JP2837536B2 - Automatic Document Feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document circulating feeder that circulates a document fed from a document table and returns the document to the document table again.

[Conventional technology]

In the automatic document recirculation fancy apparatus, the set position of the document set on the document table first is the same as the position of the circulating document on which the document circulated and returned after the exposure is completed is placed. In some cases, the set position of the document is different from the separation position when the document set there is separated into one sheet and fed.

As such an automatic document circulating feeder, for example, the lowermost document of a document bundle placed on a document tray is sucked by a belt into a belt portion of a transport device using a belt, and is sucked. To the separation unit, where the document is separated into one sheet, the size of the fed document is detected by size detection, and the document discharge unit (document return unit) is placed at a position corresponding to the document size. In some cases, the document is automatically moved to a position where the rear end is regulated and the document is set at a predetermined position.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in such an automatic circulating document feeder, the document pressing surface which abuts on the document trailing end of the document discharge unit and moves to a separation section for separating and feeding the document is positioned at the rear end of the document. As shown in Fig. 8, the original discharge unit is
When the document pressing surface 50a of the document 50 is a flat surface at the end, when the rear end Dba of the document D is curled as shown in the figure, the document contact surface 50a is moved by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow G. Even if the document is moved by La, the trailing edge Dba may slide on the document contact surface 50a, so that the whole document D may not be able to move by the desired predetermined amount La in the direction of arrow G.

And the problem of the shortage of the curled original is
The same problem may occur in a type in which a document pushing plate for separately moving a document bundle to a document separating unit is provided in a document discharging unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a document bundle of an arbitrary size set on a document placement first can be placed on a separation unit without increasing the size of the apparatus or increasing the cost. It is an object of the present invention to be able to surely move the camera regardless of the type of the camera and the presence or absence of the curl.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to an automatic document circulating and feeding apparatus including the above-described paper feeding unit, transporting unit, and document returning unit. A discharge means which can move the upper surface in the document feeding direction and discharges the document returned along the upper surface of the document table above the upper surface of the document bundle placed on the document table; A document pushing plate for moving the bundle of documents placed on the document placing table to the separation unit is provided at the discharge unit, and the document is circulated and returned to the document pressing surface of the document pushing plate. The trailing edge of the document bundle that has been discharged onto the document table is not hindered by the document that is discharged so as to overlap the document bundle on the table, and regardless of whether the document is curled. Original document trailer that makes contact and can move to the separation section It is obtained by forming a groove.

In the automatic document recirculation feeding device, the document trailing edge locking groove is formed in a plurality of steps in the document extruding plate in a horizontal direction, and the groove of each step is formed along a horizontal upper surface and a substantially perpendicular to the horizontal upper surface. It is more effective to form by a face and a slope inclined downward from the lower end of the face.

(Operation)

According to the automatic circulating document feeder configured as described above,
The original fed by the paper feeding unit, returned to the original mounting table by the original return unit via the transport unit after exposure through the transport unit, is an original push-out plate provided at the discharge unit of the original return unit. As a result, the rear end side is pushed and is moved to the separation section in a state of a bundle of originals.

And, since the original pushing surface of the original pushing plate is formed with a document trailing edge retaining groove, even if the original pushing plate presses the rear end of the original, even if the original is curled, the trailing edge is Since the document is not pulled upward by the document retaining groove and slips upward, the document is reliably moved to the separating portion.

Further, since the document trailing edge retaining groove is formed in a groove shape which does not hinder the document which is circulated and returned and overlaps the document bundle on the document placing table, it does not obstruct the stacking of the document. There is no such thing.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an automatic circulating document feeder (RD) according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing the main part of H), and FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the automatic document circulating and feeding apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic circulating document feeder is disposed in a cover-type case covering a contact glass 101 provided on the upper surface of the copying machine main body 100 over substantially the entire area excluding the left and right ends. The original mounting table 1 and the contact glass one by one from the bottom of the original bundle placed on the original mounting table 1
A paper feeding unit 70 having a mechanism for feeding the paper onto the paper 101 is provided.

The lower surface of the belt slides over substantially the entire area of the contact glass 101, and conveys the original D fed from the paper supply unit 70 to a predetermined original exposure position on the contact glass 101. A transport unit 71 having a transport belt 12 discharged from the glass 101, and a reversing unit for reversing a document D sent from the transport unit 71 on a reversing path 17
72, and a document return unit 73 for returning the document D inverted by the reversing unit 72 so as to overlap the document bundle placed on the document table 1.

The paper feeding section 70 is provided with side fences 2 and 2 (only one side is shown) on the left and right sides with respect to the transport direction of the front portion (left side in FIG. 2) of the document table 1, and Two call rollers 3a and 3b having a missing circle near the front end in the paper feeding direction.
Are provided at intervals along the transport direction so that when the missing circle portion is located on the upper side, it does not protrude above the document placing surface 1a.

A slit plate on which slits are detected by a photoelectric sensor (not shown) is arranged on each axis of the call rollers 3a and 3b, and a concave portion is arranged at a position corresponding to the missing circle of each of the call rollers 3a and 3b. A pressing roller is engaged with a peripheral edge of the positioning plate by a spring, and the two calling rollers 3a and 3b are synchronized in the same phase in the missing circle portions by these mechanisms. The document platen 1 and the missing circle stop at the rotational position where the slit plate and the missing circle portion are flush with each other by the slit plate and the photoelectric sensor, and the position is held by the positioning plate and the pressing roller. It has become to be.

Above the call roller 3a, there is provided a pressing plate 4 for pressing down the leading end of the document D to press the call roller 3a.

Above the holding plate 4, a solenoid 67 shown in FIG.
4 rotates around the rear end shaft 41 which is on the right side in FIG. 4 and locks the front end of the bundle of originals placed on the original placing table 1. The document Dr is released from the document return portion 73 (FIG. 2), released from the document returning portion 73 (FIG. 2) by releasing the lock, and the document bundle before feeding placed on the document table 1. And a movable stopper member 5 is provided at a position indicated by a solid line for partitioning.

When the position of the stopper member 5 is at the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 4, it is detected by the stopper sensor 85 shown in FIG.

When the stopper member 5 is at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4, the document bundle on the document table 1 is fed again from the document table 1 and circulated, and then again in the direction of arrow A. The function of correcting the skew by letting the leading end of the document Dr returning on the
During the feeding of the original document, the original document and the original document Dr circulating and returning to the upper surface of the original document bundle are also sorted.

The document bundle placed on the document placing table 1 is retracted upward from the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4 so as not to contact the document D, and the call rollers 3a and 3b are synchronized by arrows. The document push-out plate 82 described later provided in the discharge section 18 of the document return section 73 shown in FIG. 2 rotates in the direction shown in FIG. 4 is pushed to the left in the same figure, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 (the position of the document D other than the topmost document Dr), the separation belt 7 and the separation roller 8 press against the separation section 40. It is transported reliably.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 6 denotes a document set sensor, which detects that the document bundle has been set on the document table 1.

Further, the call rollers 3a and 3b cooperate with the separating unit 40 including the separating belt 7 and the separating roller 8 to reliably feed the document bundle moved to the above position one by one from the lowest side. .

The separation roller 8 rotates in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 4 at a speed at which the peripheral speed is equal to the document conveyance speed, and the separation belt 7 is pressed against the circumference of a part of the circumferential surface of the separation roller 8. The document D is moved in the direction indicated by arrow C, which is opposite to the direction in which the document is conveyed, at a speed of, for example, about 1/20 of the document conveyance speed.
By appropriately setting the friction coefficient between the original and the separation belt 7 and the original D and the friction coefficient between the originals, if the number of originals is plural, only the lowest one is used. When the sheet is separated from the beginning, it can be transported to the pull-out rollers 9 and 10 on the downstream side as it is.

A one-way clutch is built in the separation roller 8, and when the document is conveyed by the pull-out rollers 9 and 10, even if the driving of the separation roller 8 is stopped, the separation roller 8 rotates together to reduce the document conveyance load to a predetermined value. It is conveyed at a speed.

The separation roller 8 is driven on and off by a clutch (not shown), and when the registration sensor 11 provided on the transport path between the paper feed unit 70 and the transport unit 71 detects the leading edge of the original, the clutch is turned off. As a result, the drive to the separation roller 8 is shut off.

The registration sensor 11 also detects the trailing edge of the document, and uses the signal for timing control for stopping the document D at a predetermined exposure position on the contact glass 101.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying section 71 includes a pair of rollers 65 and 66.
The lower surface portion of the belt is pressed against the contact glass 101 by a plurality of pressure rollers 13 and the original D sent from the paper feeding unit 70 is exposed at a predetermined exposure position. When the exposure is completed, the original D is sent to the reversing unit 72.

The reversing section 72 is provided with a reversing roller 15 provided along a reversing guide, a pressure roller 16 which is in pressure contact with the reversing roller 15 and a downstream side thereof, and a position shown by a solid line and a position shown by a virtual line in FIG. And a displaceable switching claw 14 are provided.

The switching claw 14 is switched to the position indicated by the imaginary line in the case of the double-sided original mode, reverses the one-sided exposed original and sends it back to the transport unit 71, and the double-sided exposed in the single-sided original mode or the double-sided original mode When the original is ejected, the original D is moved to the position shown by the solid line and the original D is ejected to the original returning section 73.

A reversing roller is provided between the pressure roller 16 and the switching claw 14.
A reversing sensor 43 is provided opposite to 15, and controls the driving timing of the transport belt 12 by using the reversing sensor 43. The transport belt 12 and the reversing roller 15 are each driven by a single motor (not shown).

The document returning section 73 is a concave which can move the upper surface of the document table 1 in the document feeding direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 2), and transfers the document returned along the upper surface of the document table to the document table. It has a discharge section 18 provided with a pair of paper discharge rollers 19 for discharging above the upper surface of the document bundle placed on the table.

The document return section 73 is connected to the rear of the discharge section 18 and expands and contracts in accordance with the movement of the discharge section 18.
Guide plates 21, 22, and 23 formed by three sheets forming a document return path between the upper surface of the document table 1 and a rear surface;
It has an intermediate belt 27 for conveying the document D discharged from the reversing unit 72 to the discharge unit 18.

The three guide plates 21, 22, and 23 can be expanded and contracted by being overlapped with each other, and by moving the discharge unit 18, their overlapping positions change.

Each guide plate is arranged such that the leading end in the document transport direction overlaps the lower side of the previous guide plate, whereby the leading end of the document D transported through the document return unit 73 is the overlapping portion of the guide plates. I try not to get caught.

Above the guide plates 21, 22, 23, the outer covers 24, 25,
Similarly to the guide plates 21, 22, and 23, 26 is provided integrally with each of the guide plates so as to be extendable and contractible by overlapping.

Then, the rearmost outer cover 26 is slidable between a position indicated by a solid line and a position indicated by a virtual line in FIG.
At the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 where the guide plates 21, 22, and 23 are all extended, the distance L between the front end surface of the discharge portion 18 and the original front end contact surface of the stopper member 5 is smaller than the minimum original length. To be a long distance.

When the outer cover 26 is at the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, the distance L between the front end surface of the discharge portion 18 and the original front end contact surface of the stopper member 5 is slightly longer than the maximum original length. I try to be distance.

Then, the automatic document circulating and feeding device is provided with
Serves as a rear guide (end fluence) when the original D is placed on the original placing table 1.

The discharge unit 18 outputs the document D discharged from the exit 30 of the reversing unit 72.
A guide plate 21 shown in FIG. 1 that guides the discharge port directly or by an intermediate belt 27 to a discharge port, and a lower guide that is disposed facing the guide plate 21 and that is inclined upward and forward.
29, a pair of discharge rollers 31, 19 provided on the entrance and exit sides of the discharge section transport path formed by these, respectively,
A motor (not shown) for driving each of the paper discharge rollers, and an original pushing for moving the original bundle placed on the original placing table 1 to the separating section 40 (FIG. 4) by the separating belt 7 and the separating roller 8. It is constituted by a plate 82 and the like.

A plurality of parallel grooves 55 extending in the document conveying direction are formed in the return path of the range in which the discharge portion 18 on the document table 1 moves, as shown in FIG. At the lower end, there is formed a comb-shaped projection 29a which fits movably into these grooves, whereby the original D conveyed by the intermediate belt 27 and the driven roller 28 shown in FIG. To
Lower guide reliably and smoothly regardless of the position of the discharge section 18
The sheet is guided by the discharge roller 29 and can be discharged by the discharge roller pair 19.

The discharge part 18 and each guide plate 21, 22, which move integrally therewith
The mechanism that allows both 23 and each outer cover 24, 25, 26 to slide in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 includes a support portion formed by curling a part of the back side of each guide plate into a circular shape, It is movably fitted and supported in a shaft extending along the transport direction, and engagement grooves extending in the document transport direction are provided on the back side and the front side of each of the guide plates 21, 22, and 23, respectively. The link is formed by movably fitting an engaging pin into each groove, thereby connecting each guide plate so as to be extendable and contractible.

Guide frames and racks, not shown, are fixed to the front and rear frames of the automatic document feeder along the direction in which the document is conveyed, and a pinion rotatably provided on the discharge unit 18 side. The paper discharge unit 18 can be manually moved to a predetermined position corresponding to the size of the document by meshing with the rack.

Then, the positioning at the position corresponding to the document size is performed by setting the discharge unit 18 at the click formed at the position corresponding to the standard paper size on the frame of the automatic document circulating feeder.
It can be easily performed by engaging a click pin (not shown) provided on the side.

Each of the outer covers 24, 25, and 26 of the discharge unit 18 is normally fixed by attracting magnetic pins (not shown) to magnetic attracting means (permanent magnets), respectively.
The transport path can be opened by easily opening them.

The discharge section 18 is provided with a handle 32 near the front end of the outer cover 25.
No matter where the guide plates 21, 22, 23 are located, by lifting the handle 32, the locks at both ends of the guide plates are released, and the connected guide plates
2, 22, and 23 are integrally opened toward the back side in FIG. 2 so that the document return path can be greatly opened.

In this automatic document feeder, when the discharge unit 18 is moved to a position corresponding to the maximum document size, the guide plate and the outer cover are located behind the exit 30 of the reversing unit 72 (rightward in FIG. 2). And the document table 1 can be used without waste.

Further, a discharge sensor 18 is provided in the discharge section 18 of the original return section 73.
42 and a positioning sensor 44 for detecting whether or not the set position of the discharge section 18 is correct. As shown in FIG. The document D, which is circulated and returned and overlapped on the original bundle on the original placing table 1, does not hinder the original D and is discharged onto the original placing table 1 regardless of the presence or absence of the curl of the original. The separation unit 40 in which the separation belt 7 and the separation roller 8 are pressed against each other with the trailing edge Dba of the bundle of documents having been completed.
(FIG. 4) is formed with a document rear end locking groove 86 which can be moved to (FIG. 4).

Then, a plurality of steps (four steps in this example) of the document rear end locking grooves 86 are formed in the document extruding plate 82 in the horizontal direction, and the grooves of each step are formed in a horizontal upper surface 86a as shown in FIG. And a groove 86 formed by a surface 86b substantially perpendicular to the surface 86b and a slope 86c inclined downward from the lower end of the surface 86b.

The original pushing plate 82 has a slide plate 88 horizontally fixed below the right side surface as shown in FIG. 1, and a document feeder is provided substantially at the center of the slide plate 88 as shown in FIG. A long hole 88a along the direction is formed, and pins 89, 89 are movably fitted into the long hole 88a, and are fixed to a bottom plate 87 integral with the lower guide 29 of the discharge portion 18 shown in FIG. Thus, the original pushing plate 82 can be moved in the direction of arrow E.

On the upper surface of the slide plate 88, as shown in FIG. 6, a L-shaped lever 83 is formed at one end thereof, the center of which is swingably supported by a pin 91 in the direction of arrow F by a pin 91. Attach by fixing the pin 92 fitted in the hole, attach a spring 84 that urges the lever 83 to rotate clockwise in the other end, and swingably attach one end of the link rod 81 to the opposite side. The other end of the link rod 81 is swingably attached to the movable shaft of the solenoid 80.

In this automatic document recirculation feeding apparatus, a document bundle is set on a document table 1 shown in FIG.
When the stop sensor 85 (FIG. 3) detects that the stoppage member 5 has come into contact with the document table 1 when the document is circulated (FIG. 4) or when the stoppage sensor 5 (FIG. 3) detects When the solenoid 80 shown in FIG.
To draw, lever 83 is rotated in the arrow F ₁ direction as shown in FIG. 7, since the document pushing plate 82 is moved to the left in the figure, the document stack is pushed out.

When the bundle of originals is pushed out to a predetermined separation position, the solenoid 80 is turned off, and the urging force of the spring 84 returns the original pushing plate 82 to the original position shown in FIG. 6, and the stopper member 5 also descends. . In this way, this pushing operation is repeated every time the job starts.

When this automatic document feeder is used, the original placing table 1 is arranged so that the leading end of the original bundle, which is stacked in page order with the image plane facing upward, abuts against the stopper member 5 as shown in FIG. After being placed on the upper side, the side fence 2 is moved to regulate the position of both side edges of the document bundle, and the discharge unit 18 is manually moved to a position corresponding to the document size.

At this time, if the positioning sensor 44 of the discharge unit 18 does not detect the rear end of the document D, the discharge unit 18 is far away from the rear end of the document D, or it moves forward too much, Since it is determined that the original is pushed into the original pushing plate 82 or the front wall of the paper output unit 178 and the original feeding operation is prohibited, in that case, the click of the output unit 18 is released, and
Correct the set position.

Then, the print key (not shown) is turned on while the discharge unit 18 is set to a normal position, and the separation unit is detected by the above-described original set sensor 6 (FIG. 4).
The feeding operation of the document D moving to 40 is started.

Then, the original bundle is separated by the separation belt 7 and the separation roller 8 so that only the lowermost original D is separated and sent to the pull-out roller 9, and thereafter, the sheet bundle of the discharge unit 18 of the discharge unit 18 passes through the above-described conveyance path. The document 19 is ejected onto the original bundle on the original placing table 1 and is brought into contact with the stopper member 5 at the position shown by the solid line as in the original Dr shown in FIG. 4 to be separated from the job being fed. Stacked in the state.

Then, the original D of the last page of the job placed on the original placing table 1 is fed, and the completion of the feeding is detected by the stop sensor 85 (FIG. 3). At a predetermined timing when the stacker is returned to the mounting table 1 and the stacking is completed (after a predetermined time when the discharge sensor 42 of the discharge unit 18 detects the leading end of the document), the stopper member 5 temporarily retreats upward and the document pushing plate 82 moves to the position for moving the bundle of originals to the separating section 40. When the movement is completed, the stopper member 5 again comes into contact with the upper surface of the one-rounded original bundle as shown by the solid line in FIG.

Thereafter, the document Dr is circulated and discharged from the discharge section 18, and the leading end of the original Dr abuts on the stopper member 5, so that the original Dr is stacked in a state where the skew is corrected. To go.

As described above, the stacking position of the documents that are circulated and returned and stacked on the document table 1 and the separation position when the document bundle is separated and fed one by one are different from each other. The original that has been trimmed to some extent is not enough, and may be in a wavy state.Before the next feeding operation, rotate the page rollers 3a and 3b to cause the original to vibrate vertically. It is to give it and prepare it.

At this time, the stopper member 5 is further rotated upward from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 and is retracted once to a position away from the original, and is then moved to the call rollers 3a and 3b and the original pushing plate 82. As a result, a conveying force in the feeding direction is generated.
The separation belt 7 can be reliably moved to the separation section 40 where the separation belt 7 is pressed against the separation section 7.

By doing so, the document bundle is reset so as not to hinder refeeding, and when the feed signal is output, the documents can be reliably separated and fed one by one.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a plurality of document trailing end locking grooves 86 are formed on the document pressing surface of the document pushing plate 82 for moving the document bundle to the separation section 40. As a result, the rear end Dba of the original D is pressed against the original acupressure surface 82a as shown in FIG.
The pushing amount is not reduced by sliding up along the document, so the document can be moved to the separation side by the moving amount of the document pushing plate 82, and even if the document is curled, the trailing edge Dba is Since the document D can be moved while being locked in the document trailing end locking groove 86 as shown in the figure, the leading end of the document D can be moved to the separating portion without fail.

Then, the document D, which is circulated and returned and discharged onto the document table 1 by the discharge roller pair 19, drops while the rear end Dba touches the document rear end locking groove 86 of the document pushing plate 82 in the discharging process. Even if such a situation occurs, the original D falls smoothly without being caught and stuck on the original mounting table 1 because the groove is formed with the inclined surface 86c (FIG. 5) on the lower surface side. Is done.

As shown in FIG. 3, ribs 1b having an appropriate height are formed on the upper surface of the document placing table 1 at intervals with the claw portions 5a formed in the width direction at intervals on the stopper member 5, respectively. In other words, the original D placed on the original placing table 1 has a claw 5a.
To prevent the document D discharged from the discharge unit 18 (FIG. 2) from getting under the stop unit 5 because the document D is pushed below the upper end of the rib 1b while hitting a wave. Can be.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the document trailing end locking groove is formed on the document pressing surface of the document pushing plate, the document circulated and returned to the document placing table can be controlled by the type and curl of the document. The document can be reliably moved to the separation section regardless of the presence or absence thereof, and the document trailing edge locking groove does not hinder the stacking of the document returned to the document placing table.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an essential part of an automatic document circulating and feeding apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall configuration view showing the entire structure of the automatic document circulating and feeding apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a document and a stopper member, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a sheet feeding section of the automatic document circulating feeder in FIG. 2, and FIG. FIGS. 6 and 7 are plan views showing a mechanism for moving the original pushing plate in a state in which the original pushing plate is not protruded and a state in which the original extruding plate is projected, respectively. FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the problem when a surface is only a vertical plane. 1 Document placing table, 3a, 3b Calling roller 12 Transport belt (transporting means) 17 Reversing path, 19, 31 Discharge roller pair 40 Separating unit, 70 Feeding unit 71: conveying section, 72: reversing section 73: original returning section, 82: original pushing plate 82a: original pressing surface, 86: original document retaining groove 86a: upper surface, 86b: confronting 86c ... slope, D ... manuscript

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 83/00-85/00 G03G 15/00 107

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An original placing table for placing a bundle of originals composed of a plurality of originals; a front end aligned with a predetermined position of a front end of the original placing table; A paper feeding unit having means for feeding the documents one by one, and transporting the documents fed from the paper feeding unit to a document exposure position;
A transport unit having a transport unit for discharging the original after exposure of the original, and a document return unit for returning the original discharged from the transport unit via the reversing path so as to overlap the original bundle placed on the original table. In the automatic document recirculation feeding apparatus, the document return section is movable in the document feeding direction on the document table, and converts the document returned along the upper surface of the document table into the document. A discharge unit having means for discharging the document bundle placed on the mounting table above the upper surface thereof; the discharge unit moving the document bundle placed on the document mounting table to the separation unit; A document pushing plate for the document pushing plate, the document being pushed back and circulated on the document pressing surface of the document pushing plate so as not to obstruct the document discharged so as to overlap the document bundle on the document placing table, and Paper on the document table regardless of the presence of curl There completed document stack automatic document circulation feeding apparatus characterized by forming the document trailing edge locking groove that allows movement up to the separating portion is brought into contact with the rear end. 2. A document automatic circulation device according to claim 1, wherein said document trailing end locking groove is formed in said document push-out plate in a plurality of steps in a horizontal direction. An automatic document recirculation feeding device having a groove formed by a substantially right angled surface and a slope inclined downward from a lower end of the surface.