JPH0632498A - Loaded material separating and conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey loaded materials by separating the loaded materials into one to be conveyed originally and the other conveyed as a double feed in a simple structure, when a double feed occurs, and to process the loaded materials of the double feed collectively afterward. CONSTITUTION:An electrostatic generator 12 is provided between a conveying roller couple 5 and a register roller couple 7, and a double feed paper conveying passage 18 is provided to the lower side of the electrostatic generator 12. When a double feed is generated, the transfer paper to conveyed originally is atrarted by the electrostatic generator 12 and delivered to a transfer paper conveying passage 17, while the double feed paper 19b is delivered to the double feed conveying passage 18 by their own weight. After the double feed papers 19b are detected by a double feed paper detecting sensor 10, they are discharged to a double feed paper discharge tray 16 by a discharge roller couple 14. When the double feed papers 19b are detected, the operation of the device is stopped after the transfer paper to be conveyed originally has been discharged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer or the like, or an image storage apparatus such as an optical filing apparatus, and more particularly, to feeding or carrying stacked materials that are stacked and accommodated. The present invention relates to a loading material separating / conveying apparatus suitable for the case where double feeding occurs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of loading material separating / conveying device, there has been known one in which a conveying roller portion prevents double feeding (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-50444). This conventional device will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 3
(A) thru | or (d) are schematic block diagrams of the conventional separation conveyance apparatus. In this separating / conveying device, the transfer papers 2 stacked and housed in the cassette 1 are separated one by one by the action of the separating claws 4 when being fed by the paper feeding roller 3 toward the conveying roller pair 5. It is sent to the pair of transport rollers 5. Then, the transfer paper 2 sent to the pair of transport rollers 5 has the upper roller 5a.
Then, the lower roller 5b feeds the sheet to the front and guides the guide member 6 to reach the registration roller pair 7. Here, when a double feed occurs on the transfer paper 2 sent to the transport roller pair 5 by the paper feed roller 3, the first sensor 8 detects the double feed and the second sensor 9 detects the leading end of the transfer paper 2. .
If there is a detection signal from the first sensor 8 and the second sensor 9,
At the same time as the rotation of the lower roller 5b is stopped, the upper roller 5a is allowed to idle and the paper feeding roller 3 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the paper other than the lowermost paper in contact with the lower roller 5b is returned to the cassette 1. It is configured.

In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-9360, there is disclosed a technique in which a fan device is provided in a paper feeding unit and the direction in which a sheet is conveyed is changed by blowing or sucking the sheet. The technique for transporting is disclosed in
Japanese Patent No. 47575 discloses that an intermediate tray for temporarily holding a sheet being conveyed is provided. None of these concerns double feed prevention.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
According to the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50444, even if the double-fed transfer sheet 2 (hereinafter referred to as double-fed sheet) is returned to the cassette 1 by the sheet feeding roller 3, its front end portion is caught by the separation claw 4. Therefore, when the next paper is fed by the paper feed roller 3, the front end of the transfer paper 2 is caught by the separation claw 4 and stored in the cassette 1 (the paper is stored under the returned multi-feed paper). (Transfer paper that is used) is sometimes fed together. Therefore, after the multi-feed occurs, there is a problem that the multi-feed sheet returned to the cassette 1 must be set in the cassette 1 again so that the end of the multi-feed sheet is caught by the separation claw 4. Further, in many cases where there are a plurality of double-fed sheets, it is not possible to return all the double-fed sheets uniformly in the direction of the cassette 1, and there may be a gap between the returned double-fed sheets. . For example, the double-feeding paper (the uppermost double-feeding paper in contact with the paper-feeding roller 3) directly returned to the cassette 1 by the paper-feeding roller 3 is properly returned to the cassette 1, but the double-feeding paper below it Has a problem that it cannot be returned to the cassette 1 and remains inside the sheet feeding device. In addition, since the multi-fed paper cannot be returned to the cassette 1 uniformly, there is a problem that a skew occurs during conveyance and a jam occurs. Further, it is necessary to provide a double feed detection member such as the first sensor 8, which causes a problem of cost increase. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a simple structure for a loading material that is to be originally transported and a loading material that is to be transported when a double feeding occurs. It is an object of the present invention to provide a loading material separating / transporting device that can separately transport the loading materials, and can perform concentrated processing of the loaded materials that have been transported by double feeding.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 conveys a stacking material housed in a stack and reads the information formed on the stacking material with a reading unit. In a stacking material separating / conveying device of an apparatus for forming an image on the stacking material in an image forming section, a suction means is provided above the transporting path of the stacking material to reach the reading section or the image forming section. Forming a multi-feed material conveyance path that branches from the conveyance path in the vicinity of the lower part of the means and extends below the conveyance path part on the downstream side of the suction means in the loading material conveyance direction on the conveyance path. In the case where the stacked loading materials thus fed are double-fed, only the loading material originally transported by the suction means is sucked and transported to the reading section or the image forming section. Further, the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the suction means is an electrostatic generator or a suction fan. Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that an accommodating portion for accumulating and accumulating the stacked materials conveyed through the double-conveying material conveying path is provided. Further, the invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the above-mentioned multi-feeding material conveying path reaches the outside of the above-mentioned apparatus. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, based on the detection means for detecting the presence / absence of the stacked material conveyed by the double feeding and the detection signal from the detection means, the originally conveyed stacked material is discharged. And a control means for stopping the operation of the device later. The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that means for storing information based on a detection signal from the detection means is provided.

[0006]

According to the present invention, even when the loaded material is conveyed by double feeding, only the loaded material that should be originally conveyed is adsorbed by the adsorbing means and separated from the loaded material conveyed by double feeding. Then, the sheet is conveyed on the regular conveying path to the reading section or the image forming section. Further, the load material conveyed by double feeding is conveyed through a route different from the load material to be originally conveyed, and the presence or absence of the load material is detected by the detection means when discharged to the housing portion or the outside of the apparatus. Then, when the loaded material conveyed by double feeding is detected, the operation of the apparatus is stopped after the loaded material to be originally transported is discharged.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a paper feeding / conveying device of an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine) as a separating / conveying device will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet feeding and conveying device of a copying machine according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing how the transfer paper 19a and the multi-feed paper 19b, which should be originally conveyed, are separated and conveyed by the static electricity generator 12 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the same components as those shown in FIG. 3 for explaining the above conventional technique are designated by the same reference numerals.

The structure of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The transfer paper 2 is housed in the cassette 1 in a stacked manner, and the transfer paper 2 is provided in the upper front part of the cassette 1. The paper feeding roller 3 separates and feeds the sheets one by one while receiving the action of the separating claw 4. The upper guide plates 11a and 11b and the lower guide plates 15a and 15b are arranged between the conveying roller pair 5 including the upper roller 5a and the lower roller 5b, and the registration roller pair 7. A paper transport path 17 is formed. The upper guide plates 11a and 11b are the upstream side portion 1
1a and the downstream side portion 11b, and a static electricity generator 12 is arranged between the portions 1a and 11b so that static electricity can be applied to the transfer paper conveyed through the transfer paper conveyance path 17. The lower guide plates 15a and 15b are the static electricity generator 12
Is open at the lower part of the above, and a double-feeding paper feed path 18 extending downward from this open part is formed. In the illustrated example, the downstream end portion of the guide plate 15a forming the upstream portion of the lower guide plates 15a and 15b and the upstream end portion of the guide plate 15b forming the downstream portion thereof are bent and extend downward.
Due to these downwardly extending portions, the double-feeding paper feed path 1
8 is formed. A double-feed detection sensor 10 is provided in the middle of the double-feed transport path 18, and a double-feed discharge tray 16 is provided at the end of the double-feed detection sensor 10. In the illustrated example, the discharge roller pair 14 is also provided in the vicinity of the terminal end portion on the multi-feed paper feed path 18.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The fed transfer paper 2 is transported by a transport roller pair 5 which is provided in front of the cassette 1 and includes two upper and lower rollers 5a and 5b. The transfer paper 2 transported by the transport roller pair 5 is guided to the vicinity of the static electricity generator 12 by being guided by the upper guide plate 11a and the lower guide plate 15a, and the static electricity generator 12 is turned on based on the paper feed command. In this embodiment, the static electricity generator 12 may be always on.

When the transfer paper 2 is double-fed as shown in FIG. 2, the transfer paper 19a, which should be originally transferred, is transferred from the front end portion of the transfer paper 19a as the transfer roller pair 5 moves. It is attracted by the static electricity generated by.
On the other hand, in the double-fed paper 19b, the transfer paper 19a is the static electricity generator 1
As it is sucked by 2, the transfer paper 19a is separated from its front end by gravity. This static electricity generator 1
The electrostatic attraction of 2 is weak enough to overcome gravity,
There is no force that hinders the transfer roller 19 from carrying the transfer paper 19a.

As a result, the transfer paper 19a, which is supposed to be transported along with the transport by the transport roller pair 5, is guided by the upper guide plate 11b and the lower guide plate 15b, passes through the transfer paper transport path 17, and moves up and down. It reaches the registration roller pair 7 composed of two rollers, and is thereafter conveyed to the image forming portion by the registration roller pair 7 to perform image formation such as copying of a document. On the other hand, the multi-fed paper 19b passes through the multi-fed paper conveyance path 18, is detected by the multi-fed paper detection sensor 10 provided in the middle of the multi-fed paper 19b, passes through the pair of ejection rollers 14, and is stacked and stored in the multi-fed paper ejection tray 16. It At this time, when the CPU (central control unit) (not shown) receives the detection signal from the double-feeding paper detection sensor 10, the transfer paper 19a, which should be originally conveyed, is discharged to the outside of the copying machine after image formation, and then the operation of the copying machine is performed. To stop. Further, the CPU memorizes the number of sheets of the transfer paper 2 that has passed through the multi-feed by the detection signal from the multi-feed paper detection sensor 10 so that the information can be taken out as necessary.

In this embodiment, the static electricity generator 12 is used as the suction means, but a suction fan 13 may be used instead. Further, the multi-feed sheet discharge tray 16 may be inside or outside the main body of the copying machine. Further, in the present embodiment, the transfer paper conveyance path 17 extending from the conveyance roller pair 5 to the registration roller pair 7 is formed linearly and horizontally, and the double feed paper conveyance path 18 is transferred below the static electricity generator 12. Although it is formed so as to branch downward from the paper transport path 17, the present invention is not limited to this, and the path from the transport roller pair 5 to the discharge roller pair 14 via the double paper transport path 18 is linear. It is also applicable to the case where the transfer paper transport path 17 is formed horizontally at the position of the static electricity generator 12 and is curved upward with respect to the double paper transport path 18. Further, in the present embodiment, the double-feeding paper feed path 18 is formed by a guide plate or the like, and the double-feeding paper discharge tray 16 is arranged at the end portion thereof,
The present invention is not limited to this, and an opening (opening) is provided in the vicinity of the lower position of the static electricity generator 12 so that the multi-fed paper 19b can drop by its own weight, and below the opening, the sheet is discharged from the opening. The double-feeding paper discharge tray 16 is arranged at a position where it can receive the double-feeding paper 19b, and the double-feeding paper feed path 18 is formed in the space from the opening to the double-feeding paper discharge tray 16. May be. Further, in the present embodiment, the loading material separating / conveying device of the present invention is applied to the transfer paper feeding / conveying device in the copying machine, but the present invention is not limited to this and the laser beam printer is used. The present invention is also applicable to a sheet feeding and conveying device for transfer paper, etc., and an automatic document feeder in a copying machine, an optical filing device, etc.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the stacked materials are conveyed by double feeding, only the stacked materials that should be originally conveyed are sucked and conveyed by the suction means, and then conveyed by double feeding. The loaded material is separated by its own weight and enters a multi-feed material transport path formed separately from the transport path along which the load material that should be originally transported is transported. Therefore, there is an effect that the stacked sheets of the stacked materials can be conveyed to the reading unit or the image forming unit without the need for double feeding. Further, according to the invention of claim 2, since the adsorbing means is constituted by the static electricity generator or the suction fan, the adsorbing means can have a simple structure and the efficiency of the assembling work can be improved. Therefore, there is an effect that the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, according to the invention of claim 3, there is an effect that it is possible to collectively re-transport the stacked materials that have been double-fed and transported. Further, according to the invention of claim 4, since the stacked material conveyed by double feeding does not remain inside the apparatus, there is an effect that a conveyance failure can be prevented. Further, according to the invention of claim 5, the occurrence of the double feeding can be immediately recognized by stopping the operation of the apparatus even when the stacked materials are fed by the double feeding. When copying a file or filing on an information storage medium, there is an excellent effect that leakage of a copy or leakage of a filing can be prevented. Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to obtain the information such as the number of the stacking material in which the double feed occurs when the double feed occurs. If the material separating / conveying device is applied to the automatic document feeder, there is an effect that post-searching and insertion can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet feeding and conveying device of a copying machine according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a state in which a transfer sheet 19a and a multi-feed sheet 19b, which should originally be conveyed, are separated and conveyed by the static electricity generator 12 shown in FIG.

3A to 3D are schematic configuration diagrams of a conventional separating and conveying apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Double-Feed Detection Sensor 11a Upper Guide Plate Upstream Part 11b Upper Guide Plate Downstream Part 12 Static Electricity Generator 13 Suction Fan 14 Discharge Roller 15a Lower Guide Plate Upstream Part 15b Lower Guide Plate Downstream Part 16 Double Feed Paper discharge tray 17 Transfer paper transport path 18 Double feed paper transport path 19a Transfer paper to be originally transported 19b Double feed paper

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A stacking material separating / conveying apparatus for transporting stacked stacking materials and reading information formed on the stacking materials by a reading unit or forming an image on the stacking materials by an image forming unit. In the apparatus, an adsorbing means is provided above the carrying path of the loading material to reach the reading section or the image forming section, and the loading material branches off from the carrying path in the vicinity of the lower part of the adsorbing means, and the loading material on the carrying path. In the transport direction, a double-feed material transport path extending below the transport path portion downstream of the suction means is formed, and when the transported stacked material is double-fed, it is originally transported by the suction means. A loading material separating / conveying device, which adsorbs only the loading material to be conveyed to the reading section or the image forming section. 2. The loading material separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suction means is a static electricity generator or a suction fan. 3. The loading material separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage portion for accumulating and accumulating the loading material conveyed through the double feeding material conveying path. 4. The loading material separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the double feeding material conveying path reaches the outside of the apparatus. 5. A detection means for detecting the presence / absence of the stacked material conveyed by the double feeding and a detection signal of the detection means for detecting the presence / absence of the stacked material. 5. The loading material separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control means for stopping the operation. 6. A loading material separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for storing information based on a detection signal from said detecting means.