JP2708261B2 - Document cassette feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document cassette supply device for supplying a document cassette holding a read document to an image reading device.

[Prior Art] In the field of printing and plate making, an image scanning reading and reproducing system for electrically processing image information recorded on an original to create a film original for the purpose of streamlining work processes, improving image quality, etc. Used.

In this case, the image reading apparatus constituting the system performs two-dimensional reading of image information by performing main scanning while transporting the read document positioned and stored in the document cassette to the reading unit.

In order to handle a large number of documents to be read, it is desirable to connect an automatic supply device that can automatically supply a plurality of document cassettes to such an image reading device.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when the automatic feeding device is connected to the image reading device and the automatic feeding device fails and becomes inoperable, a document is sent to the image reading device. The cassette cannot be supplied. Further, even when the automatic feeding device is operating normally, if a large number of document cassettes are handled, a desired document cassette cannot be supplied to the image reading device in a short time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described inconvenience, and an object of the present invention is to provide a document cassette supply device capable of reliably and quickly supplying a document cassette to an image reading device even when a failure occurs. With the goal.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a document cassette supply device for supplying a document cassette holding a read document to an image reading device, A cassette holding means having a plurality of steps to be accommodated, a mounting table on which the document cassette is mounted on the top of the steps, and a cassette holding means movable in a stacking direction of the steps, Cassette supply means for supplying the placed document cassette to the communication port of the image reading device, such that the mounting table is located at a position corresponding to the communication port,
A moving means capable of manually moving the cassette holding means, and a cassette introduction port for supplying a document cassette to the communication port via the mounting table are provided.

[Operation] As described above, in the document cassette supply device of the present invention, the document cassette holding the read document is placed on the mounting table provided at the top of the step of the cassette holding means via the cassette introduction port. I do. Next, after moving the cassette holding means using a moving means so that the mounting table is located at a position corresponding to the communication port in the image reading apparatus, the document cassette is supplied to the image reading apparatus.

[Embodiment] A document cassette supply apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a document cassette supply device 10 of the present embodiment. The original cassette supply device 10 is surrounded by a casing 12, and includes cassette holding means 16 for accommodating an original cassette 14, which will be described later, and cassette insertion ports 56, 66 and a cassette for supplying the original cassette 14 to the cassette holding means 16. The image forming apparatus includes an inlet 67 and a cassette supply unit 22 that supplies the original cassette 14 stored in the cassette holding unit 16 to the image reading device 20 to which the original cassette supply device 10 is connected.

Here, the original cassette supply device 10 and the image reading device
The document cassette 14 supplied to 20 is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the document cassette 14 holds a transmissive read document 28 between two supporting glass plates 26 surrounded by a frame 24 having a substantially rectangular shape. Are formed with v-shaped grooves 30a and 30b extending along the transport direction. In addition, a cassette identification unit 29 for identifying the original cassette 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14 is provided on the top surface of the frame body 24 in the transport direction front end. The cassette identifying section 29 is configured by combining a plurality of light transmitting sections 31a and light shielding sections 31b according to the original cassette 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14.

In FIG. 3, the image reading device 20 is disposed near a communication port 34 formed in a casing 32, and includes insertion detecting means 36 such as a photo interrupter, a cassette identifying means 38, and a document cassette 14. The image forming apparatus includes a conveying unit 40 that conveys the image inside the image forming apparatus 20, and an image reading unit. Insertion detection means 36
Detects that the document cassette 14 has been inserted into the image reading device 20. Further, the cassette identification means 38
It identifies the original 14 and the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14, and is composed of, for example, a plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements. The transport unit 40 transports the document cassette 14 from the communication port 34 to the image reading unit 42, and has a guide roller 44 that engages with the grooves 30a and 30b on the side of the document cassette 14. The image reading unit 42 includes a light source 46 and a light receiving element 48 such as a CCD, and reads an image by receiving light from the light source 46 transmitted through the original cassette 14 conveyed to the image reading unit 42 by the light receiving element 48. I do.

Next, the configuration of the document cassette supply device 10 will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, the casing 12 has a first lid part 50 and a second lid part 52 whose front and upper parts can be opened and closed.
At a predetermined position outside the first lid portion 50, a cassette insertion table 54 and a cassette insertion slot 56 are provided. Inside the first lid portion 50, at a portion corresponding to the cassette insertion slot 56, an insertion detecting means 58 such as a photo interrupter for detecting that the document cassette 14 has been inserted and a pair of carry-in rollers 60 are provided. . The carry-in roller 60 carries the document cassette 14 into the document cassette supply device 10 by being rotationally driven by a motor 62. In addition, a cassette insertion port 66 that is normally closed by a door 64 is provided above the cassette insertion port 56, and a first insertion port corresponding to the cassette insertion port 66 is provided.
As in the case described above, the document cassette 14 is
There is provided an insertion detecting means 68 for detecting that the paper has been inserted, and a carry-in roller 72 driven by a motor 70.

In this case, the original cassettes 14 can be supplied to the original cassette supply device 10 one by one via the cassette insertion port 56 or 66, and the plural original cassettes 14 can be opened by opening the first lid 50. Can be supplied at the same time. Thus, the supply time of the document cassette 14 can be reduced.

Further, the upper portion of the casing 12 is usually provided with a second lid 52.
A cassette introduction port 67 is provided, which is closed by this. The original cassette 14 can be supplied to the uppermost mounting table 69 of the cassette holding means 16 via the cassette introduction port 67.

The cassette holding means 16 includes a cage 76 supported by four guide bars 74a to 74d erected in the casing 12. The cage 76 is connected to a chain 84 via a worm gear 82 connected to a drive shaft 80 of a motor 78, as shown in FIG.
Can move in the vertical direction (Z direction). The drive shaft 80 is provided with a handle member 85 as a moving means that can manually move the worm gear 82.

The cage 76 has a plurality of steps where the document cassette 14 is loaded.
A plurality of guide rollers 88 that engage with the grooves 30a and 30b provided on the side of the document cassette 14 are provided between the steps 86 with a predetermined gap. .

A portion of the side of the cage 76 corresponding to the carry-in roller 60 provided below the first lid 50 is provided with a cassette transport mechanism 90.
A is provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the cassette transport mechanism 90A has a motor 94A and a solenoid 96A fixed to the support plate 92A, and a drive plate 98A rotatably supported by the support plate 92A. The drive plate 98A has a substantially L-shape, and a bent portion thereof is supported by the support plate 92A, and a connecting portion 1 that stands upright at one end.
It is connected to solenoid 96A via 00A. Also drive plate
The other end of the 98A has a comb shape, and a guide roller 102A is provided at the tip of each comb shape. In this case, each guide roller 102A is connected to the wire 1 by a motor 94A.
The guide roller 88 is rotatable through the step 04A and is driven by a solenoid 96A between the steps 86 in the cage 76.
It is configured so that it can be entered between

On the other hand, a portion of the first lid portion 50 facing the cassette insertion port 56 has a pair of nip rollers 106 with the cage 76 interposed therebetween.
And cassette identification means 18 are provided. In this case, the cassette identification means 18 is configured by arranging a plurality of light emitting elements 108 and a plurality of light receiving elements 110 to face each other,
The data set in the cassette identification unit 29 of the document cassette 14 is read.

As shown in FIG. 7, a cassette transport mechanism 90B is provided in a portion of the side of the cage 76 corresponding to the carry-in roller 72 provided above the first lid 50. In this case, since the cassette transport mechanism 90B has the same configuration as the cassette transport mechanism 90A, the same reference numerals are appended with B and the description thereof is omitted.

In the portion of the first lid 50 facing the cassette insertion port 66,
The two sets of nip rollers 112a and 11 are located close to the image reading device 20.
2b and 114a, 114b are provided. In this case, the nip rollers 112a, 112b and 114a, 114b
Driven by a motor 118 fixed to 6.

Here, the nip rollers 112a, 112b and 114a, 114b
Is supported in the state shown in FIG. That is, the respective support shafts 120a, 120b of the nip rollers 112a, 112b and 114a, 114b.
And 122a, 122b are pivotally supported by the upright portions of the support plate 116, respectively. In this case, the support shafts 120a and 122a of the nip rollers 112a and 114a located at the upper part of the casing 12 are inserted into the elongated holes 124 and 126 provided at the upright portions of the support plate 116.

On the other hand, a displacing plate 128 bent in an L-shape is juxtaposed at a portion where the supporting plate 116 stands upright. The displacement plate 128 is supported by the support plate 116 in a state where it can be displaced in the arrow Z direction by the pin member 130. Note that the displacement plate 128 is
It is urged toward the pressing pin 138 by a coil spring 136 stretched between the pin members 130 and 134 implanted on the displacement plate 128 and the displacement plate 128. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, pressing pins 138 and 140 abut on the upper surface of the displacement plate 128. Press pin
138 and 140 are supported by guide plates 142 and 144, and when the second lid 52 is in the closed state, press the displacement plate 128 to bring the nip rollers 112a, 112b and 114a and 114b into the vicinity state. To hold.

The document cassette supply device 10 of the present embodiment and the image reading device 20 to which the document cassette supply device 10 is connected are basically configured as described above. Next, the operation thereof will be described.

First, a case where the original cassette 14 holding the original 28 to be read as shown in FIG. 2 is inserted through the cassette insertion opening 56 of the original cassette supply device 10 will be described (see FIG. 1).

The document cassette supply device 10 detects that the document cassette 14 has been inserted by the insertion detecting means 58, rotates the carry-in roller 60 under the driving action of the motor 62, and
The predetermined step 86 of the cage 76 in the cassette holding means 16
To load. In the cage 76, it is assumed that the stepped portion 86 in an empty state is arranged near the carry-in roller 60. The document cassette 14 is held by the guide rollers 88 engaging the grooves 30a and 30b in the step portion 86.

When the document cassette 14 is carried into the predetermined position of the step portion 86, the cassette transport mechanism 90A is driven (see FIG. 6). That is, when the solenoid 96A is urged, the driving plate 98A rotates in the direction of arrow A via the connecting portion 100A, and the guide roller 102A provided at the tip of the driving plate 98A faces between the step portions 86. And is engaged with the grooves 30a and 30b of the document cassette 14. Next, the motor 94A is driven, and the guide roller 102A is rotated via the wire 104A, so that the leading end of the document cassette 14 is driven by the light emitting element 108 and the light receiving element 110 constituting the cassette identifying means 18 via the nip roller 106. (See FIG. 1).

In this case, at the leading end of the document cassette 14, a cassette identification in which a plurality of light transmitting portions 31a and a plurality of light shielding portions 31b set the type of the document cassette 14 and the identification symbol of the read document 28 held in the document cassette 14. A part 29 is provided. Therefore,
The document cassette supply device 10 reads the information of the document cassette 14 loaded in the step portion 86 by receiving the light output from the light emitting element 108 with the light receiving element 110 through the cassette identifying section 29. Can be recorded.

When the information from the document cassette 14 is read, the document cassette 14 is returned to a predetermined portion of the step portion 86 under the driving action of the cassette transport mechanism 90A, and then the driving plate 98A is rotated in the direction of arrow B by the solenoid 96A. And withdraw from the cage 76.

Next, the cage 76 moves in the arrow Z direction via the worm gear 82 and the chain 84 under the driving action of the motor 78,
It stops when the document cassette 14 moves to a position corresponding to the cassette transport mechanism 90B. Therefore, in the same manner as the cassette transfer mechanism 90A, the cassette transfer mechanism 90B
Is driven, and the original cassette 14 is carried out to the cassette supply means 22 side (see FIGS. 1 and 7). The cassette supply means 22 drives the motor 118 to rotate the nip rollers 112 and 114, and supplies the document cassette 14 to the image reading device 20 via the communication port 34.

The image reading device 20 drives the conveyance unit 40 by detecting the document cassette 14 by the insertion detection unit 36, and conveys the document cassette 14 to the image reading unit 42. In this case, the cassette identification unit 38 reads information of the document cassette 14. In the image reading section 42, the light output from the light source 46 is transmitted to the light receiving element 48 through the read original 28 held in the original cassette 14.
And the image is read.

By the way, in the document cassette supply device 10, the document cassette 14 can be automatically supplied to the image reading device 20, but when a failure such as a machine down occurs,
It becomes impossible to supply the document cassette 14 from the cassette insertion port 56 or 66. For such a situation,
In this embodiment, the original cassette is inserted through the cassette inlet 67.
14 can be supplied to the image reading device 20 manually.

When the above situation occurs, first, the operator opens the second lid 52 and places the document cassette 14 on the mounting table 69 of the cassette holding means 16 from the cassette inlet 67. In this case, nip rollers 112a constituting the cassette supply means 22,
114a is separated from nip rollers 112b and 114b (see FIG. 9). That is, when the second lid 52 is in the closed state, one of the nip rollers 112a and 114a is on the side of the other nip rollers 112b and 114b via the displacement plate 128 by the pressing pins 138 and 140. When the part 52 is opened, the pressing pin 13
Since the pressing forces of 8, 140 are released, the displacement plate 128
In the direction, which causes the nip rollers 112a, 114a to be separated from the nip rollers 112b, 114b.

Next, after the original cassette 14 is placed on the uppermost mounting table 69 of the cassette supply means 16 through the cassette introduction port 67, the handle member 85 is manually rotated to move the cassette supply means 16 in the arrow Z direction. To the nip roller 112a,
It is set to a position corresponding to 112b (see FIGS. 5 and 9). The handle member 85 can be operated by opening the first lid 50. Next, the nip rollers 112a and 112b that have separated the original cassette 14 by a predetermined distance and
It is manually supplied to the image reading device 20 via between 114a and 114b. In this case, the image reading device 20 detects the document cassette 14 by the insertion detecting
The sheet is transported to 42 and image information is read.

Thus, the original cassette is inserted through the cassette inlet 67.
14 can be supplied to the image reading device 20, for example, the motor 78 and the solenoid
Even when a failure occurs in the cassette drive system such as 96A and 96B, the document cassette 14 can be supplied to the image reading device 20 quickly. It is also possible to perform an interruption operation using the cassette introduction port 67.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the document cassette supply device according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, in the original cassette supply device of the present invention, the original cassette is placed via the cassette introduction port on the uppermost mounting table of the cassette holding means having a plurality of steps for accommodating the original cassette, and this is placed in the image reading apparatus. It is configured so that it can be supplied to In this case, even when a failure occurs in the document cassette supply device, the document cassette can be quickly supplied to the image reading device. Further, not only at the time of occurrence of a failure, an interruption operation can be performed through the cassette introduction port. As a result, for example, even when a large number of document cassettes are handled, it is possible to perform processing by interrupting a desired document cassette halfway.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a document cassette supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a document cassette loaded in the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1 and an image reading device connected thereto, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 and 7 are explanatory plan views of a cassette transport mechanism in the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a document cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a main part configuration of a cassette supply means in the supply device. FIG. 9 is a state explanatory diagram in a case where the document cassette is manually supplied to the image reading device in the document cassette supply device shown in FIG. 10 original document feeder 14 original cassette 16 cassette holding means 18 cassette identification means 20 image reader 22 cassette supply means 28 read original 29 cassette identification section 50, 52 … First and second lids 69… Placement table 76… Cage 86… Steps 90A, 90B… Cassette transport mechanism

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hideharu Oshima 1-324 Uetakecho, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-57-41651 (JP, A) JP-A-57-165858 (JP, A) JP-A-57-195049 (JP, A) JP-A-60-148842 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An original cassette supply device for supplying an original cassette holding an original to be read to an image reading apparatus, comprising: a plurality of steps for accommodating the original cassette; Cassette holding means having a mounting table on which the document cassette is mounted, the cassette holding means being movable in the stacking direction of the step portion, and the document cassette arranged at the step portion being moved to a communication port of the image reading apparatus. Cassette supplying means for supplying, a moving means capable of manually moving the cassette holding means so that the mounting table is located at a position corresponding to the communication port, and supplying a document cassette to the communication port via the mounting table. And a cassette introduction port for performing the operation.