JPS6353538B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device that issues a warning to notify a user of a document being left behind after copying in a copying machine.

Since copying machines are generally used by unspecified persons, they often forget to leave the original behind because they are only concerned with taking out the copy after copying is complete. When a copying machine is frequently used, the next user can find the original left behind and immediately return it to the original owner, but if the original is left unattended for a long time, the original owner is unknown and the original is thrown away. I end up getting beaten up.

In order to eliminate such inconvenience, conventionally,
Various devices have been proposed. For example, JP-A-53
- The copying machine document removal warning device described in Publication No. 132350 associates the document detection switch with the copying machine's power switch, so that when the power switch is turned off when there is a document present, a warning that the document has been left behind is issued. This is what I did. However, this method does not work unless the power switch is turned off after copying is completed, and cannot be applied to dry copying machines that are normally powered on all the time.

Also, described in Utility Model Application Publication No. 53-126632,
A light source and a light receiver are installed on the underside of the exposure stage (glass), and a reflective plate is installed on the side of the original holding sheet to optically detect the presence or absence of a document. Activate the switch,
There are some devices that obtain a signal indicating the presence or absence of a document, but all of these have only disclosed techniques for detecting the presence or absence of a document, and have not developed technology for effectively utilizing this technique.

In addition, the presence of the operator itself can be detected,
Some systems are designed to issue a warning when the operator leaves the vicinity of the copying machine, but this requires a large-scale operator detection means and may increase costs. Furthermore, there is an idea to issue a warning when the original is not removed even after a predetermined period of time has passed after the copying operation is completed, but it is difficult to set the predetermined time, and if the time setting is short, the warning will be issued if it takes time to replace the original. If the warning is issued, and conversely if it is too long, there will be an inconvenience that the warning will be issued after the operator has left.

In order to solve the above drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention provides a system in which a copy sheet detection means detects the absence of a copy sheet after the copying operation is completed, and a warning is issued when the original detection means detects the presence of an original. To provide a document misplacement warning device for a copying machine, which is a simple device and can be used in both dry and wet methods. Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the installation of a document detector and a copy sheet detector, and FIG. 2 shows a warning generation circuit. It shows. In FIG. 1, 1 is a copying machine placed on a table 2, 3 is a contact glass on which an original 4 is placed, 5 is an original pressure plate,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a paper discharge roller for discharging the copy sheet 7 onto a paper discharge tray 8, 9 a control panel/display panel, and 10 a document detector for detecting the presence or absence of a document on the contact glass 3. The document detector 10 includes, for example, a light emitter and a light receiver, and detects the presence of the document 4 by receiving reflected light from the document 4 . Reference numeral 11 denotes a copy sheet detector, which may be of the same type as the original detector 10. In this case, the paper output tray 8 should be made of a transparent material, or if it is opaque, the copy sheet detector 11
Copy sheet 7 with a part cut out near the installation location.
The presence or absence of the substance can be detected optically.

In addition, in FIG. 2, 12 is an inverter;
3 and 15 are flip-flops, 14 is an AND circuit, and 16 is a warning means, such as a blinking lamp or a buzzer provided on the display panel. A clock signal CP, a copying operation signal OP, an original detection signal OD, and a copy sheet detection signal CD are input to this warning generating circuit.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the time chart of each signal in FIG. First, the operator sets the document 4 on the contact glass 3, presses it with the pressure plate 5, and makes necessary inputs on the panel 9. That is, the selection of sheet size, number of copies, exposure amount, etc. are set. Then, when a start button (not shown) is pressed, the copying machine 1 starts copying operation.
The copied copy sheets 7 are stacked on the paper output tray 8, and the copying operation for the required number of sheets is completed (at this time,
On the display panel 9, the copy number dial returns to its initial state, for example, zero). Even if the copy sheet 7 is taken out from the output tray 8 during the copying operation and the copy sheet detector outputs a "no" signal (Fig. 3 CD), the copying operation signal OP is at a low level. Therefore, the AND condition of the AND circuit 14 does not hold, and therefore the flip-flop 15
The warning signal AL from is at a low level, and the warning means 16 does not operate. However, if the copying operation is completed (OP signal is high level), the copy sheet 7 is taken out from the output tray 8 (CD signal is high level), and the original 4 remains on the contact glass 3 (OD signal is high level), the AND condition of the AND circuit 14 is satisfied, a warning signal AL is output from the flip-flop circuit 15, and the warning means 16 is activated to warn the operator. When the operator noticed this and took out document 4,
Since the OD signal becomes low level, the AND condition does not hold and the warning stops.

In this embodiment configured as described above, (1) the copying operation is in the completed state, (2) the copy sheet detector 11 detects "absence" from "presence", and (3)
When the document detector 10 detects "presence", a warning is issued, and (4) the document 4 is taken out and the document detector 1
The warning stops when 0 is detected as "absent".

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the original pressure plate 5 is removed from the copying machine 1 of FIG.
An ADF (automatic document feeder) 17 is connected, and a collator 18 is connected instead of the paper discharge tray 8. In this case, the original detector 10 and copy sheet detector 11 are not used, and the ADF 17 and collator 18 are
A document detector 10a and copy sheet detectors 11a and 11b are used, which are installed at the respective locations. In the copy sheet detector provided in the collator, for example, 11a is a light emitter, 11b is a light receiver, and light is blocked by the copy sheets 7 on the plurality of paper discharge trays 8a. Therefore, the paper discharge tray 8a should be transparent, or if it is opaque, a portion should be cut out to allow light to pass through. In the ADF 17, the documents 4 on the document feed table 19 are fed out one by one by a feed roller 20, conveyed by a feed belt 21, temporarily stopped on the contact glass 3, and exposed.
The exposed documents 4 are stacked on the document discharge table 22. On the other hand, the copied copy sheet 7 is ejected by a paper ejection roller 6, sent by a horizontal direction feed belt 23, a longitudinal direction feed belt 24, and then sent to a paper ejection tray 8a.
are sent in order from the top. In this manner, the copy sheets are stacked on each output tray in page order.

In the case of this embodiment as well, if a document is left behind on the document discharge table 22, a warning is issued to notify the operator of the situation using the warning generating circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the copy sheet detector, in which the micro switch 25 is provided with an actuator 26 made of, for example, a metal wire, and its tip 26a is inserted into the upper surface from the notch 8c of the paper output tray 8b. Make it stand out. The presence or absence of the copy sheet is detected based on whether or not the actuator tip 21a is pressed by the copy sheet. The position of the actuator tip 26a is set within a range where the minimum number of copy sheets can be stacked.

Next, as a method for detecting the presence or absence of a document, it is common to directly detect the presence or absence of a document using optical means, but it may also be detected indirectly. This is shown below.

When a sheet original is placed on a contact glass and pressed with a pressure plate, when a series of copies (repeat copying, single copying) is completed, the original cannot be removed unless the pressure plate is released. Therefore, a switch is provided to detect opening and closing of the pressure plate, and when a copy sheet is taken out from the paper discharge tray without opening the pressure plate, the document misplacement warning device is activated.

In addition, when using a device such as an ADF device that automatically sends the document to the exposure section, if the document remains in the ADF device without being sent out due to some kind of malfunction, a switch installed at the feed port section can be used. is not working. When a copy sheet is taken out from the output tray in this state, the document misplacement warning device is activated. Furthermore, at this time,
Since it is possible to take out the original by opening the ADF device, an ADF opening/closing detection switch may be provided to activate the warning device in the same manner as in the case of opening/closing the pressure plate.

As explained above, according to the present invention, by providing a document detector, a copy sheet detector, and a simple warning generation circuit,
The present invention has the advantage of being able to prevent originals from being left behind and being applicable to both dry and wet type copying apparatuses.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of a document detector and a copy sheet detector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a warning generation circuit diagram, and FIG. 3 is a time chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 2. , FIG. 4 is a layout diagram of a detector according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of a copy sheet detector. 10, 10a... Original detector, 11, 11a,
11b...Copy sheet detector, 12...Inverter, 13, 15...Flip-flop, 14...
...AND circuit, 16... Warning means, 17...
ADF, 18... Collator, 25... Micro switch, 26... Actuator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A document detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a document; a copy sheet detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a copy sheet on a paper ejection tray; A document misplacement warning device for a copying machine, comprising means for issuing a warning when the detection means detects the presence of a document.