JPS636868B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrophotographic reproduction apparatus for reproducing images from original documents. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic document handling device that automatically feeds a document from a document loading table that stores a large number of documents, and automatically receives the document that has been subjected to an exposure operation onto a document receiving table.

Conventionally, as this type of document handling device, documents are sequentially manually inserted into the device, or
There is a device that automatically feeds a large number of originals placed on one original placing table in sequence.

However, these document handling devices have the inconvenience that while the first person is using the device, the second and subsequent persons cannot use the device even if they wish to make copies.

In order to overcome this drawback, it has been considered to provide a plurality of document mounting tables. For example, an automatic document handling device as shown in FIG. 1 previously proposed by the present applicant is composed of a document placement section 1, a document conveyance device 2, and a document receiving section 3. The document placement section 1 is provided with a plurality of document placement tables 3 ₁ to 3 ₅ . The originals 4 on the original document mounting table ₃₁ are fed one by one by a pick-up roller 5, and sent to the original transport device 2 via a transport roller 6. Original transport device 2
The original document 4 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A on the conveyor belt 7, passes between the conveyor belt 7 and the guide belt 8, changes its direction of travel, and is conveyed onto the surface of the document table glass 9, where it is stopped. 10 is a suction fan, and document 4
acts to bring the document 4 into close contact with the conveyor belt 7 while it is traveling on the lower surface of the conveyor belt 7. Manuscript 4
After being exposed and scanned on the surface of the document table glass 9, the document is controlled so that it exits the document conveyance device 2 and is placed on one of the document receiving tables 11 ₁ to 11 ₅ .

In such an automatic document handling device, the first person places a document on the document table ₃₁ , and the second person places the document on any of the other document plates ₃₂ to ₃₅ . Since the originals of each person can be controlled to be stored separately in the original receiving tables 11 ₁ to 11 ₅ after exposure and scanning, the originals can be processed smoothly.

However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, the document on the document tray is picked up one by one by the feeding device and transported to the copying device, but the distance from the document tray to the conveyance section in 1.2.3. Therefore, the conditions for conveyance change depending on the document mounting table, which tends to cause problems. For example, if the distance of the paper path changes,
There is a drawback that the rate of occurrence of document jams on a specific document mounting table is high. In a document handling device, it is necessary to have a mechanism that prevents the occurrence of jams as much as possible, and even if jams occur, it is necessary to minimize the occurrence rate. Furthermore, if the distance of the paper path changes,
This has the disadvantage that the electric circuit used to control the timing of paper feeding for each document table becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic document handling device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

The present invention that achieves the above object includes: a multi-stage document mounting means for placing a plurality of documents on each stage; a feeding device for separating and feeding the documents one by one from the document mounting means; A conveyance device that conveys the sent original to the document exposure section, a document receiving means that receives the document sent out from the document exposure section, and these document placement means are moved so as to correspond to the above-mentioned conveyance device. It has a movement control means and a detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a document on one of the document placement devices, and the document placement device and the document receiving device are integrally moved when no document is detected. The present invention is characterized in that the next document placement means corresponds to the conveying device.

That is, in the present invention, a transport device having a transport section and a paper ejection port is fixedly installed at a position corresponding to the copying machine to constitute a fixed section, and a plurality of document mounting tables are moved up to the fixed section as necessary. By moving the originals, the originals placed on each original placing table can be individually copied.

According to the present invention, even if there is a first user, the second and subsequent users can set the copying conditions (number of originals, number of copies, density, reduction ratio, classification after copying, stapling, etc.) on the document handling device. ), then as soon as the first person completes copying, the second person can make copies in sequence according to the copying conditions set as above. This is possible by allowing each copying condition to be set for each document mounting table.

Therefore, the first person's original is placed on the first original placing table, the copying conditions are set, and the copying process is performed. By placing an original on the machine and setting the copying conditions, it is possible to start the copying process as soon as the copying of the first original is completed. The same thing can be said about the third and subsequent document tables. In other words, according to the present invention, the second and subsequent persons can also use the document handling device and perform efficient copying.

In addition, since the distance the document is transported to the transport device is always constant, there is little risk of jamming, and there is no need for a complicated control mechanism such as changing the paper feed timing depending on the document mounting table used. becomes extremely easy.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an automatic document handling device 13 of the present invention is coupled to a commercially available copying machine 12.

In the figure, the automatic document handling device 13 includes three document placement tables 14, 15, 16, a document receiving table 17,
18 and 19, and buttons 20, 21, and 22 for setting copy conditions are provided respectively. The document is conveyed to the copying machine by the document conveyance section 23, where the document is conveyed onto an unillustrated document glass of the copying machine and undergoes a copying operation.

Figure 1 shows three sets of document processing sections (A,
B, C) shows examples where This happens even when there is a document in document processing section A.
This shows that if there is a second or third person who needs a copy, the original can be placed in the original processing units B and C on a scheduled basis. This can be done by controlling the document processing section B to start copying immediately after the document processing section A completes copying the document. Briefly, the reservation order is electronically stored and documents are sequentially fed for copying accordingly. For the order of reservation, buttons 20 and 2 are used to set copy conditions such as the number of copies.
1 and 22. Therefore, normally, the document processing units would operate in the order of reservations, from A to B to C.
In reality, since the vacant places in the document processing sections A, B, and C are randomly selected and the documents are placed, the order of copying will be random.

Next, the specific mechanism will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. The original 24 is placed on the original placing table 14. As shown in FIG. The document 24 is picked up and fed one by one by the paper feeding device 25. Original table 1
When all the sheets from 4 are fed, the paper detector 26 detects that there is no original document 24.

The paper detector 26 shown in FIG. 4 has two inclined holes formed in the detector body so as to intersect at a point 27, and a lamp 28 and a light receiving element 29 are buried in each hole. . Since the detector 26 is installed at the bottom of the document table 14 so that the paper is placed at the point 27, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a document on a predetermined document table.

Front plate 30 (fifth plate) of automatic document handling device 13
(Fig.), a support lever 33 is rotatably attached to a support shaft 32 that is rotatably installed on the rear side plate 31 in the front and rear directions. A gear 34 is fixed to the end of the support shaft 32 on the rear side plate 31 side, a gear 35 that meshes with the gear 34, and a rotation source that can rotate a certain angle such as a rotary solenoid coaxially with the gear 35. 36 is fixed to the rear side plate 31.

Further, a support lever 33 attached to the support shaft 32
An intermediate shaft 37 is rotatably attached to the other end. Intermediate levers 38 and 39 are provided before and after the intermediate shaft 37.
is installed so that the intermediate shaft 37 is rotatable. A pick-up shaft 40 is rotatably installed at the other ends of the intermediate levers 38, 39. The pick-up shaft 40 has a pick-up roller 41,
42 is fixedly installed, and the pick-up shaft 4 of the intermediate shaft 37
Timing pulleys 44 and 45 are fixedly installed in the middle of the timing belt 43 to apply the timing belt 43, respectively. When the electromagnetic clutch 46 attached to the intermediate shaft 37 is actuated by the paper feed signal, the pick-up shaft 40 rotates, that is, the pick-up roller 4
1,42 rotates. With this, the document placement table 1
4, 15, or 16 originals will be fed.

Regarding the driving relationship, a gear 48 and a pulley 49 are fixed to the driving source 47. The pulley 49 is wrapped with a belt and is further stretched around a pulley 51a fixed to the shaft 51 of the roller 50. The rotation of the drive source 47 causes the conveyor belt 52 to rotate. A pulley 5 is integrally fixed with a gear 53 that meshes with a gear 48 ₁ fixed to the drive source 47.
4 is rotatably fixed to the rear side plate 31.

A belt 55 hooked around a pulley 54 is connected to a pulley 58 fixed to a shaft 57 of a roller 56 and a roller 5
A pulley 61 is fixedly attached to a shaft 60 of No. 9, and is further stretched around an idler 62. The rotation of the drive source 47 causes the conveyor belt 63 to rotate.

A gear 64 fixedly mounted on the shaft 57 of the roller 56 together with the pulley 58 meshes with a gear 65 mounted on the intermediate shaft 37 together with the electromagnetic clutch 46.

When the support lever 33 attached to the support shaft 32 is moved to the position indicated by the arrow D, the original on the original table can be fed. However, when the support lever 33 is moved to the position in the arrow direction E by rotating the gears 35 and 34 due to the operation of the rotation source 36, the pick-up rollers 41 and 42 (indicated by two-dot chain lines) are moved. Since it is housed so as not to get in the way of the side surface of the front side plate 30, the document placement unit can be moved up and down.

Next, the elevating and lowering of the document placement unit will be explained.

The document placement unit is composed of three document processing sections A, B, and C each having a document placement table and a document storage table. All of these are attached to a document placement unit plate 66. A rail (for example, AcyuRide) 67 is installed between the document placement unit plate 66 and the rear side plate 31 to enable smooth elevation and descent. Drive source 6 fixed to rear side plate 31
A gear 70 is fixedly attached to the shaft 69 of 8. Furthermore, the rear side plate 3
A gear 70 is attached to a shaft 71 rotatably attached to
There is a gear 72 that meshes with the gear 72, and a pulley 73 that is integrally fixed with the gear 72.

A similarly rotatable pulley is provided at the upper part (not shown), and the wire 74 is hung between these pulleys. A wire fixing table 75 is fixed to the document placement unit plate 66, and both ends of the wire 74 are fixed to the wire fixing table 75. Furthermore, a detector 76 is installed on a part of the wire fixing base 75, and a plurality of detectors 7 are installed on the rear side plate 31.
7, 77'... are installed, and these detectors 76, 77
(or 77'...), the vertical movement is stopped and the stopping position of the document placement unit is determined.

Next, explanation will be given in order of operation.

Now, the original 24 is placed on the main original placing table 14.
When the electromagnetic clutch 46 is actuated in response to a paper feed signal from a copying machine or the like, the paper feed device feeds the originals 24 one sheet at a time. The fed document 24 is conveyed by a conveyance device similar to that shown in FIG. 1, and after contributing to the copying operation of a copying machine or the like, is returned to the document receiving table 17. When the paper detector 26 at the bottom of the document tray 14 detects that there is no document 24 on the document tray 14, the exposure of the last document is completed, and the document tray 1
After a certain period of time has passed after storing the manuscript in 7,
The pick-up roller 4 is rotated by the operation of the rotation source 36.
1,42 can be drawn. Then, the drive source 68 is actuated to raise the original table unit and stop it at the position detected by the detector 76 and the detector 77'. Further, the unit may be raised when it is detected by an optical detection means or a micro switch that the last document passes the document discharge position. Thereafter, by operating the rotation source 36 again,
The pick-up rollers 41 and 42 are placed on the original placing table 15.
It will be placed on the manuscript located in .

If the next person places a document on the document tray 15 of the document tray unit B during the process, the document will be detected by the paper detector 26 at the bottom of the document tray 15 and the document will be detected as described above. perform an action.

Furthermore, in the explanation of the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was shown in which the pick-up roller escapes when the document placement table unit moves up and down, and a common roller is used for each document placement table.
A configuration may also be adopted in which a unique pick-up roller is provided for each of 4, 15, and 16. In this case, the driving force can be provided by a known driving force transmission means such as a chain.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the processing of the original can be carried out automatically and smoothly, and the second and subsequent people can copy the original by simply placing it on the original handling device. There is less risk of jams occurring due to changes in conveyance distance, and the apparatus is simplified without requiring a complicated control mechanism.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the automatic document handling device. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device according to the invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the document mounting table unit, which is the main part of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a detection means for detecting the presence of a document. FIG. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the document placement table unit. 14, 15, 16... Original table, 17, 1
8, 19...Document receiving table, 33...Support lever,
36...Rotation source, 41, 42...Pickup roller, 66...Document placement unit plate, 67...
Rail, 68... Drive source, 74... Wire, 75
. . . Wire fixing stand, 77 . . . Representing a detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A multi-stage document mounting means for placing a plurality of documents on each stage; a feeding device for separating and feeding the documents one by one from the document mounting means; A transport device that transports a document to a document exposure unit, a document receiving device that receives the document sent out from the document exposure device, and a movement control device that moves these document placement devices so as to correspond to the device. and a detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a document on one document placement device, and when no document is detected, the document placement device and the document receiving device are integrally moved to move the document placement device and the document receiving device to move the document to the next document. An automatic document handling device characterized in that a loading means corresponds to a conveyance device. 2. The automatic document handling device according to claim 1, wherein the document feeding device is used for each document placing means. 3. The automatic document handling device according to claim 1, wherein the document feeding device is provided separately for each document placing means. 4. The automatic document handling device according to claim 1, wherein copying conditions can be selected for each of the document placement means. 5. The automatic document handling device according to claim 4, wherein the copying conditions can be reserved in advance.