JPS61286833A - Original size detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the size of an original securely with low-cost, simple constitution and to reduce deterioration in the durability of a connection line by providing a size detection scanner in addition to a scanner and scanning this size detection scanner relatively to the surface of the original. CONSTITUTION:The size detection scanner 15 provided in addition to the scanner 7 is coupled with a driving wire 11. The scanner 7 is engaged with the driving wire 11 in a free connection/disconnection state through the 1st engaging device 16 and the size detection scanner 11 is coupled with the driving wire in a free connection/disconnection state by the 2nd engaging device 17. A lamp 20 used in addition to an exposure lamp 20 is mounted as a detector 18 on the size detection scanner 22 together with photosensors 19a and 19b. When the size of the original is detected, the 1st engaging device 16 is disengaged and the scanner 7 is disconnected from the driving wire 1, so that the scanner 7 does not move even when the driving wire 11 is driven.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a document size detection device in a copying machine.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a copying machine, the copying magnification is set depending on the document size, so the document size is automatically detected. This document size detection method includes a method that detects reflected light from the document, a method that detects light blocking by the document (Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-8492, etc.), and a method that detects the distance between the document table and the document cover by placing the document. There are various methods, such as a method that detects by interrupting a conductive circuit.

Among these, there is one that determines the document size by detecting the reflected light from the document.
As shown in Publication No. 7, by forming irregularities on the manuscript cover and making the optical path of reflected light different between the part where the JJX manuscript is present and the part where it is not present, that is, a part of the manuscript cover,
There is something to detect. In addition, the number of optical sensors corresponding to the types of document sizes are installed in the width direction of the document at positions that do not affect image formation on the bottom side of the document table and in the vicinity of the reference line of the document set. There is a system in which the size of the document is detected by turning on the light and turning on the light sensor that receives the reflected light from the document, but turning off the light sensor in the area where the document is not present.

However, in the case of the former method, the surface of the document cover needs to be textured. In addition, in the case of the latter method, the number of optical sensors is equal to the number of types of document sizes, and even if the sizes are different, for example, in the case of an A3 portrait document and an A4 landscape document, the document has the same width dimension. It may not be possible to determine the In this regard, increasing the number of optical sensors makes it possible to determine minute differences in document length or width, but the mechanism for positioning each optical sensor becomes complicated and adjustment becomes troublesome. This also results in high costs. It is also possible to incorporate optical sensors into the original exposure scanner, but even in this case, the number of optical sensors required is equal to the size of the original.

It also has similar drawbacks. Furthermore, the detection accuracy of the optical sensor tends to decrease due to the thermal influence of the exposure lamp, and
The number of connection lines between these optical sensors and the control device fixed to the main body of the copying machine also increases. Furthermore,
Since these connecting wires are repeatedly bent and used, their durability is also reduced.

Purpose The present invention has been developed in view of these points, and is capable of reliably detecting the size of a document with a simple configuration at low cost using a small number of optical sensors, and also reduces the decrease in durability of connection wires. The purpose of this invention is to obtain a document size detection device that can detect the size of a document.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a scanner equipped with an exposure lamp or the like to expose and scan the surface of a document, and is provided at a predetermined position in the width direction of the document to detect light reflected from the document. A size detection scanner separate from the scanner equipped with a detection means having a plurality of optical sensors is provided, and a driving means/means for scanning the size detection scanner relative to the document surface is provided. Conversion means is provided for converting the detection position of the size detection scanner into a document length based on the amount of movement or time of movement from the device reference position by using one of the optical sensors to determine the amount of movement or time of movement from the device reference position. , the document size is determined based on the document width detected by using the other of the optical sensors to determine the document width and the document length converted by the conversion means.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. First, a document 1 is set on a contact glass 2 serving as a document table with reference to a reference position Po, and is held down by a document cover 3. IJK like this! li
l is reflective #! 4 and a first mirror 6
The image is exposed and scanned by a scanner 7 equipped with a scanner 7, and the reflected light from the original 1 is imaged on the photoreceptor through the first mirror 6, the second mirror 8, and a lens (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image. will be done. The scanner 7 is connected to a drive wire 11 that is passed between pulleys 9 and 10, and exposes and scans one side of the original at a predetermined speed from the reference position Po side according to a drive pulley 13 rotated by a drive motor 12. , a return operation is performed to the reference position Po side.

Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a center reference method is adopted in which the document 1 is set based on the center mark 14 provided at the reference position PO of the contact glass 2. Further, the types of originals used in this embodiment are A size, and as shown in FIG.
A document 1 of any one of the five sizes shown in e is set.

Thus, a size detection scanner 15 separate from the scanner 7 is connected to the drive wire 11. Here, the scanner 7 connects the driving wire 11 with the first connecting device 1.
6, and the size detection scanner 11 is connected to the drive wire 1 by a second connection device 17.
1 intermittently. This size detection scanner 22 includes optical sensors 19a and 1 as a detection device 18.
A lamp 20 provided separately from the exposure lamp 5 is mounted together with the exposure lamp 9b. This size detection scanner 15 is placed on the maximum scanning position side of the scanner 7. Here, since the first and second connecting devices 16 and 17 have the same configuration, the second connecting device 17 is taken as an example, and its configuration is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. An electromagnetic brake armature 22 is provided via an electromagnetic brake 21, and a pulley 23 is attached to this electromagnetic brake armature 22. This pulley 23 is the shaft 2
4, it is said to be rotatable.

E-ring 25 prevents removal.

The optical sensors 19a and 19b are photodiodes or the like, and are spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the document 1. More specifically, one optical sensor 19a is used to determine the amount of movement from the reference position Po, and is arranged on the central reference line, that is, the line of the center mark 14. The other optical sensor 19b is used to determine the width of the document, and receives the reflected light from the edge of the A3 document 1a or the A4 landscape document 1c; It is arranged at a position where it does not receive the reflected light from 1e. These optical sensors 19a, 19b
As shown in FIG. 5, in order to reduce the receiving range of the reflected light from the document l and improve the accuracy of size detection, it is installed, for example, inside a light-shielding pipe 26 with a black inner surface, The range of reflected light that can be received is regulated.

Moreover, these optical sensors (photodiodes) 19a.

The sensor output 19b is turned ON when the amount of reflected light received is greater than a predetermined reference amount of light, and turned OFF when it is less than the reference amount of light.

Considering this based on the presence or absence of the document 1, the optical sensors 19a, 1
When the output of 9b is ON, it corresponds to a state in which the document 1 is present (a state in which reflected light from the document 1 is received), and when it is OFF, it corresponds to a state in which the document 1 is not present. For this reason, the optical sensor 19
a and 19b are shown in FIG.
1. It is connected to a sensor circuit 29 in which two stages are connected: an OP amplifier 27 to which a capacitor C is connected, and an OP amplifier 28 to which a reference resistor R2 and a variable resistor R1 are connected.

Further, an encoder 30 is connected to the drive motor 12. As a result, the number of output pulses of the encoder 30 accompanying the rotation of the drive motor 12 is counted by a counter (not shown), and the position to which the size detection scanner 15 has moved is determined from the count number when the output of the optical sensor 19a changes to the reference position. Conversion means (not shown) is provided for converting the amount of movement Ω from Pa into the document length.

In such a configuration, first, driving of the scanner 7 and the size detection scanner 15 will be described. During a copy operation, the first connecting device 16 acts and becomes connected to the drive wire 11, and the scanner 7 scans according to this driving wire 11. When the document size is detected, the first connecting device 16 acts and becomes connected to the drive wire 11. 16 is released and scanner 7
is disconnected from the drive wire 11, and the scanner 7 does not move even if the drive wire 11 is driven.

On the other hand, when looking at the size detection scanner 15 side, when the document size is detected, the second coupling device 17, that is, the electromagnetic brake 21
Due to the action of the electromagnetic brake armature 22, it becomes connected to the drive wire 11, and as the drive wire 11 is driven, the size detection scanner 15 starts moving toward the reference position Po. At this time, the lamp 20 is on, and the optical sensors 19a and 19b detect the size based on the presence or absence of reflected light from the document 1. When the size detection is completed, the size detection scanner 15 returns to its original position and the second Connecting device 1
7 is released and the connection to the drive wire 11 is released. As a result, even if the drive wire 11 is driven and the scanner 7 moves during copying, the size detection scanner 15 does not move.

Thus, the yX document size is detected by scanning the document surface with the size detection scanner 15 prior to the copying operation. For example, consider a case where an A4 landscape original 1c is set on the contact glass 2. In this case, at the maximum scanning position Pe (which serves as a reference position in the size detection scanner 15), both the optical sensors 19a and 19b do not receive the reflected light from the document IC and their outputs are OFF. Then, as the scanning of the size detection scanner 15 progresses, the number of output pulses of the encoder 30 increases. Then, when the scanner 7 advances to the leading edge of the document 1c, gWlc is present, and the outputs of the optical sensors 19a and 19b both switch from OFF to ON in response to the reflected light from the document IC. . At this point, due to the change in the output of the optical sensor 19a, the counting of the number of output pulses from the encoder 3o is stopped, and the amount of movement of the size detection scanner 15 from the maximum scanning position Pe at that time is 1.
, / are calculated. Here, since the amount of movement from the maximum scanning position Pe to the reference position Pa (therefore, the number of output pulses of the encoder 30) is determined in advance by the machine, the amount of movement is Ω. Then, Ω.

−〇,′ indicates the document length Ω from the reference position Po.

The conversion will be calculated as follows. Based on the value of the document length ρ2, it is tentatively determined that the set document 1 is either an A4 landscape document IC or an A5 portrait document 1d. However,
At this point, the output of the optical sensor 19b for document width determination is also changed from OFF to ON. As a result, since the document width is A4 horizontal, it is determined that the set document 1 is an A-4 horizontal document 1c.

Also, if the A5 portrait original 1d is set on the contact glass 2, the output of the optical sensor 19a is turned off.
The fact that it is tentatively determined to be either A4 landscape original 1c or A5 portrait original 1d at the time of changing from F to ON is similar to the case where A4 landscape original 1c is set, but the optical sensor -When the output of 19a changes, the optical sensor-
Since the output of the optical sensor 19b has not changed at all, the combination of the outputs of the optical sensors 19a and 19b is A5 in this case.
This is determined to be a portrait document 1d.

In this way, the A3 original 1a and the A4 portrait original are determined by the combination of the original length a, which is converted and calculated based on the change in the output of the optical sensor 19a as the size detection scanner 15 moves, and the output state of the optical sensor 19b at that time. 1b, A4 horizontal document 1
c, A5 portrait original 1d.

It is possible to determine which size of the A5 landscape original 1e is set. That is, optical sensor-19
Assuming that the document length from the reference position Pa detected at the time when a changes from ON to OFF according to each document is 01t age Q3pQ4 as shown in FIG. 2, the determination is made as shown in the following table.

Size Judgment Table As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to judge the size of five types of originals 1a to 1e by simply using the two optical sensors 19a and 15b that receive reflected light from the original 1. The detection mechanism is simplified and the cost is also reduced. Furthermore, by mounting the optical sensors 19'a and 19b on the size detection scanner 15 provided separately from the scanner 7 for copying, the optical sensors 19a and 19b are not affected by the heat from the exposure lamp 5, so the sensor It is possible to improve the reliability of the detection results by improving the characteristics of the sensor. Furthermore, these optical sensors 19a, 19b
The connecting wire to the sensor is also bent only when the size is detected, and the amount of repeated bending is smaller than when the sensor is mounted on the scanner 7, which is advantageous in terms of durability. or,
Scanner 7 itself is not equipped with a size detection sensor, so its weight is lighter and Scanner 7 is activated.

Braking control becomes easier.

In this embodiment, the case where only the A version original 1 is used has been explained.1 For example, if a B version original is also used, the BMJ) corresponding to the optical sensor 19b for determining the width of the X original is used. All you need to do is add one optical sensor.

By the way, as the return operation method of the size detection scanner 15 when the document size is detected by scanning by the size detection scanner 15, two methods can be adopted. The first method is to have the machine scan the maximum scanning length to a reference position Pa determined by the machine even after detecting the document size, and then perform a return operation to position Pe to wait for the copying operation by the scanner 7. This is a method to set the state. The second method is to stop the size detection scanner 15 when the document size is detected (when the output of the optical sensor 19a changes from OFF to ON), and immediately return the size detection scanner 15 from that position to the position [Pa]. This method puts the scanner 7 in a standby state for copying operation. According to the first method, the size detection scanner 15 is driven in the same way as the scanner 7, which has the advantage of simplifying its operation control system. The second method has the advantage of shortening the time required for scanning by the size detection scanner 15, that is, the time required for document size detection. In particular, in the case of large-sized originals such as A3JJl manuscripts, the time can be significantly reduced.

In addition, in the above description of the document size detection method, the size detection scanner 15 is at the reference position P.

Although the document size is detected when scanning in the direction toward Sometimes the document size is detected. In the case of the above method, by giving a size detection instruction from the operation panel (not shown), the size detection scanner 15 moves to the reference position fl! In this method, the size detection scanner 15 starts a return scan from the reference position Po and detects the document size during the movement. In this case, the positions of the optical sensors 19a and 15b are the same as in the above explanation, but the operations (OFF, ON) are reversed. In this case, the document length is directly converted and calculated based on the amount of movement of the size detection scanner 15.

Furthermore, in the fifth embodiment, the amount of movement of the size detection scanner 15 is measured using the encoder 30, and the length of the document is converted and calculated from this amount of movement.

Instead of the encoder 30, a timer may be used to measure the travel time of the size detection scanner 15, and the document length may be converted and calculated from this travel time.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the optical fiber 31 and the optical sensor 19a are
, 19b is used. One end of the optical fiber 31 serves as a light introduction section 31a and is supported by the size detection scanner 15, so that reflected light from the document 1 can be introduced into the optical fiber 31.

The optical sensors 19a and 19b are connected to a fixed part 33 of the device.
The other end of the optical fiber 31 receives the light transmitted by the optical fiber 31 (the optical fiber 31 is connected to the optical sensor 1
9a, 19b) 0 Also in this embodiment, since the optical sensors 19a, 19b are not mounted on the scanner 7, the optical sensors 19a, 19b are not subject to the thermal influence of the exposure lamp 5. This significantly reduces sensor temperature drift and increases the reliability of size detection.

By the way, in the case of this embodiment, the reliability of size detection can be further improved by providing a lens 34 on the light introduction part 31a of the optical fiber 31 as shown in FIG. Set the distance from
When using this method, the document size detection accuracy could be set to 1. In other words, it is possible to determine the difference in document length up to 1-. In this regard, when the lens 34 is not used and the distance between the tip of the light introducing portion 31a of the optical fiber 31 and the surface of the original is set to 5.5++a, the detection accuracy is 3 to 4 mm. FIG. 9 shows actual measured values of changes in sensor circuit output before and after document size detection for comparison of detection accuracy. The solid line is lens 3
4 is used, the dashed line indicates the case where the lens 34 is not used.0 For example, in the case of only the optical fiber 31 shown by the dashed dotted line, most of the light reflected to the optical fiber 31 is reflected in the area where the document 1 is not present. Since there is no optical fiber, the sensor circuit output is low, and in the area where the document 1 is present, the reflected light from the document 1 is transmitted through the optical fiber 31, so the sensor circuit output is high. This means that if the output of the sensor circuit changes quickly from a low state to a high state, even a slight difference in the length of the document 1 can be detected, but in the case of only the optical fiber 31, the change from low to high will take 3 It can be seen that ~4 mm is required. On the other hand, it can be seen that in the case of using the lens 34, only l1111 is required for the change from low to high. In this way, by simply adding the lens 34, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of detecting the document size. Also in this case, since the optical fiber 31 is used, the optical sensor 19a.

19b is not affected by the heat of the exposure lamp 5.

Effects Since the present invention is configured as described above, the size of the document can be determined using a small number of optical sensors for each type of document size.

It is possible to easily and accurately detect the document size at a low cost.Also, since the detection means is not installed in the scanner for exposing the document, but is installed in a dedicated size detection scanner, the detection means is not equipped with the heat generated by the exposure lamp. size detection is highly reliable, and
The durability of the connection line to the detection means is also good.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view showing the dimensional relationship, Figure 3 is a side view of the coupling device, Figure 4 is its front view, Figure 5 is a vertical side/front view showing an enlarged view of the vicinity of the scanner, and Figure 6 is the circuit. 7 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modification thereof, and FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Original, 5... Exposure lamp, 7... Scanner, 12... Drive motor (drive means), 15... Size detection scanner, 18... Detection device (detection means)
, 19a, 19b... Optical sensor -, 32... Detection device (detection means) Procedural amendment export) February 7, 1985 Michibe Uga, Commissioner of the Patent Office 2, Name of the invention Manuscript size detection Device 3, Relationship with the person making the amendment Patent applicant address: 1-3-6-4 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Agent:
Patent Application No. 129383/1983 No date of amendment order Regarding this application, in box 14, lines 12 to 16 of the specification, "Here, in this embodiment,... ...This will be a good thing.'' In this embodiment, the case where only the A version original 1 is used is explained, but if, for example, the B version original is also used, the settings of the optical sensor 15b may be changed. By appropriately selecting the position, it is possible to detect either the A or B version of the original." Procedural amendment (1 February 18, 1988, Patent Application No. 129383/1983, Title of invention: Manuscript size detection device Address: 1-3-6-4 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Agent)
Person〒107 In the procedural amendment submitted on February 7, 1986, "15b" in the 7th line of page 1 is amended to "r19b".

Claims (1)

[Claims] A scanner equipped with an exposure lamp or the like to expose and scan the surface of the document is provided, and a detection means having a plurality of optical sensors provided at predetermined positions in the width direction of the document to detect light reflected from the document is installed. A size detection scanner separate from the scanner is provided, and driving means for scanning the size detection scanner relative to the document surface is provided, and one of the optical sensors is controlled by the amount of movement or the time of movement from the device reference position. A conversion means is provided for converting the detection position of the size detection scanner into a document length based on the amount of movement or movement time from the device reference position for use in determination, and the other of the optical sensors is used to determine the width of the document. A document size detection device characterized in that the document size is determined based on the document width converted by the conversion means and the document length converted by the conversion means.