JP3386526B2 - Document separation and transport device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document separating / conveying device which is applied to a document reading device such as a facsimile machine or an image scanner and separates and conveys a plurality of documents stacked one by one and sends them to a document reading position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional facsimile apparatus. Reference numeral 1 is an apparatus main body, 2 is an original table on the apparatus main body 1, on which an original 3 is loaded, and 4 are various operations. This is an operation board provided with keys and the like, and an extension part of the document placing table 2 below the operation board 4 has a pickup roller 5, a pressure plate 6 facing the pickup roller 5, and a separation roller 7.
And a feed roller 8, a document separating / conveying unit 9, a document reading unit 10, a conveyance roller 11 that conveys the document 3 to the document reading unit 10 at a predetermined speed, and a discharge unit for conveying the document 3 after reading to the outside. A document feeder 13 including a paper roller 12 and the like is installed.

A light source 15 for illuminating the surface of the original, a reflection mirror 17 for deflecting the reflected light from the original in the CCD (charge coupled device) 16 direction, and an image forming in front of the CCD 16 are provided under the original conveying section 13. Original optical reading optical system consisting of lens 18 etc.
19 are installed.

Below the original reading optical system 19, a roll-shaped thermal recording paper 20, a thermal head 21, a platen roller are provided.
A recording unit 25 including a recording paper cutter 23, a recording paper cutter 23, and a recording paper discharge roller 24 is installed.

In the above-mentioned facsimile apparatus, upon reception, the thermal recording paper 20 is printed between the thermal head 21 and the platen roller 22 based on the received data in a known manner, and the thermal recording paper 20 after printing is the recording paper. The sheet is cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 23 and discharged to the outside by the recording paper discharge roller 24.

At the time of transmission, the original 3 is placed on the original placing table 2 and fed between the pressure plate 6 and the pickup roller 5,
When the transmission operation is started, the pickup roller 5 feeds the document 3 from the lowest paper of the stacked documents 3 to the document separating / conveying unit 9. In the document separating / conveying unit 9, when the document 3 is double-fed from the pickup roller 5, the separating roller 7 and the feed roller 8
The originals are separated one by one by and and sent to the conveyance roller 11.

The original 3 includes a transport roller 11 and a paper discharge roller.
While being conveyed by 12, the document reading unit 10 is illuminated by the light source 15 to perform known optical image reading by the CCD 16 and the like, image data output, and the like.

A technique of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is a technique described in Japanese Patent No. 101942.

[0009]

When a plurality of originals are set and separated and conveyed, the separation torque of the separation roller 7 is used to stop the next original, so that the original being conveyed is separated. The torque does not work.

However, as shown in FIG. 7, when there is only one original, this separation torque T acts as back tension on the original because it is added to the original to be conveyed. This imposes a load on the motor as seen from the transport system. Therefore, not only the torque of the motor is required to be excessive, but also the document conveying force F needs to be sufficiently larger than the separation torque T.

In the prior art, the separation torque is always applied to the original at the time of one-sheet setting or the last one sheet being conveyed,
As a result, compared with the case where a plurality of sheets are set, for example, there is a case where a magnification error occurs such that the copy image is stretched.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a document separating / conveying apparatus which prevents the occurrence of a defect such as a magnification change abnormality.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides (1). Feed means for giving a conveying force to the lowest document,
In a document separating / conveying device that includes a separating unit that applies a load to a higher-order document, and stacks one or more documents and separates and conveys the documents one by one, a plurality of documents are conveyed one by one to the last one. It is characterized in that it is provided with means for releasing the load applied to this one sheet of the original document when it becomes.

(2). In the configuration of (1), the separating means includes a separating roller that applies a separating torque that is a load to the document, a friction plate that contacts the separating roller, a pressing means that presses the friction plate, and the pressing means is controlled. And means for varying the pressing force applied to the friction plate.

(3). In the structure of (2), the pressing means is composed of a compression spring and a gear that adjusts the separation torque by sandwiching the compression spring between the friction plates and tightening the friction plate.

(4). In the configuration of (2), the manuscript is the last one
It is characterized in that a means for rotating the separation roller in the document conveying direction is provided when the number of sheets becomes one.

(5). In the configuration (4), the rotation of the separation roller is the same as the rotation of the feeding means, and the document separation / conveyance apparatus according to claim 4.

(6). The configuration of (4) or (5) is characterized in that the separation roller is provided with a gear for rotating the separation roller.

(7). In the configuration of (1), the separating means is composed of a document separating pad and means for controlling the document separating pad and varying the pressing force applied to the feed roller.

(8). The configuration of (7) is characterized in that a gear for driving the document separating pad is provided.

[0021]

According to the configuration of (1), when a plurality of originals are conveyed one by one and become the last one, one original is released in order to release the load applied to the one original. Against
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects such as abnormal scaling due to the simultaneous application of the conveying force and the load.

According to the configuration (2), the separation torque can be arbitrarily adjusted by varying the pressing force applied to the friction plate, so that the separation performance can be maintained regardless of the number of loaded sheets. it can.

According to the configuration (3), the separation torque can be automatically and easily adjusted by sandwiching the compression spring with the friction plate and providing the gear for adjusting the separation torque to be tightened. .

According to the structure of (4), the manuscript is the last one.
When the number of sheets becomes one, the separation load can be reduced by rotating the separation rollers in the document conveying direction.

According to the configuration of (5), since the rotation of the separation roller is the same as the rotation of the feed means, the separation load is 0.
Can be

According to the configuration (6), the separation roller is provided with the gear for rotating the separation roller, so that the separation roller can be easily rotated.

According to the above construction (7), the pressing force applied to the feeding means by the document separating pad is made variable, so that the separating torque can be automatically and easily effected without being affected by the type and the number of the documents. It becomes possible to adjust.

According to the structure of (8), since the gear for driving the document separating pad is provided, the pressing force of the document separating pad can be easily changed.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same members as those of the conventional technique shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a separation roller and its vicinity, which is a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention. 26 is a torque generating portion arranged on both sides of the separation roller 7, and 27 is a torque generating portion. The friction plate adjacent to the portion 26, 28 is a compression spring arranged next to one of the friction plates 27, and 29 is an adjusting nut that is a separation torque adjusting nut.
A compression spring 28 is sandwiched between the compression springs 28 and 27. 30 is a separation roller 7, a torque generating portion 26, a friction plate 27, a compression spring 2
8. Support shafts 30 and 31 that coaxially support the adjusting nut 29 support the both ends of the support shaft 29, and are U-shaped brackets that are swingably installed on the apparatus body 1.

32 is a hole formed in the bracket 31,
The bracket 31 is installed on the apparatus main body 1 through the hole 32, and the hole 32 serves as the center of swing of the bracket 31. 33 is an extension piece formed on a part of the bracket 31, 34
Shows a solenoid that is installed in the apparatus main body 1 and presses the extending piece 33.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a mylar which regulates the positions of both sides of the original document 3 conveyed by the pickup roller 5, 36 denotes a shaft which supports the pressure plate 6, and 37 denotes a shaft 36 which is attached to the pressure plate 6.
Shows a torsion spring that pushes downwards.

The original 3 placed at a predetermined position on the original table 2 is sent to the nip portion between the separation roller 7 and the feed roller 8 by the rotation of the pickup roller 5. When the document 3 is double-fed by the pickup roller 5, the separation conveyance described below is performed at the nip portion between the separation roller 7 and the feed roller 8, and only one document is read by the document reading unit described with reference to FIG. It is transported to 10 at a predetermined speed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the action of the force acting on the original 3 at the nip portion between the separating roller 7 and the feed roller 8, and particularly shows a state where two originals 3 enter the nip portion. Is. Here, the document blocking force Ta for blocking the transportation of the upper document of the two documents 3 is set so that the formula (Equation 1) is satisfied.

[0035]

## EQU1 ## Ta> F _C −R _D + R _B where:

[0036]

F _C = μ _P × P _B R _D = (X−2) × m × μ _P R _B = (X−1) × m × μ _P , where m is the mass of one original, μ _P is the coefficient of friction between the originals, X is the number of originals set, P _B is the pressing force by the separating roller 7, F _C is the frictional force generated between the original and the separating roller 7, and R _D is the lower two sheets. shows the frictional force generated between the third sheet eyes, R _B is a frictional force generated between the second sheet eyes one from the lower order.

The document blocking force Ta thus set is 2
The lowest original 3 by being placed on the third original 3.
Only the document is conveyed toward the document reading unit 10 (see FIG. 6).

By the way, when the original 3 is conveyed further and the last one is conveyed, the conveying force by the feed roller 8 and the original document stopping force Ta by the separating roller 7 are simultaneously applied to the original 3. Therefore, the document blocking force Ta becomes back tension, which also hinders conveyance. Therefore, when the original 3 becomes one sheet or when only one sheet is conveyed, a drive current is sent to the solenoid 34 to press the extending piece 33. When the extending piece 33 is pressed, the bracket 31 swings,
The separation roller 7 is separated from the original 3. When the separation roller 7 separates, the document blocking force Ta is released, so that the last document 3 is read by the feed force of the feed roller 8 from the document reading unit 10.
(Refer to FIG. 6) It is conveyed in the direction.

Thus, according to the configuration of the first embodiment,
Since it becomes possible to stably convey the original document 3 stacked on the original document table 2 from the beginning to the end, the original document 3 is stably provided.
The image of can be read.

To detect that the number of originals 3 has become one, a dedicated sensor is provided, or when the number of sheets to be transmitted is known in advance, the number of sheets to be transmitted is stored by operating the operation board 4. It can be achieved by means such as putting.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the separation roller and its vicinity, which is the main part of the second embodiment of the present invention. 38 is a gear, 39 is a DC motor, 40 is geared with the gear 38, The drive gear that transmits the rotation of the DC motor 39 to the gear 38 is shown. The same members as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

When the DC motor 39 is rotated, the gear 38 moves in the direction of the screw cut on the support shaft 30. as a result,
As the compression spring 28 expands and contracts and the pressing force on the friction plate 27 changes, the torque transmitted to the separation roller 7 can be adjusted.

Therefore, when the number of originals 3 becomes one, or when only one original is conveyed, by rotating the DC motor 39 to weaken the separation torque, the separation rollers 7 can easily rotate in the original conveyance direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the document blocking force Ta from hindering the conveyance. Furthermore, D
By controlling the C motor 39, the separation torque applied to the original 3 can be automatically adjusted.
It is possible to adjust the separation torque to an optimum value according to the type of paper.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the separation roller and its vicinity, which is the main part of the third embodiment of the present invention. 41 is a gear formed on the outer circumference of the torque generating section 26, 42 is a DC motor, Reference numeral 43 denotes a drive gear that meshes with the gear 41 and transmits the rotation of the DC motor 42 to the torque generating unit 26. The same members as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

When the DC motor 42 is rotated, the separation roller 7 is rotated in the carrying direction in conjunction with the torque generating section 26. Therefore, when the original 3 becomes one or only one is conveyed, the separation roller 7 is rotated by the DC motor 42 in the original conveying direction at the same speed as the feed roller 8.
The document blocking force Ta is not applied to the document 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the document blocking force Ta from hindering the conveyance.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the construction of the main part of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and 44 shows a separation pad. The fourth embodiment uses a rubber separating pad 44 as a separating means instead of the separating roller 7 in the first and second embodiments.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 45 denotes a bracket which supports the separation pad 44, and support pieces 46 extend on both sides of the mounting portion of the separation pad 44 in the bracket 45,
The entire bracket 45 is U-shaped. Further, a hole 47 is formed at the center of the side surface of the support piece 46, and a gear 48 is formed at the outer peripheral portion. And separation pad
The bracket 45 provided with 44 is installed in the apparatus main body 1 through the hole 47. The hole 47 is the center of swing of the bracket 45 and the center of rotation with respect to the gear 48. Furthermore,
49 is a DC motor, and 50 is a DC motor 49 that meshes with a gear 48.
A drive gear for transmitting the rotation of the above to the bracket 45, 51 is a pressure plate spring for pressing the separation pad 44 from the back surface and pressing the separation pad 44 against the feed roller 8.

When a plurality of originals 3 stacked on the original placing table 2 are conveyed, and when the original 3 becomes one as in the first embodiment or when only one is conveyed, a DC motor is used.
A drive current is sent to 49 to rotate the gear 48. When the gear 48 is rotated, the bracket 45 swings and the separation pad 44 moves the original 3
Be farther apart. When the separation pad 44 separates, the document blocking force T
Since “a” is released, the final document 3 is transported toward the document reading unit 10 (FIG. 6) by the transport force of the feed roller 8.

Further, when it is desired to change the separation pressure, the adjustment can be performed by slightly rotating the DC motor 49 and rotating the separation pad 44.

In the fourth embodiment having the above-described structure, the original 3 placed on the original table 2 is also placed as in the first embodiment.
Since it is possible to stably convey the image from the beginning to the end, the image of the original 3 can be stably read.
Furthermore, as in the second embodiment, the separation pressure can be automatically adjusted according to the type of paper of the original 3.

[0051]

According to the present invention constructed as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the original becomes one sheet or when only one sheet is conveyed, the load of the separating means on the original is released, so that the original is placed on the original placing table. The original can be stably conveyed from the beginning to the end, and the image of the original can be stably read.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the separation torque can be adjusted arbitrarily, and the separation performance can be maintained regardless of the type of original document and the number of stacked sheets.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the separation torque can be adjusted automatically, and the separation torque can be adjusted easily.

According to the structure described in claim 4, when the original becomes one sheet or when only one sheet is conveyed, the separation roller can be rotated in the original conveying direction, and the separation load applied to the original can be reduced. It can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when the number of originals becomes one or only one is conveyed, the separation roller is rotated at the same speed as the feed means in the original conveying direction, so that the originals are rotated. It is possible to eliminate the separation load on the equipment.

According to the sixth aspect, since the gear is formed integrally with the separation roller, the separation roller can be easily rotated.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, since the pressure contact force of the separation pad can be changed, the separation performance can be maintained regardless of the type of original and the number of stacked sheets.

According to the structure of claim 8, the adjustment of the pressure contact force can be automated and the pressure contact force can be easily adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a separation roller and its vicinity, which is a main part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an action of a force acting on a document at a nip portion between a separation roller and a feed roller.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a separation roller and its vicinity, which is a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a separation roller which is a main part of a third embodiment of the present invention and the vicinity thereof.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the action of the force applied by the separation roller and the feed roller to the original when one sheet is set and one sheet is fed last.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... manuscript table, 3 ... manuscript, 7 ... separation roller, 8 ...
Feed roller, 26 ... Torque generator, 27 ... Friction plate,
28 ... compression spring, 29 ... adjusting nut, 30 ... support shaft, 31 ... bracket, 32 ... shaft, 33 ... extension piece, 34
… Solenoid, 35… Mylar, 36… Pressure plate, 37… Torsion spring, 38… Gear, 39… DC motor, 40… Drive gear, 41… Gear, 42… DC motor, 43… Drive gear,
44 ... Separation pad, 45 ... Bracket, 46 ... Support piece,
47 ... hole, 48 ... gear, 49 ... DC motor, 50 ... drive gear, 51 ... pressure leaf spring.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP 63-112338 (JP, A) JP 4-66431 (JP, A) JP 4-32432 (JP, A) JP 4- 153135 (JP, A) JP-A-4-39228 (JP, A) JP-A-6-171785 (JP, A) Actually developed 2-137344 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 3/52 330 H04N 1/00 108

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A single or a plurality of stacked sheets, each of which is provided with a feeding means for applying a conveying force to the stacked originals and a separating means which is installed opposite to the feeding means and applies a load for separating and conveying the originals. In a document separating / conveying device that separates and conveys documents one by one, the last one
A document separating / conveying apparatus comprising means for releasing the load of the separating means added to the one original when the number of sheets becomes one. 2. The separating means includes a separating roller for applying a separating torque as a load to an original, a friction plate contacting with the separating roller, a pressing means for pressing the friction plate, and a friction means for controlling the pressing means. 2. The document separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for varying a pressing force applied to the plate. 3. The document separating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pressing means comprises a compression spring and a gear which adjusts the separation torque by sandwiching the compression spring between a friction plate and tightening the friction plate. Transport device. 4. The document separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for rotating the separation roller in the document conveying direction when the last document is the last one. 5. The document separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rotation of the separating roller is the same as the rotation of the feeding means. 6. The document separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the separation roller is provided with a gear for rotating the separation roller. 7. The original document according to claim 1, wherein the separating means is composed of an original document separating pad and means for controlling the original document separating pad to make the pressing force applied to the feed roller variable. Separation and transport device. 8. The document separating / conveying apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a gear for driving the document separating pad.