JPH1090807A - Original size detector for copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically detect an original size in the opening condition of an original cover plate so as to improve operability, and to reduce power wastefully consumed. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a control means 10 to which the output of an open detecting means 8 detecting the opening condition of the original cover plate 4 of a copying machine 1 and the output of the photodetector 6 of an original detecting means having plural illuminating means 5 disposed on positions corresponding to the size of the original 2 on the lower part of the original platen 3 of the copying machine and the photodetector 6 provided on the original cover plate are inputted. Deflecting lenses 9 are respectively provided above each means 5 freely movable between the illuminating range position just above the means 5 and the positions other than the illuminating range. The means 10 moves the lenses 9 to the illuminating range position based on the opening signal of the open detecting means 8 and also turns on the means 5 to irradiate the photodetector 6 with a light beam, so that an original size detecting means detects the original size based on the output of the photodetector 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a document size detecting device for a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional document size detecting device includes a plurality of light receiving elements (or light emitting elements) arranged in accordance with the size of a document inside a document pressing plate on a document table. A light emitting element (or light receiving element) facing the light receiving element (or light emitting element) is arranged in accordance with the size of the document, and the closing signal from the close detecting means for detecting the closed state of the document pressing plate is used to detect the document. An apparatus for performing size detection is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-100139 and is well known. It is as shown in FIGS.
A document holding plate 4 is provided above and below a document table 3 of a copying machine 1 'on which a document is placed. The document holding plate 4 is always lit so that a light emitting surface is exposed on the bottom surface of the document holding plate 4. And a light receiving element 6 is provided below the document holding plate 4 so as to face the surface light emitting element 15 and to be movable in the scanning direction of the document 2. Is closed and the copy start switch 16 is pressed, the light receiving element 6 moves in the scanning direction (the direction of arrow B) from the reference position, and as shown in FIG. A reference value is obtained by receiving light from the planar light emitting element 15 that transmits outside the range, and the reference value is compared with a detection signal obtained within a range where the document 2 is placed. , The presence or absence and size of the original 2 are detected.

[0003]

In the conventional document size detecting device as described above, the document pressing plate is closed and the automatic detection of the document size is started by the closing operation signal from the closing detecting means. In the case of, if the document holding plate is turned upward and opened, the document size cannot be detected and the workability is poor, and the light is always emitted even when the document is not placed on the document table. Since the element is turned on, there is a problem that power consumption is wasted.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problem of the conventional document size detecting device, and to perform automatic detection of the document size even in the open state of the document pressing plate, thereby improving workability. An object of the present invention is to provide a document size detecting device capable of reducing waste of power consumption.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to the first aspect of the present invention relates to a document size detecting device for a copying machine as described above. Open detection means for detecting the open state, and control means to which the output of the open detection means and the output of the light receiving element are input are provided, and a deflecting lens is provided above each of the illumination means. The control means moves the deflecting lens to the illumination range position and turns on the illumination means based on the open signal of the open detection means. A beam is applied to the light receiving element, and the document size detecting means detects the document size based on the output of the light receiving element.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means turns on only the illuminating means closest to the document placing reference position, and a light-shielding object enters between the light receiving element paired with the illuminated lighting means. When it is detected that the other light-emitting elements of the illuminating means are turned on, the document size detecting means detects the document size.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the same parts as those in the prior art are referred to by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. A first embodiment of the present invention is as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and includes a document table 3 on which a document is placed on the upper part of a main body of a copying machine 1 and a document table which is rotated upward about one side as an axis. An original pressing plate 4 that can be opened and closed with respect to 3 and an opening detecting means 8 that detects and outputs that an opening angle formed between the original platen 3 and the original pressing plate 4 becomes a predetermined angle is provided. The document holding plate 4 opened at the opening angle is kept open by a holding member (not shown).

An original size detecting device 7 has an illuminating means 5 and a light receiving element 6, and detects an original size based on an output of the light receiving element 6. A control means 10 to which the output of the element 6 is input, a deflecting lens which can be moved by a moving means 11 between an illumination range position immediately above each illumination means 5 and a position outside the illumination range (off position). 9 is provided.

The document table 3 has light emitting elements, which are illuminating means 6 for irradiating the placed document 2, positioned at the respective vertical and horizontal side edges of the document placing portion and positioned below the document table 3. A light receiving element 6 for receiving a light beam and outputting a signal is provided on the original pressing plate 4 in correspondence with the illumination means 6.

When the original holding plate 4 is opened at a predetermined angle, the deflecting lens 9 applies the light beam of the illuminating means 5 to the original holding plate 4.
The light is deflected toward the light receiving element 6 provided in the first position. Then, the deflecting lens 9 is moved on all the illuminating means 5 of the illuminating means 5 arranged in the vertical direction (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3) and the illuminating means 5 arranged in the horizontal direction perpendicular to this column. A moving means 11 in the vertical direction and a moving means in the horizontal direction (not shown) are provided so as to be able to perform the above operations. These moving means include a rail 11a for guiding the deflecting lens 9, a drive motor (not shown), and the like. Based on an open signal from the open detecting means 8, the control means 10 moves in the vertical and horizontal directions. Activating the deflecting lens 9 to activate the illuminating means 5
To the illumination range position. In addition, the moving means is not limited to a method in which the arranged deflecting lens is moved by sliding on the rail, and a method of rotating the deflecting lens to an illumination range position and a position outside the illumination range around the support shaft at that position. There may be.

The light-emitting portion of the illuminating means 5 is directed to the original placed on the original platen 2. When the original pressing plate 4 is in a predetermined open state, the deflecting lens 9 is moved to the upper surface of the illuminating means 5. The light beam is deflected and received by the light receiving element 6, and when the document pressing plate 4 is closed, the light beam of the illumination means 5 proceeds straight and is received by the light receiving element 6.

In such a case, the control means 10 moves the deflection lens 9 to the illumination range position and turns on all the illumination means 5 based on the open signal of the open detection means 8 to turn on the light beam, When the document is placed on the light receiving element 6 and the document is placed, the document size detecting means detects the document size based on the output of the light receiving element 6 which is not shaded by the document.

In such a case, the size of the original 2 on the original platen 3 can be detected even when the original pressing plate 4 is opened at a predetermined position, and the original pressing plate 4 can be detected.
If you close the button, copying can be performed immediately, which improves workability.

The copying machine 1 is provided with a closing detecting means 17 for detecting a state in which the document pressing plate 4 is closed.
When the closing of the document holding plate 4 is started and the open signal is turned off, the control means 10 turns off all the illuminating means 5 and moves the deflecting lens 9 out of the illuminating range.

The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that
When the original presser plate 4 is opened or the original presser plate 4 is closed, the control means 10 controls the original reference position (in this case, based on the open signal of the open detection means 8 or the close signal of the close detection means 17). The illumination means 5a closest to the reference position is set to the left side of the original document as a reference position), and when the document 2 as a shield enters between the illumination means 5a and the light receiving element 6a forming a pair, the light receiving element Since the light beam is not received by the light source 6a, the control means 10 turns on the other illuminating means 5 assuming that the original 2 is placed on the original platen 3 by the OFF signal, and turns on the illuminating means 5 which is not shaded by the original 2. The light beam is received by the light receiving element 6 and output, and the size of the document is detected based on the output.

The flow of operations up to the start of document size detection when the document pressing plate 4 is in the open state will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the open detecting means 8 detects that the original pressing plate 4 is open (step 5-2Y), the deflecting lens 9 is illuminated to detect the original size when the original pressing plate 4 is open. Then, only the illuminating means 5a is turned on, and the light receiving element 6a is turned off when the document 2 is placed on the document table 3 (step 5-4). All the illuminating means 6 are turned on (step 5-5) to detect the document size. If it is determined that the open detecting means 8 is not in the ON state when the document pressing plate 4 is not opened at the predetermined position (N in Step 5-2), the deflecting lens 9 is moved to a place outside the illumination range (Step 5-2). 5-7, 5-8). At this time, the light beam is not deflected and travels straight upward.

Further, when the document holding plate 4 starts to be closed and the open signal of the open detecting means 8 is turned off, the control means 10 turns off all the illuminating means 5 and when the document holding plate 4 is closed at a predetermined position. The close detecting means 17 is turned on, and based on this ON signal, the illuminating means 5a closest to the original reference position is turned on. When the original 2 is placed on the original table 3, the other illuminating means 5
Is turned on to detect the document size again.

The flow of operation up to the start of document size detection when the document pressing plate 4 is closed will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the document pressing plate 4 is in the closed state (N in step 6-2), the control means 10 turns on only the left rear reference illumination means 5a, which is the document placement reference position, based on the ON signal of the close detection means 17. When the document 2 is placed between the illuminating means 5a and the light receiving element 6a and the off state of the illuminating means 5a (step 6-3Y) is detected, all other illuminating means 5 are turned on (step 6). -4), detect the size of the original.

In such a case, when the document pressing plate 4 is started to be closed from a predetermined open position and the open detecting means 8 is turned off, the deflecting lens 9 is moved from above the illuminating means 5, and 5 is retracted to a position where the light beam does not enter the deflecting lens 9. At this time, all the illuminating means 5 are turned off until the closing detecting means 17 is turned on. , Closing detection means
When the switch 17 is turned on, only one of the illuminating means 5a is turned on to stand by for placing a document, and the other illuminating means 5 is kept off so that power consumption can be reduced.

[0020]

The present invention is as described above. According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for detecting an open state of a document holding plate in a document size detecting apparatus of a copying machine as described above. A detecting means, and a control means to which an output of the open detecting means and an output of the light receiving element are inputted, a deflecting lens is provided above each of the illuminating means, an illuminating range position immediately above the illuminating means, and an illuminating range are provided. Provided movably between the outside position, based on the open signal of the open detection means, the control means moves the deflecting lens to the illumination range position and turns on the illumination means to irradiate the light receiving element with a light beam, Since the document size detecting means detects the document size based on the output of the light receiving element, there is an effect that the degree of freedom of the document size detection is widened and the workability is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means turns on only the illuminating means closest to the document placing reference position, and a light-shielding member is inserted between the light receiving element paired with the illuminated lighting means. When this is detected, the other light emitting elements of the illuminating means that are turned on are turned on, and the document size detecting means detects the document size, so that there is an effect that power consumption can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the original pressing plate of the first embodiment is opened.

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the document pressing plate of the first embodiment is closed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a lighting unit and a light receiving element according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart in a state where the document pressing plate of the second embodiment is opened.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart in a state where the document pressing plate of the second embodiment is closed.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional copying machine.

FIG. 8 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the original pressing plate is opened.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for detecting the presence / absence and size of the original.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Copier 2 Document 3 Document table 4 Document holding plate 5 Illumination means 6 Light receiving element 7 Document size detection device 8 Open detection means 9 Deflection lens 10 Control means 11 Moving means

Claims (2)

[Claims] A plurality of illumination means disposed at a position corresponding to the size of a document below a document table of a copying machine having a document holding plate capable of holding and opening a document placed on the document table;
A light receiving element is provided at the document holding plate at a position facing the lighting means and receives the illumination from the lighting means, and a document size detecting means detects a document size based on an output of the light receiving element. Opening detection means for detecting an open state of the document holding plate,
Control means to which the output of the open detection means and the output of the light receiving element are input are provided, and the deflecting lens is provided above each of the illumination means, the illumination range position immediately above the illumination means, and the position outside the illumination range. The control means moves the deflection lens to the illumination range position and turns on the illumination means to irradiate the light beam to the light receiving element based on the open signal of the open detection means, so that the light beam is irradiated on the light receiving element. Detects a document size based on an output of a light receiving element. 2. The control means turns on only the illumination means closest to the document placing reference position, and when it detects that a light-shielding object has entered between a light receiving element paired with the illuminated illumination means, 2. The document size detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the document size detecting device detects the document size by turning on another light emitting element of the illuminating device.