JP2023127967A - Sheet conveying device, image reader comprising the same, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve detection of a small-sized paper sheet by a sensor, according to a configuration of setting the small-sized paper sheet by using an auxiliary tray.SOLUTION: An image reader 20 comprises a document tray 4 on which documents are stacked, and an auxiliary tray 40 attachable to/detachable from the document tray 4. The document tray 4 comprises a first regulation plate 30 and a second regulation plate 31 for regulating end portions in a width direction of the documents. The auxiliary tray 40 comprises a third regulation plate 41 and a fourth regulation plate 42 for regulating movement in the width direction of the documents. A central position CL2 between the third regulation plate 41 and the fourth regulation plate 42 is located on a first regulation plate 30 side with respect to a central position CL1 between the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device, an image reading device, and an image forming device equipped with the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image reading apparatuses are known that can automatically feed and transport originals stacked on a document tray or the like one by one, and read image information of the originals that are sequentially transported. An automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) included in the image reading apparatus has a pair of regulating plates that are movable in conjunction with each other in the width direction. The user moves the regulation plate so that it touches both edges of the document in the width direction, and sets the document so that the center of the document and the center of the document tray are aligned. Such a configuration suppresses skewing of the document that occurs when the ADF feeds the document.

Further, some ADFs have a removable auxiliary tray for storing specific small-sized originals, as described in Patent Document 1. By using such an auxiliary tray, it is possible to stably feed small-sized originals.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-91594

However, because the pickup roller and other conveyance members are provided at the center in the width direction, the detection position of the sensor installed in the document tray or in the conveyance path for detecting the document is shifted from the center in the width direction. may be placed in In such a case, there is a problem in that the small size paper cannot be detected when the auxiliary tray is used to set the small size paper at the center in the width direction.

One aspect of the present invention includes: a sheet stacking section having a first support surface that supports sheets; a feeding section that feeds sheets stacked on the sheet stacking section in a feeding direction; a first regulating part that is provided movably in a vertical width direction and that regulates the position of a first end in the width direction of the sheet supported by the first support surface; The first regulating section is provided so as to be movable in conjunction with the movement of the first regulating section so as to move in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the first regulating section, and the first regulating section in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the first support surface. a second regulating portion that regulates the position of the second end opposite to the end; a second support surface that supports the sheet; a third regulating portion that comes into contact with the second end of the sheet supported by the second support surface and regulates the movement of the sheet in the width direction; and an auxiliary stacking part that is detachable from the sheet stacking part, and the first regulation in the width direction when the auxiliary stacking part is attached to the sheet stacking part. A second position, which is a center position between the third restriction part and the fourth restriction part in the width direction, is a first position, which is a center position between the first restriction part and the second restriction part. This sheet conveying device is characterized in that it is located on the side of the sheet conveyor.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sheet conveyance device that improves the detection of small-sized paper by a sensor in a configuration in which small-sized paper is set using an auxiliary tray.

(a) is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image reading device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image reading device according to the present embodiment, seen from the front. FIG. 2 is a top view of the image reading device according to the present embodiment. (a) is a perspective view seen from above the auxiliary tray. (b) is a perspective view seen from below the auxiliary tray. (a) is a diagram showing a state before the auxiliary tray is installed on the document tray. (b) is a diagram showing the state after the auxiliary tray is installed on the document tray. (a) is a top view of the document tray with no auxiliary tray installed. (b) is a top view of the document tray with the auxiliary tray installed. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading device with the document tray closed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments are examples of embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

<Image forming device>
First, an image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. 1. FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as the apparatus main body) 100A having an image forming function, and an image reading device 20 that reads image information from a document. The image reading device 20 includes a reading section 21 that is provided integrally with the apparatus main body 100A and constitutes the upper part of the apparatus main body 100A, and an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) that can be opened and closed with respect to the reading section 21. ) 22. The ADF 22 is a sheet conveying device in this embodiment. An operation panel 111 for a user to operate the image forming apparatus 100 is provided on one side of the reading section 21 serving as an image reading section.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the apparatus main body 100A includes a feeding section 103, a process unit 104 as an image forming section, and a fixing section 108. The feeding unit 103 feeds sheets P, which are recording materials stacked on a feeding tray 113, one by one using a feeding roller 103a. The process unit 104 executes an electrophotographic process to create a toner image based on image information transmitted from the image reading device 20 or an external computer. The process unit 104 charges a photosensitive drum 105, which is a photosensitive member, and performs exposure using a laser scanner 106 based on image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 105, converting the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. Develop it.

The toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 105 is transferred onto the sheet P in a transfer section 112 that includes the photosensitive drum 105 and a transfer roller 107, and is fixed on the sheet P in a fixing section 108. The fixing unit 108 includes a fixing film 108b that heats the sheet P, and a pressure roller 108a that presses the sheet P against the fixing film 108b, and applies heat and pressure to the toner image transferred to the sheet P. As a result, the toner is melted and then fixed, thereby fixing the image on the sheet P. The sheet P on which the image has been fixed in the fixing unit 108 is discharged from the apparatus main body 100A by a discharge roller 109 and stacked on a discharge tray 110. Further, when double-sided printing is performed, the sheet P is sent to the double-sided conveying section 129 by the discharge roller 109 rotating in the reverse direction after conveying the sheet P a predetermined distance. Thereafter, the sheet P with the image formed on the other side reaches the ejection roller 109 again and is ejected onto the ejection tray 110. Note that the above-described process unit 104 is an example of an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and for example, an intermediate transfer type electrophotographic unit or an inkjet type image forming unit may be installed in the apparatus main body 100A.

<Image reading device>
Next, the image reading device 20 will be explained using FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading device 20, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the image reading device 20.

The reading section 21 includes a reading unit 17 , a document table glass 26 , and a scanning glass 27 . The reading unit 17 reads image information on the original by irradiating light onto the original using an LED array as a light source and focusing the reflected light from the original onto a sensor element using a lens. The reading unit 17 is provided so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3), and reads an image of a document placed on the document table glass 26 (fixed reading). The ADF 22 is rotatably supported with respect to the reading section 21 by a hinge section (not shown) provided at the rear of the device. When the user places a document on the document table glass 26, the user opens the ADF 22 to expose the document table glass 26. Then, the user closes the ADF 22 after placing the original on the original platen glass 26, so that the original is fixed to the original platen glass 26 by the lower surface of the ADF 22.

The ADF 22 includes a document tray 4 as a sheet stacking section on which documents are stacked, and a paper discharge tray 24 as a discharge section from which documents are discharged. The paper discharge tray 24 is located below the document tray 4 in the vertical direction. The ADF 22 includes, in order from the upstream side in the transport direction, a pickup roller 6, a separation roller 8, a pair of transport rollers 13, a pair of transport rollers 14, and a pair of discharge rollers 15, and has a substantially U-shaped document transport path (U-turn path). The document is conveyed along 7. Conveyance members such as the pickup roller 6 are held in the housing 22a of the ADF 22. The ADF 22 also includes a document presence sensor 11 as a detection unit that detects the document on the document tray 4, a document edge sensor 16 that detects the document in the document transport path 7, and a reading unit 18 that reads the image of the document. have. The reading unit 18 in this embodiment has the same configuration as the reading unit 17.

Next, an operation in which the image reading device 20 reads an image while conveying a document (skimming) will be described. First, the user places the document D1 on the document tray 4. At this time, the user sets the document so that the leading edge (the downstream end in the feeding direction) of the document abuts against the document stopper 10 provided on the downstream side of the document tray 4 . A document D1 set on the document tray 4 is detected by a document presence/absence sensor 11.

When the user issues an instruction to start reading using the operation panel 111, the fixation of the document stopper 10 is released, and the document D1 stacked on the document tray 4 is fed in the transport direction F by the pickup roller 6, which is a feeding section. The document D1 fed by the pickup roller 6 is separated into one sheet by a separation roller 8 and a separation pad 9. The document D1 separated into one sheet is conveyed by a pair of conveyance rollers 13 along the document conveyance path 7 to the reading areas of the reading units 17 and 18.

When the document edge sensor 16 detects the leading edge of the document D1 and the document D1 has been conveyed a predetermined amount, the reading unit 17 starts reading the front surface of the document D1. At this time, the reading unit 17 reads the image on the front surface of the document D1 via the scanning glass 27. Furthermore, after the reading by the reading unit 17 has started and the original D1 has been further conveyed, the reading unit 18 starts reading the back side of the original D1. Then, the document D1 whose images on both sides have been read is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 14 to the paper ejection roller pair 15, and is ejected by the paper ejection roller pair 15. The document D1 discharged by the pair of paper discharge rollers 15 is stacked on the paper discharge tray 24. The image reading device 20 repeats such a skimming operation until the document presence/absence sensor 11 no longer detects the document D1. Thereby, the image reading device 20 can read the images of all the documents D1 stacked on the document tray 4. Note that the image reading device 20 can also cause the reading unit 17 to only read the front side of the transported document D1.

<Original tray>
Next, the configuration of the document tray 4 will be explained using FIGS. 2, 4, and 8. FIG. 4 is a top view of the ADF 22. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the image reading device 20 with the document tray 4 closed.

The document tray 4 is provided with an opening 4a at the center in the width direction perpendicular to the transport direction F. The opening 4a is open so that the user can visually confirm a portion of the paper discharge tray 24 below the document tray 4 through the opening 4a. In other words, a portion of the paper discharge tray 24 is exposed upward through the opening 4a. Thereby, the user can visually check the document discharged onto the paper discharge tray 24 through the opening 4a. Further, the document tray 4 includes a sub-tray 5 as a rotary support section that is rotatably provided with respect to the first support surface 4b that supports the document. By rotating in directions A and B shown in FIG. 3, the subtray 5 can be moved between a closed position (FIG. 8) where it overlaps the first support surface 4b and an open position (FIG. 2) where it opens the first support surface 4b. , it is possible to move to . When the subtray 5 is in the closed position, the surface of the subtray 5 that supports the document and the first support surface 4b are positioned to face each other. Furthermore, when the subtray 5 is in the open position, the surface of the subtray 5 that supports the document and the first support surface 4b are located approximately on the same plane, and in this state, the user sets the document on the document tray 4. Is possible. In this way, when the user uses the image reading device 20, the sub-tray 5 is located in the open position, and when the user does not use the image reading device 20, the sub-tray 5 is located in the closed position. Foreign matter can be prevented from entering the conveyance path 7.

The document tray 4 includes a first regulating plate 30 (first regulating portion) that regulates the position of one end (first end) in the width direction of the document supported on the first support surface 4b, and a first regulating plate 30 (first regulating portion) on the opposite side of the document. A second regulating plate 31 (second regulating portion) is provided to regulate the position of the other end (second end portion). The first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 are movable in the width direction on the first support surface 4b. Further, the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 are connected by a gear (not shown), and are configured to move in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the other in conjunction with each other. For example, when the first regulating plate 30 moves in the C direction, the second regulating plate 31 moves in the D direction by the same distance in conjunction with the movement of the first regulating plate 30. In this way, since the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 move in conjunction with each other, the center position CL1 between the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 in the width direction (see FIG. 7 described later) ) always coincides with the center position of the first support surface 4b. When setting a document on the document tray 4, the user sets the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31 so that each of the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31 abuts the edge of the document in the width direction. move. This suppresses the skew of the document that occurs when the document is fed.

<Auxiliary tray>
Next, the auxiliary tray 40 as an auxiliary stacking section will be explained using FIGS. 5 to 7. 5(a) is a perspective view of the auxiliary tray 40 viewed from above, and FIG. 5(b) is a perspective view of the auxiliary tray 40 viewed from below. The image reading device 20 of this embodiment includes an auxiliary tray 40 that can be attached to and detached from the document tray 4. The auxiliary tray 40 is attached to the document tray 4 by the user when setting a small-sized document in the ADF 22. Here, a small-sized document has a width smaller than the distance between the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 at the position where the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 are closest to each other. It is a manuscript. That is, if the auxiliary tray 40 is not present, the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 cannot regulate the edges of the small-sized original. Therefore, in this embodiment, by attaching the auxiliary tray 40 to the document tray 4, both ends of the small-sized document in the width direction are regulated by the auxiliary tray 40. The small-sized originals stacked on the auxiliary tray 40 attached to the original tray 4 are fed by the pickup roller 6 and their images are read in the same way as originals other than small-sized originals.

As shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary tray 40 has a notch 40a cut out in the transport direction F and a second support surface 40b that supports a small-sized original. Furthermore, on both sides of the second support surface 40b in the width direction, there is a third regulating plate 41 (third regulating portion) that abuts one end of the first regulating plate 30 for small-sized originals, and a second regulating plate for small-sized originals. A fourth regulating plate 42 (fourth regulating portion) that comes into contact with the other end of 31 is provided. The third regulating plate 41 and the fourth regulating plate 42 are wall surfaces extending perpendicularly from the second support surface 40b, and regulate movement of the small-sized original in the width direction. When the auxiliary tray 40 is attached to the document tray 4, the third regulation plate 41 and the fourth regulation plate 42 are located between the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31 in the width direction. Further, the auxiliary tray 40 has recesses 43 and 44 for the user to grasp the auxiliary tray 40 when the user attaches the auxiliary tray 40 to the document tray 4. The user can grip the auxiliary tray 40 by pinching the recesses 43 and 44 with his or her fingers from both sides.

Further, each of the third regulating plate 41 and the fourth regulating plate 42 of the auxiliary tray 40 is provided with upper surface regulating parts 45 and 46 that regulate the upper surface of the document supported on the second support surface 40b. By placing and setting the original below the upper surface regulating portions 45 and 46, lifting of the original during feeding is suppressed. Furthermore, since the upper surface regulating portions 45 and 46 are provided at the maximum height of documents that can be loaded on the auxiliary tray 40, the user may accidentally load more than the maximum number of documents on the auxiliary tray 40. can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the notch 40a of the auxiliary tray 40 is formed with an engaging portion 47 that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the auxiliary tray 40. As shown in FIG. The engaging portion 47 engages with the opening 4a when the auxiliary tray 40 is attached to the document tray 4.

Next, a method for attaching the auxiliary tray 40 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing a method of attaching the auxiliary tray 40. FIG. 6A shows the direction in which the auxiliary tray 40 is attached, and FIG. 6B shows the direction in which the auxiliary tray 40 is fixed. First, the user places the auxiliary tray 40 on the first support surface 4b so that the notch 40a of the auxiliary tray 40 and the opening 4a of the original tray 4 are aligned. At this time, the engaging portion 47 is inserted into the opening 4a. Next, with the auxiliary tray 40 on the first support surface 4b, the user sandwiches the auxiliary tray 40 between the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 from both sides in the width direction. At this time, the side surfaces 48 and 49 of the auxiliary tray 40 abut on the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31, respectively. In this way, the auxiliary tray 40 is positioned by the engaging portion 47 engaging the opening 4a and the side surfaces 48 and 49 abutting the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31.

Next, the center of conveyance of the document will be explained using FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram for comparing the central position of the first regulating plate 30 and the second regulating plate 31 with the central position of the auxiliary tray 40. As shown in FIG. 7A shows the first support surface 4b with the auxiliary tray 40 removed, and FIG. 7B shows the first support surface 4b with the auxiliary tray 40 attached.

In the auxiliary tray 40, the distance W1 between the third regulating plate 41 and the side surface 48 is smaller than the distance W2 between the fourth regulating plate 42 and the side surface 49. Therefore, the center position CL1 (first position) between the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31 in the width direction and the center position CL2 (second position) between the third regulation plate 41 and the fourth regulation plate 42 are the same. do not. Specifically, since W1 is smaller than W2, the center position CL2 of the third regulation plate 41 and the fourth regulation plate 42 is the third with respect to the center position CL1 of the first regulation plate 30 and the second regulation plate 31. It is located on the first regulating plate 30 side (first regulating part side). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the small-sized original set on the auxiliary tray 40 is shifted toward the first regulating plate 30 compared to the original set without the auxiliary tray 40 . In this embodiment, the amount of deviation between the center position CL1 and the center position CL2 is approximately 5 [mm].

Since the document stopper 10 described above is arranged near the pickup roller 6, it may not be possible to arrange it at the center in the width direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, document stoppers 10 are arranged on both sides of the pickup roller 6 with a space therebetween. Further, the detection positions of the document presence sensor 11 and the document edge sensor 16 may not be located at the center of the document transport path 7 in the width direction due to considerations with other members. Therefore, in this embodiment, the detection positions of the document presence sensor 11 and the document edge sensor 16 are arranged closer to the first regulating plate 30 than the center in the width direction. In this way, if the members that come into contact with the original or the members that detect the original are not in the center of the original transport path 7, there is a risk that these members will not function if a small-sized original is set with the center reference. . For example, the document presence/absence sensor 11 placed at a position offset from the center in the width direction may not be able to detect the document because the edge of a small-sized document set with the center as a reference does not reach the document presence/absence sensor 11. be.

However, in this embodiment, since the center position CL2 of the third regulating plate 41 and the fourth regulating plate 42 of the auxiliary tray 40 is closer to the first regulating plate 30 side, the document presence/absence sensor is 11 can be detected. Similarly, the document edge sensor 16 can also detect small-sized documents.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, with the auxiliary tray 40 attached to the document tray 4, the subtray 5 is movable from the open position to the closed position. As a result, a user who mainly uses small-sized originals does not need to remove the auxiliary tray 40, improving user convenience.

In this embodiment, the detection positions of the document presence sensor 11 and the document edge sensor 16 are arranged closer to the first regulation plate 30 than the center in the width direction; It may be arranged on the 31 side. In such a case, it is preferable that the center position CL2 of the third regulating plate 41 and the fourth regulating plate 42 is also on the second regulating plate 31 side (W1>W2).

4 Document tray 20 Image reading device 21 Reading section 22 ADF
40 Auxiliary tray 100 Image forming device

Claims (9)

a sheet stacking section having a first support surface that supports the sheets;
a feeding section that feeds the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking section in a feeding direction;
a first regulating section that is provided movably in a width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction and that regulates the position of a first end of the sheet supported on the first support surface in the width direction;
a sheet that is movably provided in conjunction with movement of the first regulating section so as to move in the width direction in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the first regulating section, and that is stacked on the first support surface; a second regulating portion regulating the position of a second end opposite to the first end in the width direction;
a second support surface that supports the sheet; a third restriction portion that comes into contact with the first end of the sheet supported by the second support surface and restricts movement of the sheet in the width direction; a fourth regulating section that comes into contact with the second end of the sheet supported on the support surface to regulate movement of the sheet in the width direction, and an auxiliary stacking section that is detachable from the sheet stacking section; ,
Equipped with
In the state where the auxiliary stacking section is attached to the sheet stacking section, the first position in the width direction is a center position between the first regulating section and the second regulating section in the width direction. A second position, which is a central position between the third regulating part and the fourth regulating part, is located on the first regulating part side.
A sheet conveying device characterized by: comprising a detection unit that detects sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit,
A detection position where the detection unit detects the sheet is located on the first regulation unit side with respect to the first position in the width direction.
The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: In a state where the auxiliary stacking section is attached to the sheet stacking section, the third regulating section and the fourth regulating section are located between the first regulating section and the second regulating section in the width direction. ,
The sheet conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: a discharge section provided below the sheet stacking section in the vertical direction and from which sheets fed by the feeding section are discharged;
an opening provided in the first support surface such that a part of the discharge section is exposed upward through the opening;
has
The auxiliary loading section has an engaging section that engages with the opening.
The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The auxiliary stacking section is positioned on the sheet stacking section by being sandwiched from both sides in the width direction by the first regulating section and the second regulating section.
The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The sheet stacking section is rotatably provided with respect to the first support surface, and moves between a closed position in which it overlaps with the first support surface and an open position in which it opens the first support surface. It has a rotary support part that allows
In a state where the auxiliary stacking section is attached to the sheet stacking section, the rotation support section is movable from the open position to the closed position.
The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The third regulating section and the fourth regulating section are provided with an upper surface regulating section that regulates the position of the upper surface of the document supported by the second support surface.
The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
an image reading unit that reads an image of the sheet fed by the feeding unit;
An image reading device comprising: An image reading device according to claim 8;
an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material based on the image of the sheet read by the image reading unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images