JPH11246100A - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To largely reduce a document treatment time by providing an exchang ing claw with a reverse means for reversing a document after first and second readings which is temporarily stored in an intermediate holding means. SOLUTION: Since an exchanging claw 19 is arranged near the upstream of an intermediate tray 23, and a second guide surface 19b (reverse means) of the exchanging claw 19 reverses a document after reading of its both sides which is temporarily stored in an intermediate tray 23 and discharges it to a paper discharge stuck part 20, the document after reading of its both sides does not pass through a document reading position. Therefore, a transporting distance of the document can be reduced, and a document treatment time can be largely reduced. Even at a single side mode, a document after reading of its single side can be discharged speedily. Therefore, a document treatment time at a both side mode can be more closed to that at the single side mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to PPC, FAX,
The present invention also relates to an automatic document feeder mounted on a peripheral device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, an automatic document feeder 102 has, for example, a single-sided mode for reading only a first image side (front side) of a document 1, and a first and second image sides (first side). It is mounted on a main body 100 such as a copying machine having a double-side mode for reading front and back surfaces. A first transport path R1 having a pull-out roller 8 and a pull-out driven roller 9 on the transport path, and a second transport roller R having an auxiliary roller 14, an auxiliary driven roller 15, a paper discharge roller 16, and a paper discharge lower driven roller 17 on the transport path. A third conveyance path R3, which is a switchback path having a conveyance path R2, a reversing roller 21 and a reversing driven roller 22 on the conveyance path, and a fourth conveyance path having a sheet discharging roller 16 and a sheet discharging driven roller 18 on the conveying path. R
4 and a switching claw 19 using a solenoid (not shown).
The transport path along which the document 1 is to be transported is switched according to the reading mode by moving the document up and down.

In the duplex mode, the original 1 set on the original table 2 with the first image surface (front side) facing upward is supplied to the separation belt 6 from the uppermost original by a signal from the main body 100. The sheets are sequentially separated one by one and conveyed according to the steps (a) to (c) shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG.
1 and the contact glass 101 on the conveyor belt 13
The document is conveyed to the upper document reading position, and the reading unit 10 reads the surface of the document 1. Further, the original 1 after the front surface reading is transported to the intermediate tray 23 through the second transport path R2 and the third transport path R3. At this time, the switching claw 19 is at the position B ′, and guides the document 1 to the third transport path R3 by the upper guide surface 19e. Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the original 1 after the front side reading is returned from the intermediate tray 23 to the third transport path by the switchback of the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22, and further the After passing through the fourth transport path R4 and the first transport path R1, the transport belt 13 transports the document again to the document reading position on the contact glass 101, and the back side of the document 1 is read.
At this time, the switching claw 19 holds the original 1 returning from the intermediate tray 23.
Is moved upward from the second transport path R2 to the position B so that the document 1 is transported from the third transport path R3 to the fourth transport path R4, and the document 1 is read to the reading unit 10 by the upper guide surface 19e. I will guide you. Furthermore, the original 1 after reading the back side
Is transported to the intermediate tray 23 through the second transport route R2 and again through the third transport route R3. At this time, the switching claw 1
Reference numeral 9 switches from the position B to the position B ', and guides the document 1 to the third transport path R3 on the upper guide surface 19e.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the switching claw 19 is switched from the B ′ position to the B position, and the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22 are switched back. Returning from the intermediate tray 23 to the third transport path R3, the fourth
After passing through the transport path R4 and the first transport path R1, it is transported again on the contact glass 101 by the transport belt 13, and
The sheet is guided to the discharge stack unit 20 through the second transport path R2. At this time, the original 1 is guided to the discharge stack unit 20 by the lower guide surface 19f of the switching claw 19.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the original after double-sided reading in the double-sided mode is reversed by passing through the reading path (including the first and second conveying paths) again from the intermediate tray. After that, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge stack section (paper discharge holding means), so that there is a problem in that extra transport time is required and the document processing time is long.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve such a problem and to shorten a document processing time by shortening a conveying distance when conveying a document after duplex reading in a duplex mode to a discharge stack portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document feeder that can be shortened.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic document feeder according to the present invention comprises: a conveying means for conveying a document to a document reading position; and first and second sheets of the document.
An intermediate holding unit for temporarily holding a document after reading the first image surface or a document after reading the first and second image surfaces in the duplex mode for reading the image surface;
Discharge holding means for temporarily holding the document after reading the image surface, and a switching claw for switching the document transport path on a transport path near the upstream of the intermediate holding means, the switching claw,
The image forming apparatus further comprises a reversing unit for reversing the original after reading the first and second image surfaces, which is temporarily held in the intermediate holding unit.

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic document feeder according to the present invention comprises a feeding means for feeding a document to a document reading position, and a double-sided mode for reading first and second image surfaces of the document. Intermediate holding means for temporarily holding the original after reading one image surface or the original after reading the first and second image surfaces, and discharge holding means for temporarily holding the original after reading the first and second image surfaces in the duplex mode And a switching claw for switching a document conveyance path on a conveyance path near the upstream of the intermediate holding means, wherein the switching claw has a first image surface reading position between the document reading position and the intermediate holding means. When transporting a later document or a document after reading the first and second image surfaces, the guide surface is formed between two upper and lower guide surfaces for guiding the document, and a downstream end of the upper and lower two guide surfaces,
And a guide surface for inverting the original after reading the first and second image surfaces temporarily held in the intermediate holding unit and guiding the original to the paper discharge holding unit.

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic document feeder according to the present invention comprises a conveying means for conveying a document to a document reading position and a double-side mode for reading first and second image surfaces of the document. An intermediate holding unit for temporarily holding the original after reading one image surface or the original after reading the first and second image surfaces, and an intermediate holding unit disposed below the intermediate holding unit;
Paper discharge holding means for temporarily holding a document after reading the first image surface in the single-sided mode for reading only the first image surface, and a document after reading the first and second image surfaces in the double-sided mode; and upstream of the intermediate holding means A switching claw for switching a document conveyance path on a nearby conveyance path, wherein the switching claw includes a document after reading the first image surface or a document after reading the first and second image surfaces in the duplex mode, First to guide to holding means
And a second guide surface for inverting the original after reading the first and second image surfaces temporarily held in the intermediate holding unit in the duplex mode and guiding the original to the discharge holding unit;
A third guide surface for guiding the original after reading the first image surface in the single-sided mode to the paper discharge holding means.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transfer path in a duplex mode of the automatic document feeder of FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a figure showing operation of a change claw in single side / double side mode of a conveyance device. The automatic document feeder 102 according to the present embodiment includes a conveyance unit (= pull-out roller 8, pull-out driven roller 9, conveyance belt 13, and the like) for conveying the document 1 to the document reading position, and a first image surface (front surface) of the document 1. ) And an intermediate holding unit (= intermediate tray 2) for temporarily holding a document after one-sided reading or a document after both-sided reading in a duplex mode for reading the second image surface (back surface).
3), the first original is placed below the intermediate tray 23 and
A discharge holding unit (= discharge stack unit 20) for temporarily holding a document after single-sided reading in the single-sided mode for reading the image side and double-sided reading in the double-sided mode, and a document transfer path near the upstream of the intermediate tray 23. And a switching claw 19 for switching. In this embodiment, the image information is read by the reading unit 10 of the main body 100 while the document is being conveyed to the document reading position. For example, it has an exposure unit such as a light source and a mirror (not shown), and is configured to read image information of the document 1 by the CCD 4 or the like.

The switching claw 19 has a first guide surface 19a for transporting the originals after single-sided and double-sided reading in the double-sided mode to the intermediate tray 23, and a double-sided original after being read from the intermediate tray 23 in the double-sided mode. A second guide surface 19b (= reversing means) for inverting the original and holding it on the discharge stack unit 20 and a third guide surface 19c for holding the original after single-side reading in the single-side mode in the discharge stack unit 20 The second guide surface 19b has upper and lower guide surfaces 19b.
a, 19c are formed between the downstream ends. The cross section of the switching claw 19 is substantially triangular, and the second guide surface 19b
And the third guide surface 19c is formed in a concave shape. Further, the switching claw 19 rotates about the rotation shaft 25 by suction of a solenoid (not shown). At this time, the upstream ends of the first and third guide surfaces 19a and 19c move up and down more, and switch to the C position or the C 'position. With such a configuration, the document is guided from the third transport path R3 to the fourth transport path R4 or from the second transport path R2 to the third transport path R3 only by the vertical movement of the switching claw 19, and the intermediate tray The original after double-sided reading from the original 23 can be immediately reversed.

In this embodiment, as in the prior art, a first transport path R1 having a pull-out roller 8 and a pull-out driven roller 9 on a transport path, an auxiliary roller 14, an auxiliary driven roller 15, and Discharge roller 1
6, and the second transport path R having the driven lower roller 17
2, a reverse roller 21 and a reverse driven roller 22 on the conveyance path.
The third transport route R3 which is a switchback path having
And the discharge roller 16 and the driven follower roller 1 on the conveyance path.
And a fourth transport path R4 having the number eight.

Next, a description will be given of the document conveying operation in the present embodiment. The original 1 set on the original table 2 so that the first image surface (front surface) faces upward is positioned by its leading end abutting the paper feed guide plate 3. Then, a signal from the main body 100, for example, the main body 100
The originals are fed one by one from the top document in response to a start signal when a start button (not shown) of the operation unit on the side is pressed. At this time, the bottom plate 4 raises the paper feed side end of the original 1 from below, rotates around a fulcrum 4a by a solenoid (not shown), and rises in the direction of arrow A, and the original 1 comes into contact with the call roller 5 and is pressed. Behave as if it were. The document 1 thus pressurized is fed by a call roller 5 to a separation unit including a separation belt 6, a separation roller 7, and a guide member 50 also serving as an exterior, and is separated one by one from the top. At this time, the separation belt 6 rotates forward in the paper feeding direction by driving a paper feed motor (not shown), and the separation roller 7 rotates in the reverse direction to prevent the next original from entering the separation section. The sheet is conveyed in the direction of the conveying belt 13 by a pull-out roller 8 and a pull-out driven roller 9. The document thus separated is transported to a document reading position on the contact glass 101 through a first transport path R1 having a pull-out roller 8 and a pull-out driven roller 9 on a transport path. The sheet is conveyed to the document reading position by a conveyance belt driving roller 11, a conveyance belt driven roller 12, and a conveyance belt 13 stretched over the rollers by a driving motor (not shown). At this time, the document enters between the conveyance belt 13 and the contact glass 101, and the conveyance force of the document is obtained by the difference in the friction coefficient between the conveyance belt 13 and the document and between the contact glass 101 and the document. The selection setting of the one-sided / two-sided mode is performed by an operation unit (not shown) on the main body 100 side.
Is performed in advance by the operator.

In this embodiment, when the double-sided mode is set, as shown in FIG. 4A, the document is separated by the separation unit and read through the first transport path R1 as described above. The document 1 transported to the position is
After the surface image information is read at 0, the auxiliary roller 1
4. The paper discharge sensor 24 detects the leading edge of the document through the second conveyance path R2 having the auxiliary driven roller 15, the paper discharge roller 16, and the paper discharge lower driven roller 17. The rollers 14 and 16 are driven by a discharge motor (not shown). At this time, as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 9 lowers to the position C 'by suction of the solenoid.
Thereby, the original is moved along the first guide surface 19a.
The trailing end of the document passes through the guide end 19d (the intersection of the first guide surface 19a and the second guide surface 19b) through the third transport path R3 which is a switchback path having the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22. The rollers 21 and 22 are temporarily conveyed onto the intermediate tray 23 by the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22 after passing through the guide end 19d. Thus, the document is temporarily held on the intermediate tray 23.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the original once read on one side and held on the intermediate tray 23 is
By the reverse rotation of the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22, the sheet is conveyed again to the reading position through the third conveying path R3. At this time, the switching claw 19 returns from the position C ′ shown in FIG. 5A to the position C shown in FIG. 5B by releasing the solenoid. That is, after the one-sided reading in FIG. 4A, the rear end of the original passes through the paper ejection sensor 24 and a predetermined time (the time from when the rear end of the original passes through the paper ejection roller 16 to reach the switching claw 19) has elapsed. Thereafter, the solenoid returns to the position C when the solenoid is released. In this way, the switching claw 19 returns to the position C and the reversing roller 2
1 and the reverse driven roller 22 rotate in the reverse direction, and the intermediate tray 23
The original having been subjected to the surface reading once held in the first path enters the fourth conveyance path R4 having the paper discharge roller 16 and the paper discharge driven roller 18 on the conveyance path along the first guide surface 19a. At this time, since the discharge roller 16 is stopped,
When the leading edge of the document enters the nip portion between the paper discharge roller 16 and the paper discharge driven roller 18, correction of the document conveyance posture (skew abutment correction) is performed. After the end of the abutting correction, the original 1 is moved from the fourth transport path R4 to the first transport path R1.
And is transported to the document reading position through
At 0, the image information of the second image surface (back surface) is read.
If the original after reading the back side of the original is directly discharged to the discharge stack unit 20, the original 1 is inverted so that the original is stacked downward with the back side of the original being stacked downward and the page order of the original being incorrect. Need to be done. Therefore, the document after both-side reading, which has been nipped from the document reading position by the auxiliary roller 14 and the auxiliary driven roller 15 and conveyed through the second conveyance path R2, is again transferred to the intermediate tray 2.
3 once. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the switching claw 19 is moved from the C position to C ′ by the solenoid.
Descend to position. As a result, the original is placed on the first guide surface 1
The document is conveyed on the intermediate tray 23 along the second conveyance path R2 along the second conveyance path R2 along the third conveyance path R3, and once held as described above when the rear end of the document has passed the guide end 19d.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the original once held on the intermediate tray 23 after both-side reading is
When the reversing roller 21 and the reversing driven roller 22 rotate in the reverse direction, the reversing roller 23 returns to the third transport path R <b> 3. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5C, the switching claw 19 is held at the position C ′ by the solenoid, and the document is inverted on the concave second guide surface 19b.

In this embodiment, when the one-sided mode is set, the first transport path R is set as described above.
The document 1 conveyed to the document reading position through the document reading unit 1 reads image information by the reading unit 10, and then outputs the auxiliary roller 14, the auxiliary driven roller 15, the discharge roller 16, and the discharge lower driven roller 17. Is discharged to the discharge stack unit 20 through the second transport path R2 having At this time, the switching claw 19 is set to the C position as shown in FIG.
The document pinched and conveyed by the discharge roller 16 and the lower discharge driven roller 17 collides with the third guide surface 19c, is guided downward, and is discharged to the discharge stack unit 20 without being inverted.

According to the present embodiment, the switching claw 19 is disposed near the upstream of the intermediate tray 23, and is once held on the intermediate tray 23 by the second guide surface 19b (= reversing means) of the switching claw 19. Since the original after the double-sided reading is reversed and discharged to the discharge stack unit 20, the original after the double-sided reading does not pass through the original reading position again.
That is, in the above-described related art, the original after the double-sided reading passes from the intermediate tray 23 to the third transport path to the fourth transport path R4 to the first transport path R1 to the second transport path R2. In the embodiment, since the sheet is inverted from the intermediate tray 23 on the guide surface 19b and immediately guided to the sheet discharge stack unit 20, the conveyance distance of the original after the both-side reading is shortened, and the original processing time is greatly reduced. Can be.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the cross section of the switching claw 19 is substantially triangular, the first guide surface 19a for conveying the document conveyed via the reading position to the intermediate tray 23, and the one-side mode. The document is inverted using the second guide surface 19b other than the third guide surface 19c for discharging the document after one-side reading to the discharge stack unit 20.
Only by moving the switching claw 19 up and down by the solenoid, it is possible to shorten the conveyance distance of the document after the double-sided reading and quickly discharge the document after the single-sided reading even in the single-sided mode. Therefore, the document processing time in the duplex mode can be made closer to that in the simplex mode. The second
Since the guide surface 19b has a concave surface at the position where the document abuts, the document after double-sided reading is easily inverted, which is suitable for aligning the stacking direction and the stack surface. Further, since the third guide surface 19c is also formed with a concave surface, when the original after one-sided reading is discharged without being inverted, the leading end of the original is directed toward the stack surface to improve the discharge stackability. It is suitable for improvement.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A switching claw for switching the document conveyance path is disposed on a conveyance path near the upstream of the intermediate holding unit that temporarily holds the document after one-side (front) or both-side (front and back) reading in the duplex mode. Since the reversing means for reversing the document temporarily held in the intermediate holding means is provided, the document after both-side reading can be reversed by the switching claw, and the document does not pass through the document reading position again. More specifically, the switching claw includes a first guide surface that guides a document after single-sided or double-sided reading to the intermediate holding unit in the double-sided mode, and a first guide surface after double-sided reading temporarily held by the intermediate holding unit in the double-sided mode. A second guide surface (= reversing means) for inverting the original and guiding it to the paper discharge holding means; and a third guide surface for guiding the original after single-sided reading in the one-sided mode to the paper discharge holding means,
The first and third guide surfaces guide the conveyance of the document between the document reading position and the intermediate holding unit, and
A second guide formed between the downstream ends of the first and third guide surfaces;
The document after the double-sided reading temporarily held by the intermediate holding unit is inverted and guided to the sheet discharging holding unit on the guide surface of the document. Transport distance can be greatly reduced. Therefore, the document processing time in the double-sided mode can be made closer to that in the single-sided mode, and the document processing time can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional automatic document feeder.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance path in a duplex mode of the automatic document conveyance device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a transport path in the duplex mode of the automatic document feeder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a switching claw in a single-sided / double-sided mode of the automatic document feeder of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 original 8 pull-out roller 9 pull-out driven roller 13 transport belt 14 auxiliary roller 15 auxiliary driven roller 16 discharge roller 17 discharge lower driven roller 18 discharge upper driven roller 19 switching claw 19a to 19c first to third guide surfaces 19d guide End 21 reverse roller 22 reverse driven roller R1 to R4 First to fourth transport paths

Claims (3)

[Claims] A transporting means for transporting a document to a document reading position; a duplex mode for reading first and second image surfaces of the document, wherein the document after reading the first image surface or the first and second image surfaces is read; An intermediate holding unit for temporarily holding the original afterward, a discharge holding unit for temporarily holding the original after reading the first and second image surfaces in the duplex mode, and a conveyance of the original on a conveyance path near the upstream of the intermediate holding unit. A switching claw for switching a path, wherein the switching claw includes a reversing unit for reversing the original after reading the first and second image surfaces temporarily held in the intermediate holding unit. Document feeder. 2. A document conveying device for conveying a document to a document reading position, and a document after reading the first image surface or reading the first and second image surfaces in a duplex mode for reading first and second image surfaces of the document. An intermediate holding unit for temporarily holding the original afterward, a discharge holding unit for temporarily holding the original after reading the first and second image surfaces in the duplex mode, and a conveyance of the original on a conveyance path near the upstream of the intermediate holding unit. A switching claw for switching a path, wherein the switching claw is provided between the document reading position and the intermediate holding unit, the document after reading the first image surface or the document after reading the first and second image surfaces. The first and second images formed between the upper and lower guide surfaces for guiding the original and the downstream ends of the upper and lower guide surfaces when the document is conveyed and temporarily held by the intermediate holding means. Scan the original after scanning An automatic document feeder having a guide surface for rotating and guiding the sheet to the sheet discharge holding means. 3. A conveying means for conveying a document to a document reading position, and a document after reading the first image surface or reading the first and second image surfaces in a duplex mode for reading first and second image surfaces of the document. An intermediate holding unit for temporarily holding a subsequent original, a document after the first image side reading in a single-sided mode arranged below the intermediate holding unit and reading only the first image side, and a first and a second in a double-sided mode. A discharge holding unit that temporarily holds the original after reading the image surface, and a switching claw that switches a transport path of the original on a transport path near the upstream of the intermediate holding unit; A first guide surface for guiding the original after reading one image surface or the original after reading the first and second image surfaces to the intermediate holding device, and the first and second surfaces temporarily held by the intermediate holding device in the duplex mode. Second
A second guide surface for inverting the original after reading the image surface and guiding the same to the paper ejection holding unit; and a third guide surface for guiding the original after reading the first image surface to the paper ejection holding unit in the simplex mode. And an automatic document feeder comprising: