JPS6048854A - Document circulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To circulate a document reliably by predetermined times by arranging the document engaging chip of sensor for identifying the circulation of document on the side of mounting table in the carrying direction and engaging at the correct document position. CONSTITUTION:Upon function of a detection sensor 24 by the leading edge of document, resist rollers 10, 11 for discharging paper are rotated by the signal from said sensor 24 through a control circuit. At the same time, resist rollers 9, 10 in the paper feed path ( I ) will also rotate to feed the next document waiting at that position in the paper feed path ( I ) to the carry belt 14 side and bitten by said rollers 10, 11 thereafter the carry roller 14 will change the torary direction from the arrow direction (a) to the arrow direction (b). On a platen glass 15, next document is fed simultaneously with feeding of previous document. The document bitten by said rollers 10, 11 will advance on the paper discharge path IIthen through the paper discharge rollers 18, 18' and discharged through an outlet roller 19 onto the mount table 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention sequentially feeds originals and a series of documents from a mounting table to a processing device of office equipment such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a diazo copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer, and returns them to the mounting table after processing. The present invention relates to a document circulation device for storing documents in a computer.

Generally, this type of device sequentially sends a series of documents loaded and stored on a mounting table to the main processing device, and after processing, the documents are taken out and stored on the mounting table again, and the series of documents is circulated multiple times for processing. It is mainly used as a document circulating device in electrophotographic copying machines, and is also being used in office equipment such as facsimile machines and printers.

In such a device, it is necessary to detect the circulation of documents, and usually a touch piece is provided that engages with the last page of the documents loaded on the mounting table or with each document, and this touch piece is detected. A method has been adopted in which a sensor detects the movement of the contact piece when the engaged document is fed to the main processing device, thereby recognizing the circulation of a series of documents.

For example, an electrophotographic copying machine that is equipped with a document circulating device on the platen glass, separates documents one by one from the device's mounting table, feeds them onto the platen glass surface, and returns them to the mounting table after copying is completed. It is known from Kosho S O-G No. 033g, U.S. Patent No. 16D-31I, etc., but all of the contact pieces that engage with documents to recognize the circulation of a series of documents are placed on a mounting table. It is located at the trailing edge in the direction in which documents are to be stored.

As described above, since the conventional apparatus is provided with the above-mentioned touch piece on the rear edge of the document in the carrying direction to be returned to the mounting table, it has the following drawbacks.

When returning the document to the mounting table, if it is ejected too quickly, the trailing edge of the document may go too far over the sensor's contact piece and be stacked on the mounting table. The ejection conditions vary depending on the thickness, paper quality, and size of the document. In particular, if the trailing edge of the document remains in the ejection slot, the leading edge of the next document to be ejected may rise up, causing the documents to be out of order or jammed. bring up

In addition, when documents are circulated in a closed loop like the one described in the above publication, the document tends to curve in the forward and backward directions of conveyance, and the contact piece that engages with the rear edge of the document is not properly aligned due to the curvature of the rear edge of the document. This method has the drawback that the circulation order of documents may be disrupted, leading to misprinted copies, such as the possibility that documents may be shifted from the previous or subsequent document position.

Furthermore, if a touch piece is provided at the rear end of the document in the carrying direction, when miscellaneous documents of different sizes are circulated in a series, disadvantages such as the trailing edge of the document going too far or the trailing edge of the document remaining in the ejection port frequently occur. There was fear.

In view of the above, the present invention is capable of reliably stacking and storing documents processed by a main body processing device on a mounting table, and
A retaining piece of a sensor that identifies document circulation regardless of document ejection conditions or document curvature can be engaged in the proper document position, ensuring that a series of documents is circulated a predetermined number of times. The purpose is to provide a possible document circulation device.

The present invention provides a document circulation device that sequentially separates a series of documents stacked and stored on a document placement table, feeds the documents to a processing device, and carries the documents from the processing device back onto the document placement table for storage. A document retention piece of a sensor for identifying documents is provided on the document storage reference surface on the side of the document mounting table in the document carrying direction.

Embodiments of the present invention applied to an electrophotographic copying machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the document mounting table. A copying optical system and a transfer device (not shown) are installed inside the lower part of the platen glass, and a document set on the upper left of the platen glass is scanned by the copying optical system, and an image is formed on a photoreceptor using a known electrophotographic method. A latent image is generated, developed, transferred, and fixed.

The document circulation device is installed on the upper left of the platen glass. A conveyor belt 14t that feeds and sets documents along
A paper feed belt 3 wrapped around a pair of pulleys separates the documents on θ one by one and transports them toward a conveyor belt /(( It consists of a paper path (2) and a paper discharge path (2) for returning documents from the conveyor belt/ll to the mounting table 30.

The paper is fed to one end of the platen glass lS through the feeding path ■, and fed and set at a predetermined reference position by the conveyor belt lllI, and after copying, the platen glass lS is returned to the platen glass l! From one end to the paper ejection path■
The paper feed path ■ and the paper ejection path ■ are arranged adjacently so that the paper feed path ■ and the paper ejection path ■ are returned to zero.
The above-mentioned Tokuko Shosa 6-1I033, in which a paper ejection path (■) is connected to the other end and the paper is circulated in a closed loop between it and the original table 30.
The format of Publication No. 1 may be used.

A pair of left and right boobies 9 on the platen glass 13 side 2. F2'
An endless conveyor belt 111 is placed between the racks, and one pulley 2 is connected to a drive motor (not shown). The press roller 13 is connected to the conveyor belt/4 at the entrance/exit end of the document.
t to the platen glass 13 side and transfer the conveyor bell l-/F.
conveying power to IC documents reliably. The mounting table 30 is a normal document tray and has an appropriate shape for loading and storing documents, and is tilted to the left in the figure so that the documents slide down due to gravity. As shown in the figure, it may be provided directly above the conveyor belt/II, or it may be provided on the extended edge of the conveyor belt/II. As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting table 30 is provided with guides 3/12 for regulating the left and right side edges of the documents to be loaded.

The guide 31 is a side wall fixed to the mounting table 30, and the three guides are each configured to be slidable in the width direction (arrow direction in FIG. 2), and documents of different sizes are neatly placed on the mounting table 3θ with the fixed guide 31 as a reference. It is designed to be stored.

This outer edge guide may be provided on either the left or right side,
Alternatively, a so-called center reference may be used in which a pair of left and right guides are respectively slidable in the width direction. A kick roller g is provided to slide the document at the lowest position on the placing table 30 and feed the document, and a pressing piece 20 is provided to press the document at the top of the placing table 3° in opposition to the kick roller g. is the provision.

Various structures are known for the separating means to sequentially separate stacked documents one by one from the bottom layer of paper.
The paper feed belt 3 is wound around a pair of pulleys including 7 and rotates in the document feeding direction, and the paper feed belt 3 is wound around a pair of pulleys in pressure contact with the paper feed belt 3 and moves in the opposite direction relative to the paper feed belt 3. It consists of a reversing belt 6 and a paper feed belt 3.
The backup roller 7 that prevents the paper feed belt 3 from loosening is
is provided to press the reversing belt 6, and a drive motor (not shown) is connected to the drive pulley l via a one-way clutch so that the drive pulley l of the paper feed belt 3 is driven only in the direction of the arrow in the figure. is connected.

The paper feed path I is constituted by a guide that feeds the paper from the paper feed belt 3 onto a conveyor belt/%, and is provided with a pair of registration rollers 9 and 10 at an intermediate portion.

22. 23 are document detection sensors placed before and after the registration roller lab and 10, which are activated by documents passing through the paper feed path ■. , /θ The document fed out by the paper feed belt 3 is placed on the platen glass l! At the same time, the leading edge of the document fed out by the paper feed belt 3 is brought into contact between the registration rollers 2 and 70 which are in a stopped state, and the misalignment of the left and right leading edges of the document is corrected.

The paper ejection path ■ is provided at one end of the conveyor belt along with the paper feed path I, and is a path for the document to reach the mounting table 3θ via the registration roller 10, // and ejection roller /l, and IC for ejecting the paper. It consists of Paper ejection roller 10 in the paper ejection path ■. A document detection sensor 2da for obtaining drive signals for the paper ejection rollers lθ and l/ is provided in front of / in the paper ejection direction.

Note that a path switching piece 16 is provided at a linking portion between the paper feed path (2), the paper discharge path (2), and the conveyor belt l-/u so as to connect the two paths I and the conveyor belt 14t.

A series of documents are set on the mounting table JO, and the lowest layer of paper is fed out to the paper feed belt 3 by the kick roller t, and only the lowest layer of paper is separated by the paper feed belt 3 and the separation belt O and transferred to the paper feed path ■. send out.

The leading edge of the document operates a detection sensor 22 and a timer of a control circuit (not shown).

Next, the leading edge of the document is abutted against the registration roller rub 10, deflected by a predetermined amount, the irregularity of the leading edge is corrected, and the document enters between the registration rollers 2 and 10. The document detection sensor knee stops the paper feed belt 3 and kick roller g when the timer expires after detection.

Next, upon receiving a feeding instruction signal from the copying machine main body, the drive side roller 9 of the registration roller love 10 is rotated, and the document is conveyed along the paper feed path l toward the conveyor belt. The leading edge of the document is moved to the conveyor belt tll in the position shown in Figure 1.
Lead to the side.

Concurrently with the rotation of the registration roller rub 10, the conveyor belt 11 rotates in the direction of the arrow to transfer the document to the platen glass 15.
Transport along. When the rear edge of the document passes the detection sensor 3, the detection signal indicates that the rear edge of the document passes through the platen glass 1.
After the set time reaches the reference position on 5, the conveyor belt/
The program stops. The conveyance roller/da is stopped by, for example, pulse control of a stepping motor or a combination of a clutch and a brake. After the copying of the document that has been stopped and set at the copying reference position is completed, it is sent backward in the direction of arrow a in response to a discharge instruction signal from the copying machine. At this time, the path switching piece 16 assumes the position shown in FIG. 7 so as to guide the document along the platen glass IS to the paper discharge path (2).

The document sent out from the conveyor belt 11 then enters the paper ejection path H, passes through the detection sensor 24t, and enters between the registration rollers 10 and 77 where the paper is ejected.

When the leading edge of the document operates the detection sensor 2g, the signal causes the registration roller lθ, //, which discharges the paper, to rotate via a control circuit (not shown).

At the same time, the registration rollers 9 and 10 of the paper feed path I also rotate, and the next document waiting in the paper feed path ■ of this part is sent out to the conveyor belt 14I- side, and the leading edge of the document is ejected from the registration rollers/( 1;l, //, the transport roller /4' changes its rotation direction from the direction of the arrow a to the direction of the arrow.Then, the previous document is pulled out and overlapped on the platen glass lj at the same time. The next document is fed in. The document that has been bitten by the ejecting registration rollers /θ, /l advances through the paper ejection path ■, passes through the paper ejection rollers lza, /l', and then passes from the exit roller 19 to the mounting table JO. Then, when the document is returned to the mounting table 30, the suppression piece -0 is lifted and the document slides down under the power of the power so as to be ready to be sent out.

By repeating this operation, a series of documents on the mounting table 30 can be circulated, fed and set on the upper left of the platen glass l of the copying machine, and returned to the mounting table 30 after copying for circulation.

In order to detect the number of repetitions of document circulation, the present invention uses a sensor that engages with a series of documents on the mounting table 30 to identify the document circulation: a 1-gram document engagement piece is used to carry the document onto the mounting table 30; It is arranged on the side surface in the direction (direction of arrow C).

The guide 3/ that regulates the side line of the document on the mounting table 30 is a fixed guide based on one side.
The document engaging piece is rotatably attached to the shaft of a motor cock (FIG. 3) fixed to the outer surface of the fixed guide so as to cross the document above θ. Is the crank pin 29' of the motor taco 9 a needle-shaped piece that engages the document? a) f: The document holding piece can be engaged with the semi-cylindrical base body b of the core as shown in FIG. 3 so as to be rotated from the bottom end to the top end. A slit hole 33 is provided from one side of the mounting table 30 to the lower side of the fixed guide 31 so that the document holding piece 27 can rotate. The document engaging piece core has a semi-cylindrical base 27b, and a needle-like piece 2'7a, which is placed on a document, is integrally formed outside the center of the base 27b. A motor is rotatably fixed to the side edge guide 31 so as to cross the document on the mounting table 30, and a sensor is attached to the base b of the document engaging piece, which is pivotally connected to the shaft of 2. It is placed at the bottom. Therefore, if the needle-like piece a of the document engaging piece 27 is placed on top of a series of documents, the document fed out onto the platen glass /j returns through the paper ejection path ■, and the needle-like piece of the document holding piece 27 When the documents are stacked on top a and stored on the mounting table 30, and there are no more documents under the needle-like piece a of the document-engaging piece core, the needle-like piece a of the document-engaging piece core stops supporting. When the document holding piece 27a is lost, it rotates and the needle-shaped piece 27a hangs down from inside the slit hole 33. In other words, the document is separated along the needle-shaped portion a of the document engaging piece 27 as a boundary.

There are two types of methods for identifying document circulation using document retention piece cores:

First, the needle-like piece core a of the document engaging piece is placed on the topmost paper of a series of documents on the mounting table 30, and the documents are fed out one by one onto the platen glass/S of the copying machine, starting from the bottommost paper. At this time, for example, the number of documents fed out is electrically counted by the document detection sensor 23 in the paper feed path (2). Next, when the document engaging piece sinks into the slit hole 33 of the mounting table 30, it is detected by the sensor plate, and the counted quantity of documents at this time indicates the number of pages of a series of documents, and this counted quantity is used as the standard number of pages. Remember. By comparing the stored negative number with the number of document feeds after the fourth cycle, the number of document circulations can be determined.

In the illustrated example, the document engaging piece is rotated in synchronization with the circulation of documents in a manner that increases the number of document circulation by H without counting the number of documents fed out.

When a document is placed on the mounting table 30, the empty sensor 21, which is a photoelectric switch that projects a detection light across the document on the mounting table 3θ, detects this and moves the motor 29 from the position shown in FIG. degree and move the needle-like part J7a of the document engaging piece λ7 from the lowermost end to the uppermost end in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. However, the stopping position of the motor 29 is different from that shown in FIG. 3, and the crank pin 29' is directed upward, and the motor 29 is controlled to rotate counterclockwise.

The lowest paper documents are sequentially fed to the platen glass/3 of the copying machine and stacked on the needle-like piece of the document engaging piece core from the paper discharge path (3). When the uppermost sheet of the document on the mounting table 30 is sent to the platen glass Ik side, the needle-like piece λa of the engagement piece core sinks into the slit hole 33 of the mounting table Jθ, and the sensor 2
g detects and recognizes one cycle of the document. The motor 29 rotates in response to the detection signal from the sensor 2g, and the third
It is rotated from the state shown in the figure to the state shown in FIG. 1, and brought into contact with the topmost sheet of the series of documents returned onto the mounting table 30.

Therefore, the detection signal of document circulation from the sensor at is counted and compared with a preset number of copies of the document, and when the number of copies of the document matches, the feeding of the document is stopped.

In this process, the document engaging piece core of the present invention is arranged on the side of the mounting table 30 in the direction in which the document is carried in from the paper ejection path (2), so that the document is not forcefully ejected from the paper ejection path (2). However, in the process of ejection, it is only necessary for one of the side edges of the document to rest on the document holding piece, which is more secure than the case where the front or rear edge of the document must be placed on the document holding piece. It is possible to ride.

Particularly, in the case shown in Fig. D, the position of the document holding piece λ is placed approximately at the center of the document with the minimum size length 1, and
The direction of the mounting table 30 is inclined with respect to the paper discharging direction of the paper discharging path (2) so that the leading edge of the document falls away from the position of the document holding piece 27.

In the present invention, the configuration of the sensor 2g for identifying document circulation and the configuration of the document holding piece are not necessarily limited to the illustrated structure. For example, the structure of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 T-TO, Y, YG and US Pat. No. 7,167,377 can also be adopted. In addition, the document holding piece 27 is fixed by the motor 29.
It may be pivoted to a separate shaft instead of the shaft.

In this way, the position where the document holding piece λ that prevents the circulation of the document is provided on the side surface of the mounting table 30 in the document movement direction is such that the leading edge of the document returning to the placing table 3o passes through the document holding piece λ. It is necessary to overcome it. The mounting table 3o needs to have an inclination so that the document placed thereon slides down by gravity, and this inclination angle α
is about 23 degrees in a normal document. And the mounting table 30
At the angle β between the ejected document and the document entering the mounting table 3o, and the document ejection speed, the leading edge of the document contacts the mounting table 30 due to the weight of the document and the locking property (strength of H) of the document. The position is determined, and together these determine the position of the document binding piece. - Then, the trailing edge of the document discharged onto the mounting table 3o rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3 due to gravity around the leading edge of the document in contact with the mounting table 30 and falls. At this time, the document must be stacked on the document holding piece core. In order for such a document to always be placed on the document holding piece core, it is determined by the angle β, the document ejection direction, the document ejection speed, the document weight, etc.

If the angle β is not less than the friction angle corresponding to the dynamic friction coefficient between the leading edge of the ejected document and the document on the mounting table 30 or the previously ejected document on the mounting table 3o, the leading edge of the ejected document will not slide and curve. The trailing edge of the document is not placed within the specified range. Normally, it is desirable that the angle β is as small as possible, but the mounting table 3
When the ejection height H between the lowest end of the output roller and the exit roller is high, the contact position of the leading edge of the ejected document from the ejection roller onto the 'a mounting 3θ is far away from the document holding piece 27, or Since the trailing edge of the document is ejected from the exit roller/9 and falls down without the leading edge of the document touching the mounting table 30, the position of the document on the mounting table 30 varies.

If the length of the mounting table 30 in the feeding direction for the smallest document among the handled documents is J, it is appropriate for the document clerk to place the document holding piece 27 at L/, Z from the bottom of the mounting table 30. This is an example of the position of the joint. Good effects are obtained by such arrangement.

As explained above, in the document circulation device, since the document engaging piece of the sensor for identifying document circulation is arranged on the side of the mounting table with respect to the document carrying direction, the side line of the document discharged from the paper discharge path is It is only necessary for any part of the document to rest on the document engaging piece, and even if the document is ejected forcefully, there is no risk of it going over the document engaging piece, and the document can be reliably stored on the mounting table. Unlike when a document holding piece core is installed at the edge, the trailing edge of the document that has gone too far will not slip into the document holding piece, and the circulation order will be out of order, preventing miscollation of copy paper made by the processing device. It never invites.

In addition, although documents curve in the conveying direction during their circulation path, the document holding piece that engages at the document side line is not affected by the curvature of the document, and there is no worry that the document holding piece will slip between the front and back documents from the curved document side line. (It is possible to always properly engage the document and detect the accurate number of circulations.)

Furthermore, even when a series of documents of various sizes are stacked on the mounting table, the number of circulation of a series of documents of different sizes can be easily detected by placing a document holding piece on the side edge guide of one side reference. This has the effect of making it possible to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment, Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of the vicinity of the document engagement piece of the document mounting table of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the document holding piece and the motor, and Fig. 7 FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of document ejection according to the embodiment. Body...Document (A gold piece 2g...Sensorco 9...Motor 2q1...Crank pin 30...Placement stand 3/-
・Guide 33...Slit hole. Patent applicant Katsun Co., Ltd. Japan Seimitsu Kogyo Co., Ltd. Agent Arai -be

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] l A document circulation device that sequentially separates a series of documents loaded and stored on a mounting table and feeds them to a processing device, and carries the documents from the processing device back onto the mounting table and stores them, as described above. A document circulation device characterized in that a document engaging piece of a sensor that engages with at least one of the documents on the placement table to identify circulation of the document is disposed on a side surface of the placement table in the document carrying direction. Yu Place the document attachment piece of the sensor on the document ii!
The document circulation device according to claim 1, which is disposed on one side of the side surface in the carry-in direction, and wherein the one side serves as a document storage reference surface of the mounting table.