JPS612635A - Automatic original copy feed device in copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce noise upon operation of an automatic original copy feed device in a copying machine, and as well to aim at miniaturizing the device, by generating a progressive wave in the outer surface of a contact glass adapted to make into contact with a sheet-like original copy, and by transferring the original copy with use of the energy of the progressive wave. CONSTITUTION:In an automatic original copy transferring device, a contact glass 2 is vibrated to generate a progressive wave which gives an energy for transferring an original copy 6, and a means 9 for vibrating the contact glass 2 is attached to the latter. This means 9 includes a piezoelectric element 10. Three electrodes spaced from each other are positioned on the outer surface of the element 10, being connected to a phase shifter so that high frequency voltages having phases shifted from each other by 120 deg. are applied thereto. In order to feed the original copy 6 to a predetermined position on the contact glass 2 the original copy 6 is at first set on the glass, and voltages are applied to the electrodes to generate a progressive wave on the outer surface of the glass 2, thereby the original copy 6 is transferred in the direction of the arrow A. The cover member 3 has a brush-like bristles 15 planted thereon to provide a suitable frictional force.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a copying machine that feeds a sheet-like original to a predetermined position on a contact glass provided in the main body of the copying machine, and sends out the sheet-like original after illumination from the predetermined position. Related to automatic document feeder.

It has been well known that when copying a sheet-like original, the sheet-like original is transported by the above-mentioned type of transport device.
By using this device, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of manually placing originals one by one onto a contact glass, and to streamline the copying work.

A conventional automatic document conveying device has a rotationally driven belt, and this belt is provided on a cover body, usually called a pressure plate, which is attached to the main body of the copying machine in a detachable or openable/closable manner. During the copying operation, the cover is placed oppositely on the contact glass, and the belt is driven by an electric motor.
The original is conveyed while sliding on the contact glass due to the frictional force between the belt and the original sheet. When copying a book document other than a sheet document, the automatic document feeder cannot be used, so the cover is lifted and the book document is placed on the open contact glass.

As mentioned above, in conventional conveyance devices of this type, the belt for conveying sheet-like originals and various related members are provided on the cover, which increases the weight of the cover and requires a heavy cover when copying book originals. The disadvantage was that the body had to be lifted, making it difficult to handle. Furthermore, there is also the disadvantage that a large amount of noise is generated due to the operating sound of the electric motor that drives the belt.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document conveying device that can reduce the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks.

C. The present invention is characterized by a structure in which the sheet-like document is conveyed using the energy of vibrations that do not generate traveling waves by imparting vibrations to members that come into contact with the sheet-like document being conveyed. Although the use of vibration to convey an object has been known in the art, the present invention applies this technique to an automatic document conveying device to eliminate or reduce the drawbacks of the conventional technique.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a contact glass 2 for placing an original is fixed on the top of a copying machine main body 1, and a cover 3 is arranged above it. It is detachably or rotatably attached to the

When a sheet-like original is to be copied, the sheet-like original is fed between the cover 3 and the contact glass 2 from the entrance side 4 as shown by arrow A by an automatic document conveying device (to be described later), and is placed in a predetermined position on the glass. bring into position. Then, while moving the light source 5 located below the contact glass 2 to the right in the figure, it illuminates the sheet-like original 6 placed at a predetermined position, and the reflected light is passed through the imaging optical system 7 to the photoreceptor 8. The image of the original is formed here. Since the darning operation and other copying operations are the same as before, further explanation will be omitted.

The automatic document feeder in this example is configured to vibrate the contact glass 2 that comes into contact with the sheet-like document being conveyed to generate a traveling wave, and use the resulting energy to convey the document 6. 2 is provided with means 9 for imparting vibrations to the glass, as clearly shown in FIG. As is known per se, this means 9 includes a piezoelectric element 10 closely attached to the surface of the contact glass 2, and electrodes 11 and 12 provided on the surface of the element divided into three parts, for example.
．． 13, and each divided electrode has a phase shifter 1.
4, which allows each individual electrode to have a phase of 1
High frequency voltages shifted by 20 degrees are applied.

As described above, in order to feed the sheet-like original 6 to a predetermined position on the contact glass 2, as shown in FIG. Put it on top.

At this time, or prior to this, a switch (not shown) is turned on, and voltages out of phase are applied to each electrode 11, 1.2.13. This allows contact glass 2
On the surface of the document 6, a unidirectional traveling wave (surface wave), which is a combination of longitudinal vibration and transverse vibration, is generated that travels in a direction opposite to the transport direction A of the document 6. Therefore, the sheet-like original 6 on the contact glass 2 is transported in a predetermined transport direction A, which is opposite to the traveling direction B of the traveling wave.

As mentioned above, the principle of object movement by traveling waves using ultrasonic vibrations was published in KET MPCI+AN■CAL 1983 by NI, which introduced surface wave motors or ultrasonic motors.
2.28 It is described in detail on pages 44 to 49, etc., and is well known in itself, so the details will be omitted here.
As can be seen from this principle, the object to be conveyed, ie, the sheet-like original 6, is conveyed by the frictional force between the surface wave propagator, ie, the contactor 1 and the glass 2. Therefore, if the weight of the object to be transported is large enough, friction can be generated by the object's own weight, and the object can be transported as it is, but it is possible to transport the object as it is. If left as is, there is a risk that the frictional force will be insufficient and transportation will be hindered. Therefore, in the illustrated conveyance device, brush-like bristles 15 are planted on the surface of the cover 3 that covers one side of the contact glass 2 facing the glass 2, and these bristles are applied to the contacts 1 to the document 6 on the glass. It is constructed so that an appropriate frictional force is generated between the glass and the document by pressing the document against the glass. In this case, if the pressing force on the document 6 is too strong, the frictional force becomes too strong and it becomes difficult to convey the document 6 on the sheet 1. A slight gap C (FIG. 1) is left between the cover 3 and the contact glass 2 so that the bristles 15 of the brush lightly touch the original 6.

When the sheet-like original 6 transported as described above reaches a predetermined position, a switch (not shown) is turned off, the contact glass stops vibrating, and the original is illuminated as described above. After the required number of illuminations have been performed, the switch is turned on again, the contact glass 2 starts vibrating, and the document 6 is conveyed to the left in FIG. be discharged.

The above-described automatic document conveying device does not need to provide the cover with a belt and related members as in the conventional case, so that the weight of the cover itself can be reduced. Therefore, when removing the cover 4 from above the contact glass 2 by rotating the cover 4 to copy a book original, the cover 4 can be easily lifted. Further, since no electric motor is required to drive the belt, noise generation can be suppressed.

It is well known that the sound generated when vibrating a surface wave propagator is low.

Note that if the traveling wave propagating through the contact glass is directly reflected from the glass end surface 2a on the opposite side to the side where the piezoelectric element 10 is provided, the traveling wave required for conveying the sheet-like original 6 becomes a standing wave. etc., it becomes impossible to convey the document, so the number of the acousto-optic modulation element (so-called AO element) for light modulation;
The glass end surface 2a may be cut diagonally, as is adopted in

Alternatively, it is preferable to provide a piezoelectric element (not shown) also on the side of this glass end surface 2a to absorb surface waves. This also applies to other embodiments described later.

Furthermore, it is advantageous to leave the bristles 15 that press the document 6 in a fluttering state in the direction in which the document 6 is fed, so that the document can be conveyed smoothly.

In the above embodiment, the document 6 is lightly pressed by the brush bristles 15, but it is also possible to press the document with a weak force by using other flexible members such as sponges, foams, etc. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, a pipe 1 having a jet nozzle 17
It is also advantageous to provide the cover 3 or the copying machine main body l side, blow out air from a fan (not shown) from the nozzle 17, and lightly press the original 6 with the air pressure.

In the above embodiment, the contact glass 2 in contact with the sheet-like original 6 was used as a traveling wave propagator, but the cover 3
When the cover body 3 is in contact with the original document 6 through a flexible member or directly, the cover body 3 can also be used as a propagation body. FIG. 4 shows an example. In this example, a plate-shaped cover 3 shown by a chain line is provided with an appropriate number of
In the illustrated example, two elastic bodies 19 and 19a are fixed, piezoelectric elements 110 and 110a are provided in close contact with each of these elastic bodies, and electrodes divided into three parts (not shown in the figure) are attached to each of these elastic bodies. 2, and these electrodes are connected to the phase shifter 14 as in FIG. In this case as well, high-frequency voltages with a phase shift of 120 degrees are applied to each of the three electrodes, and a unidirectional traveling wave is applied to the elastic body 19, 19a and the cover 3, and the cover 3 is directly or A sheet-like original that is in indirect contact with the paper is conveyed. Elastic body 1
Of course, it is also possible to form 9.19a and the cover body 3 integrally in advance. It is also advantageous to adopt both the structure shown in FIG. 2 and the structure shown in FIG. 4, to generate traveling waves in both the contact glass 2 and the cover 3, and to further ensure the conveyance of the sheet-like original 6.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
Conveying rollers 2+ and 22 are provided opposite to the guide plate 20 or the contact crow 2 itself, and these are driven to rotate by an electric motor (not shown) (a surface wave motor may be used), when feeding a sheet-like original. Alternatively, the conveyance of the document can be assisted by rollers 21, 22 during ejection. This configuration can be advantageously adopted when the traveling wave alone is insufficient in conveying force when feeding or discharging a document.

In addition, if placing the piezoelectric element in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 would interfere with the conveyance of the document, the contact glass portion 2b where the piezoelectric element IO is provided, as shown in FIG. All you have to do is tilt it diagonally downward. In this case, if necessary, a guide plate 23 may be provided above the glass portion 2b to guide the discharged original in the horizontal direction. When installing a piezoelectric element on the side of the cover 3, the mounting point is similarly tilted diagonally upward, so that the piezoelectric element or the elastic bodies 19, 198 (Fig. 4) do not interfere with the conveyance of the original. It is possible to do so.

According to the present invention, since the document is conveyed by vibrations applied to the member that comes into contact with the sheet-like document, there is no need for a conventional electric motor to drive the belt, and noise during operation can be reduced. Furthermore, there is no need to use a heavy cover like in the past. It is also possible to downsize the automatic document transport device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a copying machine equipped with an automatic document feeder according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view showing the relationship between the contact glass shown in FIG. 1 and a means for generating a traveling wave; FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another configuration example for holding down a sheet-like document, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the cover is vibrated, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing still another embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1; 1 ・Copy machine body 2 ・Contact glass 6 ・
・Sheet original 9 ・Means Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An automatic document feeder in a copying machine that feeds a sheet-like original to a predetermined position on a contact glass provided in a copying machine main body, and sends out the sheet-like original after illumination from the predetermined position. What is claimed is: 1. An automatic document conveying apparatus characterized in that a means is provided for generating a traveling wave by applying vibration to a member that contacts a sheet-like original, and the sheet-like original is conveyed using the energy generated by the vibration.