JPH0729088Y2 - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention is an automatic document feeder provided in a copying machine and configured to sequentially feed documents from a placing member configured as a document tray toward a platen. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus configured to be able to take out a first page of a document in order and store the original in a storage member as a discharge tray without disturbing the page.

(Prior Art) In a copying machine that has been generally used, a document is set on a platen, a platen cover is closed, and a copy start button is pressed to activate an image reading device of the copying machine. The image of the original is scanned, and the reflected light obtained thereby is transmitted to the photosensitive drum to form a toner image. However, setting a large number of documents one by one on the platen requires a very troublesome work. Therefore, in many cases, the automatic document feeder is arranged on the upper part of the copying machine body. There is. Then, the documents stored in the document tray are automatically taken out one by one by the automatic document feeder and fed toward the image reading device portion to continuously perform copying work.

For example, in an automatic document feeder as shown in FIG. 5, a placing member 11 as a large capacity elevator tray and a containing member 15 as an ejection tray are arranged on both sides of a platen 2 of a copying machine. Then, the original taken out from the placing member 11 by the paper feeding means is conveyed by the conveying belt 6 and set on the platen, scanned by the image reading device, and then conveyed again by the conveying belt to obtain a large capacity. It is arranged to be deposited on the containing member 15.

The document feeder shown in FIG. 5 has the simplest structure. A large number of documents are piled up on a placing member as a document tray with the first page of the document facing downward, and sequentially from the last page. Since the copy is taken out and the copy is performed, the copy is ejected with the pages aligned. However, the documents stacked in the storage member as the discharge tray are stored in the lowermost part with the final page with the image surface facing downward, and the scanned documents are sequentially stacked thereon. In addition, the first page is ejected to the top with the image side facing down. Therefore, when the above-described document transport method is used, it is necessary to align the documents after the copying work, and the work is relatively troublesome.

In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the automatic document feeder, an apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 has been proposed. The apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is different from the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 in that a sheet reversing device 27 is arranged between the conveyor belt 6 and a storage member as a discharge tray to copy the original document which has been copied. After being reversed by the reversing device 27, it is possible to prevent the pages accumulated on the accommodating member from being deformed. However, arranging the sheet reversing device in the middle of the document feeding path as described above complicates the structure of the automatic document feeding device and increases its weight, so that it is difficult to set it on the upper part of the copying machine. Occurs.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to facilitate the document processing operation by providing the accommodation member 15a on the upper part of the document feeding device via the curved conveyance path 28. You will get it. It is often used as the most preferable one because it does not cause a problem that the pages of the original document accumulated in the accommodating member are out of order.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, in order to continuously copy a large amount of originals at one time, they are stored in a storage member as a discharge tray. The weight of the original to be printed becomes large, and it is required that the structure of the frame or the like of the main body of the copying machine can withstand the weight. Therefore,
The configuration of the automatic document feeder itself needs to be robust, and a mechanism for that needs to be formed large. Furthermore, in order to set a large amount of documents on the upper part of the copying machine body, In terms of installation space, weight and operability, many problems will occur.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventionally used apparatus, can prevent the pages of the original and the copy from being out of order, and can easily handle the original. At the same time, a placement member as a document tray and a storage member as a discharge tray, which are integrally formed with the document handling member, are arranged on the side of the document feeding device. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can easily handle a large amount of originals by configuring a means for accommodating scanned originals in a space.

(Means and Actions for Solving Problems) In the present invention, a document handling member is configured by vertically arranging a placing member for placing an unscanned document and a containing member for containing a scanned document. Then, a document conveying path formed in a substantially U shape in the lateral direction is arranged corresponding to the placing member and the accommodating member of the document handling member, and the document fed from the placing member is placed in the document conveying path. The original is fed out through the upper conveyance path, and the original is inverted through the curved portion of the original conveyance path.The original is guided over the lower conveyance path and set on the platen that constitutes the original reading section, and the scanning of the image is completed. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder including means for discharging the formed document into a storage member connected to the lower transport path. In the present invention, the placing member is configured to be movable up and down, and a swingable discharge guide is disposed between the end portion of the lower transport path of the document transport path and the storage member to store the discharge guide. Means is provided for swinging according to the height of the document accommodated in the member, and a drive mechanism is provided for interlocking the swing of the discharge guide and the vertical movement of the mounting member.

Therefore, in the automatic document feeder of the present invention, the placing member and the accommodating member are integrally formed up and down, and the original taken out from the placing member as the original tray is scanned and then placed on the lower part of the original handling member. It can be deposited on the accommodation member provided. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the manuscript handling member can be arranged on one side of the copying machine, and the space for arranging the manuscript handling member can be saved. It can be installed without burdening the weight of the handling member. Furthermore, in the apparatus of the present invention, by using the U-turn path-shaped document conveying path, it is possible to prevent the pages of the document from being deformed.
The original accommodated in the accommodating member serving as the discharge tray is in the same state as the original placed on the placing member, and the post-processing operation for copying can be easily performed.

(Embodiment) The configuration of the automatic document feeder of the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 1A, the automatic document feeder 5 of the present invention.
Is composed of a conveyor belt 6 for conveying an original document to the platen 2 of the copying machine 1, a substantially U-shaped original document conveyance path, and an original document handling member 10 connected to the original document conveyance path. It

The conveyor belt 6 is disposed in the lower conveyance path below the document conveyance path having a substantially U-shape, and the upper conveyance path 7 is provided.
Is connected to the upper portion of the document handling member 10 via the paper feeding means 12. A pre-registration gate 8 is provided in the curved portion of the upper conveyance path, and the document is supplied to the conveyance belt 6 and conveyed on the platen in a state where the leading edge of the document is positioned by the pre-registration gate 8. And
Set the original reading position on the platen 2 and
The image of the original is scanned by an image reading device provided below the document.

The document handling member 10 of the present invention is formed in two stages, and is configured as a placing member 11 for accommodating the document D having the upper portion set and feeding the document toward the document transport path. Further, the sheet feeding device 12 is arranged so as to correspond to the elevator tray as the placing member 11 described above.
The paper feed roller 13 of 12 is provided so as to contact the upper portion of the document placed on the placing member 11. Further, in the paper feeding device 12, a mechanism such as a separating roller is provided to constitute a means for sending out the originals while separating them one by one.

In the document handling member 10, the lower part of the placing member 11 is configured as a housing member 15, and a discharge guide 17 is connected to the housing member 15 from the end of the document transport path. A discharge roller 18 is provided at a predetermined position of the discharge guide 17, and the discharge roller 18 conveys the document to the containing member 15. In the document handling member 10 of the present invention described above, the placing member 11 is provided so as to be movable up and down, and the discharge guide 17 is provided so as to be swingable so as to adjust the amount of the document stored in each tray. It is said that the device described above follows the movement.

When handling a large number of originals using the original tray of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the original D set on the placing member 11 is placed and the ejection guide 17 is used. Is set so as to be positioned slightly above the empty housing member 15. Then, the upper surface of the document D set on the placing member 11 is raised so as to be in contact with the paper feed roller 13,
Using the sheet feeding device 12 and the sheet feeding device 12, the originals are sequentially conveyed onto the platen through the original conveying path to perform the copying operation.

During the copying operation as described above,
As shown in FIG. 4A, the mounting member 11 gradually rises, and the copied document Da is gradually accumulated in the accommodating member 15. Then, depending on the amount of the discharged document Da,
The end of the discharge guide 17 on the discharge side is gradually raised so that the discharged document can be deposited on the upper part of the document already deposited.

At the end of copying, as shown in FIG. 7C, the mounting member 11 is completely moved upward and the ejection guide 11
17 will be rocked to the upper limit position. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, copying is performed from the last page of the document, and the copied document is sequentially deposited from the last page with its image surface facing upward. The pages of the discharged document Da placed on the placing member are not distorted. When copying is completed as described above, the document upper limit detection sensor provided on the mounting member 11 detects that there is no document. When the document is removed from the storage member, the detection signal causes the mounting member 11 to return from the upper limit position to the original descending portion, and waits for the next copying operation.

In the automatic document feeder of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the placing member 11 is supported by a belt 21 and driven by a motor 20 so that the placing member 11 can be moved up and down. Therefore, the upper limit position of the document on the placing member 11 is detected by the document upper limit detection sensor 14, and the operation of raising the tray and the presence of the document are detected. Then, while the document upper limit detection sensor 14 detects the document, an operation of sequentially feeding the document on the placing member 11 by the paper feeding device is performed.

The drive mechanism for the elevator tray as the mounting member shown in FIG. 2 is as shown in FIG.
It can be provided on the document handling member. Further, the drive mechanism shown in FIG. 4 shows an example in which the mounting member and the ejection guide can be moved by the same drive device in a linked state. In the device shown in FIG. 4, the drive of the motor is connected to the tray drive device 22 and the ejection guide drive device 23 through an interlocking mechanism such as a belt, and the belt of the tray drive device 22 is connected.
The mounting member 11 is connected to 21 and the discharge guide drive device 23
A discharge guide 17 is connected to the via a clutch 24.

With the above-described configuration, in the automatic document feeder of the present invention, one motor 20 can drive the two moving members arranged on the document handling member, and thereby the document handling member can be driven. It is possible to simplify the configuration of the drive mechanism provided. Further, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, since the document feeding path is formed as a U-turn path to be long, even if the document fed from the paper feeding unit is in a slightly slanted state, it is fed in the document feeding path. During that time, the skew can be corrected sufficiently. And
The original set on the platen of the image reading unit is stopped at the correct position and can be scanned by the image reading device.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, the automatic document feeder of the present invention forms a substantially lateral U-shaped document conveyance path, and allows the document placed on the placing member to face the image surface upward via the U turn path. Since the original is discharged from the original conveying path and accommodated in the accommodating member, the page of the original does not get out of order and the post-processing operation for copying can be easily performed. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the placing member and the accommodating member are integrally provided with respect to the document handling member, and the space formed at the lower part by the raising of the placing member is used as the accommodating member. It is possible to reduce the size of the document handling member without increasing the size of the member more than necessary. Further, since the document handling member having the placing member and the accommodating member integrally provided can be provided on the side portion of the copying machine main body, the weight directly applied to the copying machine can be reduced, and the platen or the like can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the weight applied to the part.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the automatic document feeder of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) shows the relationship between the copying machine and the document feeder, and FIG. 1 (b) and FIG. FIG. 2 shows the states of the document handling member at the first stage and the final stage. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the construction of the drive mechanism of the elevator tray as the mounting member of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is the document of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the structure of a handling member, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of another embodiment of the drive mechanism of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are respectively views showing the structure of a conventional automatic document feeder. It is a figure. Reference numeral 1 in the figure: 1 copy machine, 2 platen, 5 automatic document feeder, 6 transport belt, 7 upper transport path, 10 original handling member, 11 placing member, 12 ... Paper feeding device, 14 ... Original upper limit detection sensor, 15 ... Storage member, 17 ... Ejection guide, 18 ... Ejection roller, 20 ... Motor, 21 ... Belt,
22 …… Tray drive device, 23 …… Discharge guide drive device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A document handling member is configured by vertically arranging a loading member for loading an unscanned document and a loading member for loading a scanned document, and a loading member for the document handling member. A document transport path formed in a substantially U shape in the lateral direction is arranged corresponding to the containing member, and a document to be fed from the placing member is sent out through the upper transport path of the document transport path to transport the document. An accommodating member that guides the lower conveyance path and sets it on the platen that constitutes the original reading section while the original is inverted through the curved portion of the path and connects the original whose scanning of the image is finished to the lower conveyance path. In the automatic document feeder including the discharging means, the placing member is configured to be movable up and down, and the discharging is swingable between the end portion of the lower conveying path of the original conveying path and the accommodating member. The guide is arranged and the discharge guide is housed in the housing member. An automatic document feeder, which is provided with a means for swinging according to the height of the original, and a drive mechanism for interlocking the swing of the discharge guide and the vertical movement of the placing member.