JP3200407B2 - Automatic document feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder, and more particularly, to sequentially feeding a plurality of documents stacked on a paper feed tray toward a document reading position on a platen, and sequentially feeding the documents. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder capable of stopping a scanned document at a reading position on a platen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an automatic document feeder mounted on a copying machine, a plurality of documents stacked on a paper feed tray are sequentially fed onto a platen at predetermined intervals, and the document is placed above the platen. By rotating and stopping the endless transport belt, the supply to the reading position on the platen, the stop at the reading position, and the discharge from the reading position are sequentially repeated, and at the same time when the preceding document is discharged by the transport belt, Documents to be sent are supplied by a conveyor belt.

At this time, in order to increase the processing speed of a plurality of originals, it is conceivable to increase the drive speed of the original transport system. However, if this transport speed is extremely increased, this may cause an original jam. In addition, there is a problem that the original is severely painful when the original jam occurs.

In order to increase the processing speed when the document conveying speed is the same, it is conceivable to narrow the interval between the preceding document and the next document.

[0005]

As described above, when the interval between the preceding document and the next document is reduced, the time required for reading the preceding document from the next document is shortened. When the document reaches the reading position, the rotation of the transport belt stops before the preceding document is completely discharged, and there has been a problem that the discharging of the preceding document is not completed until the reading process is completed.

In addition, if the leading end of the preceding document in the transport direction is on the discharge path after the transport belt, drive control such as a discharge roller on the discharge path must be stopped simultaneously with the stop of the transport belt. However, not only is this complicated, but also there is a problem that document jams easily occur.

Further, if the preceding document is stopped in the middle of discharge, the interval between the next document and the next document is the same as when the document is supplied. There is also a problem that the originals are stacked and the consistency of the stacking is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to prevent a stop of discharge of a preceding document while reducing the distance between the preceding document and the next document. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document feeder capable of facilitating drive control of a system, preventing the occurrence of document jams, and improving the integration consistency.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feeder for sequentially feeding originals stacked on a paper feed tray toward a platen;
In an automatic document feeder including a transport unit that continuously transports a document sequentially fed by a paper feed unit along a platen, and a discharge unit that discharges a document from the transport unit to a discharge tray, A holding means for holding the original on the platen is provided upstream of the conveying means, and the succeeding original is held at a predetermined position on the platen by the holding means while the preceding original is being conveyed by the conveying means. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feeding means for aligning two originals on a paper feeding tray and feeding the originals onto the platen, and reading the two originals fed by the paper feeding means on the platen. An automatic document feeder, comprising: a transport unit that stops at a position and transports the original along the platen after reading is completed; and a discharge unit that discharges two documents from the transport unit to a discharge tray. Holding means provided on the upstream side for holding the second document at the reading position;
Control means for releasing the holding of the second document by the holding means after driving the transport means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, applied to an automatic document feeder for a copying machine.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a copying machine main body, 2 is a platen provided on the copying machine main body 1, and 3 is provided adjacent to an upstream side of the platen 2 in the document conveying direction and manually places a document on the platen 2. Reference numeral 10 denotes an automatic document feeder for recognizing a positioning reference according to the size of the document when the document is placed on the document.

The automatic document feeder 10 includes a main body cover 11
And a document tray mounted on the paper feed tray 12 provided near a paper feed port 11a provided in the main body cover 11 and sequentially or 2 times. A paper feed unit 13 that sequentially feeds the sheets as a set, a transport unit 14 that transports the documents sequentially fed from the paper feed unit 13 toward the platen 2, and a document that is transported from the transport unit 14 is taken over. A reading unit (not shown) provided to the copying machine 1 for transporting to a reading position on the platen 2
Transport belt 15 that transports the original again after stopping the transport at the reading position on the platen 2 in order to read the original, and a discharge unit 16 that is connected to the end of the transport belt 15
And a discharge tray 17 formed integrally with the main body cover 11 and sequentially stacking documents discharged from the discharge port 11b.

The paper supply unit 13 includes a substantially half-moon-shaped separation roller 18 for separating a plurality of documents placed on the paper supply tray 12.
And a separation roller pair 19 for sending the lowermost document toward the transport unit 14.

The transport section 14 includes a transport path 20 having a substantially U-shaped cross section for reversing the original fed from the feed roller 19,
Sensor 21 for detecting a document fed to transport path 20
And a registration roller pair 22 driven based on the detection result of the sensor 21 to register the original on the transport path 20.
And document holding means 23 provided at the end of transport section 14.
And

As shown in FIG. 1, the document holding means 23 includes a driving source 24 such as a motor and a solenoid, and a driving source 24.
And a pad member 26 swingably provided at the tip of the arm member 25, and the conveyance belt 15 is driven by clamping the document in cooperation with the platen 2. Even in the middle, the conveyance of the document by the conveyance belt 15 is forcibly stopped.

As the transport belt 15, an endless belt wide in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the document is used, and the rotation and the movement are stopped by a plurality of rollers 15a.

The discharge section 16 has a discharge path 27 having a substantially U-shaped cross section for reversing the original conveyed from the conveyance belt 15 again.
A sensor 28 for detecting the document conveyed to the discharge path 27, and a discharge roller pair 29 driven based on the detection result of the sensor 28 to discharge the document on the discharge path 27 from the discharge port 11b. .

In the above configuration, when the document located at the lowest position of the paper feed tray 12 and the next document are sequentially fed at predetermined intervals, first, the document positioned at the lowest position of the paper feed tray 12 After the original (previous original) is registered by the registration roller pair 22, the original is conveyed toward the platen 2 over the conveyance belt 15.

When a predetermined time elapses after the sensor 21 detects the trailing edge of the preceding document in the transport direction, the driving source 24 is driven to push down the pad member 26, and the trailing edge of the preceding document in the transport direction is shifted. It is pinched in cooperation with the platen 2. At this time, the transport belt 15 continues to rotate, but may stop.

When the pad member 26 is pushed down, a step between the scale 3 and the surface of the platen 2 causes the rear end of the preceding document in the transport direction to jump upward.

On the other hand, a document (next document) which is positioned next to the preceding document located at the lowermost position of the sheet feeding tray 12 and is fed after completion of feeding of the preceding document is registered by the registration roller pair 22. Is transferred to the platen 2 after
Since the trailing end of the preceding document, which has been flipped up by the pressing of the pad member 26 in the transport direction, is located on the downstream side in the transport direction, the leading edge in the transport direction of the next document is transported by the registration roller pair 22 to transport the preceding document. In the direction rear end,
This completes the stacking of each document.

When a predetermined time has passed since the sensor 21 detects the leading end of the next original in the transport direction, the driving source 2
4 is driven to push the pad member 26 upward, so that the registration roller pair 22 and the conveyor belt 15 are driven.
Is transported to the reading position on the platen 2 while the rear end of the preceding document in the transport direction and the leading edge of the next transport document in the transport direction are overlapped, and the transport belt 15 is once rotated at the reading position. Is stopped and the recording information provided on the preceding document and the next document are read by a reading device (not shown), and then the rotation of the transport belt 15 is restarted. At the same time, the drive source 24 is driven again to push the pad member 26 downward, and the rear end of the next document to be fed in the transport direction is cooperated with the platen 2 to pinch it.
Only the preceding document is transported to the discharge unit 16 by the rotational movement of the transport belt 15.

When the sensor 28 detects the leading end of the preceding document, the driving source 24 is driven to push the pad member 26 upward, so that the next document is separated from the preceding document by the rotational movement of the conveyor belt 15. Is transported to the discharge section 16 by the

Next, a description will be given of a case where processing of a plurality of ordinary documents is performed instead of the above-described processing in a so-called 2-in-1 (reading two documents at a time) mode.

When the document located at the lowest position of the paper feed tray 12 and the document located next are sequentially fed at a predetermined interval and separated from each other, first, the document located at the lowest position of the paper feed tray 12 is located. After the preceding document is registered on the registration roller pair 22, the document is conveyed toward the platen 2 over the conveyance belt 15.

When a predetermined time elapses after the sensor 21 detects the trailing end of the preceding document in the transport direction, the drive of the transport system from the supply unit 13 to the transport belt 15 is stopped so as to stop the transport of the preceding document and the next transported document. Stops. In this case,
The preceding document stops at the reading position on the platen 2.

When the reading of the preceding document is completed, the driving of the drive system from the sheet feeding section 13 to the transport belt 15 is started again, and the discharging of the preceding document and the feeding of the next document are performed.

Further, when the sensor 21 detects the rear end of the next original in the conveyance direction by the conveyance, the drive source 24 is driven to push down the pad member 26, and the rear end of the next original in the conveyance direction. The shift is pinched in cooperation with the platen 2.

At this time, since the transport belt 15 continues to be driven, the preceding document is transported to the paper discharge section 16 and the sensor 2
By detecting the leading end of the preceding document in the conveying direction by 8, the discharge roller pair 29 is driven to discharge the preceding document to the discharge tray 17, and the next document is stopped at the reading position on the platen 2.

[0030]

[0031]

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[0039]

[0040]

[0041]

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[0047]

[0048]

[0049]

[0050]

[0051]

[0052]

[0053]

[0054]

As described above, the automatic document feeder of the present invention is provided with the holding means for holding the succeeding document at a predetermined position on the platen while the preceding document on the platen is being discharged. Therefore, even when the distance between the preceding document and the next document is narrowed, it is possible to prevent the discharge of the preceding document from being stopped, thereby facilitating the drive control of the drive system, preventing the occurrence of document jams, and matching the stacking. It is possible to realize improvement of the performance.

[0056]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a main part of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the automatic document feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2. Platen 10 Automatic document feeder 12 Paper feed tray 13 Paper feeder (paper feeder) 14 Transporter (paper feeder) 15 Transport belt (transporter) 16 Paper discharger (paper discharger) 17: Discharge tray 23: Document holding means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 107 G03B 27/58-27/64 B65H 29/12-29/24

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet feeding means for sequentially feeding documents stacked on a sheet feeding tray toward a platen, and a document sequentially fed by the sheet feeding means is continuously conveyed along the platen. An automatic document feeder, comprising: a transport unit that performs the following operations; and a paper discharge unit that discharges the document from the transport unit to a paper discharge tray, wherein a holding unit that holds the document on the platen is provided on the upstream side of the transport unit. An automatic document feeder provided, wherein the subsequent document is held at a predetermined position on the platen by the holding means while the preceding document is being transported by the transport means. 2. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit stops a subsequent document conveyed by the conveyance unit at the reading position on a platen. A first detecting means for detecting a trailing end of the original document on a paper feeding path from the paper feeding tray to the platen; and a holding means for detecting the trailing edge of the original based on a detection result of the first detecting means. 2. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the subsequent document conveyed by the conveyance unit is stopped at the predetermined position on the platen. 4. A paper feeding means for feeding two originals on a paper feeding tray onto the platen, and stopping the two originals fed by the paper feeding means at a reading position on the platen. An automatic document feeder, comprising: a conveying unit that conveys the original along the platen after reading is completed; and a discharge unit that discharges two documents from the conveying unit to a discharge tray. And holding means for holding the second document at the reading position, and control means for releasing the holding of the second document by the holding means after driving the transport means. An automatic document feeder characterized by the following. 5. A detecting means for detecting a document in a discharge path from the platen to the discharge tray, and the control means releases the document holding of the holding means based on a detection result of the detecting means. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein
The automatic document feeder according to 1. 6. The automatic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said holding means is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to said platen, and presses and holds a document against said platen. Document feeder.