JPH09110311A - Automatic paper conveyance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the collision of paper to be discharge against a tray even if the tray is in the vertical condition by forming a paper passing section at a predetermined position of the tray so that paper to be discharged from a discharge port is discharged on a set face when the tray is in an up condition. SOLUTION: A knotched section 61 is formed in such a manner that a position of an upper side 61a of the knotched section 61 which is slightly longer than the overall width of a document discharge port 10 is higher than a position of the document discharge port 10. Furthermore, the knotched section 61 is formed in such a manner that the position of the upper side 61a of the knotched section 61 is lower than the position of the document discharge port 10 and a tip of document to be discharged from the document discharge port 10 does not enter the knotched section 61 when a document receive tray 11 is in a down condition. When the document receive tray 11 is in an up condition, the document to be discharged from the document discharge port 10 passes the knotched section 61 which is formed on the document receive tray 11 and is discharged on a document set face 7. Consequently, even if copying is started while the document receive tray 11 is in an up condition, the document to be discharged does not collide against the document receive tray 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeding device which can be mounted on an image processing device such as a copying machine, a facsimile device, a document image reading device or the like. In particular, it relates to an automatic document feeder for automatically feeding a document to be read by an image processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the case of a copying machine, an automatic document feeder mounted on the copying machine main body has been conventionally known. There are various types and shapes of automatic document feeders, but recently, the width and depth of the automatic document feeder are set within the range of the width and depth of the main body of the copying machine.
It is designed so that there are no protrusions in the left-right or front-back direction relative to the main body of the copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional automatic document feeder for a copying machine, as seen from the front side.
The automatic document feeder 92 mounted on the upper surface of the copying machine body 91 is shaped to fit within the width and depth of the copying machine. Therefore, the central upper surface of the automatic document feeder 92 is a document setting surface 93. Original setting surface 93
The original set at is taken in from the inlet 94 on the left side, inverted by 180 degrees, and sent to the platen glass 95 provided on the upper surface of the copying machine main body 91. Then, the contents of the original are read in this state, and a copy of the original is formed in the copying machine main body 91. Thereafter, the original document on the platen glass 95 is moved to the right side, inverted by 180 degrees, and ejected onto the tray 97 from the ejection port 96 on the right side. Tray 97
The lower end is rotatably attached to the vicinity of the right end of the document setting surface 93, and extends obliquely upward to the upper space of the document setting surface 93. By arranging the tray 97 in this way,
The space on the document setting surface 93 is effectively used, and the tray 97
Does not project outside the body of the copier.

By the way, when an original of large size, for example, Japanese Industrial Standard No. A3 (hereinafter referred to as "A3 size") is set on the original setting surface 93, the tray 97 extending on the original setting surface 93 is an obstacle. become. In such a case, the user places the original on the original setting surface 93 after manually raising the tray 97 substantially vertically as shown by the broken line so as not to get in the way. Further, the tray 97 is returned to the original slanted state after the document is set.

[0005]

However, if the user forgets to return the tray 97 to the original slanted state and copying is performed with the tray 97 standing in a substantially vertical position indicated by the broken line, the discharge port 96 is formed. The copied originals discharged from the tray 9
7 may collide with the document, jam the document, or damage the document.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned apparatus, the proximity sensor 98 is provided near the discharge port 96, and the magnet 9 is attached to the tray 97.
9 was buried, and the state in which the tray 97 stood substantially vertically was detected, and in that state, copy processing could not be performed. However, with this device, if an attempt is made to make a copy while the tray 97 is upright, copying cannot be done, so a user who is unfamiliar with the operation may mistake the device for failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic paper feeding device capable of ejecting a paper without causing a paper jam or damaging the paper even when the tray stands substantially vertically. .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, an automatic conveying apparatus of the present invention is provided with a set surface for setting sheets to be conveyed, and both sides of the set surface are opposed to each other with a set surface therebetween. And a discharge port, which has the intake port and the discharge port provided as described above, takes in the sheet set on the setting surface from the intake port, conveys the sheet through a predetermined path, and discharges the sheet in the direction of the setting surface from the discharge port. One end is attached in the vicinity, the other end extends obliquely into the space above the setting surface, and is in a down state for receiving the paper discharged from the discharge outlet so as to guide it obliquely upward, and from the one end approximately vertically above or the setting surface. A tray that is displaceable in an up state in which it rises in a direction opposite to the upper space of the tray, and a sheet discharged from a discharge port when the tray is in the up state is placed at a predetermined position of the tray. As will be discharged to Tsu up surface, it is characterized in that the sheet passing portion for permitting the passage of the sheet is formed.

According to the configuration of the present invention, the sheet set on the setting surface is taken in from the inlet, is conveyed by the conveying means, and is discharged from the outlet in the direction of the setting surface. The tray provided near the discharge port can be displaced between the down state and the up state. During normal paper discharge, the tray is in the down state and receives the paper discharged from the discharge port. Also, in order to set the paper on the setting surface, even if the paper is discharged while the tray is in the up state, the paper passage portion is formed in the tray,
The ejected paper passes through the paper passage section and is ejected to the setting surface. As a result, the ejected paper does not collide with the tray even when the tray is in the up state. Therefore, a paper jam does not occur and the paper is not damaged.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail by taking an automatic document feeder for a copying machine as an example. However, the automatic paper feeding apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the automatic original feeding apparatus for a copying machine, but is also an automatic original feeding apparatus for a facsimile machine, an automatic document feeding apparatus for a document reading device connected to a computer or the like. The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus, an automatic paper conveying device for a printing machine, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. The automatic document feeder 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the copying machine body 2. An unillustrated platen glass (glass for arranging a document to be copied) is provided on the upper surface of the copying machine main body 2, and the automatic document feeder 1 also serves as this cover.

On the front side of the upper surface of the copying machine main body 2, various operation key groups 4 including a copy start key 3 and a display 5 are provided.
An operation panel 6 including is provided. Copier body 2
The operation of the automatic document feeder 1 and the like are performed via the operation panel 6. A document setting surface 7 is formed at the center of the upper surface of the automatic document feeder 1. Original setting surface 7
Is a surface for setting a document to be copied. A pair of document width regulation guides 8 are provided on the front side and the rear side on the setting surface 7. This regulation guide 8
Are moved in association with each other in the approaching direction or the separating direction, and are operated so as to match the width of the document set on the document setting surface 7.

On the left side of the document setting surface 7, a document inlet 9 is provided.
Are formed. A document discharge port 10 is formed on the right side of the document setting surface 7. The widths of the document inlet 9 and the document outlet 10 are such that a document of the maximum size that can be set on the document setting surface 7, such as an A3 size document, can pass through. The documents set on the document setting surface 7 are taken in one by one from the document inlet 9, placed on the platen glass described above to read the image, and the document outlet 10 is provided.
Emitted from. Further, a document receiving tray 11 is provided in association with the document discharge port 10. Since the mechanism itself for conveying the original document is not a feature of the present invention and is well known, its description is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining the shape and structure of the document receiving tray 11. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the document discharge port 10 as seen from the front,
In order to explain the positional relationship between the document discharge port 10 and the document receiving tray 11, the configuration is schematically shown. In the lower part of the document receiving tray 11, a rectangular notch 61 that functions as a paper passage portion that allows the passage of paper is formed. By forming the cutout portion 61, the attachment portions 62a and 62b are present on both sides of the cutout portion 61. The lower ends of the attachment portions 62a and 62b are rotatably attached by a pin 64 provided near the right end of the original setting surface 7, and the original receiving tray 11 is attached to the original setting surface 7 by the pin 64.
Toward the upper space, the so-called cantilever holding state that extends diagonally upward to the left (shown by the solid line in FIG. 3) and the up state that stands substantially vertically (shown by the broken line in FIG. 3). It can be displaced to.

The length of the notch 61 in the longitudinal direction is equal to or larger than the entire width of the document discharge port 10. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the document receiving tray 11 is in the up state, the position of the upper side 61a of the cutout portion 61 is set to the document discharge port 10
The notch 61 is formed so as to be higher than the position (indicated by a chain double-dashed line). Further, the document receiving tray 1
When 1 is in the down state, the position of the upper side 61a of the cutout 61 becomes lower than the position of the document discharge port 10, and the notch is formed so that the leading edge of the document discharged from the document discharge port 10 does not enter the cutout 61. The part 61 is formed.

As described above, providing the notch 61 in the document receiving tray 11 has the following advantages. When the document receiving tray 11 is in the down state shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the document discharged from the document discharging port 10 is guided to the document receiving tray 11 and discharged onto the document receiving tray 11. On the other hand, the document receiving tray 11
In the up state shown by the broken line in FIG. 3,
The document discharged from the document discharge port 10 passes through the cutout portion 61 formed in the document receiving tray 11 and is discharged onto the document setting surface 7.

As a result, when a document of the maximum size that can be set on the document setting surface 7, for example, an A3 size document, is set, the document receiving tray 11 is set to the up state and then the document receiving tray 11 is returned to the down state. Even if the user forgets, and the copy is started in that state, the discharged original does not collide with the original receiving tray 11. Therefore, the document is not jammed and the document is not damaged.
Therefore, the copy operation does not need to be prohibited in order to prevent the original from hitting the original receiving tray 11. Further, since the sensor for detecting the state of the document receiving tray 11 is not required, the automatic document feeder 1 can be constructed at low cost.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the document receiving tray 1
Although the notch 61 was formed in No. 1, it is not limited to this,
As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 63 may be provided at a predetermined position of the document receiving tray 11. However, the opening 63 is
The document receiving tray 11 is formed so as to permit passage of discharged documents only when the document receiving tray 11 is in the up state.

Although the document receiving tray 11 is manually placed in the up state and the down state, it is connected to a drive mechanism including a motor and gears so as to match the operating state of the automatic document feeder 1. It may be automatically driven into an up state and a down state. At this time, for example, even if a malfunction such as the document receiving tray 11 not changing from the up state to the down state at the time of discharging the document occurs, the document is discharged without causing a document jam or damaging the document.

Besides, various modifications can be made within the scope described in the claims.

[0021]

According to the present invention, even when the tray is in the up state, the discharged paper does not hit the tray. Therefore, a paper jam does not occur and the paper is not damaged. Therefore, in order to prevent the paper from hitting the paper tray, it is not necessary to prohibit the paper transport operation when the tray is in the up state. Further, since the sensor for detecting the up / down state of the tray is not required, the device can be constructed at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining the shape and structure of a document receiving tray.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the document discharge port 10 as viewed from the front for explaining the positional relationship between the document discharge port and the document receiving tray.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining the shape and structure of another document receiving tray.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional automatic document feeder for a copying machine, as viewed from the front side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Automatic Paper Feeding Device 7 Original Setting Surface 9 Original Intake 10 Original Outlet 11 Original Receiving Tray 61 Notch 63 Opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet set on a set surface, the set surface for setting a sheet to be conveyed, and an inlet and an outlet provided on both sides of the set surface so as to face each other across the set surface. The conveying means for taking in from the inlet, conveying it through a predetermined path, and discharging from the outlet in the direction of the set surface, and one end attached to the vicinity of the outlet and the other end extending obliquely to the space above the set surface and discharging. A tray that is displaceable into a down state for receiving a sheet discharged from an outlet so as to guide it obliquely upward, and an up state that rises from one end in a substantially vertical upward direction or in a direction opposite to the space above the set surface,
A paper passage unit is formed at a predetermined position of the tray to permit passage of the paper so that the paper ejected from the ejection port is ejected to the setting surface when the tray is in the up state. An automatic paper transport device characterized in that