JP3464466B2 - 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 mounted on an image reading device such as a copying machine, a facsimile device, a scanner device, etc. More specifically, it separates a document from a plurality of document bundles one by one. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder that conveys to an image reading unit stopped at a reading position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a scanner apparatus, etc., when a document stack consisting of a plurality of documents is placed on a document table and a job start switch is depressed, The sheets are separated one by one and conveyed to the reading position, and the original is read by the image reading means of the image forming apparatus at the reading position. When the reading is completed, the original is discharged to a predetermined discharging position. Some automatic document feeders are provided, and as such an automatic document feeder, for example, an actual flat sheet 1-121033.
The one described in Japanese Patent Publication is known.

In this document, a manuscript table on which a manuscript bundle composed of a plurality of manuscripts can be placed, and one manuscript is separated from the manuscript stack placed on the manuscript table, and the separated manuscript is slit. A separating roller and a conveying roller that convey the glass toward the glass through a linear conveying path, and a discharge roller that discharges the read document onto a discharge tray are provided. However, in such an automatic document feeder, since a document is conveyed in a straight line, the installation area of the automatic document feeder increases and the installation space also increases. .

Therefore, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-13153, a first reading mode in which an original is read by an image reading means fixed below a slit glass while the original is conveyed, and the original is placed on a contact glass. A second reading mode in which the image reading means moving below the contact glass reads the original in a state of being placed and stopped, and when the original is read in the first reading mode, the original placed on the original placing table After separating the sheets, the sheet is conveyed to the slit glass via the reversing path, and a so-called loop-shaped conveying path is provided so that the originals that have been read can be discharged onto the discharge tray arranged on the contact glass. There is an automatic document feeder, which can significantly reduce the installation space of the automatic document feeder.

Further, as an automatic document feeder for only the first reading mode, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-172618, after separating the document placed on the document mounting table, the document is passed through the reversing path. There is an automatic document feeder equipped with a so-called loop-shaped transport path so that the scanned document is transported to the slit glass and the scanned document is discharged onto the discharge tray arranged on the contact glass. Even in this case, the installation space of the automatic document feeder can be greatly reduced.

[0006]

However, in the automatic document feeder described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-13153, the installation space can be reduced, but
Since the amount of opening on the paper ejection side, that is, the amount of external exposure of the paper ejection path, is small, it is not possible to easily perform jam processing when a jam occurs in the paper ejection section, and maintenance of the paper ejection section is easy. There was a problem that I could not do it.

Further, in the automatic document feeder described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 172618/1995, the jam clearance function of the paper discharge section is not provided, and a plurality of transport rollers for feeding the document are provided. Therefore, there is a problem that it is very difficult to remove the jam in the paper discharge section.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the installation space can be reduced, the maintenance of the paper discharge means can be easily performed, and the jam processing at the paper discharge path of the paper discharge means can be easily performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder for various systems.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a document placing table on which a document is placed and a first reading position while conveying a document placed on the document placing table. An automatic original having a first reading mode for reading an original, a second reading mode for placing the original at a second reading position for reading, and a paper discharge unit for discharging the original read in the first reading mode In the transport device, a sheet discharging unit that is disposed above the second reading position and that constitutes a part of a sheet discharging path that discharges the document read in the first reading mode to the sheet discharging unit, A pressing member for pressing the document placed at the second reading position between the second reading position and the paper discharge unit;
A holding member that holds the pressure member rotatably around a rotation fulcrum is provided, and the pressure member has one side edge when the automatic document feeder is closed with respect to the image forming apparatus. Extends near the first reading position, and one side edge of the pressure member is rotated about the rotation fulcrum provided near the other side edge of the pressure member. It is characterized in that the paper discharge path constituted by the paper means is exposed and closed.

With this structure, since the paper discharge means can be exposed by rotating the pressure member about the rotation fulcrum, the paper discharge means can be maintained in a small space. , Small space
You can easily remove jammed paper from the paper ejection path exposed by
Bets can be, it is possible to reduce the installation space of the automatic document feeder.

[0011]

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized in that a handle for separating the pressing member from the holding member is provided.

With such a structure, the pressing member can be separated from the holding member by gripping the handle, so that the workability of maintenance of the paper discharge means and jam processing can be greatly improved.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 are views showing an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention, showing an example in which the automatic document feeder is mounted on an image reading apparatus. The image reading device can be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile device, a scanner device and the like.

First, the structure will be described. In FIG. 1, 1
Is an image reading device, and a slit glass (first reading position) 2 and a contact glass (second reading position) 3 are provided on the upper surface of the image reading device 1. Below the slit glass 2 and the contact glass 3, an exposure lamp 4 as an image reading means, a first mirror 5 and the like are provided. The exposure lamp 4 and the first mirror 5 are mounted on the contact glass 3. When reading a document, the document moves below the contact glass 3 in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 (first reading mode), and when reading a document on the slit glass 2, below the slit glass 2. After stopping and reading the original surface by the exposure lamp 4 (second reading mode), the reflected light is imaged on an image-forming element such as CCD through the first mirror 5 and a lens (not shown) as is known. It has become.

An automatic document feeder (hereinafter, simply referred to as ADF) 6 is mounted on the upper portion of the image reading apparatus 1, and a document placed on the contact glass 3 is placed on the lower surface of the ADF 6 to contact glass 3. A reflecting plate 7 is provided which is pressed against and serves as a white reference when reading a document.
The ADF 6 is connected to the image reading device 1 via a hinge 8 as shown in FIG.
It can be opened and closed freely.

A document placing table 9 is provided on the upper part of the ADF 6, and a document stack P made up of a plurality of documents is placed on the document placing table 9. The original bundle P placed on the original placing table 9 contacts the original bundle P.
After being fed by the detachable calling roller 10, it is separated by the separation belt 11 and the separation blocking roller 12. The separation belt 11 pressurizes and contacts the separation blocking roller 12 at an arbitrary angle θ. ing.

A stopper member 13 is provided downstream of the calling roller 10 in the original conveying direction, and the original bundle P placed on the original placing table 9 is urged against the stopper member 13 to the separating belt 11 side. It is forbidden to enter. A pressure plate 14 is provided below the calling roller 10, and the pressure plate 14 is brought into contact with and separated from the calling roller 10 by a solenoid (not shown). That is, when the copy start switch is pressed, the pressure plate 14 is moved by the solenoid from the position separated from the calling roller 10 shown by the solid line to the position where it comes into contact with the calling roller 10 shown by the phantom line to read the original. Call roller 10 by pressing roller 10
Documents are fed by.

The separation belt 11 is bridged between a driving roller 15 and a driven roller 16, and the driven roller 15 is attached to a case 17 by a shaft 15a.
Are connected via. The case 17 is rotatable about the shaft 15a, and the case 17 has a calling roller.
10 is installed. Therefore, when the case 17 rotates about the shaft 15a as a fulcrum, the calling roller 10 is separated from the document stack P. Further, when the driven roller 16 is rotated about the fulcrum 15a in this state, the separation belt 11 is separated from the separation prevention roller 12. The case 17 is connected to the paper feed unit case 18 via a shaft 15a, and the paper feed unit case 18 is rotatably attached to the ADF 6 main body via a fulcrum 19.

Further, the driven roller 16 is biased by a spring 20, and the spring 20 separates the separation belt.
11 is given a certain tension. Also, drive roller 15
A one-way clutch 21 is provided between the shaft 15a and the shaft 15a, and the driving roller 15 is rotated clockwise by the clutch 21 in FIG. Further, the separation preventing roller 12 is configured to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1, and the uppermost document is separated from the document stack P fed between the separation belt 11 and the separation preventing roller 12. It

The document separated by the separation belt 11 and the separation prevention roller 12 is inverted along the inversion path 25 by the first conveying roller 23 and the driven roller 24 on the driving side and conveyed toward the slit glass 2. It is like this. The driven roller 24 is attached to a lever 26 that is attached to the paper feed unit case 18 so as to be rotatable around a fulcrum 19, and a spring 27 that presses this lever 26 causes the first conveyance roller 24 to rotate.
Pressurized to 23. The first conveying roller 23 and the driven roller 24 sandwich the separated document and convey it to the slit glass 2 through the reversing guide 28, and then convey it by picking it up to the paper ejection path 30 by the reversing paper ejection guide 29. Has become. Further, a reflection guide plate 31 is provided on the slit glass 2, and the reflection guide plate 31 constitutes a white reference at the time of reading.

The document conveyed to the sheet discharge path 30 is sandwiched between the second conveying roller 32 and the driven roller 33 on the driving side and conveyed, and then is conveyed to the sheet discharging roller 34 and the driven roller 35 on the driving side. The sheet is sandwiched and discharged to the outside from the sheet discharge path 30, discharged by the discharging brush 36, and then discharged onto the exterior cover 37. On the other hand, the reflection plate 7 covering the contact glass 3 is provided on the lower surface of the pressing plate 38, and the pressing plate 38 presses the original document placed on the contact glass 3 against the glass 3. .

The pressure plate 38 is rotatably attached to a main frame 40 via a fulcrum (rotation fulcrum) 39. The main frame 40 has an end attached to the shaft of a driven roller 35, and the ADF 6 main body. It is fixed to. The reflection plate 7 and the pressure plate 38 form a pressure member. Further, the main frame 40 has an area that covers the contact glass 3, and an exterior cover 37 is attached to the upper surface thereof, and together with the exterior cover 37 forms a paper discharge section. The pressure plate 38 is connected to the auxiliary frame 42 via a link 41 which is a link mechanism (only one of the links 41 is shown in FIG. 1),
The auxiliary frame 42 is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section so as to sandwich the outer peripheral portion of the main frame 40, and is rotatably connected to the main frame 40 via a fulcrum 43.

Further, the main frame 40 is provided with a magnet 44 as a suction means.
Is sucking the auxiliary frame 42. Auxiliary frame
42 may be entirely made of metal, or may be entirely made of an elastic member such as plastic and only the portion attracted by the magnet 42 may be made of metal. The attracting means is not limited to a magnet, and may be any member as long as it is a member that attracts the auxiliary frame 42 to the main frame 40.

Further, the tip portion of the auxiliary frame 42 (in FIG. 1,
A guide plate 42a forming a part of the paper discharge path 30 is provided at the left end portion).
The driven roller 33 is rotatably provided on the guide plate 42a. Further, a stamp unit 45 is provided on the guide plate 42a. The stamp unit 45 is arranged on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the original document which has passed through the slit glass 2 by causing the stamp to move in and out of the guide plate 45a by a solenoid (not shown). The stamp S is stamped at predetermined positions (x and y positions from the end and side of the document, respectively) (see FIG. 3). In addition,
The stamp is detachably attached to the stamp unit 45, and the stamping operation is performed a predetermined number of times (for example, 3000 times or more).
Will be exchanged when is finished.

Further, the auxiliary frame 42 near the guide plate 45a
A handle 46 is provided on the portion, and the handle 46 can be held by a user. Also, the mainframe 40
A stopper 47 is provided on this stopper 47
Is in contact with the base end portion (the right end portion in FIG. 1) of the auxiliary frame 42, and prohibits the auxiliary frame 42 from rotating about the fulcrum 43 counterclockwise by a predetermined amount or more. In addition,
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 48 is a driven roller that is in sliding contact with the separation belt 11.

In the present embodiment, the auxiliary frame 42 and the driven roller 33 constitute a sheet discharging means, and the main frame 40
Constitutes a holding member.

Next, the operation will be described. When the document stack P is placed on the document table 9 with the document surface facing upward, and the start switch is pressed, the pressure plate 14 presses the document stack P against the calling roller 10 to cause the calling roller 10 to stack the document. Are conveyed toward the separation belt 11. This document bundle P is conveyed to the slit glass 2 along the reversing path 25 by the first conveying roller 23 and the driven roller 24 after the uppermost original is separated by the separation belt 11 and the separation preventing roller 12. After that, the document surface is read by the slit glass 2 by the exposure lamp 4, the first mirror 5, and the like. The read document is conveyed on the conveying path 30 by the second conveying roller 32 and the driven roller 33, and then discharged onto the outer cover 37 by the paper discharging roller 34 and the driven roller 35. The stamp S of the stamp unit 45 imprints a read stamp S on the trailing edge of the original that has passed through the slit glass 2. By stamping this stamp S, it is possible to confirm the end of reading, the double feeding failure of the original, or the facsimile transmission in the case of a facsimile machine.

Next, a method for performing a work for replacing a stamp when a jam occurs on the paper discharge path 30 and for exchanging stamps will be described with reference to FIG. First, after removing the outer cover 37, the ADF 6 is attached to the image reading apparatus 1 via the hinge 8.
The contact glass 3 is exposed to the outside by rotating in the counterclockwise direction. Next, when the auxiliary frame 42 is pulled in the arrow A direction, the attraction force of the magnet 45 is released and the auxiliary frame 42 rotates in the arrow B direction with respect to the main frame 40 via the fulcrum 43.

When the auxiliary frame 42 is pulled to some extent, the base end portion of the auxiliary frame 42 comes into contact with the stopper 47, and the auxiliary frame 42 stops in a state of rotating downward by H with respect to the main frame 40. Further, at the same time as the movement of the auxiliary frame 42 described above, the pressure plate 38 is connected to the main frame via the fulcrum 39.
While rotating in the direction of arrow B with respect to 40, it separates from the auxiliary frame 40 via the link 41 and stops.

Therefore, the driven roller 33 is separated from the second transport roller 32, and the paper discharge path 30 is exposed. The jammed paper is easily removed from the exposed paper discharge path 33, and the driven roller 33 is Maintenance can be performed easily.

Further, the stamp unit 45 to the stamp 50
Even when replacing the stamp, since the guide plate 42a is exposed to the outside, the stamp 50 can be easily attached to and removed from the exposed stamp unit 45 of the guide plate 42a as shown by the arrow in FIG. .

Further, the jam processing and the stamp 50 replacement can be performed only by rotating the auxiliary frame 42 and the reflection plate 7 with respect to the main frame 40.
The DF 6 can be installed in the range of the space L of the image reading device 1, and the space of the ADF 6 can be saved. Further, since the auxiliary frame 42 is provided with the handle 46, the auxiliary frame 42 can be easily rotated with respect to the main frame 40 by gripping the protrusion 46.
It is possible to significantly improve the workability of jam processing and stamp replacement work.

[0035]

According to the present invention, by rotating the pressure member about the rotation fulcrum, the paper discharging means can be exposed and closed. Therefore, maintenance of the paper discharging means can be performed in a small space. Therefore, the installation space of the automatic document feeder can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the discharge path of the discharge means can be exposed by rotating the pressure member about the rotation fulcrum, with such a structure, it is possible to expose in a small space. The jammed paper can be easily removed from the discharged paper path, and the installation space of the automatic document feeder can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the handle for separating the pressing member from the holding member is provided, it is possible to separate the pressing member from the holding member by gripping the handle, and therefore the paper discharging means. It is possible to greatly improve the workability of maintenance and jam handling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the automatic document feeder of the embodiment is released from the image reading device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a document on which a stamp according to an embodiment is stamped.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the automatic document feeder showing a state in which a paper discharge path of one embodiment is exposed to the outside.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image reading device 2 Slit glass (first reading position) 3 Contact glass (second reading position) 4 Exposure lamp (image reading means) 5 First mirror (image reading means) 6 ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) 7 Reflector (pressurizing member) 9 Document holder 30 Paper output path 33 Driven roller (paper ejection means) 37 Exterior cover (paper ejection section) 38 Pressure plate (pressure member) 39 fulcrum (rotation fulcrum) 40 Main frame (paper ejection section, holding member) 42 Auxiliary frame (paper ejection means) 46 handle

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI H04N 1/00 108 H04N 1/00 108M 1/04 1/12 Z (56) Reference JP-A-9-188428 (JP, A) JP JP-A-8-328334 (JP, A) JP-A-6-343123 (JP, A) JP-A-6-164823 (JP, A) JP-A-3-8674 (JP, A) JP-A-3-163469 (JP , A) Actual Kaihei 1-88645 (JP, U) Actual Kohei 6-13153 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 107 G03G 15/04 G03G 21/16 B65H 85/00 B65H 29/20 B65H 29/58 G03B 27/62 H04N 1/00 108 H04N 1/04

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An original placing table on which an original is placed, a first reading mode for reading the original at a first reading position while conveying the original placed on the original placing stand, and an original at a second reading position. In an automatic document feeder including a second reading mode for placing and reading and a paper discharging unit for discharging a document read in the first reading mode, the automatic document feeder is disposed above the second reading position. A sheet discharging unit that constitutes a part of a sheet discharging path that discharges the document read in the first reading mode to the sheet discharging unit; and the second unit between the second reading position and the sheet discharging unit. A pressing member that presses the document placed at the reading position and a holding member that holds the pressing member rotatably around a rotation fulcrum are provided, and the pressing member is the automatic document feeder. Is closed with respect to the image forming apparatus, one side edge of the Extend in the vicinity of the position, the pressing one side edge of the pressure member
An automatic document feeder, characterized in that a paper discharge path constituted by the paper discharge means is exposed and closed by rotating the material around the rotation fulcrum provided near the other side edge of the material. apparatus. 2. A handle for separating the pressure member from the holding member is provided.
The described automatic document feeder.