JPH0664383B2 - Document size detecting device and copying machine equipped with the 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 copying machine for copying an original, and more particularly to an apparatus for detecting the size of an original to be copied and a copying machine provided with the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A copying machine is equipped with a document holding section made of a transparent material on the upper part of the copying machine body for copying a copy document. As a means for identifying the original placed on the original holder, an original detecting means including light emitting and receiving means is provided to identify the original size according to the presence / absence of the original. By identifying this original size, the size of the paper loaded in the main body of the copying machine is also detected, and by detecting the coincidence between the detected paper size and the identified original size,
A size paper corresponding to the size of the original is automatically selected and the paper of that size is automatically fed.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 50-112242, the presence or absence of a document on a document placed on a document holding portion is detected by a detecting means composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and a plurality of the detecting means are provided. A method has been proposed in which the document size is identified according to the detection status of the set. Further, it proposes a copying machine that automatically selects a paper size that matches the detected document size and automatically feeds the selected paper.

In this copying machine, a desired size of paper is selected simply by placing the copy original on the holding portion. Therefore, the operation of selecting the size of the paper is omitted and the size of the original is automatically adjusted without erroneous operation. It is very advantageous in that it can be copied onto paper.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
According to the document size detecting device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. -11242, the operation timing of the detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of a document is a serious problem. In other words, when the light emitting element is driven while the document cover is open and the document placement state is detected, the presence or absence of the document by the document detection means becomes very inaccurate. Since the document detecting means is composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, light from the outside or the like is detected irrespective of the placed document when the document cover is open, and accurate presence / absence detection cannot be expected. . Further, since the document is in a freely movable state, the document may move on the holding surface due to an airflow or the like during the detection of the presence or absence of the document, and accurate detection cannot be performed. In this way, the placed document cannot be accurately detected due to the influence of disturbance.

Therefore, if a paper size for copying is automatically selected according to the detected original size and applied to a copying machine in which the paper is fed, the paper is fed according to the erroneous detection of the original size. The merit of performing the miscopy and providing the document size detection device is eliminated.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a document size detecting device capable of accurately detecting a document size and a copying machine which is equipped with this document size detecting device and is capable of performing efficient copying. To aim.

[0008]

A document size detecting device according to the present invention includes a document detecting means including a light emitting element and a light receiving element for detecting the presence / absence of a document placed on a holding part for holding the document, and the holding part. On the other hand, a manuscript cover which is provided so as to be openable and closable so as to bring the placed manuscript into close contact with the holding portion, an opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the manuscript cover, and a response to detection of closing of the manuscript cover by the opening / closing detection means. And an operation starting means for driving a light emitting element of the original detecting means to allow the light receiving element to receive light, and an operation of the operation starting means to identify the size of the original according to the detection status of the presence or absence of the original by the original detecting means. And an identification means.

A copying machine equipped with a document size detecting device according to the present invention is provided with a document detecting means including a light emitting element and a light receiving element for detecting the presence / absence of a document placed on a holding part for holding the document and the holding part. On the other hand, a manuscript cover which is provided so as to be openable and closable so as to bring the placed manuscript into close contact with the holding portion, an opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the manuscript cover, and a response to detection of closing of the manuscript cover by the opening / closing detection means. And an operation starting means for driving a light emitting element of the original detecting means to allow the light receiving element to receive light, and an operation of the operation starting means to identify the size of the original according to the detection status of the presence or absence of the original by the original detecting means. A copying machine including a document size detecting device including identification means, a paper feeding means arranged corresponding to a portion of the copying machine main body to which a plurality of paper storing means are mounted, and a mounted paper storing hand. Paper size detecting means for detecting the size of the paper housed in, and comparing means for detecting the coincidence of the document size detected by the document size detecting device and the paper size detected by the paper size detecting means, And a means for operating a sheet feeding means corresponding to the sheet accommodating means accommodating the sheet size corresponding to the document size by the coincidence detection by the comparing means.

[0010]

According to the document size detecting apparatus of the present invention, the document is placed on the document holding portion by opening the document cover.
When the document is placed on the document holder, the document cover is closed. When the open / close detecting means detects the closed state of the original cover, the light emitting element of the original detecting means is driven, that is, turned on. As a result, light from the light emitting element is received or not received by the light receiving element according to the presence / absence state of the document, and the presence / absence of the document is detected. Therefore, the document identifying means identifies the size of the document, that is, the size according to the presence / absence of the document. In this case, since the document size is detected by the document cover being closed, the document size is not affected by the ambient light, and the document does not move from the holding section, so that the document can be detected in a stationary and stable state.

According to the copying machine equipped with the original size detecting device of the present invention, when the original size is detected by the original size detecting device as described above, the paper loaded in the main body of the copying machine is automatically selected. Then, the selected sheet is set to the paper feedable state. That is, since the paper size accommodated in the paper accommodating means is detected by the paper size detecting means, coincidence detection of the paper size and the original size is performed through the comparing means, and the paper size corresponding to the original size is detected. Is selected. The paper feeding means corresponding to the mounting portion of the paper accommodating means accommodating the selected paper size becomes operable.

[0012]

1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention for detecting the presence or absence of a document and identifying the document size, FIG.
3 shows an example in which a light receiving element is arranged to identify the original size, FIG. 2 shows the maximum original size B4, and FIG. 3 shows the maximum original size A3.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a frame body of a copying machine main body, which has a document holding portion 2 made of transparent glass on its upper surface. The original document holder 2 holds a copied original document, and an original document cover 3 for pressing the original document against the holding surface is provided on the upper surface of the original document holder 2 so as to be openable and closable. Reference numeral 4 in the drawing denotes a detection switch which is provided on the upper surface of the frame body 1 so as to face the document cover 3 and detects opening / closing of the document cover 3. If the detection switch 4 detects that the document cover 3 is closed, the auxiliary lamp 5 provided so as not to interfere with the exposure of the back surface of the document holding portion 2 is lit. Reference numeral 6 denotes a light receiving element provided in the document cover 3 so as to receive light from the lamp 5 through the holding surface, and reference numeral 7 denotes a lead wire for guiding a signal from the light receiving element to the copying machine main body. The auxiliary lamp 5 is provided separately from the original document illumination lamp for exposure. However, the auxiliary lamp 5 also serves as an illumination lamp, and the signal from the detection switch 4 is used to operate the copy switch so that the auxiliary lamp 5 is lit for a certain period of time before copying. You may comprise.

With the above arrangement, the power switch of the copying machine main body is turned on. Then, the document is placed on the holding portion 2 and the document cover 3 is closed. When this closing is detected by the open / close detection switch 4, the auxiliary lamp 5 which is a means for detecting the presence or absence of the document is turned on, and the light receiving element 6 enables the light receiving operation. That is, the detection signal of the open / close detection switch 4 causes the not-shown means (operation starting means) to start the document presence / absence detection operation. Therefore, according to the size of the original, the light from the auxiliary lamp 5 is blocked from the placed original or the presence or absence of the original is detected by the light receiving element 6, and the original size is identified according to the presence or absence state of the original. . That is, by appropriately arranging a large number of the light receiving elements 6, it becomes possible to identify documents of various sizes.

2 and 3 show examples of the above-mentioned document size identification. Here, one side of the document holding portion 2 is the document placement regulation position, and in this example, one side on the left side of the drawing is the document regulation position.

First, in FIG. 2, this shows an embodiment of the identification state when the maximum document size is B4, and the light receiving elements 6X and 6Y arranged on the document cover 3 are attached to the holding section 2.
It will be installed near the center line of. That is, the light receiving element 6X
Is provided on the side closer to the original regulation position than the center line and at a position where light is not blocked by placing a size A4 document, and the light receiving element 6Y is provided at a position behind the center line and where light is blocked by a size A4 document. ing. Therefore, the light receiving element 6
The sizes of the originals placed on the original holder 2 can be identified as shown in Table 1 below according to the light receiving state with and without X and 6Y originals.

[0017]

[Table 1]

In Table 1, "1" indicates that the light is not blocked by the original and the light is received by the light receiving element (no original).
“0” is when the light is blocked by the original and the light is not received by the light receiving element 6 (there is an original).

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the maximum size of the original document held in the original document holder 2 is A3, and light-receiving elements 6X to 6Z are arranged according to the size of the original document. . Therefore, as in the case of FIG. 2, it is possible to confirm the presence and absence of the document size as shown in Table 2.

[0020]

[Table 2]

In the above example, the light receiving element 6 and the illuminating lamp 5 are provided to face each other with the document holding portion sandwiched therebetween for the purpose of identifying the original, but in addition to this, the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are provided on the original cover 3. May be provided. As an example of this, a light emitting portion may be provided on the original cover 3 according to the original size, and light from the light emitting portion may be diffusely reflected by the placed original, and a light receiving element may be provided in a portion that receives the light. Alternatively, the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion may be provided at different positions instead of being provided on the document cover 3, and an optical fiber that transmits light may be provided on the document cover 3.

Therefore, FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the size is identified based on the detection of the presence or absence of the original document in FIG. 2 and the copy paper is selectively fed in accordance with the size. B4, A4, B in the figure
Reference numeral 5 is a signal for discriminating the cassette mounted in the copying machine main body, which will be described later. For example, when the copying machine main body is equipped with a cassette accommodating the size B4, B4 is a "1" signal and other A4 , B5 becomes "0". As for the discrimination of the cassette, a code peculiar to the cassette for storing a copy paper of a desired size is provided on the side of the cassette, and the code is detected and discriminated. Alternatively, each cassette may be provided with a protrusion peculiar to the cassette, and when mounted on the main body of the copying machine, a micro switch or the like corresponding to the protrusion may be operated to make the determination. Other various methods are possible. The example shown in FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the number of cassettes that can be mounted in the main body of the copying machine is one.

[0023] In FIG. 4, the light receiving elements 6X provided in the original cover 3, the signal from 6Y is applied to the NAND gate G _1, the output of the gate G ₁ in addition to the lamp driving circuit 8 for instructing document without To be That is, when the document cover 3 is closed, based on the operation of the switch 4, the auxiliary lamp 5 is turned on by the not-shown starting means for starting the detecting operation, as described above. for that reason,
Presence detecting operation of the original is started, if the document on the surface of the document holding portion 2 has been retained, both light receiving elements 6X, light valid only NAND gate G ₁ is received in 6Y, document No from the gate G ₁ That is, the signal is output.

The signals from the light receiving elements 6X and 6Y are input to the NAND gate G ₂ via the inverters In ₁ and In ₂ . The output of the gate G ₂ is a signal indicating the size B4 of the document placed on the document holder 2.

Further, the signal of the light receiving element 6X and the light receiving element 6
The NAND gate G ₄ to which the signal obtained through the inverter In ₂ is added to the Y signal derives an output (“0”) when an A4 size document is placed. The NAND gate G ₆ outputs the signal from the light receiving element 6X to the inverter I
The signal obtained through n ₁ and the signal from the light receiving element 6 are input. If the output of the NAND gate G ₆ is "0", is recognized as a document of size B5 is placed.
This signal provides a display indicating B5 size.

As described above, each NAND gate G ₁ , G ₂ ,
G _4, will be the size of the document placed on the output of the G ₆ is detected, they constitute an identification means of the document size. Moreover, if there is an output from the gate G _1, it will be described later that there is no document, but the copy operation is not performed even if the copy switch or the like is operated.

Here, the document size is identified as described above, and a copying machine using this is described below. This copying machine automatically selects copying paper.

In FIG. 4, a signal recognizing the document size, particularly a signal from the NAND gate G ₂ is applied to one input end of the NAND gate G ₃ via an inverter In ₃ .
A signal indicating the B4 size of the discrimination signals of the cassette mounted in the copying machine body is added to the other input end of the gate G ₃ . Therefore, if the original placed on the original holder 2 is of B4 size and the cassette installed in the copying machine body accommodates B4 copy paper, the gate G ₃ becomes effective and the print switch is turned on. Copying is performed by pressing. Here, the output of the gate G ₂ is used as a signal for driving a display lamp (not shown) indicating that a B4 size document is placed on the holding portion. Therefore, even if the document cover 3 covers the document, it can be seen at a glance what document is placed.

The output of the NAND gate G ₄ for recognizing the A4 size is sent to the NAND gate G ₄ via the inverter In _4.
5 is added to one input terminal. Further, a signal indicating a cassette A4 is added to the other input terminal of the gate G _5. Therefore, if the gate G ₄ is valid, a display showing the A4 size is made, and if the cassette A4 is mounted on the main body, the gate G ₅ is valid, and copying is started by pressing the print switch. It

Further, the output of the NAND gate G ₆ is applied to one input end of the NAND gate G ₇ , and the signal indicating the cassette B5 is input to the other input end of the gate G ₇ . Therefore, when the gate G ₇ becomes valid, copying is started by pressing the print switch.

In the circuit configuration as described above, the gate G
₃ , G ₅ and G ₇ are comparison means for comparing whether or not a paper of a size corresponding to the original size is mounted in the copying machine, and their outputs are added to the 3-input NAND gate G ₈ . Further, the output of the gate G ₈ is applied to the NAND gate G ₉ . A signal from the print switch 9 is applied to the other input end of the gate G ₉ .

The output of the gate G ₉ is applied to the copy control unit 10 surrounded by the dotted line. That is, the output end is connected to the base of the transistor Tr via a parallel circuit of a resistor and a capacitor. The transistor Tr has an emitter grounded and a collector connected to a power supply + Vcc through a resistor. A series circuit of the relay coil 11 and a resistor whose one end is grounded is connected to the collector. The relay coil 11 has a normally open contact 11-a and a normally closed contact 11-b.
The copy control circuit 12 and the alarm lamp 13 are connected to the power source V through the respective contacts.

In the above structure, the signal "1" is output from the gate G ₈ if the size of the original placed on the original holder 2 and the cassette corresponding to the original size are mounted in the main body of the copying machine. . Then, when the print switch 9 is pressed, the output of the gate G ₉ becomes "0"("L"), and the transistor Tr is turned off. Therefore, a current flows through the relay coil 11, and its contact 11-a closes and the contact 11-b opens. Therefore, when the copying is started, the alarm lamp 13 is turned off. On the contrary, if the size of the original does not match the size of the copy paper, the transistor Tr is turned on even when the print switch 9 is pressed, so that copying is not performed. Therefore, the gate G ₂ , G ₄ , or G ₆
According to the document size display displayed according to the size signal from, the correct cassette is mounted on the main body, and when the print switch 9 is pressed, copying is executed.

FIG. 5 shows that when the cassettes containing copy papers of different sizes are mounted in the upper and lower stages of the copying machine, the papers are automatically selected based on the recognition of the original size of the present invention. It is a circuit block diagram which shows the other Example of this. That is, among the cassettes mounted in the upper and lower stages, the cassette corresponding to the size of the placed original is selected and the copy paper is fed. In the figure, 14 and 15 are an upper cassette discriminating circuit and a lower cassette discriminating circuit which are provided in the cassette mounting portion of the copying machine body. The output signals from the discriminating circuits 14 and 15 at the upper and lower stages are inputted to the respective NAND gates G ₁₀ to G ₁₅ .

On the other hand, the original size detection signals are input to the other input terminals of the gates G ₁₀ to G ₁₅ in correspondence with the signals from the discrimination circuits. This NAND gate G
₁₀ ~G ₁₅ is a NAND gate G ₃ in FIG. 4, G _5, G
Similar to ₇ , it is a means for comparing whether the size of the paper loaded in the copying machine matches the size of the original. The outputs of the gates G ₁₀ , G ₁₁ and G ₁₂ are three-input NAND gate G
_16, the output of gate G _13, G ₁₄ and G ₁₅ are the 3-input NAND gate G _17, are added respectively. Gate G above
The output of ₁₆ is introduced to a drive circuit 16 and a copy control circuit which drive a paper feed roller for feeding the copy paper of the upper cassette. The output of the gate G ₁₇ is a drive circuit 1 for driving a paper feed roller for feeding the copy paper in the lower cassette.
7 and the copy control circuit.

Now, let us consider a case where an A4 cassette is mounted on the upper stage, a B5 cassette is mounted on the lower stage, and an A4 size document is placed on the document holder 2.
The signal of A4 is applied to the gate G ₁₁ from the upper cassette discriminating circuit 4, and the signal indicating the document size A4 is output from the gate G ₄ and input via the inverter In ₄ to the other input end of the gate G _11. It Therefore, the gate G ₁₁
Are enabled and a signal is applied to the drive circuit 16 via the gate G ₁₆ .

Further, from the lower cassette discriminating circuit 15 to B5
However, since the original is A4, the gate G ₁₄ or G ₁₅ is not effective, and the signal is not derived from the gate G ₁₇ to the drive circuit 17.

That is, the NAND gate G ₁₀ to be the comparison means.
When a coincidence signal is output from any of G ₁₅ , the gate G ₁₆
Alternatively, a selection signal is output from any one of the paper feed selection means configured by G ₁₇ , and either the paper feed drive circuit 16 or 17 is selected. Moreover, by either from the selection signal of the gate G _16, G ₁₇ is output to the NAND gate G ₉ via the OR gate G ₁₈ and the inverter an In ₆ above selection signal is supplied, the other of the gate G ₉ Since the signal from the print switch 9 is supplied to the input terminal, the gate G ₁₈ , G ₉ and the inverter In ₆ and the print switch 9 send a signal for starting the copying operation to the gate G.
_The control means to output from ₉ is configured. Therefore, by operating the print switch 9, the paper is fed and the copying operation is executed.

It is also assumed that a B4 size document is placed on the document holder 2 and the A4 and B5 cassettes are mounted on the upper and lower stages as described above. In this case, all the outputs of the gates G ₁₀ to G ₁₅ are “1” (“H”), and the outputs of the gates G ₁₆ and G ₁₇ are “0” (“L”). Therefore, no signal is applied to the upper and lower paper feed drive circuits, and no copy paper is fed.

That is, when the discrepancy between the original size and the copy paper size is detected, the selection signals are not output from the gates G ₁₆ and G ₁₇ , and the non-selection signal is the OR gate G ₁₈ and the inverter I.
Since it is added to the NAND gate G ₉ through n ₆ , the operation of the print switch 9 does not output a signal for starting the copying operation from the NAND gate G ₉ and prohibits the copying operation. Therefore, when a match between the document size and the copy paper size is detected, the control means for outputting a signal for starting the copy operation from the gate G ₉ by operating the print switch 9 prohibits the start of the copy operation by detecting the size mismatch. . Therefore, power is not supplied to the copy control circuit 12, and the warning lamp 13 lights up to inform the user that a copy paper cassette corresponding to the original size is not mounted.

According to the present invention, if the cassette containing the copy paper corresponding to the original size is not mounted in the main body of the copying machine, the copying is not performed without being fed, but it is provided separately after the print switch is pressed. By pressing the reset button, it is possible to copy even a size different from the original size.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the means for identifying the size of the original placed on the holding portion for holding the original is provided, and in connection with the closing of the original cover, Since the identification means is operated, the size of the document can be accurately detected because the document is pressed by the document cover and is in a stationary state where it cannot be moved and is not affected by external light or the like.

As a result, in the copying machine, the operation of selecting the paper size or the like is omitted, that is, the paper size is selected incorrectly.
Also, it becomes possible to eliminate miscopy and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment for detecting the presence or absence of a document and identifying a document size according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an arrangement example of document presence / absence detection means for identifying a document size according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another arrangement example of means for detecting the presence / absence of an original for identifying the original size according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a specific example in which the apparatus for detecting a document size according to the present invention is used in a copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram showing another specific example in which the apparatus for detecting the document size of the present invention is used in a copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Document holding unit 3 Document cover 4 Open / close detection switch 5 Auxiliary lamp 6 Light receiving element 10 Copy control unit 14, 15 Paper size determination circuit 16, 17 Paper feed roller drive circuit G ₁ , G ₂ , G ₄ , G ₆ Document size identification NAND gate NAND gate G ₁₀ ~G ₁₅ for comparison use

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-50-11242 (JP, A) JP-A 52-10142 (JP, A) JP-A 51-124417 (JP, A) JP-A 54- 73623 (JP, A) JP 53-106132 (JP, A) JP 5-88492 (JP, A) Actual public 63-20658 (JP, Y2) JP 3-19544 (JP, B2) Japanese Patent Publication 2-9350 (JP, B2)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A document detecting means comprising a light emitting and light receiving element for detecting the presence / absence of a document placed on a holding part for holding a document, and a document placed on the holding part so as to be openable and closable. A document cover for closely contacting the holding portion, an opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the document cover, and a light receiving element for driving the light emitting element of the document detecting means in response to detection of closing of the document cover by the opening / closing detection means. An original document characterized by comprising: an operation starting means for enabling light reception by means of; and an identification means for identifying the size of the original document according to the detection status of the presence or absence of the original document by the original document detecting means by the operation of the operation starting means. Size detection device. 2. A document detecting means comprising light emitting and light receiving elements for detecting the presence / absence of a document placed on a holding part for holding a document, and a document placed on the holding part so as to be openable and closable. A document cover for closely contacting the holding portion, an opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the document cover, and a light receiving element for driving the light emitting element of the document detecting means in response to detection of closing of the document cover by the opening / closing detection means. A document size detecting device is provided, which includes an operation starting unit that enables light reception by a light source, and an identification unit that identifies the size of the document according to the state of detection of the presence or absence of the document by the document detecting unit by the operation of the operation starting unit. In a copying machine, a sheet feeding means arranged corresponding to a portion where a plurality of sheet accommodating means are attached to the copying machine body, and a sheet size detecting hand for detecting the size of the sheet accommodated in the attached sheet accommodating means A step, a comparing means for detecting a match between a document size detected by the document size detecting device and a paper size detected by the paper size detecting means, and a matching detection by the comparing means for determining the document size A copying machine provided with a document size detecting device comprising: a means for operating a paper feeding means corresponding to a paper accommodation means for accommodating a paper size.