JPH07199557A - Method for feeding original and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent collision of originals and damage such as bending of original when feeding and placing the plurality of originals onto a platen so that they are in contact with each other one behind the other in the carrying direction, in an original-feeding method and device of a so-called two-in-one system. CONSTITUTION:In the original-feeding method for placing a plurality of originals, separated one by one, onto the platen P of an image-forming device one behind the other in the carry direction, the preceding original is once stopped on this side of the platen, the rear end of the preceding original in the carrying direction is also drawn further backward than the locus of the carry of the front end of the following original, the front end of the following original is superposed on the rear end of the preceding original a prescribed amount, and then both the originals are separated from each other a prescribed amount by the time they are placed on the platen P.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for feeding originals, and more particularly, the originals are fed to the platen of the image forming apparatus in succession before and after in the conveying direction, and a plurality of originals are simultaneously or individually subjected to image processing. Involved in things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to secure an increasing storage space for documents, two originals can be copied as one half size copy, and a plurality of originals are placed on a platen before and after the conveying direction. And expose it at the same time. A so-called two-in-one method or a feeding method also called a continuous feeding method is adopted. Conventionally, as a method of placing a plurality of originals on the platen before and after the conveying direction, generally, the preceding original is temporarily stopped at a predetermined position in the middle of conveyance before the platen,
The leading edge of the succeeding original is abutted against the trailing edge of the preceding original in the stand-by state, and is then brought into contact with the trailing edge of the original.

[0003]

However, when the leading edge of the succeeding original is abutted against the trailing edge of the preceding original in the stand-by state for stopping according to the conventional method, the originals may be damaged by being collided with each other. There was a problem.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems in the prior art. In a so-called two-in-one method and apparatus for feeding an original, a plurality of originals to be fed and placed on a platen are placed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document feeding method and device that do not collide with each other and are not damaged when the documents are brought into contact with each other in the front-back direction.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is as follows: (1) A plurality of originals separated into one sheet are placed on the platen of the image forming apparatus in a row in the front-back direction. In the document feeding method, the leading document is temporarily stopped before the platen, the trailing end of the leading document in the feeding direction is retracted from the trail of the leading end of the trailing document, and the leading end of the trailing document is placed behind the leading document. A document feeding method in which after stacking a predetermined amount on the end portion, the two documents are separated by a predetermined amount from each other before being placed on the platen.
Specifically, in the document feeding method, a paper feeding unit that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and a conveyance unit that conveys the documents fed by the paper feeding unit onto the platen are Before the platen is placed on the platen, there is a conveyance speed difference that allows the two documents to be overlapped and separated by a predetermined amount, and the conveyance device temporarily stops the preceding document before the platen, while the succeeding document is fed by the paper feeding unit. Paper, and after stacking the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document by a predetermined amount,
The one which is fed at the same time by the paper feeding means and the conveying means. The original feeding method includes a paper feeding unit that separates and feeds a plurality of originals into one sheet, and a conveying unit that conveys the originals fed by the paper feeding unit onto the platen. While the preceding document is temporarily stopped before the platen, the following document is fed by the paper feeding means, the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are overlapped by a predetermined amount, and then both documents are A structure in which the driving timing of the conveying means corresponding to the overlapped predetermined amount is advanced and then the paper feeding means is driven to feed both originals at the same speed. (2) In a document feeding device that stacks a plurality of separated originals on the platen of the image forming apparatus in a row in the front-rear direction, the preceding original is temporarily stopped before the platen, and The rear end portion in the conveying direction is retracted from the conveying locus of the leading end portion of the succeeding original document, while the succeeding original document is conveyed, and the superposing means for superposing a predetermined amount of the rear end portion of the preceding original document and the leading end portion of the succeeding original document, and the superposing means. A document feeding device comprising a separating unit that separates both documents overlapped by a predetermined amount until they are placed on the platen by the alignment unit. Specifically, the document separating device in the document feeding device is a paper feeding device that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and a conveyance device that conveys the documents fed by the paper feeding device onto the platen. And a control unit that controls the conveyance speed difference such that the two documents can be separated by a predetermined amount until they are placed on the platen. The document separating device in the document feeding device includes a paper feeding device that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and a conveying device that conveys the document fed by the paper feeding device onto the platen. Then, by the time the both documents are placed on the platen, the drive timing of the conveying means corresponding to the predetermined amount in which both documents are superposed is advanced, and then the paper feeding means is driven to move both documents at the same speed. A document feeder including a feeding means. Consists of

[0006]

According to the present invention, the preceding document is temporarily stopped before the platen, the trailing end of the preceding document in the carrying direction is retracted from the trail of the leading end of the succeeding document, and the leading end of the succeeding document is placed behind the preceding document. After overlapping a certain amount on the end,
The two documents are separated from each other by a predetermined amount before they are placed on the platen. , The originals do not collide with each other and the originals are not bent or damaged.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A device configuration according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Document feeder 10
Is placed on the upper surface of the platen P of the image forming apparatus C and has a document tray 11 on which a document is placed, a paper feed unit 20 for separating the document into one sheet, and feeding the document onto the platen P for localization. A transport unit 40 for discharging and a discharge unit 50 for discharging the exposed original document
And a paper discharge tray 12 for accumulating discharged originals. The paper feed unit 20 blocks a pickup roller 21 that feeds the bottommost sheet of the stacked originals and feeds it, a weight leaf spring 22 that presses the topmost sheet, a separation roller 24 that contacts and separates the bottommost sheet, and blocks the second sheet and above. It is composed of a separation pad 25 and registration rollers 30, 31, etc.,
Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, a reversing space portion 28 is constituted by an outer guide plate 26 and an inner guide plate 27 for bending the rear end of the original between the separating roller 24 and the registration rollers 30, 31. Has been done. Further, the registration rollers 30 and 31 are connected to the MOTI which is a variable drive source, and an introduction path 33 for guiding the document to just before the conveyance section 40 is provided on the downstream side thereof. A size sensor 32 is arranged to detect the size of the original by detecting the front end and the rear end of the original through the reversing space 28. Further, as shown in the figure, the outer guide plate 26 is provided with guide means 29 for preventing the trailing end of the preceding document and the leading end of the document of the next document from interfering with each other. The transport unit 40 is connected to the variable speed MOTII,
A conveyor belt 43 is stretched around a pair of belt rollers 41 and 42, and a plurality of press rollers 44 are arranged on the platen side of the conveyor belt 43. The discharge unit 50 has a discharge roller 52 and a discharge guide 51 and a reverse feed guide 54 that surround the discharge roller 52.
A switching claw 53 for switching between reversing and reverse feeding for back side copying is provided. The feeding device 10 is equipped with a control device (not shown), and its control will be described in the following operation description.

Next, one operation of the front-end control of the present invention by a control device (not shown) with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. One of the control methods for superimposing a predetermined amount and will be described. In the document feeding apparatus 10 of this type, one of a single-sheet feeding mode and a continuous feeding mode is normally selected, but here, a plurality of documents are simultaneously image-formed by an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a main body apparatus). A case of a so-called continuous feed mode in which the sheet is sent to the platen P of C) will be described. When the start button is pressed, the feeding device 1
0 starts feeding the first document (S1). Subsequently, the separating operation is performed, and the first original is separated and fed into one sheet for the first time (S2). Then, the leading edge of the document is detected (S3), and if the leading edge is detected (S4), the trailing edge of the document is subsequently detected.
When 1 starts (S5), the second document is fed out and separated (S8, S9). The first document is temporarily stopped by the timer TM1 being up (S6,
S7). At this time, the rear end of the first document is located past the guide means 29 provided on the outer guide plate 26. on the other hand,
For the second original, the timer TM2 starts when the leading edge is detected by the size sensor 32 (S10).
At the time-up (S11), the first document is sent together with the first document by the transport unit 40, and the fixed position is stopped and the two sheets are simultaneously exposed (S12, 13, 14). While the timer TM2 is operating, the leading edge of the second document advances so as to ride on the guide means 29 (FIG. 2 (b)).
However, when the time is reached by hitting the registration rollers 30 and 31 without interfering with the trailing edge of the first document, the leading edge of the first document and the trailing edge of the first document are overlapped with each other. The rear part is largely curved in the reversal space part 28, and the oblique posture that may have occurred at the time of separation is corrected.

Next, a second embodiment of a control method for superposing a predetermined amount of the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). . Book second
In the feeding device 60 of the embodiment, the preceding document is stopped immediately after it exits the registration rollers 30 and 31, and the next document is overlappedly fed when it exceeds the registration rollers 30 and 31 by a predetermined amount. It is a thing. In the above operation, a step portion 61 is provided in which the trailing edge of the document falls immediately after the trailing edge of the original leaves the registration rollers 30 and 31.
The trailing edge of the preceding document is guided by the guide passage 3 due to the rigidity of the document itself.
It extends along 3 and does not interfere with the leading edge of the following document (see FIG. 4 (b)).

Next, a third embodiment of a control method for superposing a predetermined amount of the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). . Book Third
In the feeding device 70 of the embodiment, the registration rollers 30, 31
In the introduction path 33 immediately downstream of the guide means 71 as shown in the drawing.
Is provided. The guide means 71 is made of a thin elastic material in a tilted posture and allows it to easily pass therethrough in the direction of movement of the document, but guides it toward the base in the case of movement in the opposite direction. , It is designed not to allow the progress to continue. As an operation, the preceding document is temporarily stopped when it exits the registration rollers 30 and 31, and then retracted by a predetermined amount. Then, when the next document to be fed is protruded from the registration rollers 30 and 31 by a predetermined amount, both documents are superposed and fed. When the trailing edge of the preceding document is fed backward, it can be avoided by the guide means 71 to the upper side of the introduction path 33 as shown in FIG. 5 (b) and interfere with the leading edge of the following document to be followed. Absent. Further, the registration roller and the transport unit are individually provided with variable drive sources M.
Since it is driven by OTI and MOTII, by controlling the overlap, it is possible to freely control the relative positional relationship between the preceding document and the next document to be fed.

Further, in addition to the above method, as shown in FIG. 6, the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are used on the upstream side of the platen by utilizing the step between the platen surface and the conveyance guide surface. It is also possible to adopt a control method of superimposing a predetermined amount.

Next, based on FIG. 6, the two documents, in which the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are overlapped by a predetermined amount under the above control, are placed before the two documents are placed on the platen. A description will be given of a control method in which both originals are separated by a predetermined amount and the originals are brought into contact with each other on the platen in the front-rear direction. First, (a) in the figure shows a state in which the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are overlapped by a predetermined amount Δ using the step of the platen. Further, in this case, V1 and T1 of the sheet feeding system including the pickup roller 21 ', the separation roller 24', the separation roller 25 ', and the registration rollers 30 and 31 are used for overlapping the originals,
Until they are placed on the platen, a predetermined amount Δ of the two originals are separated, and a low speed and a time for sending them at the low speed so that both originals are in contact with each other in the transport direction on the platen. Show. Further, V2 and T2 of the transport system constituted by the transport belt 40 on the platen P are separated by a predetermined amount Δ before the two originals are overlapped until they are placed on the platen. , Shows the high speed and the time to send both originals on the platen so that both the originals are in contact with each other before and after in the conveying direction. In addition, the speed of V1 and V2 is made constant,
The timing at which the driving timings of T1 and T2 can be separated by a predetermined amount Δ may be detected by detecting the number of driving pulses and driving-controlled. See also T
The drive control may be such that the speeds of 1 and T2 are constant and the drive timings of V1 and V2 are separated by a predetermined amount Δ, and the selection control can be freely performed by combining these. In the figure, (b) shows a state in which the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are superposed by a predetermined amount Δ on the downstream side of the registration rollers 30 and 31 in the document conveying direction in front of the platen. The control of is similar to that of (a). In the figure, (c) shows a state in which the trailing edge of the preceding document and the leading edge of the following document are overlapped by a predetermined amount Δ on the upstream side of the registration rollers 30 and 31 in the document conveying direction. (A)
It is similar to the case of. In the figure, (d) shows a state in which the trailing end of each overlapping original document and the leading end of the succeeding document are separated, and both documents are joined together in the front-back direction in the transport direction on the platen.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, the leading document is temporarily stopped in front of the platen, and the trailing end of the leading document in the carrying direction is retracted from the trail of the trailing end of the trailing document, thereby leading the leading end of the trailing document. After stacking a predetermined amount on the rear end of the preceding document, the two documents are separated from each other by a predetermined amount until the two documents are placed on the platen. It is possible to provide a document feeding method and device that do not collide with each other and are not damaged when a plurality of documents to be fed and placed in the front and rear sides are brought into contact with each other in the front-back direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a structural diagram of a main part of a document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an operation explanatory view of the document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 (a) is a structural view of the essential parts of a second embodiment of the document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 (b) is an operation explanatory diagram of the second embodiment of the document feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 (a) is a main part structural view of a third embodiment of the document feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5B is an operation explanatory view of the third embodiment of the document feeding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the document feeder according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Document Feeding Device (First Embodiment) 20 Paper Feeding Part 29 Guide Means 40 Conveying Section 60 Document Feeding Device (Second Embodiment) 61 Stepped Part 70 Document Feeding Device (Third Embodiment) 71 Guide Part MOTI Registration roller drive motor MOTII Conveyor drive motor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Kono 1 430 Kobayashi, Masuho-machi, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture Niska Corporation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method of feeding a plurality of originals, which are separated into one sheet, in a row in the front-back direction in a conveying direction and placed on a platen of an image forming apparatus. The trailing edge of the original in the feeding direction is retracted from the trail of the leading edge of the succeeding original, the leading edge of the succeeding original is superposed on the trailing edge of the preceding original by a predetermined amount, and then both originals are placed on the platen. A document feeding method in which the two documents are separated from each other by a predetermined amount until the two documents are stacked, and the two documents are juxtaposed on a platen. 2. The document feeding method according to claim 1, wherein a sheet feeding unit that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and a conveying unit that conveys the document sheet fed by the sheet feeding unit onto the platen. And a conveyance speed difference that allows the two documents to be separated by a predetermined amount before being placed on the platen, and the preceding document is temporarily stopped in front of the platen by this conveyance means while the following document is An original feeding method in which the paper is fed by the paper feeding means, the trailing edge of the preceding original and the leading edge of the succeeding original are overlapped by a predetermined amount, and then the paper is fed simultaneously by the paper feeding means and the conveying means. 3. The document feeding method according to claim 1, wherein a sheet feeding unit that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and a conveying unit that conveys the document sheet fed by the sheet feeding unit onto the platen. According to the above, the preceding document is temporarily stopped by the conveying means before the platen, the following document is fed by the paper feeding means, and the trailing end of the preceding document and the leading end of the following document are overlapped by a predetermined amount. After that, the document feeding method is configured such that the driving timing of the conveying unit corresponding to a predetermined amount in which both documents are overlapped is advanced, and then the document feeding unit is driven to feed both documents at the same speed. 4. A document feeding device for placing a plurality of originals separated into one on the platen of an image forming apparatus in a row in the front-back direction and in the conveying direction, and temporarily stops the preceding document before the platen. A stacking unit that retracts the trailing end of the document in the transport direction from the transport path of the leading end of the following document, transports the following document, and superimposes the trailing end of the preceding document and the leading end of the following document by a predetermined amount. By the time the two originals superposed by the superposing means are placed on the platen, the originals are separated by a predetermined amount and the originals are juxtaposed on the platen. Document feeder. 5. The document separating device in the document feeder according to claim 4, wherein the document separating device separates a plurality of documents into one and feeds the document, and the document fed by the paper feeding unit is the platen. And a conveying means for conveying the sheet onto the platen, and a control means for controlling the sheet so as to have a sheet conveying speed difference capable of separating the two sheets by a predetermined amount until the both sheets are placed on the platen. Document feeder. 6. The document separating device in the document feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the document separating device is a paper feeding device that separates and feeds a plurality of documents into one sheet, and the document fed by the paper feeding device is the platen. And a conveying means for conveying the sheet onto the platen. By the time the both originals are placed on the platen, the driving timing of the conveying means corresponding to a predetermined amount in which the both originals are superposed is advanced, and then the sheet feeding means. A document feeding device comprising a control means for driving both the documents and feeding them at the same speed.