JPH089431B2 - Document feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention is arranged in an image reading device such as a copying machine.
The present invention relates to a document feeder for feeding a document to the image reading device.

(B) Conventional Technology Conventionally, there is a document feeder arranged in an image reading device such as a copying machine and sequentially feeding a document to an image reading position of the image reading device.

The document feeder conveys documents one by one to an image reading position on the platen glass regardless of size.
After stopping and reading the image, the read original is discharged from the platen glass, and the next original is conveyed to the image reading position and stopped to read the image.

However, this method has a drawback in that as the size of the original becomes smaller, the space between the originals (the space between the originals) becomes wider, resulting in a loss of transport time and a decrease in efficiency. Also,
If the document conveying speed is excessively increased, there is a drawback that noise, abrasion of the conveyor belt, and the like increase, and also that the document is damaged when conveyance failure occurs.

Therefore, a document feeding method for a copying machine has recently been proposed to solve such an inconvenience (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 60).
-140364 and JP-A-61-32836).

The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-140364 discloses a copying position set at a downstream position on the platen glass surface of a copying machine in the original conveying direction when continuously copying an original smaller than a copyable size. The first document placed on the document tray is conveyed to the document tray, abutted against the stopper and stopped, and then the second document is positioned upstream of the copy position on the platen glass surface. The sheet is conveyed to the standby position set in (1), is stopped by hitting the stopper, and is in the standby position in conjunction with discharging the exposed first original in the downstream direction of the platen glass surface. The procedure in which the first original is conveyed to the copy position and the third original placed on the original tray is conveyed to the standby position and then stopped is repeated.

Further, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-32836 detects a distance slightly longer than the length of each of the sequentially conveyed originals in the conveying direction, and the conveying cycle time required for traveling the conveying belt by this distance. Is set, and the second original is placed on the platen glass in order to stop the first original on the original tray from being conveyed to a preset copy position at a downstream position in the original conveying direction. After the exposure is completed, the wafer is conveyed and stopped at a waiting position set on the upstream side of the platen glass adjacent to the copying position with an appropriate interval.
In conjunction with discharging the first document in the downstream direction of the platen glass, the conveyor belt is run for the respective transport cycle time, and the second document in the standby position is moved to the copy position and then to the third sheet. The procedure of conveying and stopping the eye original document to the standby position is repeated.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-140364, a document having a size A4, which is half the maximum size A3, is used to stop at a standby position by a mechanical stopper. Although it is efficient when transporting documents, for example, with B5 or postcard, you can wait only at a predetermined position with a stopper, so the interval between documents will expand more than necessary, and the efficiency will decrease. 1 because the copy position on the platen glass is on the opposite side away from the document tray
It has a drawback that the maximum transport time is required even if the transport time of a single document to the copy position is half the maximum size A3, that is, the maximum transport time is not necessarily the highest.

Further, in the method described in JP-A-61-32836,
Since the positioning means for stopping the original at each position is not controlled by a mechanical stopper but by the stop position control of the conveyor belt, the paper interval can be made constant regardless of the original size. Has been resolved. However, according to this method, the second and subsequent originals are traveled for a predetermined transport cycle time before reaching the copy position, and stopped at the standby position at least once. -The more the stop is repeated, the greater the risk of slippage misalignment between the belt and the original, no matter how smoothly the stop position of the conveyor belt can be controlled. There is a risk of misalignment, causing a reduction in stop accuracy, which is an important function of the document feeder.

Further, this method solves the drawback that the efficiency is lowered due to the difference in document size, but has the drawback that it is difficult to control the interval between documents. This is because the first original is conveyed and the second original is fed from the tray when the trailing edge of the original has passed through the original tray section. However, the speed of the paper feed roller is unduly high here. Then, there is a problem that skewing of document feeding and misfeeding are likely to occur, and it is difficult to match the speed of the conveyor belt, and it is necessary to make it slower than that speed. Therefore, the distance between the originals becomes unnecessarily large due to the speed difference, and becomes uniform irrespective of the size, but it is not necessarily the highest in terms of efficiency.

Further, according to this method, it is necessary to control the document interval so that the operation of discharging the exposed document and the operation of feeding the document in the standby position can be performed in the same drive. Since it is difficult to reduce the paper interval, there is a problem in terms of efficiency.

Therefore, in the present invention, the originals are sequentially conveyed to the platen at a predetermined interval and discharged from the platen so as to improve the efficiency of conveyance even for a small-sized original. It is an object of the present invention to expand the range of document sizes to which the efficient document transportation can be applied.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
For example, referring to FIG. 1, a document (G) is conveyed onto a platen (2), guided to a reading position and stopped, and after reading, a document having a rotating body (41) for discharging the document from the platen is conveyed. And a discharging unit having rotating bodies (53) and (55) for discharging the document discharged from the platen to the discharge unit (52), and sequentially conveying the document to the platen at predetermined intervals. In addition, in the document conveying device ejected from the platen, a preliminary conveyance drive system (85) for separating the documents on the document stacking table (42) one by one and conveying them to a predetermined standby position on the upstream side of the platen. A document reading position on the platen and a document feeding drive system (61) for driving the document feeding unit to convey the document on the platen to a predetermined position on the platen and stop the document. , The following at the predetermined standby position When a document to be conveyed onto the platen is conveyed to the platen, a discharge drive system (112) for driving the discharge means for discharging the preceding document on the platen, the discharge of the preceding document and the reading position of the following document. The discharge drive system (112) is controlled so as to be driven separately from the transfer drive system (61) so that it can be separately conveyed to the carriage and stopped at that position, and the preceding is discharged from the platen. When the document to be printed straddles the transport means (41) and the discharge means (53), the document discharge speed of the discharge means should be equal to or higher than the document transfer speed of the transport means. Further, there is provided a document conveying apparatus comprising: a control means (Y) for controlling the discharge driving system to continue driving even after the front conveying driving system is stopped.

(E) Operation Based on the above-mentioned configuration, the following original document which is conveyed / standby to the predetermined standby position by the preliminary conveyance drive system (85) is stored in the conveyance means (41), (49) by the conveyance drive system (61). The document is conveyed to the reading position on the platen (2) by driving, and the original document located at the reading position is conveyed to a predetermined position on the platen (2) on the downstream side. Then, the preceding document located at the predetermined position on the platen is ejected by the ejection drive system (112) which is controlled separately from the transport drive system (61). ) By the discharge part (5
It is discharged to 2). At this time, the succeeding original document at the standby position on the upstream side of the platen is succeeding the original document at the reading position on the platen, that is, at a short original interval and at least two originals on the platen at the short interval. Located,
Due to the fact that the original can be efficiently conveyed, it is easy for the conveying means to stop with the preceding original straddling both the conveying means (41) and the discharging means (53).
Ejection means (53), (55) that are continuously driven at the same speed or high speed
As a result, the preceding document is pulled out from the conveying means 41 and discharged.

The above-mentioned reference numerals are shown for reference and do not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the copying machine M has an image reading unit 3 including a platen glass 2 and the like on an upper part of the apparatus main body 1, and an image recording unit including a photosensitive drum 5 and the like below the image reading unit 3. 6 is provided. An automatic document feeder 7 is arranged above the image reading unit 3.

A. First, the device body 1 will be described.

In the image reading unit 3, 2 is the platen glass on which an original is placed, 9 is an illumination lamp for illuminating the original, 10a, 10b,
Reference numerals 10c and 10d denote scanning mirrors that change the optical path of the reflected light of the original, and 11 denotes a lens having a focusing and zooming function. Reference numeral 12 is an optical system motor for driving the optical system, and 13, 15, 16 are sensors. 17 also detects the density of the original
It is an AE sensor.

In the image recording unit 6, 5 is the photosensitive drum, 19 is a main motor for driving the photosensitive drum 5, 20 is a high voltage unit, 21 is a blank exposure unit, 22 is a developing device, 23 is a transfer charger, and 25 is a separation charger. , 26 are cleaning devices.

Further, 27 is an upper cassette for accommodating the transfer paper P, 29 is a lower cassette, 30 and 31 are paper feed rollers, and 32 is a registration roller. Further, 33 is a conveyor belt that conveys the transfer paper P on which an image is recorded to the fixing side, and 35 is the transfer paper P that has been conveyed.
Is a paper discharge roller, 37 is a paper discharge tray, and 39 is a sensor used for double-sided recording.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 5 is composed of a photoconductor and a seamless photosensitive member using a conductor, and the drum 5 is rotatably supported and operates in response to the pressing of a copy start key, which will be described later. The main motor 19 starts rotation in the direction of the arrow. Then, when the predetermined rotation control and potential control processing (preprocessing) of the photosensitive drum 5 is completed, the document G placed at the exposure position X on the platen glass 2 is an illumination lamp integrally formed with the first scanning mirror 10a. The reflected light of the document G illuminated by the first scanning mirror 9 is the first scanning mirror 10a, the second scanning mirror 10b, the third scanning mirror 10c, the lens 11 and the fourth scanning mirror 10c.
An image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5 via the scanning mirror 10d.

The photosensitive drum 5 is corona charged by the high voltage unit 20. Then, the image (original image) irradiated by the illumination lamp 9 is slit-exposed to form an electrostatic latent image on the drum 5.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 5 is developed by the developing roller 22a of the developing device 22 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the transfer charger 23 as described later. To be done.

That is, the transfer paper P in the upper cassette 27 or the lower cassette 29 is sent into the main body 1 by the paper feed rollers 30 or 31, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred to a predetermined position of the transfer paper P by the registration rollers 32. As described above, the toner is sent toward the photosensitive drum 5 with accurate timing. After that, the transfer sheet P passes between the transfer charger 23 and the photosensitive drum 5, so that the toner image on the drum 5 is transferred onto the transfer sheet P. After this transfer is completed, the transfer paper P is separated from the photosensitive drum 5 by the separation charger 25, and the transfer belt 23
Is guided to the fixing device 35 and is fixed by pressurization and heating, and then discharged to the paper discharge tray 37 outside the main body 1 by the discharge roller 36.

After the transfer, the photosensitive drum 5 continues to rotate and the cleaning device 26 cleans the surface thereof.

B. Next, the automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 7 will be described.

As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the ADF 7 has a full-belt belt 41 arranged so as to face the platen glass 2 of the apparatus main body 1, and a large number of originals G are stacked and set above the full-belt belt 41. The document stack tray 42 is provided.
The entire surface belt 41 is an endless belt having a width capable of covering the entire surface of the sheet original on the platen glass 2, and is supported by the drive roller 40a and the turn roller 40b.
It is constructed so as not to slip with a and its surface has a sufficient friction coefficient so that the original can be conveyed by sliding on the platen 2 by a frictional force. Further, the document stacking tray 42 is arranged so as to be inclined so that the downstream side in the document sending-out direction becomes lower, and the documents G stacked on the document stacking tray 42 are stacked on the downstream side together. A half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 43 is disposed downstream of the document stacking tray 42, and rotates in the direction of the arrow to send out the document G on the document stacking tray 42 to the downstream side. When not doing, it is controlled so that the string part may be turned up and stopped. Further, a separating section conveying roller 45 is arranged on the downstream side of the half-moon-shaped sheet feeding roller 43, and the separating section conveying roller 45 is arranged.
A separation belt 47 wound around a driving roller 46a and a driven roller 46b is arranged so as to face the 45, and the separation section is constituted by the separation section conveying roller 45 and the separation belt 47. The original G is separated and conveyed one by one from the lowest one by a separating and conveying roller 45 rotating in the original feeding direction and a separating belt 47 rotating in the original returning direction. Further, the separating unit 45, 47
A feed roller composed of a drive roller 49a and a driven roller 49b is disposed on the downstream side of the sheet feed roller, and a first sheet path I is formed from the separating portions 45, 47 to the feed rollers 49a, 49b. A second sheet path II is formed from the feed rollers 49a, 49b to the platen glass entrance 2a in the vicinity of the drive roller 40a supporting the full-face belt 41, and the original G sent from the separating portions 45, 47 is The platen glass is passed through the first sheet path II, nipped by the feed rollers 49a and 49b, fed, and passed through the second sheet path II from the platen glass inlet 2a by the full-face belt 41 that rotates in the direction of the arrow shown by the solid line. The sheet is fed to the third sheet path III formed on the platen glass 2 and stopped at the exposure position X which is formed with the vicinity of the platen glass inlet 2a on the platen glass 2 as the home position.

In addition, in the vicinity of the feed rollers 49a and 49b, the large reverse roller 50
Is arranged, and a reversing roller 51 is arranged below the large reversing roller 50. A fourth sheet path IV is formed from the platen glass inlet 2a to the joint between the large reverse roller 50 and the reverse roller 51, and a fifth sheet path V is formed on the outer periphery of the large reverse roller 50. The fifth sheet path V is adapted to rotate from the reversing roller 51 around the outer circumference of the large reversing roller 50 and join the first sheet path I on the upstream side of the feed rollers 49a and 49b. The original G on 2 is conveyed to the fourth sheet path IV by the reverse rotation of the full-face belt 41, and is nipped by the large reverse roller 50 and the reverse roller 51. It is sent to the fifth sheet path V by rotation in the direction of the arrow shown, and is nipped by the feed rollers 49a and 49b,
The sheet is passed through the second sheet path II, turned upside down, and fed again onto the platen glass 2.

Further, a document discharge tray 52 is arranged above the entire surface belt 41, and the turn roller 40 supporting the entire surface belt 41 is provided.
From the platen glass outlet 2b near b, the original discharge tray 52
A sixth seat path VI is formed over the period. The sixth
Upstream of the sheet path VI of the upstream discharge rollers 53a, 53b
, And downstream discharge rollers 55a and 55b are arranged at the downstream end facing the document discharge tray 52, and the document G on the platen glass 2 is a full-face belt that rotates forward in the direction of the arrow shown by the solid line. The sheet is sent from the platen glass outlet 2b to the sixth sheet path VI by 41, is sandwiched by the upstream discharge rollers 53a and 53b and the downstream discharge rollers 55a and 55b, and is discharged onto the document discharge tray 52.

On the other hand, a transmission-type document detection sensor S1 is arranged at the downstream portion of the document stacking tray 42.
Is composed of an LED (light emitting diode) 56a and a phototransistor 56b which are arranged to face each other, and detects the presence or absence of the document G on the document stacking tray 42. Further, a transmissive paper feed sensor S2 is arranged at a position close to the upstream side of the feed rollers 49a, 49b, and the paper feed sensor S2 is composed of an LED 59a and a phototransistor 59b which are arranged opposite to each other, and the front and rear ends of the document Detect the edge. Further, a reflection type discharge sensor S3 is arranged in the middle of the sixth sheet path VI, and the discharge sensor S3 detects the leading edge and the trailing edge of the document G passing through the sixth sheet path VI. To do.

Here, the transport drive system of the ADF 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, FIG. 3 is a top view showing a belt conveyance drive system for the full-face belt 41, the feed rollers 49a and 49b, and the large reversal roller 50.

The ADF 7 is provided with a belt drive motor 61 for driving the full-face belt 41, the feed roller 49a and the large reversing roller 50. A motor gear 62 is fixed to the main shaft of the motor 61, and the motor gear 62 has three First gear 63a of the stepped gear 63
Meshes with. Then, the three-stage gear 63 is attached to the entire surface belt 41.
Since it is fixed to the belt drive shaft 65 that supports the drive roller 40a, the entire belt 41 is rotated by the rotation of the belt drive motor 61. The three-stage gear 63 also has a pulley 63b and a second gear 63c. The second gear 63c meshes with an idle gear 67 rotatably mounted on a fixed shaft 66, and the idle gear 67 is a feed roller. It meshes with a feed roller gear 70 attached to the drive shaft 69. Also, the feed roller gear
The one-way clutch 71 is built in 70, and the one-way clutch 71 locks with the feed roller drive shaft 69 when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the arrow CW direction, and the belt drive motor 61 moves in the arrow CCW direction. It is mounted so as to idle with the feed roller drive shaft 69 when rotated. That is, the feed roller 49a on the drive side rotates in the arrow direction only when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the arrow CW direction.

Further, a timing belt 73 is stretched between the pulley 63b of the three-stage gear 63 and the pulley 72a of the reversing pulley gear 72 arranged near the large reversing roller 50. A large roller gear 76 is provided on the large reverse roller shaft 75 supporting the large reverse roller 50, and the large roller gear 76 meshes with the first gear 72b of the reverse pulley gear 72. The large roller gear 76 has a built-in one-way clutch 77, and the large roller gear 76 is supported by the reversing large roller shaft 75 via the one-way clutch 77. The one-way clutch 77 locks with the large reverse roller shaft 75 when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the direction of arrow CW, and also the belt drive motor
When 61 rotates in the direction of arrow CCW, it is mounted so as to idle with the large reverse roller shaft 75. Also, reverse pulley gear
The second gear 72c of 72 meshes with an idle gear 80 rotatably mounted on a fixed shaft 79, and further the idle gear 80
Meshes with the inner large roller gear 81. As a result, the large roller gear 76 and the inner large roller gear 81 always rotate in mutually opposite directions.

Also, the one-way clutch 82 is attached to the inner large roller gear 81.
The internal large roller gear 81 is attached to the reverse large roller shaft 75 via the one-way clutch 82, and idles with the reverse large roller shaft 75 when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the arrow CW direction. , The belt drive motor 61 is an arrow
It is designed to lock with the large reverse roller shaft 75 when it rotates in the CCW direction.

That is, the reverse large roller 50 rotates in the arrow direction when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the arrow CW direction, and also rotates in the arrow direction when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the arrow CCW direction.

Next, FIG. 4 is a top view showing the separation drive system (preliminary transport drive system).

The ADF7 has a separation drive motor 85 that drives the separation units 45, 47, etc.
And a separation motor gear 87 is fixed to the main shaft 86 of the separation drive motor 85.
Engages with a half-moon roller gear 90 fixed to a half-moon roller shaft 89 that supports the half-moon feeding roller 43. Half moon roller shaft
A half-moon pulley 91 is fixed to the other end of 89, and a timing belt 93 is stretched between the pulley 91 and the conveyance roller gear pulley 92. The transport roller gear pulley 92 is attached to the transport roller shaft 95 to which the separation unit transport roller 45 is fixed. The gear portion 92b of the transport roller gear pulley 92 is fixed to the fixed shaft 96
It meshes with the idle gear 97 that is rotatably mounted above,
The idle gear 97 meshes with a separation gear 100 fixed to the drive-side separation shaft 99. This allows the separate drive motor 85
Rotation of the half-moon-shaped feed roller 43, separation section conveyance roller
45 and the separation belt 47 are rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.

Further, a pulley 101 is fixed to the other end of the transport roller shaft 95, and a belt is provided between the pulley 101 and the feed roller pulley 103 provided on the feed roller drive shaft 69 that supports the drive side feed roller 49a. 105 is stretched. An electromagnetic clutch 106 is arranged between the feed roller drive shaft 69 and the feed roller pulley 103.

On the other hand, the transport roller gear pulley 92 has a built-in one-way clutch 107.
When the carrying roller gear pulley 92 rotates the separating part carrying roller 45 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
It is supposed to lock. That is, when the transport roller shaft 95 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1, the shaft 95 and the transport roller gear pulley 92 will idle.

Then, when the belt drive motor 61 rotates in the CW direction,
The feed roller drive shaft 69 rotates in the arrow direction. When the electromagnetic clutch 106 is turned on, the rotation of the feed roller drive shaft 69 is transmitted to the pulley 101 via the feed roller pulley 103 and the belt 105, and the separation section conveyance roller 45 rotates in the arrow direction. At this time, the separation motor 85 does not drive the transport roller shaft 95, or the belt drive motor 61 drives the transport roller shaft 95.
If it is slower than the driving to 95, the conveyance roller shaft 95 and the conveyance roller gear pulley 92 idle, and the rotation of the separation section conveyance roller 45 is entirely controlled by the belt drive motor 61. Here, the pulley ratio is set so that the outer peripheral speed of the driving side feed roller 49a and the outer peripheral speed of the separation section conveying roller 45 are the same.
If determined by 1 and the feed roller pulley 103, it becomes possible to feed the document G to the downstream side of the feed rollers 49a and 49b while holding the loop of the document G formed in the first sheet path I.

Further, when the belt drive motor 61 is stopped, the separation drive motor 85 is rotated and the electromagnetic clutch 106 is turned on, so that the separation section conveyance roller 45, the separation belt 47, the half-moon shaped feeding roller 43, and the drive side feed roller 49a. Rotates in the direction of the arrow. At this time, the one-way clutch in the feed roller gear 70
Since the rotation of the feed roller drive shaft 69 is idle by 71, the separation drive system can rotate the drive side feed roller 49a without affecting the belt transport drive system at all.
As a result, the document G in the first sheet path I can be sent to the downstream side of the feed rollers 49a and 49b by the separation drive motor 85.

In addition, as described above, the separation section transport roller of the separation supply section
45, the half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 43 and the separation belt 47 are connected to a separation drive motor 85 and driven so as to rotate in the arrow direction shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the drive-side feed roller 49a, the drive roller 40a having the entire surface belt 41, and the large reverse roller 50 are the belt drive motor 6
Driven by 1. The belt drive motor 61 can rotate in both forward and reverse directions. For example, when the motor 61 rotates in the CW direction, the rollers 49a, 40a and 50 are all rotated in the forward direction indicated by the solid line in FIG. Also, when the drive roller 40a and the reverse large roller 50 rotate in the CCW direction in the forward direction, the drive roller 40a and the reverse large roller 50 rotate in the direction of the broken arrow (the drive roller 40a rotates in the reverse direction).
The drive side feed roller 49a is configured not to rotate.

In addition, the output shaft of the belt drive motor 61 has an electromagnetic brake.
109, clock disk 110 and belt clock interrupter
111 is connected, and a pulse signal is generated from the belt clock interrupter 111 by the rotation of the belt drive motor 61.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the drive side upstream discharge roller
The 53a and the drive-side downstream discharge roller 55a are connected to a paper discharge drive motor 112 that constitutes a discharge drive system, and are rotated and driven in the arrow direction. A clock disk 113 and a paper discharge clock interrupter 115 are connected to the output shaft of the paper discharge drive motor 112, and the rotation of the motor 112 causes the paper discharge clock interrupter 115 to generate a pulse signal.

C. The key group and the display group will be described.

In FIG. 5, 201 is a copy start key (copy start key), which is pressed to start copying.

Reference numeral 202 denotes a key designated when performing one-sided copying from a two-sided original. When this key is designated, the ADF 7 operates in a two-sided mode described later.

Reference numeral 203 denotes an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display, which can display a 40-character message by forming one character with 5 × 7 dots, for example.

A copy number display unit 204 displays the copy number or the self-diagnosis code.

D. The control device 300 of the device body 1 will be described.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 301 is a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic control for executing the present invention. Reference numeral 302 denotes a read-only memory (ROM) that stores a control procedure (control program) of the apparatus in advance, and the CPU 301 controls each constituent device connected via a bus according to the control procedure stored in the ROM 302. A random access memory (RAM) 303 is a main storage device used as a storage area for input data, a work storage area, and the like.

305 is an interface (I / O) that outputs a CPU301 control signal to the load of the main motor 19, 306 is an interface that inputs an input signal of the image sensor 16 and sends it to the CPU301, 30
Reference numeral 7 is an interface for controlling input / output of a key group and a display group.

The display group is each display of FIG.
You are using a D or LCD. The key group is each key in FIG. 5, and the CPU 301 can know which key is pressed by a well-known key matrix.

The control device 400 of E.ADF7 will be described.

Reference numeral 400 in FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control circuit for performing the operation of the present invention.
It has built-in RAM, etc., and is configured around a well-known one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter, CPU) 401. Further, the ADF is performed while exchanging signals with the control device 300 of the copying machine main body 1.
Performs arithmetic control for 7.

The CPU 401 input ports I _{1 to} I ₃ are connected to the original detection sensor S1,
The signals from the paper feed sensor S2 and the paper discharge sensor are sent to each. In addition, a signal from the paper discharge clock interrupter 115 is input to the CPU 401 interrupt terminals int1 to int2, which serves as a reference clock for the moving amount of the document G as will be described later.
The counters inside U401 perform counting operations. On the other hand, to the output ports O _{1 to} O ₅ and O ₈ of the CPU 401, the operation signal of the separation drive motor 85, the CW and CCW signals for operating the belt drive motor 61 in the normal and reverse directions, the electromagnetic brake 109, and the paper ejection drive motor 112. And an operation signal of the electromagnetic clutch 106 is output,
Each output load is controlled via the drivers D _{1 to} D ₅ and D ₈ , respectively. Further, signals are exchanged with the control device 300 of the copying machine main body 1 via a cable 402, and a document feed signal, a document discharge signal, and a mode signal are input to the input ports I _{4 to} I ₆ of the CPU 401, A COPY request signal and a document detection signal are output from the output ports O _{6 to} O ₇ via the drivers D ₆ and D ₇ . Each signal will be described later. Reading these input signals,
Alternatively, on / off of the load is determined by a program stored in the ROM in the CPU 401.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 7 and 8 and the flows shown in FIGS. 9 to 18.

In FIG. 9, the document stack is set on the document stack tray 42 of the ADF 7 (S9-1), the single side mode or the double side mode is set by the keys on the operation unit (S9-2), and the copy start key 201 is pressed. Pressing (S9-3) starts the process. S
When the single-sided mode is set in 9-4, the document feed signal is first turned on (S9-5) to perform the single-sided mode processing of ADF7 described later (S9-6), and the document G is exposed at the exposure position X of the platen glass 2.
Stop at. Then, the COPY request signal is turned on from ADF7 (S9-7), and the document feed signal is turned off (S9-
8) The main body 1 of the copying machine turns on the illumination lamp 9 (S9
-9), the optical motor 12 is turned on to start scanning (S9-10). Upon completion of scanning (S9-11), the process returns to step S9-4, and S9-4 to S9-11 are repeated to read an image. When the duplex mode is set in step S9-4, the document feed signal is turned on as in the simplex mode (S9-12) to perform the ADF7 duplex mode processing described later (S9-13 ) And above, the image reading is performed by following the same steps as in the single-sided mode after S9-7.

Hereinafter, the case where the ADF single-sided mode and the ADF double-sided mode are designated will be described respectively.

[When four originals are copied in single-sided mode] The single-sided mode program (FIG. 10) proceeds to step S10-1 for performing separation processing, and as shown in FIG. 12, sets the lowest original page 4 of the original stack. The separation drive motor 85 is turned on so as to separate only one sheet (S12-1), the document G advances in the first sheet path I, and the paper feed sensor S2 detects the leading edge of the document (S12-3). After completion (S12-4) Separate drive motor
By turning off 85 (S12-5), the document G is fed by the feed roller 4
The tip is abutted against the nip portion of 9a, 49b, and further stopped with a predetermined amount of loop formed. Furthermore, the timer for stabilizing the loop is started (S12-6), and after the end (S12-
7) End the separation process. This allows the document G to be separated when separated.
Even if the skew occurs, it is effective in correcting the skew.

Next, the process proceeds to step S10-2 where the sheet feeding process is performed, and as shown in FIG. 13, the feed rollers 49a and 49b and the full-face belt 41 are activated, and the document G is transferred from the first sheet path I to the second sheet path I. In order to convey to II, the belt drive motor 61 is turned on in the normal direction (S13-1), and at the same time, the size check counter that counts by the clock input from the belt clock interrupter 111 is driven (S13-2) to change the document size. Start measuring. The size check counter is stopped (S13-4) at the same time when the document G is conveyed and the trailing edge passes through the paper feed sensor S2 (S13-3), and the size check shown in FIG. 17 is performed based on the data. In SUB,
A registration counter RG that stops the original G at the exposure position X on the platen glass 2 while determining the original size.
Until the registration counter RGCN is ended by starting CN (S13-6), the speed of the belt drive motor 61 is reduced and the electromagnetic brake 109 is used to stop instantaneously to obtain an accurate stop without variation. Belt drive motor
When the speed control of 61 is performed (S13-7) and the registration counter is finished (S13-8), the belt drive motor 61 is simultaneously operated.
Is turned off (S13-9), and the electromagnetic brake 109 is turned on (S13-10) to accurately stop the document G at the exposure position X on the platen glass 2 (see FIG. 7 (a)). Here, in the size check SUB, as shown in FIG. 17, as a method of determining the document size, the distance from the nip position of the feed rollers 49a and 49b to the paper feed sensor S2 is added to the size check count data described above. The corrected original becomes the true original size (S17-1). At this time, the document G is being conveyed by the feed rollers 49a, 49b and the entire surface belt 41,
The feed amount and the count value input by the belt clock interrupter 111 surely match. Thereafter, the size of B5, A4, A4R, B4, A4R, B4, A3, etc. is determined based on the corrected size data (S17-2, S17-3).

Next, the process proceeds to step S10-3 (FIG. 10), the COPY request signal is output to the apparatus main body 1, the copying machine temporarily turns off the document feed signal, and the optical system operates to expose the platen glass 2 to light. The exposure copying process is executed for the document page 4 set at the position X with the image surface facing downward. The image G of the original page 4 is formed on the first surface of the transfer paper P, and the transfer paper P is discharged to the paper discharge tray 37 with the image surface facing upward.

While the apparatus main body 1 is in the exposure process, the sequence proceeds to step S10-4, and it is determined whether or not all the document feeding is completed, depending on whether the document detection sensor S1 is off.
Since it is still page 4 here, the document detection sensor S1 is on, and it is then checked whether or not the mode signal from the apparatus main body 1 is continuous (S10-5). The flow of subsequent programs is changed depending on whether the original size of page 4 is A4R or larger (S10-6). Here, the description will be continued on the assumption that the mode signal indicates continuous transmission.

If the size of the original page 4 is smaller than A4R, the separation process (S10-1) described above is executed before the exposure process for the original G of page 4 is completed, and the original G of the next page 3 is fed to the feed rollers 49a and 49b. Butt and stop in a loop. Next, in step S10-7, the document feed signal is turned on when the exposure process of the document page 4 of the apparatus main body 1 is completed, the COPY request signal is turned off, and the next operation starts.

In step 10-8, the paper discharge process 1 is started, and the process returns to step S10-2 to start the paper feed process of the document page 3.

Further, the paper discharge process 1 is a program that constitutes the control means Y, and controls the drive of the paper discharge drive motor 112 separately from the drive of the belt drive motor 61 to cause the platen glass 2
The original G ejected from above is ejected to the original ejection tray 52 by a control separate from the conveyance of the original G conveyed to the exposure position X on the platen glass 2, and the ejection is performed using FIG. The paper processing 1 will be described. The state at the time when the paper discharge process 1 is activated is as shown in FIG. Here, the page 4 waits for the sensor S3 to detect the leading edge of the document on the page 4 (S15-1). However, at this time, the entire surface belt 41 is not driven in the paper discharge process 1. Therefore, the process returns to step S10-2 to perform the paper feeding process for the next original page 3, and further to step S10-3 in FIG.
7 to S10-7 are executed, the relationship of the document G becomes as shown in FIG. 7 (b). Furthermore, the original for page 3 is also ejected 1
Is activated (S10-8). Further, as shown in FIG. 7C, during the paper feeding process of the original of page 2, the discharge sensor S3 detects the leading edge of the original of page 4, and the discharge rollers 55a, 55a, The belt counter corresponding to the distance to the nip of 55b is started, and the completion of the belt counter is awaited (S15-2).

When the belt counter is finished, the paper discharge drive motor 112 is turned on to start pulling out the document G of page 4, and
Wait for the paper discharge sensor S3 to detect the trailing edge of the document G (S15
-3). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7 (d), even if the paper feeding process (S10-2) for the page 2 document is completed and the full-face belt 41 is stopped, the page G document G is still fed to the downstream discharge roller 55a. , 55
The discharge is continued in the direction of the arrow by b, and the discharge sensor S3 detects the trailing edge of the document G on page 4, and at the same time, the discharge clock interrupter 115 that can completely discharge the document G is counted by the microcomputer 901. While the discharge counter is started, the discharge counter is terminated while the speed of the discharge drive motor 112 is controlled in order to improve consistency when discharging the document G until the discharge counter ends. Wait, when finished, discharge drive motor
112 is turned off, the document G is discharged onto the document discharge tray 52, and the discharge process ends (S15-4).

At this time, the feed amount by the discharge counter and the feed amount by the downstream discharge rollers 55a and 55b surely match. afterwards,
While the document detection sensor S1 detects the document G, the above-described sequence is repeated.

Also, the document detection sensor S1 does not detect the document G,
In this embodiment, if the document detection sensor S1 is off after the page 1 paper feed process is completed and step S10-4 is executed, the process proceeds to step S10-9 to turn off the document detection signal. Then, when the document discharge signal from the apparatus main body 1 is set, the COPY request signal is turned off and the discharge process 2 is started (S10-10).

At this point, the state of the original G is as shown in FIG. 7 (e), and in the paper ejection processing 2, the belt G is driven to eject the original G of the pages 2 and 1 retained on the platen glass 2. The motor 61 is turned on normally (S16-1).

At this time, the originals G of pages 2 and 3 are simultaneously being subjected to the corrected paper discharge process 2.

When the discharge sensor S3 detects the leading edge of the document G on page 4, the belt counter BC1 is started in the same manner as in the discharge processing 1 described above, and when the BC1 ends, the discharge drive motor 112 is turned on (S16-2). Further, the belt counter BC2 that determines the timing for permitting the start of the separation process of the next document G is started. In this embodiment, the counter BC2 is set up to the position where the trailing edge of the document is separated from the position of the turn roller 40b (S16-2). That is, as shown in FIG. 7 (f), {(original length) -l} is set as the counter value. Here, when the belt counter BC2 ends,
The belt drive motor 61 is turned off and the separation start permission flag is set (S16-4). Here, since there is no next document to be separated, the actual operation is not affected.
The effect of this flag will be described later.

After that, as in the paper discharge process 1, a sequence for aligning the discharged document is executed and the process ends (S16-5).

In step S10-5 of the above sequence, when the mode signal cannot be designated for continuous feeding, or when the document size is A4R or larger, the continuous feeding mode is stopped and the document is surely discharged by the downstream discharge rollers 55a, 55b. In order to change the sequence so that the document can be pulled out, the process proceeds to step S10-11 as follows, and the document feed signal from the apparatus main body 1 is set, and after the set, the copy request signal is turned off, and The paper discharge process 2 is started (S10-12). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7 (f), in step S16-4 in the paper discharge process 2 of the original of page 4, it is detected that the separation start flag is set and the flag is reset at the same time. , And the separation process of the next original G, that is, the original G of page 3 is started (S10-13). After that, as described above, the processing is repeated until all the originals G are removed from the original stacking tray 42.

[When copying two originals on both sides in duplex mode] In the duplex mode program (Fig. 11), the lowest document on the document stack tray 42 (page 3,
4) The aforementioned separation process (S10-1) and paper feed process (S10-
2) is performed, and then the reversal processing shown in FIG.
1 is driven and the belt drive motor 61 is reversely turned on (S14-1) to convey the document G from the third sheet path III to the fourth sheet path IV (S14-1). After being gripped and moving in the fifth sheet path V, the paper feed sensor S2 detects the document light edge (S14-2), the reversing loop counter is activated (S14-3), and after that (S14-
4) By turning off the belt drive motor 61 (S14-5),
Similar to the separation process, the document forms a loop for correcting the skew and waits (see FIG. 8B).

Next, as in the single-sided mode, the copy request signal is turned on (S11-5) with the paper feed process (S11-4), and the document feed signal from the main body 1 is set (S11-6). The copy request signal is turned off (S11-7).

Next, in order to copy page 3, the above-mentioned inversion process (S1
1-8) and then paper feed processing (S11-9)
When the py request signal is turned on (S11-10), the state of the document detection sensor S1 is determined at this time (S11-11), and if the next document G is detected, the process proceeds to step S11-12, and the apparatus The original feed signal is received from the main body 1, the copy request signal is turned off, and the above-described paper discharge processing 2 is started (S11-13). Furthermore, step S11-
After the discharged document reaches the above-mentioned predetermined position (FIG. 8 (e)) at 14 and the separation start flag is set, the separation start flag is reset and the process returns to step S11-1.
The processing of the next original G is started. After that, the document loading tray
The above-described sequence is repeated until the document G disappears from 42, that is, the document detection sensor S1 no longer detects the document G in step S11-11. If the document detection sensor S1 does not detect the document G, step S11-15. In step S11-16, the document detection signal is turned off, the document discharge signal is set from the apparatus main body 1, the COPY request signal is turned off, and the above-described paper discharge process 2 is started (S11-16).

Thus, the above-described operation is sequentially performed for the stacked originals G on the original stacking tray 42, so that the same page as the original G set on the original stacking tray 42 is set on the discharge tray 37 of the copying machine M. Sequential single-sided or double-sided copies are obtained.

(G) Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a document that is being conveyed / standby to a predetermined standby position by the preliminary conveying drive system is conveyed by the conveying means based on the drive control of the conveying drive system. ,
Since two originals are sequentially conveyed to the reading position while the two originals are positioned on the platen at a short interval between the originals, even small-sized originals can be efficiently conveyed and the exchange efficiency for reading the originals is greatly improved. be able to.

Further, due to the sequential conveyance of the originals at the above-mentioned short intervals, the conveying means may stop in a state where the preceding original straddles both the conveying means and the discharging means. , The transport drive system is separately controlled, and the preceding original document is pulled out from the transport unit and reliably ejected, which makes it possible to sequentially transport the original document at a short interval, not limited to a small size original document. The range of use of document replacement work due to efficiency can be greatly expanded.

In addition, when the document to be discharged straddles the conveying unit and the discharging unit, the speed of the discharging unit is made equal to or higher than the speed of the conveying unit, and when the document is separated from the processing unit, the discharging unit By reducing the speed of, you can prevent damage and dirt when ejecting long-sized originals.
In addition, it is possible to improve the discharge alignment of the document.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a side view of a copying machine in which a document feeding device is arranged, FIG. 3 is a top view showing a belt feeding drive system, FIG. 4 is a top view showing a separation driving system, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a circuit of a control device of the copying machine main body and the document feeder, FIGS. 7 and 8 are operation explanatory views according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Single-sided mode, FIG. 8 shows operation in double-sided mode. 9 to 17 are flowcharts showing the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2 ... Processing section (platen glass, 7 ... document feeder,
40a, 40b ... Conveying means (drive roller, turn roller), 4
1 …… Conveying means (entire belt), 49a, 49b …… Conveying means (feed roller), 50 …… Conveying means (large reversal roller), 52
…… Discharging section (document discharging tray), 55a, 55b …… Discharging means (downstream discharging roller), 61 …… Conveyance drive system (belt drive motor), 85 …… Preliminary conveyance drive system (separation drive motor),
112 ... Ejection drive system (paper ejection drive motor), G ... Original,
Y: Control means.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-273853 (JP, A) JP-A-62-12564 (JP, A) JP-A-62-70159 (JP, A) JP-A-62- 185672 (JP, A) JP 62-111854 (JP, A) Actually opened 61-160134 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An original document is conveyed to a platen, guided to a reading position and stopped, and a conveyance unit having a rotating body for ejecting the original document from the platen after reading, and an original document ejected from the platen is ejected to an ejecting section. Discharging means having a rotating body for
In a document transporting apparatus, which sequentially transports the documents to the platen at predetermined intervals and discharges the documents from the platen, the documents on the document stacking table are separated one by one, and a predetermined upstream side of the platen is provided. A pre-conveyance drive system for conveying to a standby position, a document reading position on the platen for conveying a document at the predetermined standby position, and a conveying device for conveying the document on the reading position to a predetermined position on the platen and stopping the document. A transport drive system that drives the discharge mechanism, a discharge drive system that drives the discharge unit that discharges the preceding document on the platen when the subsequent document at the predetermined standby position is transported onto the platen, The discharge drive system is controlled so as to be driven separately from the transport drive system so that the discharge of the document to be discharged and the transport of the subsequent document to the reading position and the stop at the position can be performed separately. If the preceding document ejected from the platen is straddling the conveyance means and the ejection means, the document ejection speed of the ejection means is the same as or faster than the document conveyance speed of the conveyance means. An original conveying apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the discharge driving system to continue driving even after the conveyance driving system is stopped. 2. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the document discharging speed of the discharging unit to be reduced when the preceding document discharged from the platen is separated from the conveying unit. . 3. The reading position is arranged on the upstream side of the platen, and usually two originals are set on the platen and are ejected one by one in order, and the last two originals are discharged. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is continuously discharged from above the platen.