JPH0224737B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic paper feeder for cut sheets.

Conventional configuration and its problems In a facsimile machine, a document table is provided with a roller that is inclined with respect to the paper feeding direction, and the rotation of this roller moves the document set on the document table to a document guide provided on one side of the document. There is an automatic paper feeder configured to correct the direction and position of the document while aligning one side of the document with the surface of the document, and then transport the document to a document reading section.

However, this conventional automatic paper feeder has the problem that when two or more originals are stacked on the document table, it is not possible to distinguish between the originals and feed them one by one while correcting the orientation and tilt of the originals. Ta.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an automatic paper feeding device that can distinguish and feed stacked sheets one by one while correcting the orientation and position. The main purpose is to

Structure of the Invention According to the present invention, the alignment roller is provided separately from the paper feed roller, and the first paper feed roller is used as the paper feed roller to directly transport the paper aligned by the alignment roller in the paper feeding direction. and a second paper feed roller that cooperates with a reversing roller to discriminate the paper sheets transported by the first paper feed roller one by one and further transport them in the paper feeding direction, and further,
Means for separately bringing the alignment roller and the first paper feed roller into contact with and away from the paper, and means for rotating the second paper feed roller and reversing the direction of rotation thereof are provided.

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall structure of an automatic paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that this automatic paper feeding device is installed in a facsimile machine, and is used to distinguish and feed documents to be sent one by one to a document reading section. 2 and 3 are a partially omitted external perspective view and a partially omitted plan view, respectively, of a facsimile machine equipped with the automatic paper feeder.

In each figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a document table, on one side of which a document guide surface 3 parallel to the paper feeding direction 2 is formed as part of an upper cover 4. The document table 1 has two openings 5a close to the document guide surface 3;
5b is formed, and an opening 5c is formed near the paper feed port 6.
is formed. Aligning rollers 7a and 7b are provided at positions facing the openings 5a and 5b for vertically transporting the originals on the original platen 1 toward the original guide surface 3, and alignment rollers 7a and 7b are provided at positions facing the opening 5c to transport the originals in the paper feeding direction. A first paper feed roller 8 is provided for transporting the paper to the paper feed roller 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line -' in FIG. 3.
In this figure, reference numeral 9 denotes a shaft to which alignment rollers 7a and 7b are fixed, and both ends of this shaft 9 are attached to a lever 10.
a, 10b (10b is not shown) and is rotatably supported. The levers 10a and 10b are each rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 11 at the center. The other ends of the levers 10a, 10b are pulled by tension springs 12a, 12b (12b not shown), and solenoids 13a, 13b are coupled to the ends. With such a lifting mechanism, the alignment roller 7
a and 7b are designed to be raised and lowered. The rotating shaft 11 is directly connected to the rotating shaft of the motor 15 (FIG. 1).
Or connected via power transmission means.

A belt 11a is placed between the shaft 9 and the rotating shaft 11, and the rotational force of the rotating shaft 11 is transmitted to the shaft 9 via this belt 11a. Also, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 1,
Pressing plates 14a and 14b having hemispherical tips extend from the upper cover.

In FIG. 1, the first paper feed roller 8 is also raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism similar to that of the alignment rollers 7a and 7b, and 16 is a solenoid included in the lifting mechanism. Reference numeral 17 denotes a motor for rotationally driving the first paper feed roller 8, and its rotating shaft is connected to the shaft of the first paper feed roller 8 by a power transmission mechanism (not shown). A pinch roller 18 is rotatably provided above the first paper feed roller 8 .

Reference numeral 20 denotes a second paper feed roller, which is rotationally driven by a motor 21 connected to its shaft via a power transmission mechanism. Reference numeral 22 denotes a reversing roller, which is rotationally driven by a motor 23 via a power transmission mechanism (not shown) including torque limit means. 24 is a feed roller that sends the document fed from the second paper feed roller 20 to the conveyance path 25;
is rotationally driven by a motor 23. 26 is a pinch roller combined with the feed roller 24. Reference numeral 27 denotes a discharge roller that transports the document conveyed through the conveyance path 25 to the document discharge port 28, and is rotationally driven by the motor 23. 29 is a pinch roller combined with the discharge roller 27.

30 is a photo sensor, which faces the light emitting element 31 via the conveyance path 25. 32 is motor 1
5, 17, 21, 23 and solenoid 13a,
It is a drive circuit that drives 13b and 16, and 33 is a control circuit that controls the drive operation by the drive circuit 32. This control circuit 33 includes a photo sensor 3.
An output signal of 0 is input. 34 is conveyance path 2
The image of the original illuminated by this light source 34 is formed by an image sensor 37 via a reflecting mirror 35 and an imaging lens 36, and is subjected to photoelectric conversion. It is becoming more and more common.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the automatic paper feeder of this embodiment. The operation of this automatic paper feeder will be explained with reference to this figure.

When the start switch (not shown) provided in the device is off, the start signal S1 input to the control circuit 33 is off, so the control circuit 33 causes the drive circuit 32 to start the motor. Drive signals S2, S4, S6, S8 and solenoid drive signals S3, S5 are turned off. Therefore, the alignment rollers 7a and 7b, the first and second paper feed rollers 8 and 20, the reverse rotation roller 22, the feed roller 24, and the discharge roller 27 are all stopped. Further, the levers 10a, 10b supporting the alignment rollers 7a, 7b are supported by tension springs 12a, 1
2b in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4, and the alignment rollers 7a, 7b are lowered as shown by solid lines in FIG. Similarly, the first paper feed roller 8 is also lowered as shown by the dotted line in FIG.

In this state, one or more sheets of originals are piled up, and the pinch roller 18 and the holding plate 14a,
Set it on the document table 1 so that it fits under the document 14b.

When the start switch is turned on, the start signal S1 is turned on, and under the control of the control circuit 33, the drive circuit 32 turns on the motor drive signal S2 to operate the motor 15, whereby the alignment roller 7
a and 7b begin to rotate. At the same time, the solenoid drive signal S3 is also turned on and the solenoids 13a and 13b are turned on.
By operating the levers 10a, 10b
Rotate counterclockwise in Figure 4. As a result, the alignment rollers 7a and 7b rise as shown by broken lines in FIG. 1, and rotate while pinching and pressing the original between them and the pressing plates 14a and 14b.

Due to the rotation of the alignment rollers 7a and 7b, the original platen 1
The original set on top is transferred toward the original guide surface 3, and first, the front end corner or the rear end corner of the original comes into contact with the original guide surface 3. After the contact, the original is rotated around the corner of contact with the original guide surface 3, and finally one side of the original completely contacts the original guide surface 3. In this way, the orientation and position of the document are corrected. However, the direction and position of the remaining originals excluding the lowermost original platen, which is in direct contact with the alignment rollers 7a and 7b, may be incompletely corrected.

Note that the contact pressure between the tips of the press plates 14a, 14b and the alignment rollers 7a, 7b needs to be appropriately selected. If this contact pressure is too large, the friction between the document and the alignment rollers 7a and 7b will increase, and the rotation of the document as described above will not be carried out smoothly.
On the other hand, if the contact pressure is too small, the alignment rollers 7a, 7
A slip occurs between the document b and the document. Therefore, the pressing plates 14a and 14b are made of a flexible material so that an appropriate contact pressure (generally several grams) can be obtained at all times.

When the document alignment operation as described above is completed, the motor drive signal S2 and the solenoid drive signal S
3 is turned off, so that the alignment rollers 7a, 7b stop rotating and descend to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. At the same time, motor drive signals S4, S8 and solenoid drive signal S5 are turned on, and a motor drive signal S6 for forward rotation of motor 21 is supplied to motor 21.

The first paper feed roller 8 is raised to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 by the operation of the solenoid 16, and is rotated by the motor 17. In this way, the first paper feed roller 8 rotates while pinching the original between it and the pinch roller 18 , and transports the original toward the second paper feed roller 20 . The second paper feed roller 20 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow 40 by a motor 21, while the reversing roller 22 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow 41 by a motor 23 via a power transmission system including torque limit means. There is.

When there is no document between the second paper feed roller 20 and the reverse rotation roller 22, or when there is only one document between the second paper feed roller 20 and the reverse rotation roller 22, the information is transmitted from the second paper supply roller 20 to the reverse rotation roller 22. Since the rotational force is large and a torque exceeding the torque limit value is applied to the torque limit means, the reversing roller 22 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow 41 as the second paper feed roller 20 rotates, so that the reversing roller 22 is rotated in the opposite direction to the arrow 41, so that the reversing roller 22 is not interposed between the rollers. The original document that is currently in use is transferred to the feed roller 24 side. Second
When a plurality of documents are interposed between the second paper feed roller 20 and the reversing roller 22, the rotational force transmitted from the second paper feeding roller 20 to the reversing roller 22 is small, and the torque applied to the torque limiter is reduced. is less than the torque limit value, so the reversing roller 22
rotates in the direction of arrow 41. As a result, only the lowest document that comes into direct contact with the second paper feed roller 20 is fed, and the remaining documents are sent back without being fed. At this time, the circumferential speed of the first paper feed roller 8 is set lower than the circumferential speed of the second paper feed roller 20 in order to prevent the document that is not being fed from being significantly bent.

The documents, which are separated and fed one by one by the second paper feed roller 20 and the reversing roller 22, are fed to the motor 2.
The document is further fed through the conveying path 25 by a feed roller 24 and a pinch roller 26, which are rotationally driven by the motor 23, and is sent to the document output port 2 by a discharge roller 27 and a pinch roller 29, which are rotationally driven by a motor 23.
Sent to 8th.

When the second paper feed roller 20 and the reversing roller 22 finish feeding one document, the leading edge of the document blocks the space between the light emitting element 31 and the photo sensor 30, and the output signal S7 of the photo sensor 30 turns on. Under the control of the control circuit 33, the drive circuit 32 turns off the motor drive signal S4 and the solenoid drive signal S5, and simultaneously generates a motor drive signal S6 for rotating the motor 21 in the reverse direction. solenoid 16
Then, since the motor 17 stops operating, the first paper feed roller 8 descends to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 1 and stops. Further, the second paper feed roller 20 is rotated in a direction opposite to the arrow 40. Therefore, the document that is being fed is sent back in the opposite direction to the paper feeding direction together with the document that has remained in front of the second paper feeding roller 20.

When the trailing edge of the fed document passes the photo sensor 30, the output signal S7 of the photo sensor 1 is turned off again. Then, under the control of the control circuit 33, the drive circuit 32 turns off the motor drive signal S6, and one cycle of the sheet feeding operation is completed. at the same time,
The next cycle of the paper feeding operation begins with the document alignment operation.

In this way, each time a sheet is fed, the same operations are repeated from the document alignment operation. Therefore, all the originals set on the original table can be fed one by one with their orientations and positions corrected.
Further, correction of the orientation and position of the document is performed by the first paper feed roller 8 and other alignment rollers 7a and 7b.
During the alignment operation, the second paper feed roller 8 is separated from the document, so that the document clamping force exerted by the alignment rollers 7a, 7b and the press plates 14a, 14b can be suppressed to the minimum value necessary for correction. can. Therefore, no unreasonable force is applied to the originals during the alignment operation, and both stiff and loose originals can be reliably fed.

Note that if only regular-sized documents are to be handled, it is also possible to provide only one alignment roller. When handling irregularly shaped originals, it is preferable to provide two or more alignment rollers as in the above embodiment. When two alignment rollers are provided as in the above embodiment, one alignment roller is placed at an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction of the smallest document, and the other alignment roller is placed at an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction of the largest document. Generally preferred.

Further, the means for raising and lowering the alignment roller and the first paper feed roller are not limited to those having the above configuration.

Further, in the above embodiment, four motors are provided for driving the rollers, but by introducing a clutch mechanism or the like, it is easy to configure the system to rotate each roller using fewer motors.

Further, the present invention can be generally applied to automatic paper feeding devices that handle cut sheets.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an automatic paper feeder that can correct the orientation and position of two or more sheets of paper and feed them one by one, even when two or more sheets of paper are set one on top of the other. realizable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an automatic paper feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic external perspective view of the automatic paper feeder, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the automatic paper feeder. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line -' in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a timing diagram thereof. 1... Document table (paper placement surface), 3... Document guide surface,
7a, 7b...Alignment roller, 8...First paper feed roller, 14a, 14b...Press plate, 15, 17, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 23... Motor, 13a, 13b, 16... Solenoid, 18... Pinch roller, 20... Second paper feed roller, 22... Reverse rotation roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A document table 1; a guide plate 3 provided perpendicularly to the document table 1; and a guide plate 3 provided so as to be able to approach and separate from a plurality of documents stacked on the document table 1; A plurality of alignment rollers 7a, 7 that feed the material perpendicularly to the guide plate 3.
b, and a first paper feed roller 8 that is provided so as to be able to approach and separate from the original and that conveys the original in parallel with the guide plate 3.
and a reversing roller 22 provided after the first paper feed roller 8 and a second paper feed roller 20 that is capable of forward and reverse rotation.
, a third paper feeding means 24 provided after the second paper feeding roller 20 , a document presence/absence sensor 30 provided after the third paper feeding means 24 , and during standby, the alignment roller 7a, 7b and 1st
The paper feed roller 8 is separated from the original, and when feeding the original, the alignment rollers 7a, 7b are first brought into contact with the original, and after driving the alignment rollers 7a, 7b for a predetermined time, the alignment rollers 7a, 7b are moved away from the original. separated,
Next, the first paper feed roller 8 and the original are brought into contact with each other, and the first paper feed roller 8 is driven, and the reverse rotation roller 22 and the second paper feed roller 20 are also driven. After detecting the presence of the document, driving means 32, 33 move the first paper feed roller 8 away from the document and rotate the second paper feed roller 20 in the reverse direction.
An automatic paper feeder equipped with