JPH06148979A - Recirculating document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent positional deviation at the time of feeding documents in a laminated state. CONSTITUTION:This recirculating document feeder 1 is a feeder where plural documents in the laminiated state are supplied to a copying machine 2 one by one, and the supplied document is received again. The feeder 1 is provided with a document housing part 3 housing the documents in the laminated state, a document feeding part 4, a document restoring part 5 and a document carrying part 8. The feeding part 4 supplies the documents from the housing part 3 to the copying machine 2 one by one. The restoring part 5 restores the document supplied to the copying machine 2 to the housing part 3. The carrying part 8 has a supply belt 51 and a regulating and carrying member 52 capable of regulating the leading edge of the document restored to the housing part 3 by the restoring part 5 and moving the document while pressing it, and supplies the document restored to the housing part 3 by the restoring part 5 in the pressed state to the feeding part 4 again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a circulation type document feeder,
In particular, the present invention relates to a circulation type document feeder that supplies a plurality of stacked documents to the image forming apparatus one by one and receives the supplied documents again.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-22737 is known as a circulating type document feeder for feeding a plurality of stacked originals to a copying machine (an example of an image forming apparatus) one by one. Has been. This document feeder is a document storage unit for storing a document to be copied, a document support unit for storing a copied document, and a document for transporting a document sent from the document storage unit onto a document table of a copying machine. The document feeder includes a feeding unit, a document returning unit that carries out the copied document on the document table to the document supporting unit, and a document conveying unit that conveys the document stored in the document supporting unit to the document storing unit. The document support portion is provided with a document stopper for regulating the position of the front end of the stored document and a document retainer for pressing the upper surface of the stored document. A transport belt is provided in the document transport unit.

In this original document feeder, the original document stored in the original document storage section is conveyed to the original table by the original document feeding section, and the original document which has been copied is carried out to the original document supporting section by the original document returning section and stacked. Further, when the document is carried out to the document support portion, the position of the front end of the carried-out document is regulated by the document stopper, and the upper surface of the document is pressed by the document holder. When copying of all the originals is completed, the originals stacked on the original document support section are conveyed to the original document storage section by the original document conveying section.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional configuration,
When a document whose front end is position-regulated on the document support unit is transported to the document storage unit by the document transport unit, the stacked documents may be misaligned between the documents. In particular, if the original is sent to the original placing portion while the upper surface of the original is being pressed by the original pressing, the stacked originals are misaligned and conveyed due to the friction between the original at the upper end and the original pressing.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the document stopper for position regulation, the document pressing member, and the transport belt for transporting the document are required, and the configuration of the transport mechanism for transporting the stacked documents is complicated. An object of the present invention is to prevent misalignment of originals when conveying originals in a stacked state.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the conveying mechanism for the stack of originals.

[0007]

A circulating type original conveying apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for supplying a plurality of stacked originals to an image forming apparatus one by one and receiving the supplied originals again. This apparatus is provided with a document storing section for storing stacked documents, a document feeding section, a document returning section, and a document conveying section. The document feeding unit supplies the documents one by one from the document storage unit to the image forming apparatus. The original document returning unit returns the original document supplied to the image forming apparatus to the original document storing unit. The document feeding unit has a pressing member that can move while pressing the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit, and supplies the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit to the document feeding unit again. It is for.

A circulation type document feeder according to the second invention is
A similar document storage unit, document feeding unit, and document returning unit are provided. Further, this apparatus has a restricting posture that regulates the leading edge of the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit and a transporting posture that conveys the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit to the document feeding unit. Has a regulation / conveyance member to obtain
A document feeding unit is provided for feeding again the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit to the document feeding unit.

[0009]

In the circulation type document feeder according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the stacked documents are stored in the document storing unit, the document feeding unit supplies the documents one by one to the image forming apparatus. The document supplied to the image forming apparatus is returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit. Then, the returned document is supplied to the document feeding section by the pressing member of the document conveying section pressing and moving the document.

Here, since the document returned to the document storage unit by the document returning unit is supplied in a pressed state, it is possible to prevent displacement of the document during conveyance. In the circulation type document feeder according to the second aspect of the invention, similarly, the leading end of the document returned to the document returning section is regulated by the regulation / conveying member of the document conveying section. Then, the regulation / conveyance member is brought into the conveyance posture, and the document is supplied to the document feeding section.

In this case, one member can be used for both regulation and conveyance of the document, so that the structure of the document conveyance mechanism can be simplified.

[0012]

1 and 2, a circulation type document feeder 1 as an embodiment of the present invention is arranged on the upper end surface of a copying machine 2. The document feeder 1 includes a document storage unit 3 arranged in the upper center, a document feeding unit 4 arranged on the left side of the document storage unit 3 in the drawing, and a document returning unit 5 arranged on the right side in the drawing. A cover 16 for covering and a document feeding unit 8 arranged on the document storage unit 3 are provided. Also, copy machine 2
A conveyor belt 7 is arranged at a position facing the contact glass 6 arranged at the center of the upper end of the.

The document storage section 3 has a document tray 10 on which stacked documents are placed. The document tray 10 is provided with a side guide 9 for positioning the center of the document at the center in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. A document stopper 11 whose posture is switched by a solenoid (not shown) is provided at the end of the document tray 10 on the document feeding unit 4 side.
A document pressing member 12 is provided. The document stopper 11 is located above the document tray 10 when the document stopper 11 is arranged above, and the leading end of the document stopper 11 contacts the document tray 10 when arranged below. On the other hand, the document pressing member 12 is in a document insertable posture when it is arranged above, and is in a document pressing posture when it is arranged below. Further, in the portion of the document tray 10 where the document pressing member 12 is arranged, a forward feed roller 13 and a forward feed rotation rubber 14 facing above the forward feed roller 13 are provided.
A document detection sensor 15 that detects whether or not a document is set on the document tray 10 is arranged.

The document feeding section 4 has a paper feed roller 20 and a separation belt 21 arranged on the document tray 10 side. By the paper feed roller 20 and the separation belt 21,
The originals sent from the original tray 10 side are separated one by one. Between the paper feed roller 20 and the conveyor belt 7,
A transport path 22 including a pair of plate members is provided. A registration roller pair 23 is provided in the middle of the conveyance path 22 to correct the document conveyance posture. Transport path 22
At the end of the conveyor belt 7 on the side thereof, a switching claw 2 rotatable about a rotation fulcrum 24 between a solid line position and a dashed line position.
5 are provided.

Further, a reversing device 26 is provided which branches from the downstream end of the conveying path 22 and the central portion. Reversing device 2
Reference numeral 6 denotes a reversing roller 27, a reversing roller 27 and a conveying path 22.
And a transport path 28 that connects the
A size detection sensor 29 for detecting the size of the original document is arranged in the middle of the transport path 22. The size detection sensor 29 is for detecting the length of the document in the conveying direction by detecting the passage time from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the document.

The conveyor belt 7 is stretched along the upper surface of the contact glass 6 and over a number of rollers 30 arranged at intervals. As a result, the lower end surface of the conveyor belt 7 faces the contact glass 6. The document returning section 5 is for connecting the conveyor belt 7 and the document storage section 3, and is provided at the right end of the document conveying apparatus 1 in the figure. The document returning section 5 includes a discharge conveyance path 40 that connects the downstream end of the conveyance belt 7 and the document storage section 3, and three pairs of upstream and downstream ends and a middle portion of the discharge conveyance path 40. It is composed of a discharge roller 41. A document discharge port 17 is formed in the cover 16 at a position facing the discharge roller 41 at the downstream end.

As shown in FIG. 3, the document conveying section 8 is composed of a movable frame 50 which is movable in the document conveying direction, and a supply belt 51 whose upper end surface is exposed from the document tray 10. The moving frame 50 supports a rotating shaft 53 so as to be rotatable around an axis orthogonal to the document conveying direction. At the center of the rotation shaft 53, a conveyance / regulation member 52 having a substantially L-shaped side surface is attached. On one end side of the rotating shaft 53,
A V-shaped lever 60 is attached. Lever 60
A solenoid 61 that moves up and down is attached to one end of the. Further, a tip end of a spring 62 whose base end is attached to the moving frame 50 is attached to the other end of the lever 60. The spring 62 biases the lever 60 counterclockwise. When the solenoid 61 is excited and retracted, the regulating / conveying member 52 takes the retracted posture shown by the solid line in FIG.

A drive belt 57 is attached to the rear side of the movable frame 50 in the drawing through a mounting member 58. The drive belt 57 is spanned by a pulley 65 attached to the stepping motor 59 and a pulley (not shown) arranged at a distance from the pulley 65 in the transport direction. On the front side of the moving frame 50 in the drawing, a guide wheel 55 for sandwiching and guiding the guide rail 56 is attached. The guide rail 56 is arranged in the cover 16 of the document feeder 1 along the feeding direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the supply belt 51 is stretched over a large number of rollers 63 arranged along the upper surface of the document tray 10 at intervals in the conveying direction. As a result, the upper end surface of the supply belt 51 is exposed from the document tray 10. Further, this document feeder 1 is
It has a control unit 70 shown in FIG. The control unit 70 is C
It includes a microcomputer including PU, ROM, RAM and the like. The control unit 70 is connected to a circuit detection sensor 69 for detecting a circuit of the documents arranged in the document tray 10 in a stacked state, a document detection sensor 15, and a size detection sensor 29. Further, the control unit 70 includes a discharge roller drive unit 71 that drives the discharge roller 41, a supply belt drive unit 72 that drives the supply belt 51, and a regulation / control unit.
Regulation including solenoid 61 for rotating conveyance member 52
The transport member rotation drive unit 73, the moving frame drive unit 74 including the stepping motor 59 that moves the moving frame 50, and other input / output units are connected. Further, the control unit 70 is also connected to a copying machine main body side control unit 75 including a microcomputer provided on the main body side of the copying machine 2.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
A description will be given according to the control flowchart shown in FIG. When the program starts, in step S1 of FIG. 7, the moving frame 50 is moved to the retracted position shown in FIG.
Initial settings such as arranging the regulation / conveyance member 52 in the retracted posture are made. If the initial setting is completed, the program proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the control section 7 on the copying machine main body side
It waits for a document supply command from 5. If a document supply command is received from the control section 75 of the main body of the copying machine, step S3
Move to. In step S3, the document detection sensor 29 determines whether a document is present on the document tray 10. If the original does not exist, the original cannot be supplied to the copying machine 2 side, and thus the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, error processing such as outputting an error signal to the copying machine main body side control unit 75 is executed. When the processing in step S4 ends, the process returns to step S2.

If it is determined in step S3 that there is a document, the process proceeds to step S5. Step S
In 5, the document feeding operation is executed. The control flow of the document conveying operation in step S5 is shown in FIGS. 6, in step S10, the document stopper 11 is raised and the document pressing member 12 is lowered. As a result, the restriction on the document conveyance by the document stopper 11 is released, and the leading end of the document is pressed by the document pressing member 12 toward the forward feed roller 13 side.

Next, in step S11, a command to start the document supply operation is issued. As a result, a series of document supply operations such as rotation of the paper feed roller 20 counterclockwise is started. In step S12, the size detection sensor 29 detects the document length of the document that has passed through the conveyance path 22. Then, in step S13, the moving frame 5
As shown in FIG. 8B, 0 is moved to the restricting position and the restricting / conveying member 52 is in the restricting posture. The restricted position here is set according to the size of the document based on the document length detected in step S12. For example, in the case of an A3 size document, it is sequentially arranged at the substantially central portion of the document tray 10 and in the regulation position closer to the document returning unit 5 in order as the document size becomes smaller.

In step S14, the operation of setting one original on the contact glass 6 is waited for.
If a series of sequence operations are executed and it is determined that a certain document is set on the contact glass 6, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, a setting completion signal indicating that the setting of the original document is completed is output to the copying machine main body side control unit 75. Upon receiving the set completion signal, the copying machine 2 reads the image information of the original document placed on the contact glass 6 and executes a general copying operation such as transferring the toner image onto a sheet.

In steps S16 and S17,
It waits for a document ejection command or a document reversal command from the copying machine main body side control unit 75. In the case of a double-sided original, a reversing instruction is issued from the control section 75 on the main body of the copying machine, so that the program shifts from step S17 to step S18. In step S18, the document reversing operation using the reversing roller 27 is executed. When the processing in step S18 is completed, the process returns to step S14 and waits for the completion of the document setting after the reversing operation. Then, the processing from step S14 onward is repeated.

When a document discharge command is issued from the control section 75 of the copying machine main body, the program shifts from step S16 to step S19 in FIG. In step S19, the document discharge operation is instructed. As a result, the conveyor belt 7 starts to circulate, and each discharge roller 41 is rotationally driven. As a result, the original document on the contact glass 6 passes through the discharge / conveyance path 40 and is returned to the original document storage section 3.
It abuts on the regulation / conveyance unit 52 arranged at the regulation position as shown in FIG. 8 (B). In step S20, it is determined based on the detection state of the one-round detection sensor 69 whether or not the final original of the stacked originals has been returned. If it is not the final document, the process proceeds to step S21, and the operation of supplying the lower one of the documents stacked on the document tray 10 to the contact glass 6 side is started. When the processing in step S21 ends, the process returns to step S14 in FIG.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S20 that the document is the final document, the process proceeds to step S22.
In step S22, it is determined whether or not the desired number of copies have been made and the copy has ended. The end of this copy is judged by an end command from the control section 75 of the main body of the copying machine. If it is determined that the copy is not finished, step S23
Move to. In step S23, as shown in FIG. 8C, the regulation / conveyance member 52 is first switched from the regulation posture to the retracted posture. Further, as shown in FIG. 8D, the moving frame 50 is moved to the right by a predetermined distance, and the regulating / conveying member 52 is set in the conveying posture to press the top surface of the leading edge of the document. This posture is achieved by releasing the excitation of the solenoid 61 and pressing the document by the urging force of the spring 62. Therefore, in terms of control, it is the same as the regulation posture.

In step S24, the pressing member 12 is raised and the document stopper 11 is lowered. In step S25, as shown in FIG. 8E, the supply belt 51 is driven and the moving frame 50 is moved in synchronization with it. As a result, the document is conveyed in a pressed state, reaches below the document pressing member 12, and contacts the document stopper 11. When the processing in step S25 ends, the program returns to the main routine of FIG.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S22 that the copying of the final copy has been completed, the process proceeds to step S26.
In step S26, as shown in FIG. 8 (A), the moving frame 50 is moved to the retracted position on the document returning section 5, the regulating / conveying member 52 is set in the retracted posture, and the process returns to the main routine. Here, since the document returned to the document storage unit 3 is transported while being pressed by the regulation / transport member, the document is not displaced during the transportation. Further, since the regulation / conveyance member 52 also serves to regulate the leading edge of the document and convey the document, the structure of the conveyance mechanism can be simplified.

[0030]

In the circulation type document feeder according to the first aspect of the present invention, the document returned to the document storage portion is moved while being pressed by the pressing member and is supplied to the document feeding portion. Misalignment can be prevented. Further, in the circulation type document feeder according to the second aspect of the present invention, the regulation / conveyance member also serves as the regulation of the position of the leading edge of the document and the conveyance, so that the structure of the conveyance mechanism is simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a circulation type document feeder as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective partial view of a document conveying unit.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram thereof.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart thereof.

FIG. 6 is a control flowchart thereof.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart thereof.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional schematic diagram illustrating a control operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Circular Document Transporting Device 2 Copying Machine 3 Document Storage Unit 4 Document Feeding Unit 5 Document Returning Unit 8 Document Transporting Unit 50 Moving Frame 51 Supply Belt 52 Regulation / Conveying Member 70 Control Unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Furuya 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Ino, Toshio Tanisaki 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka No. Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasushi Kamezaki 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Masanobu Takahashi 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masahiro Sako 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroyuki Hatano 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Kajita 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiyuki Takeda 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. The inner (72) inventor Kenzo Ono, Chuo-ku, Osaka Tamatsukuri 1-chome No. 2 No. 28 Mitako industry within Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A circulating type document feeder for supplying a plurality of stacked originals to an image forming apparatus one by one and receiving the supplied originals again, and an original storing section for storing the stacked originals. An original feeding unit that feeds the originals one by one from the original storage unit to the image forming apparatus; an original returning unit that returns the originals supplied to the image forming apparatus to the original storage unit; A document transport unit having a pressing member that can move while pressing the document returned to the document storage unit, and for supplying the document returned to the document storage unit by the document return unit to the document feeding unit again. A circulation type document feeder equipped with. 2. A circulation type document feeder for supplying a plurality of stacked originals to the image forming apparatus one by one and receiving the supplied originals again, and a document storing section for storing the stacked originals. An original feeding unit that feeds the originals one by one from the original storage unit to the image forming apparatus; an original returning unit that returns the originals supplied to the image forming apparatus to the original storage unit; A regulation / conveyance member capable of having a regulation posture that regulates the leading end of the document returned to the document storage unit and a conveyance posture that conveys the document returned to the document return unit by the document return unit to the document feeding unit. A circulation type document feeder including: a document feeding unit for feeding again the document returned to the document storing unit by the document returning unit to the document feeding unit.