JPS63306143A - Automatic document feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure a proper reading condition with a simple structure by interlocking a skew preventing member which guide both side of a document to prevent it skewing with side restricting members. CONSTITUTION:A pair of side restricting members 24, 25 for centering a document are provided on both side parts of a tray 3. The side restricting members 24, 25 are movably guided in the width direction of the tray 3 and installed on a pair of interlocking members 26a, 26b which form racks 27 engaged with a rotatable pinion 28 placed in nearly center part and which are synchronously movable far and near. Also, a skew preventing member 30 is suspended from the side restricting members 24, 25 in such a way that it is projected into an opening part 29 formed on the guide member 23 of a circulation unit 10, and restricts both side edges of a document passing through a document circulating passage 22 to prevent the skew of the document. The skew preventing member 30 can be simultaneously positioned with the side restricting members 24, 25 being positioned to the document.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, there have been three reading methods in devices that read and process originals, such as copying machines and facsimiles. The first method is to place the original on a fixed original table and perform mirror scanning, and this is the most widely used method. The second type is a type that scans by moving the document table, and is the mainstream among inexpensive machines. The third method is to automatically feed the original to the reading position and take a panning shot.

The third method is extremely (although it is rare, the reason is (1)
There are more opportunities to handle important manuscripts than with other methods, and there is a greater risk of damaging the manuscript.

(2) When feeding a document, there is a risk that the document will be skewed and cannot be read properly.

There are drawbacks such as. On the other hand, in the third method, (1) by circulating the originals, simple sorting can be performed without using a sorter or the like.

(2) There is no need for return time after scanning such as mirror scanning or moving the document table, and various types of originals can be fed one after another at regular intervals, and processing of many types of originals is fast.

There is an advantage.

In recent years, there has been a strong demand for easier operation and automation, and there has been a trend towards two types of systems: single-function and multi-function, and the conditions have arisen to eliminate the shortcomings of the PIS3 method and utilize the above advantages. ing.

The first drawback is that the reliability of paper passing through the machine is high, and if a detection mechanism is appropriately provided, the reliability can be further improved, so that M erasing is possible. However, the second drawback has not been completely eliminated.

Generally, in order to prevent skewing of a document or transfer paper, it is known that, for example, skinny correction plates are arranged on both sides of the transfer path, and the positions of the plates are adjusted by driving a motor.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even if the above-mentioned method of independently providing a skew correction plate and driving the motor is applied to a compact automatic document feeder, it is difficult to secure the installation space. There are problems in that it is difficult and the configuration is complicated, resulting in high costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeding device that is capable of automatically feeding a document and can reliably prevent skewing of the document with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention takes out the sheets Iw and documents stored in the tray one by one and feeds the documents to a reading position via a U-turn path. In the automatic feeding device, a side regulating member is disposed on the tray to regulate the position of the document in the width direction, and after passing through the U-turn path, the document is guided on both sides to the document passing path toward the reading position, and its skew movement is performed. In addition to providing a skew prevention member to prevent
A feature is that this skew prevention member and the side regulating member are interlocked.

(Function) Since the present invention has the above configuration, when a document is stored in the tray and the position of the document in the width direction is regulated by moving and adjusting the side regulating member, the document passing path also corresponds to the width of the document. Since the position of the skew prevention member is adjusted by the skew prevention member, when a document is fed, the skew prevention member regulates both sides of the document passage path in front of the reading position, and the skew of the document is reliably prevented and the document is properly fed. It is possible to ensure a proper reading state.

In particular, when making a plurality of copies of one original, it is highly effective to arrange the skew prevention member on the short-circuit circulation path that includes the reading position so that the original passes through the short-circuit circulation path.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automatic document feeder in a copying machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Reference numeral 1 denotes the main body of the copying machine, which is the same as the well-known configuration, including a light source 1a that illuminates the document surface, a lens array 1b located at the reading position, and a photosensitive drum. 1c, developing device 1d, transfer section 1e, paper feed section 1
r, a fixing section 18, a stray paper section 1h, a paper refeeding unit 11, and the like. An automatic document feeder 2 is disposed on the top of the copying machine main body 1.

This automatic document feeder 2 is of a circulation type, and as shown in detail in FIG. 3, a tray 3 for storing documents is arranged at the top.
The originals stored in the tray 3 are taken out one by one from the bottom, transported along the upper surface of the original glass 4, passed through the reading position above the lens array 1b, and returned to the tray 3. A document feeding path 5 is formed for circularly feeding documents such that the documents are stacked on top of each other.

The tray 3 is formed to be inclined so that the front side in the document feeding direction is located downward, and a paper feed roller 6 is disposed on the lower surface of the front end of the tray 3, and a paper feed roller 6 is provided on the lower surface of the front end of the tray 3 to feed the document from the delivery port 3a to the document feeding path 5. Configured to send.

The document feeding path 5 includes a sorting roller 7.8 that separates the documents one by one, a U-turn guide member 9, a circulation unit placed on the document glass 4, and a 10° return path member 14.
, an intermediate roller 15, a return guide member 16 for inverting the document and returning it to the rear end of the tray 3, a timing roller 17 disposed at the exit of the U-turn guide member 9, and a timing roller 17 disposed at the entrance of the return path member 14. a first switching claw 1 for feeding a document into either the circulation unit 10 or the return path member 14;
8. A second switching mold 19 is provided for feeding the original placed at the entrance of the return guide member 16 to either the return guide member 16 or the original discharge tray 20.

Incidentally, one roller 7 of the sorting rollers 7.8 is a normal rotation roller, and the other roller 8 is a reverse rotation roller with a limiter. Further, a peeling claw 14a that contacts the original glass 4 is provided at the tip of the return path member 14, and is configured to peel the original from the original plus 4. The document lath 4 is attached so as to form the bottom surface of a book carrier 21 housed in the lower part of the automatic document feeder 2, and the book carrier 21 is arranged along the top surface of the copying machine main body 1 in the direction of document movement. It is movably arranged.

The circulation unit 10, as explained in detail later,
It is configured to be movable between an operating position shown by a solid line and a retracted position located diagonally above and below the rear of the tray 3 as shown by a phantom line. Also, this circulation unit 1
0, the lower half 9a of the U-turn guide member 9 is integrated, and the front half 14b of the return path member 14 is integrated.
is configured to be able to rotate diagonally upward together with the first switching mold 18, and when the book carrier 21 moves, these circulation unit 10, U-turn guide member 9, and return path member 1
4 and the first switching type 18.

Further, the circulation unit 10 includes an oval original circulation passage 22 that includes the upper surface of the original glass 4 as one side. The document circulation path 22 is formed by a driving roller 11, a driven roller 12, a belt 13 wound between these rollers, and a guide member 23 that covers the outer periphery of the driving roller 11 and the driven roller 12 disposed at both ends. The length is set to be the maximum length of the document in the feeding direction plus the margin, so that the elapsed time per sheet is shortened when multiple sheets are copied.

Incidentally, in order to absorb the slackness of the belt 13, the driven roller 12 has a bearing portion held in an elongated hole and is biased by a spring (not shown). In addition, a detection switch (not shown) for monitoring the number of documents passing through the tray 3 is provided on the guide member 23.As shown in FIG. Member 24
．． 25 are arranged. This side regulating member 24.2
5 is formed with a rack 27 that is movably guided and supported in the width direction of the tray 3 and meshes with a rotatable pinion 28 disposed approximately in the center, and is configured to move near and far in the same manner. It is attached to a pair of interlocking members 26a and 26b. Further, from the side regulating members 24 and 25, a skew prevention member 30 is inserted into an opening 29 formed in the guide member 23 of the circulation unit 10.
are vertically disposed and are configured to restrict both side edges of the document passing through the document circulation path 22 to prevent the circulating document from being skewed.

The skew prevention member 30 is simultaneously positioned by positioning the side regulating members 24, 25 in accordance with the document.

A gear 31.32 is attached to one end of the support shaft 7a, 8a of the sorting roller 7.8, respectively, and a drive motor 34
It meshes with a drive pinion 35 which is rotationally driven by.

A plate cam 37 for operating an empty detection device 36 is attached to the other end of the support shaft 7a of the sorting roller rough.

Further, an abutment plate 4 abuts against the plate cam 37 at one end of a hatchet tsumugi 39 supported movably in the front-rear direction of the tray 3 by a support bracket 38 fixed to the side regulating member 24.
0 is fixed, and is biased by a lever spring 41 in the direction of constant contact. The extending/retracting sleeve 39 is prevented from rotating by a long hole 38a of the support bracket 38 and a protrusion 39a of the extending/retracting sleeve 39, and a cylindrical cam 42 is fixed to the other end. A detection lever 43 is disposed axially opposite to this cylindrical cam 42 and is rotatable on the same axis. When the engaging protrusion 45 is formed and the cylindrical cam 42 moves in the axial direction, the detection lever 43 hangs down due to its own weight.
is configured to rotate upward by more than half a turn as shown by the arrow. Tip portion 43a of the detection lever 43
passes through the window 24a formed in the side regulating member 24, engages with the upper surface of the original in the tray 3, assumes a substantially horizontal position, and rotates to a hanging position due to its own weight when the lower original runs out. It is configured. A rotating disk 46 that rotates integrally with the detection lever 43 is provided, and a notch formed in the rotating disk 46 is detected by a 7-off switch 47 to detect that the detection lever 43 is in a hanging position. is configured to do so.

4 and 5, an id groove 56 is formed in the frame 50 of the automatic document feeder 2 to guide the rear part of the circulation unit 10 from the operating position to the retracted position. A rotating shaft 51 is disposed in the upper part, and a long hole 53 of the rotating lever 52 is attached to the rotating shaft 51.
An engagement shaft 54 protruding from both sides of the circulation unit 10 is engaged with the circulation unit 10 , and by rotating an operating lever 55 attached to one end of the rotation shaft 51 , the circulation unit 10 is engaged with the rotation lever 52 . It is configured such that it can be moved diagonally upward to a retracted position.

As shown in FIG. 6, the book carrier 21 is movably guided by an idle rail 60, and an endless chain 61 is disposed along one side of the movement path.
An engagement pin 62 attached at one location engages with a retaining member 63 fixed to a Q section on one side of the book carrier 21. The endless chain 61 has a driving sprocket 64
and a driven sprocket 65, and the driving sprocket 64 connects to the driving gear 6 via a spring clutch 66.
It is connected to 7. The spring cruncher 6 is configured to be turned on and coupled to the drive sprocket 64 when the outer periphery is locked by a locking pawl 69 operated by a thread/id 68. Further, the drive gear 67 is interlocked with a drive pinion 72 driven by a drive motor 71 via a timing belt 70.

As shown in FIG. 7, a manual feed table 75 is connected to the book carrier 21 via a link 74 that is movably supported along an id groove 73 formed on the inner surface of the book carrier 21. As shown in FIG. 8, the table 75 is configured to support a surface other than the copying surface of a book in a double-page spread state when copying a book or the like. Further, a pack sheet 77 is provided on the lower surface side of the manual feed table 75 with a cushion material 76 in between, and as shown in FIG. It is made so that it can be obtained.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

First, the basic operation when copying a sheet-like original will be explained. The operator adjusts the size regulation members 24 and 25 according to the document size, sets the copy document in the tray 3 with the document surface facing upward, inputs the required number of copies on the operation panel, and turns on the print switch. Then, the lowest document is fed one by one by the feed roller 6 and the sorting roller 7.8 at the front end of the tray 3, passes through the U-turn guide member 9, hits the timing roller 17, and the leading edge of the document is stopped. This prevents the original from being skewed due to loops. Next, after a certain set time has elapsed, the timing roller 1
7 is driven, and the original is sent onto the lath 4. At this time, the circulation unit 10 is pressed against the document glass by a certain spring force, and its belt 13 is constantly driven clockwise, thereby eliminating lifting of the document and uneven speed. On the other hand, the copying machine main body 1 is driven by turning on the print switch, the photosensitive drum 1c rotates counterclockwise, and after a potential is uniformly applied to it at a set timing, a slit is exposed at the reading position and the photosensitive drum 1c becomes static. A latent image is formed. As the light source 1a for this slit exposure, it is advantageous to use a fluorescent lamp instead of a halogen lamp because the temperature rise of the original glass 4 and other parts is smaller. The latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1C is visualized by the developing device 1d. Further, the transfer paper is sent from a preselected paper feed section 1f to the transfer section 1e in synchronization with the original, and the developed image formed on the photoreceptor drum 1c is transferred by the transfer section 1e, and the fixing section 1
After being thermally fixed in g, it is discharged from the discharge section 1hl:#. The original is peeled off from the original plus 4 by the peeling claw 14a at the tip of the return path member 14, returned to the tray 3 through the return path member 14 and the return guide member 16, and stacked on top of the uppermost original. It will be done. The plate cam 37 of the empty detection device 36 rotates due to the rotation of the handling roller rough, and accordingly, the detection lever 43 is rotationally driven via the cylindrical cam 42, and the tip end 43a is placed on the uppermost document.
is placed thereon, and the copied originals are stacked one after another on top of it. Also, when copying multiple originals, wait 10 to 200 seconds after detecting the trailing edge of the previous original.
A subsequent original is fed at an arbitrarily set interval of mm, is copied in the same manner as above, and is returned to the tray 3. In this way, the originals are fed one after another, and when the topmost original that was sent first is fed from tray 3,
The detection lever 43 that was placed on it rotates clockwise due to its own weight and assumes a hanging position, and this
When detected, an empty signal indicating that the initially set original has completed one cycle is generated. This state is maintained until the print switch is turned on again, the sorting roller 7 rotates, the plate cam 37 and the cylindrical cam 42 rotate, and the detection lever 43 is rotated upward.

In addition, when copying multiple sheets of one document, that is, N sheets at a time, the documents fed from the tray 3 and passed through the reading position are sent to the circulation unit 10 by the first switching type 18. , this circulation unit 7 performs copying while circulating a set number of times.

At this time, a detection switch provided in the circulation unit 10 detects the number of times the document passes. Number of passes is N-1
At the turn, the first switching die 18 is rotated counterclockwise and switched to the return path member 14 again, so that the document returns to the tray 3 in the same manner as described above. Then, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since N-1 passes have been detected, feeding of the next original is started.

Note that since both side edges of the document are regulated by the skew prevention member 30, the document will not be skewed no matter how many times it is circulated. The first switching die 18 is lightly pressed against the belt 13, so that even if the rear end of the document is held between the belt 13 and the first switching die 18, the document cannot be fed. There seems to be no problem.

A case will be explained in which a non-standard document that cannot be set in the tray 3 is to be copied by a dog. In this case, the manual feed table 75 is used and the document is inserted along the manual feed table 75 with the document surface facing downward. At this time, the manual feed detection switch is turned on, the manual feed mode is detected, and the timing low 217 is turned on for a short time to grip the leading edge of the document.

When the print switch is turned on in this state, the timing roller 17 is driven in accordance with the feeding timing of the transfer paper, and the document is sent to the reading position.

In the manual feed mode, it is impossible to predict what size the document will be passed through, so the first switching type 18 and the second switching type 19 are switched to a counterclockwise position to allow the document to pass through the reading position. The original is ejected to the original ejection tray 20 through the return path member 14. Note that if there is a sufficient distance between the manual feed detection switch and the second switching type 19,
The length of the document is detected based on the length of the ON state of the manual feed detection switch, and if the length is less than the specified length that can be accommodated in the tray 3, the document is ejected into the tray 3, and if it is longer than the specified length, the document is ejected to the document output tray 20. Good too. Further, even if the length is longer than the specified length, if there is no original in the tray 3, the original is returned to the tray 3 and circulated through the tray 3, thereby making it possible to make multiple copies.

Next, the case of copying a book or a thick original (hereinafter referred to as an original) will be described. In this case, first operate lever 5.
When mode switching is performed by repeatedly rotating 5 clockwise, the circulation unit 10 is retracted to a diagonally upper retracted position. In addition, the regulation hook that was regulating the position of the book carrier 21 (
(not shown) is removed and becomes freely movable. Here, the operator pulls out the book carrier 21 to the outside of the automatic document feeder 2, and the original v4. ? A document is set on the lath 4, and is pressed down with a document presser if necessary. Next, after setting the number of copies and selecting the transfer paper size, etc., the print switch is turned on. Then, the locking claw 69 at the twist/id 68
is engaged with the outer periphery of the spring club chiro 6, the drive sprocket 64 is driven, and the book carrier 2
1 starts scanning. When this is detected by a detection switch (not shown) at a predetermined position, transfer paper is fed at the same timing and copies are made in the same manner as above. In the case of one-sheet copying, when the book carrier 21 reaches a designated position, a detection switch (not shown) is activated, the slide/id 68 is turned off, and the book carrier 21 stops at that position. In the case of multiple copies, the scanner scans multiple times and stops at the designated position in the same way. Thereafter, the document is taken out, and the book carrier 21 is inserted until it hits the regulating member in the automatic document feeder 2, and is fixed by the regulating hook. The circulation unit 10 is returned to its initial state by rotating the operating lever 55 counterclockwise. Note that when scanning with the book carrier 21, there is a height restriction in this configuration, but a height detection switch (not shown) is placed at the entrance to detect abnormalities.
The locking by the locking pawl 69 of the spring clutch 66 is immediately released to stop scanning.

In the above embodiment, the circulation unit 10 is provided with a pair of rollers 11 and 12 and a belt 13, but a roller may be used instead of the belt to void the document, or a roller may be used instead of the belt, or a roller may be used instead of the belt. Alternatively, one drum or roller may be used to transfer the document (and instead of transferring the document by clamping it, the leading edge of the document may be chaffed and transferred.

Further, in the above embodiment, a circulation path for returning originals from the tray to the tray is provided, and a circulation unit is disposed in the middle of the circulation path, but the present invention is not limited to this. As long as it is equipped with a tray to accommodate the document and a U-turn path, it can be applied even if there is no circulation unit and the system does not return the document to the tray.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the automatic document feeder of the present invention, when a document is stored in the tray as described above and the position of the document in the width direction is controlled by moving and adjusting the side regulating member, the document can be read. The position of the skew prevention member is also adjusted in accordance with the width of the document in the document passage path before the reading position. Therefore, when the document is fed, the skew prevention member prevents both edges of the document from being fed in the document passage path before the reading position. It is possible to reliably prevent the document from being skewed and ensure proper reading and printing conditions. Moreover, since the skew prevention member is simply provided and interlocked with the side regulating member, the structure is extremely simple and compact, and can be obtained at low cost.

Furthermore, when making multiple copies of one original,
If the skinny prevention member is placed in the short-circuit circulation path so that the document passes through the short-circuit circulation path including the reading position, the copying time can be shortened by passing the document through the short-circuit circulation path, and the copying time can be shortened no matter how many times the document is passed through the short-circuit circulation path. Since there is no risk of skewing, a particularly great effect can be obtained, and other great effects can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a side regulating member, a skew prevention member, and an empty detection device in an automatic document feeder of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing the overall configuration of the copying machine. Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the automatic document feeder, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the evacuation mechanism of the circulation unit, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the exterior, and Figure 6 is the book carrier and its FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the drive mechanism, and a longitudinal sectional front view showing each state of use of the carrier.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic document feeder that takes out sheet-like documents stored in a tray one by one and feeds them to a reading position via a U-turn path, side control controls the position of the document in the width direction of the tray. A skew prevention member is provided, and a skew prevention member is provided that guides both sides of the document on the document passing path toward the reading position after passing through the U-turn path to prevent the document from being skewed, and the skew prevention member and the side regulating member An automatic document feeder characterized by interlocking the following.