the first feeding means; and the first feeding means, the document is temporarily stopped, the leading edge of the subsequently fed document catches up with the trailing edge of the preceding document, and then the preceding document and the succeeding document are sequentially fed to the first document. 1 is a control method for an automatic document feeding apparatus, characterized in that the document is fed toward a reading position by a first feeding means.

"Example" Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an automatic document feeder embodying the present invention. A document feeder section A, a document setter section B, an electrophotographic copying machine main body section C, a document placement tray 1, a document tray 2, and a document reversing section 3 are shown. Figure 2 shows the document feeder section A and the copying machine body C.
FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the document feeder section A, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the drive system of the document feeder section, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view taken from FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing the lower part of FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, a paper feed belt 10 is wound around a paper feed drive pulley 8 fixed to a paper feed drive shaft 6 and a paper feed driven pulley 9 fixed to a paper feed driven shaft 7, and the paper feed belt 10 is wound around an arrow D It is designed to move in the direction.

The paper feeding auxiliary roller 11 is fixed to an arm 13 whose one end is supported by a shaft 7 and to a shaft 12 which is supported by the other end of the arm 13 . A timing belt 14 is wound around a pulley fixed to a shaft 12 and a pulley fixed to a shaft 7.

In the lower part of FIG. 3, the separation driven shaft 15 and the separation drive shaft 16 are each supported on a rocking plate 17 that is supported on a shaft 18, respectively. Pulleys 19 and 20 are fixed to the shafts 15 and 16, respectively.
A separation belt 21 that moves in the direction of arrow E is wound around.

As shown in the upper part of FIG. 6 and FIG. It engages with a pin 23a fixed to the bracket of the moving plate 23. Second
The protrusion 24 of the arm 13 shown in FIGS.
is engaged with the tip of the swing plate 23, and when the pick-up plunger 50 is energized, the arm 13 is energized clockwise about the shaft 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, an actuation plate 26 that drives the swing plate 17 is fixed to an actuation shaft 25, rotates around the actuation shaft 25, and a swing pin 27 fixed to the actuation plate 26 is fixed to the actuation shaft 25. is engaged with the swing plate 17.

A sensor 30 detects the position of the moving element 28 rotating in the direction of arrow F about the shaft 29 through magnetism, light, or the like.

In FIG. 4, a gear 31a fixed to the shaft of a motor 31 meshes with a cam gear 32. In FIG. The separation swing cam 33 and the clutch cam 34 are the cam gear 32
and is driven via a spring clutch 35 provided on the shaft of the cam gear 32.

In FIG. 5, a cam roller 37 that is supported on the tip of a roller arm 36 fixed to the operating shaft 25 is engaged with the separation swing cam 33, and is supported on the tip of a clutch pawl 39 that is supported on a pawl support shaft 38. The cam roller 40 is engaged with the clutch cam 34. Reference numeral 41 denotes a paper feed gear, which meshes with the cam gear 32. A spring clutch 42 is disposed between the paper feed gear 41 and the drive shaft 6, and the drive is transmitted by the clutch pawl 39 being pressed against the control ring 43. At the same time,
Transmission of driving force from the paper feed gear 41 to the shaft 6 is cut off.

In FIG. 6, a pulley 45 fixed to the paper feed drive shaft 6 and a pulley 46 fixed to the swing support shaft 18 are shown.
A timing belt 44 is wound around the belt.

As shown in FIG. 3, the swing support shaft 18 and the separation drive shaft 16 are connected by gears 47, 48, and 49 of a separation gear train. As shown in FIG. 3, the document placement section G is horizontal, and a portion H immediately before the document enters between the paper feed belt 10 and the separation belt 21 is an inclined surface.

In the document setter section B shown in FIG. 2, a pick-up roller 52 made of a rubber-based material with a large coefficient of friction swings around the axis of a feed roller 53 serving as a second feeding means. This feed roller 5
The rotation of the feed roller 53 and the pick-up roller 52 is also transmitted to the pick-up roller 52 via a gear (not shown), and the feed roller 53 and the pick-up roller 52 are configured to rotate in the same direction and have the same circumferential speed. The first driven roller 54 is pivotally connected to the paper feed tray 55, and a sheet-like original is inserted between the pick-up roller 52 and the first driven roller 54, and the pick-up roller 52 presses the original and conveys it. Sometimes, it is configured to follow. A second driven roller (not shown) is located below the feed roller 53.
The roller 53 is configured to be biased vertically toward the axis of the roller 53, and is driven when a sheet-like original passes between the feed roller 53 and a second driven roller (not shown). As shown in FIG. 7, the tip of the pick-up arm 58 fixed to the pick-up arm shaft 57 engages with the engaging portion 56a of the paper feed arm 56, and the pick-up arm shaft
7 rotates counterclockwise or clockwise, the pick-up arm 58 rotates counterclockwise or clockwise, and the paper feed arm 56 also rotates toward the shaft 53a of the feed roller 53.
It is designed to rotate counterclockwise and clockwise around the center.

59 is a reflective sensor that detects the presence or absence of a sheet-like original, and 60 is a reflective sensor that detects the edge of the sheet-like original. The document setter B is the first
A full-surface belt 5 is provided as a feeding means.
This full-surface belt 5 is an endless belt with a width large enough to cover the entire surface of a sheet-like original, and its surface is coated with a rubber-based material having a sufficient coefficient of friction so that the original can be conveyed by frictional force. Even if it gets dirty, it is treated so that the dirt can be removed by treating it with alcohol, etc. The full-surface belt 5 is wound around a drive roller 61 and a turn roller 62, and the turn roller 62 is biased to the left in FIG. Sufficient tension is applied to prevent slippage.

Presser rollers 63, 64, and 65 are provided inside the entire belt 5, and the drive roller 61 and the presser roller 63,
The presser rollers 63 and 64, the presser rollers 64 and 65, and the presser roller 65 and turn roller 62 are arranged at a narrow interval smaller than the interval at which a sheet-like document can be conveyed. Each of the presser rollers 63, 64, and 65 presses the full-face belt 5 against the original platen 4 with a weak pressure, so that sufficient conveying force is generated when the sheet-like original passes between the original platen 4 and the full-face belt 5. ing.

A reflective type sensor 66 for detecting the ejection of a document is arranged near the left end of the belt 5, and if a document does not pass for a certain period of time, a jam lamp is turned on via a control device.

Discharge driven rollers 69 and 70 are provided opposite to the discharge rollers 67 and 68, and are configured to sandwich and discharge a sheet-like original from above the document platen 4. Ejection driven roller 70, ejection roller 68
A document tray 2 is provided adjacent to the discharge port.

In FIG. 7, a drive gear 72 is fixed to the shaft end of a motor 71 that drives a drive roller 61, and the drive gear 72 meshes with a gear 74 via an intermediate gear 73. The gear 74 and a rotatably supported clutch shaft 76 are connected to each other by an electromagnetic clutch 75 which is brought into contact when energized. Electromagnetic brake 7 that stops rotation of clutch shaft 76 when energized
A gear 78 is fixed to the clutch shaft 76, and a clock disc gear 79 meshing with the gear 78 is fixed to the shaft of a clock disc 80.

The clock disk 80 has fine grooves on the circumference,
A photo interrupter 81 reads the number of grooves and counts the number of clocks. A pulley 82 is fixed to the clutch shaft 76, and a belt 85 is wound around the pulley 84 of the drive roller 61 and the pulley 82. A pulley 87 is fixed to the shaft 83 on the drive roller shaft 83 via a spring clutch (not shown) between the pulley 84 and a control ring 86 for the spring clutch.

A plunger 88 is provided to control a control ring 86 via a clutch 89. A belt 90 is wound around a pulley 91 that is fixed to the pulley 87 and the feed roller shaft 53a via a one-way clutch (not shown). The ratio of the diameters of pulley 91 and pulley 87 is selected so that the circumferential speed of full-surface belt 5 is slightly faster than the circumferential speed of feed roller 53.

A plunger 92 is provided, and a lever 93 fixed to the pick-up arm shaft 57 engages with a movable rod of the plunger 92.

Turn on the copy start button, place multiple sheets of originals on the tray, and insert the leading edge of the original into feeder section A.
When the document is inserted into the document intake port M of the
8, the sensor 30 detects the presence of the document,
A signal is sent to the control device, and when the pick-up plunger 50 (FIG. 6) is energized and the operating rod moves to the left, the arm 51 rotates clockwise around the shaft 51a and is activated via the pin 23a. Board 23
rotates counterclockwise around the pick-up operating shaft and pushes the protrusion 24 of the arm 13, causing the arm 13 to rotate clockwise around the paper feed driven shaft 7 and is supported by the arm 13. A paper feed auxiliary roller 11 fixed to a shaft 12 is pressed against the upper surface of the document bundle as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the motor 31 is already in operation, and when the plunger 95 is turned on, the clutch pawl 94 is actuated and disengaged from one protrusion of the control ring of the spring clutch 35, thereby causing the cam 33, 34 rotate half a turn, then the clutch pawl 94 engages with the other protrusion of the control ring 35, and the cams 33, 34 rotate.
34 stops.

As the cams 34 and 33 rotate, cam rollers 37 and 40 that engage with the cams operate. First, the cam roller 37 rises according to the shape of the cam 34, and the operating shaft 2
5 rotates counterclockwise, and the swing plate 17 rotates clockwise around the shaft 18 via the swing pin 27 of the actuating plate 26.
The separation belt 21 wrapped around the document 20 reaches a position where the document can be separated. The cam roller 40 separates and moves the cam 3
3, the clutch pawl 39 disengages from the control ring 43 of the spring clutch 42 on the paper feed drive shaft 6 side, and
The paper feed drive shaft 6 begins to rotate.

The rotation of the paper feed drive shaft 6 is also transmitted to the shaft 18 via a timing belt 44, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the paper feed auxiliary roller 11 starts rotating, and at the same time, the separation belt 21 moves in the direction of arrow E via the shaft 18 and gears 47, 48, 49, and the paper feed belt 10 moves in the direction of arrow D. ing. The document on the tray 1 is conveyed by the auxiliary paper feed roller 11 on the uppermost surface, and since the H portion of the tray 1 is an inclined surface, the sheet-like document on the uppermost layer is pre-coiled by the strength of its own strainer. The document is separated to some extent and then transported between the paper feed belt 10 and the separation belt 21, and since the separation bell 21 is moving in the opposite direction to the movement of the sheet document, only the topmost document is separated and fed. sent.

When the leading edge of the separated and fed document is detected by the sensor (Figs. 2, 3, and 7) arranged between the paper feed drive shaft 6 and the paper feed driven shaft 7, a signal is sent. The plunger 50 (FIG. 6) is deenergized, the arm 13 rotates counterclockwise under the force of the spring 13a, and the auxiliary feeding roller 11 rises.
The document feed by 1 is stopped, but the paper feed belt 1
0 continues feeding.

The leading edge of the document is the entrance sensor 60 of the document setter section B.
When the plunger 95 (FIG. 4) is detected, the plunger 95 (FIG. 4) is turned off, the clutch pawl 94 is disengaged from the other protrusion of the control ring of the spring clutch 35, and the cams 33, 34
rotates half a turn. As a result, the cam roller 40 descends, the clutch pawl 39 engages with the control ring 43 of the spring clutch 42, and the spring clutch 42 is disengaged.
The rotation of the paper feed drive shaft 6 stops. Then, the cam roller 37 descends, the operating shaft 25 rotates clockwise, and the oscillating plate 17 is rotated through the oscillating pin 27 of the operating plate 26.
rotates counterclockwise around the shaft 18, and the rocking plate 1
The separation belt 21 on the paper feed belt 7 separates from the paper feed belt 10, and the sheet-like original is released from being sandwiched between the paper feed belt 10 and the separation belt 21, and becomes free.

That is, when the document is released from the restraint of the document feeder section A,
When the leading edge of the first document conveyed to the document setter section B is detected by the sensor 60, the conveyance of the second and subsequent documents in the document feeder section A is stopped, and as shown in FIG. Pause at the H part shown.

When the sensor 60 detects the leading edge of the first document, the signal generated turns on the plunger 92 shown in FIG. 7, which causes the lever 93, pick-up arm shaft 57,
Paper feed arm 5 via pick-up arm 58
6 rotates clockwise around the feed roller shaft 53a, and the pick-up roller 52 at the entrance of the document setter section B descends to press the document. At the same time, the electromagnetic clutch 75 and the plunger 88 are turned on, and the entire belt 5 is connected to the already operating motor 71, gear 72, intermediate gear 73, gear 74, and clutch shaft 7.
6, pulley 82, belt 85, pulley 84, shaft 8
3. The pick up roller 52 and the feed roller 53 are driven by the motor 7 via the drive roller 61.
1. Gears 72, 73, 74, clutch shaft 76, pulley 82, belt 85, pulley 84, shaft 83, not shown clutch, pulley 87, belt 90,
Driven via the pulley 91 and shaft 53a, the document moves on the platen 4 from right to left in FIG.
At this time, the circumferential speed of the belt 5 is a little faster than the circumferential speed of the rollers 52 and 53, so when the leading edge of the document is conveyed to the belt 5, the rollers 52 and 53 overrun due to the one-way clutch (not shown). The original is now conveyed only by the belt 5.

When the sensor 60 detects the rear end of the document, the electromagnetic clutch 75 and plungers 88, 92 are turned off, and the belt 5 is temporarily stopped. Prior to this, the first document disappeared from the sensor 59,
When the first document disappears from the sensor 59, the function of the document feeder section A returns to its initial state, and the function of the second document feeder section A returns to its initial state.
As described above, when the first document is fed from the document feeder A and the sensor 60 detects its leading edge, the conveyance of the document feeder A is stopped and the sliding plate 17 is lowered. And Pickups Prora 5
2 descends and presses the second document.

The second original is conveyed by the pick-up roller 52, the feed roller 53, and the belt 5, but at the same time the first original is conveyed by the belt 5. The originals move one after the other on the platen 4, and when the leading edge of the first original reaches the fixed position O, a signal is sent to the electromagnetic clutch 75, plunger 88, 92 is turned off, the belt 5 is stopped, and the copying machine main body C performs copying. When copying is completed, the clutch 75 is engaged in response to a completion signal, and the belt 5 transports the first and second originals to the left in FIG. 2 and discharges them onto the tray 2. At the same time, the above operation is repeated for the third and subsequent documents.

In the embodiment of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide one set of belts, and two sets of belt feeding devices 101 and 102 may be provided as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In the case of two sets of belts, if the first document is conveyed by belt 101 and belt 102, and the second document is conveyed by belt 101, then
One copy of a two-page original can be obtained.

The above operation is such that the original is conveyed by the belt 5 and rollers 52, 53 from the time when the sensor 60 detects the leading edge of the original to when the trailing edge is detected, and when the trailing edge is detected, the functions of the sensors 30, 59 are restored. Therefore, the length of the belt 5 on the right from the home position O is 2 times the length of the document.
If the length is twice as long, the above effect will occur, but 1
Double, triple, quadruple, etc... sometimes 1 piece, 3 pieces respectively
The same effect as above is applied to sheets, four sheets, and so on.

The timing for bringing the trailing edge of the first document into contact with or approaching the leading edge of the second document is determined after the sensor 60 detects the leading edge of the first document.
The clock pulses are counted by the clock disk 80 and the photo interrupter 81, and the rear edge of the document is
The second original may be conveyed from the original feeder A so that the leading edge of the second original comes into contact with or approaches the second original.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the method for controlling the automatic document feeder according to the present invention is as described above, it is possible to read two documents at once, and the efficiency of use is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an automatic document feeder embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the document feeder section and document setter section, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the document feeder section, and FIG. 4 5 is a plan view showing the drive system of the document feeder section, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken from FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a side view showing the lower part of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the document setter section. Figures 8 and 9 show the document conveyance section of other embodiments, and Figure 8 is a side view, and Figure 9 is a side view.
The figure is a plan view. 4...Original platen, 5...Belt, 10...
Paper feed belt, 11... Paper feed auxiliary roller, 13...
Arm, 17... rocking plate, 21... separation belt,
22...Pickup operation axis, 30, 59, 60
... Sensor, 50, 88, 92, 95 ... Plunger, 52 ... Pickup roller, 61 ... Drive roller, 75 ... Electromagnetic clutch, 80 ... Clock disk, 81 ... Photo interrupter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first feeding means for feeding the original toward the reading position; a second feeding means for feeding the document toward the second feeding means; While it is between the feeding means, it is temporarily stopped and the leading edge of the subsequently fed document catches up with the trailing edge of the preceding document, and then the preceding document and the succeeding document are sequentially fed to the first document.
A method for controlling an automatic document feeder, characterized in that the automatic document feeder is fed toward a reading position by a feeding means.