JPH033227B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an opening/closing device for an automatic document feeder of a copying machine in which the automatic document feeder is placed on a contact glass and can be rotated to a non-operating position. .

Generally, the automatic document feeder 1 is placed on a contact glass 3 of a copying machine 2 as shown in FIG. 1, the entrance pawl 6 is released and the contact glass 3 is sent onto the contact glass 3 by the turn roller 7, pinch roller 8, and turn guide 9. A conveyor belt 12 is provided on the contact glass 3 and is stretched between pulleys 10 and 11.The conveyor belt 12 conveys the contact glass 3, and even after the conveyor belt 12 stops, its inertia is maintained. It is conveyed and positioned until the tip comes into contact with the gate claw 13. When the copying is completed at this position, the conveyor belt 12 is driven again, and the document is turned upward by the conveyor rollers 14 and the discharge guide 15 and is discharged into the stacker 16. In this way, the document is automatically fed, and the document can be fed and discharged from the contact glass 3 simultaneously.

In this case, even if the manuscript is three-dimensional like a book, or in the form of a sheet, plastic, photographs,
Since the automatic document feeder 1 cannot transport metal, etc., the automatic document feeder 1 is rotated to open and close around the fulcrum 17 as shown in FIG. 2 so that it can be placed directly onto the contact glass 3. It is necessary to make it possible. Here, the fulcrum 17 and the center of gravity of the automatic document feeder 1 are far apart, and in order to open and close the automatic document feeder 1, the self-weight G of the automatic document feeder 1 must be added to the distance between the center of gravity and the fulcrum 17. A force greater than the multiplied value is required, which is a large force and is not easy for the operator.

Therefore, in order to reduce the effort of the operator, a force in the opposite direction that is approximately equal to the force that causes the automatic document feeder 1 to fall about the fulcrum 17 is applied to the automatic document feeder 1 by a spring. This allows the automatic document feeder 1 to be opened and closed with a small amount of force.

A specific example is shown in FIG. Although this FIG. 3 shows only the structural members, first, the stay 18,
Both side plates 20 and 21 are connected by 19, and these side plates 20 and 21 are connected to the supporting point 1 by a leg piece 23 on a bracket 22 fixed to the copying machine.
It is said to be able to rotate freely around 7. A support leg 2 is positioned coaxially with the fulcrum 17 and has one end fixed to the side plate 20 and the other end attached to the bracket 22.
A torsion spring 25 is fixed to 4, and this torsion spring 25 transfers the rotational torque in the opposite direction to the rotational torque at the fulcrum 17 due to the weight of the automatic document feeder.
This causes the side plate 20 to work. However, if the weight distribution G ₁ and G ₂ of the automatic document feeder with respect to the side plates 20 and 21 are approximately equal, or if the weight distribution G ₂ on the side plate 21 side is large,
The force T that attempts to lift the automatic document feeder by the torsion spring 25 is applied to the torsion spring 25 and the side plate 2.
1. A force tries to lift the side plate 20 via the stays 18 and 19, resulting in a twisted state as shown by the solid line in FIG. In this case, the conveyor belt 12 shown in FIG. 1 is supported by both side plates 20 and 21, and it is necessary to maintain the conveyor belt 12 in contact with the contact glass 3. Due to the distortion of the side plates 20 and 21, the contact state of the conveyor belt 12 becomes uneven between the left and right sides, resulting in one-sided feeding of the document or poor feeding.

In order to eliminate these defects, either increase the strength of the structural material and make it distortion-free, or add two side panels.
0 and 21, respectively, by using torsion springs to apply opposite torques equal to the torques due to the weight distribution G ₁ and G ₂ , but in reality, it is difficult to take such a measure due to the structure, and at the same time, The automatic document feeder itself has distortion, and it is difficult to completely eliminate distortion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an automatic original document for a copying machine that can easily remove distortion caused by reverse rotational torque of an automatic document feeder and can ensure good document conveyance. The purpose of this invention is to obtain an opening/closing device for a feeding device.

According to the present invention, a reverse rotation torque is applied only to one side plate, and the resulting distortion is canceled out by adjusting the length of an adjustment member that diagonally connects the connecting frame and the side plate, thereby easily reducing distortion in the automatic document feeder. It is designed so that it can be resolved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5. First, FIG. 4 shows the framework of the automatic document feeder. The conveyor belt and the like are arranged as shown in FIG. 1, but are omitted. Side plates 28 and 29 that are movably supported are provided facing each other. These side plates 28, 29 have a plurality of stays 30,
31, 32, and 33, and the base on the fulcrum 27 side is connected by an L-shaped connection frame 35 having a bottom plate part 34. One end is fixed to an auxiliary piece 36 extending from the leg piece 26 on the side plate 29 side, and the other end is fixed to a holder 37 serving as a fixed part attached to the lower surface of the bottom plate part 34 and positioned on the side plate 28 side. A torsion spring 38 is provided as an elastic body. Here, a reverse rotational torque in the direction of arrow A is applied by the torsion spring 38, and is set to act on the side plate 28 as a torque T that is approximately equal to the weight of the automatic document feeder.

Thus, a bent mounting portion 39 is formed at a part of the upper end of the connecting frame 35, and this mounting portion 39
and the upper end of the side plate 29 are connected by a frame 40 and an adjustment member 42 formed by a long screw 41. That is, this adjustment member 42 has its long screw 4
The length can be freely adjusted by adjusting step 1, and it is desirable that the mounting positions at both ends be as far away from the fulcrum 27 in both the vertical and horizontal directions as possible.
Further, it is better that the triangle formed by the side plate 29, the connecting frame 35, and this adjustment member 42 be close to an isosceles triangle.

By the way, the frame as shown in FIG. 4 is covered with a cover 43 as shown in FIG. 5, and a hole 44 is formed in this cover 43 to expose the head of the long screw 41. There is. In addition, 45
is a stacker, and 46 is a stack cover.

In such a configuration, the side plates 28 and 29 have weight distribution G ₁ and G ₂ , but the torsion spring 3
Since the torque T by 8 is applied only to the side plate 28, if this continues, the tip side of the side plate 28 will rise and cause distortion. However, by tightening the long screw 41 and shortening the length of the adjusting member 42, the side plate 29
When a force is applied to draw the connecting frame 35 together, a component force F is generated on the side plate 29 with the connecting frame 35 as a reference. If the adjusting member 42 is adjusted using the long screw 41 so that the amount by which the entire device is twisted by this force F is almost the same as the amount of twist caused by the biasing of the point of action of the torsion spring 38, the twisting can be canceled out. This results in a distortion-free device.
Therefore, the conveyor belt attached between the side plates 28 and 29 comes into contact with the contact glass evenly on the left and right sides, and the original can be conveyed satisfactorily.

As described above, the present invention provides a reverse rotational torque that is approximately equal to the rotational torque due to the weight of the automatic document feeder only to the vicinity of one side plate, and provides an oblique connection between the connection frame and the side plate using an adjusting member whose length can be freely adjusted. Therefore, the distortion caused by the reverse rotation torque can be easily canceled out by adjusting the length of the adjusting member, thereby eliminating distortion in the automatic document feeder and allowing the document to be conveyed well.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing a general automatic document feeder, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal side view showing its open state, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional example of an opening/closing device, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing a general automatic document feeder. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, including a cover thereof. 28-29...Side plate, 35...Connection frame, 38
...Torsion spring, 42...Adjustment member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1.Equipped with a pair of opposing side plates, a stay and a highly rigid connection frame that connect these side plates, and a position where the side plates are placed between a position placed on the contact glass and a non-operating position separated from the contact glass. In the automatic document feeder of a copying machine, which rotates around a fulcrum located on the side of the connecting frame, the document feeder is located on the axis of the fulcrum of the fulcrum, and one end is fixed to a fixed part on the side of the copying machine and is free. an elastic body whose end is substantially coupled to one of the side plates to provide a reverse rotational torque substantially equal to the rotational torque due to the self-weight of the automatic document feeder, the connecting frame located above the fulcrum axis and the elastic body; An opening/closing device in an automatic document feeder of a copying machine, characterized in that the opening/closing device is diagonally connected to the unconnected side plate by an adjustment member that applies a pulling force so as to be freely adjustable in length.