JP3636269B2 - Automatic document conveying apparatus and document conveying method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine. More specifically, the uppermost document is separated one by one from a bundle of documents placed on a document placing table. The present invention also relates to an automatic document feeder having a separating / feeding means for conveying toward an exposure position, and a document conveying method using such an automatic document feeder.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, image forming apparatuses such as copiers and facsimile machines have been required to be faster and more multifunctional, and further save space, and the automatic processing provided in this image processing apparatus accordingly. There is a further demand for space saving of the document conveying device.
[0003]
In order to satisfy such a requirement, in the automatic document feeder, after the uppermost original is separated from the original bundle composed of a plurality of originals placed on the original placement table, the reversing path is set. In this way, a structure is employed in which the sheet is fed to the exposure position for turn feeding. In this way, space saving is realized.
By the way, such an ADF has a document stopper claw that is movable between a home position that contacts the document table and a retreat position that retracts from the document table. The document bundle abuts against the leading edge of the original bundle when positioned at the home position, and restricts the original bundle from moving downstream from the original placing table in the original conveying direction. The parts are arranged. When the copy start switch is operated, the document stopper claw is retracted to the retracted position, and the document is separated and fed.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional automatic document feeder, when the document stays on the conveyance path due to a jam or the like during the conveyance of the document, all the documents are removed from the conveyance path including the document placement table. Later, it was necessary to align the page order of the originals and reset the original bundle on the original placement table.
[0005]
In addition, when the document stays on the transport path, the document stopper claw is returned from the retracted position to the home position, so that the document stopper claw collides with the document set on the document placement table, In the case of a thin paper document or the like, the document is damaged, and when the jam document is removed, the document is caught on the document stopper claw, and the document cannot be easily removed from the automatic document feeder.
[0006]
Therefore, the inventions of claims 1 and 2 can prevent the original from being damaged by the restricting means when the original conveying operation is interrupted and the original stays on the conveying path. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder that can easily take out a document by preventing the document from being caught by a restricting means at the time of taking out.
[0007]
According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, when the document transport operation is interrupted and the document stays on the transport path other than the separating / feeding means, the retained document is placed on the document placing table. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document conveying method in which it is not necessary to reset all documents on a document table by simply adding them to a document, and the document can be re-fed in this state. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an invention according to claim 1 is an automatic document feeder mounted on an image forming apparatus, which can place a document stack composed of a plurality of documents, and the document Separation / paper feeding means for separating the uppermost document from the document stack placed on the placement table one by one and transporting it toward the exposure position; a home position that contacts the document placement table; and the document It is provided so as to be movable between a retreat position for retreating from the mounting table, and when it is located at the home position, it abuts against the leading end of the document bundle and moves the document bundle downstream from the predetermined position in the document transport direction. In an automatic document feeder provided with a regulating means for regulating the document and a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a document on a document conveyance path including the document placement table, the regulation is based on detection information from the detection means. Control movement of means The control unit is configured to provide a control unit that interrupts the conveyance of the document during the conveyance of the document, and at least when the document stays on the conveyance path of the separation / feed unit, the document is removed from the separation / feed unit. Until the removal, the regulating means is positioned at the retracted position based on the detection information from the detecting means. Then, when the staying original is removed from the conveyance path, the restricting means is positioned at the home position, When the staying place of the document is not on the conveying path of the separating / feeding means, the regulating means is positioned at the retracted position. To maintain The document separation / feed operation is restarted when a paper feed start signal is input.
[0009]
In that case, when the document transport is interrupted and the document stays on the document transport path, the regulating means is positioned at the retracted position until the document is removed from the separating / feeding means. It is possible to prevent the means from colliding with the original, and it is possible to prevent the original from being damaged by the restricting means.
Further, since the original is not caught by the restricting means when taking out the staying original from the separating / feeding means, the original can be taken out easily.
[0010]
Further, the operation of conveying the original is interrupted and the conveying path other than the separating / feeding means (eg, contact glass) Up) When a document stays on the document table, it is unnecessary to reset all the documents on the document table only by adding the retained document to the document placed on the document table. Refeeding can be performed, and usability of the automatic document feeder can be improved.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the first aspect of the present invention, the number of staying originals when the original staying at the staying position is not exposed at the exposure position. It has the display means which displays.
In that case, since it is only necessary to add an unexposed original to the original placed on the original table, it is possible to prevent re-set and re-exposure of the already exposed original. Thus, the document transport time can be shortened.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the automatic document conveying device according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a method for conveying an original when the original stays on a conveyance path other than the separating / feeding means. The restricting means is positioned at the retracted position, and the staying original is placed on the original bundle on the original placing table. Foot After that, when a paper feed start signal is input, the separation / feed operation of the original is restarted to separate the original from the uppermost original.
[0013]
In that case, it is not necessary to reset all the originals on the original placing table by simply adding the accumulated originals to the original placed on the original placing table, and the originals are fed again in this state. And the usability of the automatic document feeder can be improved.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an original document conveying method using the automatic document conveying device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, when the document is retained on a conveyance path other than the separating / feeding unit. The restricting unit is positioned at the retracted position, the number of staying documents is displayed by the display unit, and the staying document displayed by the display unit is displayed on the document stack on the document placing table. Foot After that, when a paper feed start signal is input, the separation / feed operation of the original is restarted to separate the original from the uppermost original.
[0014]
In that case, it is only necessary to add the staying document to the document placed on the document table after knowing the number of staying documents that have not been exposed in advance. Exposure can be prevented, and the document transport time can be shortened.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 are diagrams showing an embodiment of an automatic document conveying device and a document conveying method according to the present invention, showing an example in which the automatic document conveying device of the present invention is mounted on a copying machine as an image forming apparatus. . Note that the image forming apparatus can be applied to a facsimile machine or the like in addition to a copying machine. In the present embodiment, the jammed document is referred to as a staying document.
[0016]
First, the configuration will be described. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine, and a contact glass 2 is provided on the upper surface of the copying machine 1. Further, an automatic document feeder (hereinafter simply referred to as ADF) 3 is provided at the upper part of the copying machine 1, and this ADF 3 is connected to the copying machine 1 via a hinge (not shown) so as to open and close the contact glass 2. Has been.
[0017]
The ADF 3 separates a document tray 4 as a document placement table on which a document bundle P composed of a plurality of documents can be placed, and a document bundle separated from the document bundle placed on the document tray 4 one by one. Separation / paper feeding means 5 for conveying a document toward the contact glass 2, and a document conveyed toward the contact glass 2 by the separation / paper feeding means 5 are conveyed / stopped to an exposure position on the contact glass 2, and Loading / unloading means 6 for unloading a document, which has been read by the reading means (known exposure lamp, mirror, lens, CCD, etc.) of the copying machine 1 disposed below the contact glass 2 from the contact glass 2; The document unloaded from the exposure position of the contact glass 2 by the unloading means 6 is arranged below the first discharge tray 8 or the document tray 4 protruding from the side of the copying machine 1. And discharge means 7 for discharging either one of the second discharge tray 9 which is, and a. The first paper discharge tray 8 may be provided so as to protrude from the side of the ADF 3.
[0018]
The separating / feeding means 5 includes a calling roller 10, a feeding roller 11, a reverse roller 12, a pull-out driving roller 13, a pull-out driven roller 13a, a stop claw (regulating means) 14, a registration sensor 15a, and a document detection sensor (detecting means). ) 15b.
The calling roller 10, the paper feeding roller 11, the reverse roller 12, and the pull-out driving roller 13 are driven by a paper feeding motor 100, and are connected to the paper feeding motor 100 via a driving system such as a gear mechanism.
[0019]
The paper feed motor 100 is driven by an output signal from a controller (control means) 101, and the controller 101 receives a paper feed start signal from the main controller 111 of the copying machine 1 and feeds the motor 100. Is driven forward / reversely.
When the paper feeding motor 100 is driven in the forward direction, the calling roller 10 rotates clockwise to feed the original document positioned on the upper layer from the original bundle P, and the paper feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12 turn clockwise. Only the uppermost document is separated from the document bundle P by being rotated. The separated document is sandwiched between a pull-out driving roller 13 that rotates counterclockwise and a pull-out driven roller 13 a that rotates with the pull-out driving roller 13, pulled out from the paper feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12, and conveyed toward the contact glass 2. The
[0020]
When the leading edge of the document is detected by the registration sensor 15a, the controller 101 drives the paper feed motor 100 in reverse based on the output signal from the registration sensor 15a. At this time, the calling roller 10 and the paper feeding roller 11 are stopped by the drive system interposed between the paper feeding motor 100 and the calling roller 10, the paper feeding roller 11, the reverse roller 12 and the pull-out driving roller 13, and the pull-out driving roller is stopped. 13 is continuously rotated counterclockwise and the reverse roller 12 is continuously rotated clockwise. 11 And reverse roller 12 By It is designed not to be separated.
[0021]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the calling roller 10 is connected to the drive shaft of the sheet feeding roller 11 via a belt 41. The calling roller 10 is driven from the sheet feeding roller 11 by driving the sheet feeding motor 100. Force is transmitted through the belt 41. Further, the calling roller 10 is moved between the solid line position and the broken line position shown in FIG. It has become.
[0022]
The stopper claw 14 is provided on the upstream side in the document conveyance direction with respect to the paper feed roller 11, and the stopper claw 14 abuts on the leading end of the document bundle P so that the document bundle P is downstream in the document conveyance direction. This prevents entry to a certain paper feed roller 11 side.
The stopper claw 14 is driven by a swing solenoid 105. The swing solenoid 105 is turned on / off based on an output signal from the controller 101 so that the stopper claw 14 comes into contact with the document table 4. As a result, the position is moved between the home position that contacts the leading end of the document bundle P and the retreat position that retreats upward from this position.
[0023]
Specifically, the stopper claw 14 is attached to the drive shaft 44 as shown in FIG. 3, and a link 45 is attached to one end of the drive shaft 44. A spring 46 is attached to the upper portion of the link 45, and the spring 46 urges the link clockwise. A swing solenoid 105 is attached to the lower portion of the link 45. When the swing solenoid 105 is turned on by a signal from the controller 101, the link 45 is counterclockwise against the urging force of the spring 46. By swinging, the stopper claw 14 is moved to the home position.
[0024]
The document detection sensor 15b is provided in the vicinity of the stopper claw 14, and detects the presence or absence of a document within the movement range of the stopper claw 14, and outputs a signal to the controller 101.
A reversing path 42 composed of a pair of curved guide plates 42 a and 42 b is provided between the paper feeding roller 11, the reverse roller 12 and the contact glass 2, and is separated by the paper feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12. The document is conveyed toward the contact and the glass 2 with the upper and lower surfaces thereof reversed by the guide plates 42a and 42b.
[0025]
On the other hand, the loading / unloading means 6 is provided inside the conveyor belt 16, the conveyor belt driving roller 17 and the conveyor belt driven roller 18 provided at both ends of the conveyor belt 16, and the conveyor belt 16. And a plurality of pressure rollers 19 that pressurize the contact glass 2.
The conveyor belt driving roller 17 is driven by a conveyor belt motor 102, and this motor 102 corrects based on a signal from the controller 101 when the leading edge of the document is detected by the registration sensor 15a as described above. By rolling and driving, the conveying belt 16 is driven via the driving roller 17 to convey the document onto the contact glass 2.
[0026]
Further, when the registration sensor 15a detects the trailing edge of the document, the controller 101 counts the rotation pulse of the conveying belt motor 102 from the detection time point, and when the rotation pulse reaches a predetermined value, the drive roller 17 is driven. Is stopped and the conveying belt 16 is stopped, whereby the document is stopped at the exposure position on the contact glass 2.
Further, when the registration sensor 15a detects the trailing edge of the document, the controller 101 drives the paper feed motor 100 again, separates the subsequent document as described above, and conveys the document toward the contact glass 2. When the original is detected by the registration sensor 15a, the paper feed motor 100 is stopped to wait for the next original in advance.
[0027]
When the original stops at the exposure position of the contact glass 2, the copying machine 1 reads and exposes the original. When this reading and exposure are completed, a signal is input from the copying machine 1 to the controller 101. When this signal is input to the controller 101, the conveyor belt motor 102 is driven to rotate forward and the document is contacted by the conveyor belt 16. Unload from the glass 2 to the paper discharge means 7.
[0028]
The paper discharge means 7 includes a reverse driving roller 20, a paper discharge driven roller 21, a reverse guide roller 22, a reverse driven roller 23, a first switching claw 24, a second switching claw 25, a paper discharge driving roller 26, and a paper discharge driven roller 27. The reversing drive roller 20, the reversing guide roller 22 and the paper ejection driving roller 26 are driven by a paper ejection motor 103.
[0029]
The first switching claw 24 is driven to be switched by a first solenoid 106. When a single-sided document is discharged, the first position of the first switching claw 24 is a home position where the contact glass 2 and the first discharge tray 8 communicate with each other (the lower surface of the switching claw 24). Constitutes a part of the document transport path).
When the controller 101 is in a single-side mode for conveying a normal single-sided document (the initial setting is set to the single-side mode even if the single-side mode is not specified by the operation unit 108 provided in the copying machine 1), the first solenoid The first switching claw 24 is put on standby at the home position without driving 106, and the paper discharge motor 103 is driven simultaneously with the driving of the conveyor belt motor 102 after the reading and exposure of the document. Therefore, the document held by the reversing drive roller 20 and the discharge driven roller 21 is discharged linearly to the first discharge tray 8 without reversing the front and back surfaces.
[0030]
On the other hand, when the duplex mode is designated by the operation unit 108 provided in the copying machine 1, the controller 101 drives the first solenoid 106 based on the signal from the main controller 111 to move the first switching claw 24 to the home position position. To the position where the contact glass 2 and the reversing path 30 communicate with each other (as shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the switching claw 24 forms a part of the document conveying path), and reading and exposing one side of a double-sided document. After completion, the paper discharge motor 103 is driven at the same time as the conveyance belt motor 102 is driven. For this reason, the document is guided to the reversing path 30 sandwiched between the reversing drive roller 20 and the discharge driven roller 21 and conveyed toward the second switching claw 25 by the reversing guide roller 22.
[0031]
The second switching claw 25 is driven by the second solenoid 107, and when the document whose one side has been read is unloaded from the contact glass 2, it is not driven by the second solenoid 107 and is a reverse path. It is switched to a home position for opening the return path 31 provided between the contact glass 30 and the contact glass 2 (the lower surface of the second switching claw 25 constitutes a part of the document transport path as shown in FIG. 1). It has become.
[0032]
For this reason, the document unloaded from the contact glass 2 is conveyed to the reversing path 30 by the first switching claw 24, and then the reversing driving roller 20 with the front and back surfaces reversed to the return path 31 by the second switching claw 25. And it is clamped by the reverse driven roller 23 and returned to the contact glass 2.
When the leading edge of the document is detected by the paper discharge sensor 28 provided on the reverse path 30, the controller 101 drives the transport belt motor 102 in the reverse direction to drive the transport belt 16 in the reverse direction. When the rotation pulse of the conveying belt motor 102 from the time point when the toner reaches the predetermined value is determined, it is determined that the document has been conveyed to the exposure position on the contact glass 2, and the conveying belt motor 102 is stopped.
[0033]
When reading and exposure of the document are completed at the exposure position, a signal is input from the copying machine 1 to the controller 101. When this signal is input, the controller 101 drives the conveyor belt motor 102 to rotate forward, and the first The solenoid 106 is driven and the driving of the second solenoid 107 is stopped. The contact glass 2 and the reverse path 30 are communicated with each other by the first switching claw 24, and the return path 31 and the second discharge tray 9 are connected by the second switching claw 25. (The upper part of the second switching claw 25 constitutes a part of the document conveyance path), the document unloaded from the contact glass 2 is nipped and conveyed by the reverse drive roller 20 and the reverse driven roller 21. After that, the sheet is sandwiched between the sheet discharge driving roller 26 and the sheet discharge driven roller 27 and discharged onto the second sheet discharge tray 9.
[0034]
The copying machine 1 and the ADF 3 are connected via interfaces 109 and 110, and a copy start signal and a restart signal from the main controller 111 of the copying machine 1 are input to the controller 101 via the interfaces 109 and 110. In addition, the ADF 3 is supplied with power from the copying machine 1.
Further, the controller 101 determines whether or not the original is staying on the conveyance path due to jam or the like based on detection information from the registration sensor 15a, the paper discharge sensor 28, and the reverse sensor 29. For example, if the registration sensor 15a continues to detect a document for a predetermined time or more, it is determined that the document has jammed on the separating / feeding means 5, and the document is detected even if the registration sensor 15a has exceeded a predetermined time. If not, it is determined that there is a separation failure or a paper feed failure.
[0035]
If the paper discharge sensor 28 or the reverse sensor 29 continues to detect a document for a predetermined time or longer, Paper discharge means 7 If it is determined that the document has jammed, and the document is not detected even if the discharge sensor 28 or the reverse sensor 29 elapses after a predetermined time after the document is exposed, a document jam occurs on the contact glass 2. Judge that it was done.
[0036]
In addition, the controller 101 detects that the original is jammed or the original is stopped on the original conveying path due to the interruption of the original due to the operation of the clear / stop key on the copier 1 side. In addition, until the original is removed from the separating / feeding means 5, the stopper claw 14 is positioned at the retracted position based on the detection information from the original detection sensor 15b.
[0037]
In addition, when the jammed portion of the document is not the separating / feeding means 5, the controller 101 positions the stopper claw 14 at the retracted position and restarts the separating / feeding operation of the document when the start switch is pressed. ing.
Further, the controller 101 monitors the exposure signal from the main controller 111 of the copying machine 1 when the document staying at the staying position is not exposed on the contact glass 2, so that the unexposed staying document is detected. Is displayed on a display panel (display means) 112 provided in the copying machine 1 main body.
[0038]
In this embodiment, a cover 3a is provided on one side surface (left side in FIG. 1) of the main body of the ADF 3 so that the cover 3a can be freely opened and closed. In this case, the separation / paper feeding means 5 is exposed to the outside, and the staying original can be removed from the separation / paper feeding means 5.
Further, in this embodiment, a cover 3b is provided on the other side surface (right side in FIG. 1) of the main body of the ADF 3 so that it can be opened and closed. The paper discharge means 7 is exposed to the outside, and the staying original can be removed from the paper discharge means 7.
[0039]
Next, the operation will be described.
In this embodiment, single-sided and double-sided originals can be conveyed as described above, but here, single-sided original conveyance will be described.
First, when the document bundle P is set on the document tray 4, the leading end of the document bundle P abuts against the stopper claw 14 and is restricted from moving to the separation roller 11 side.
[0040]
In order to convey the original in the single-side original conveyance mode, the operator can place the original bundle P composed of a plurality of single-side originals on the original tray 4 without pressing the selection switch of the operation unit 108. When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, a paper feed start signal is input from the copying machine 1 to the ADF 3 via the interfaces 109 and 110.
[0041]
At this time, the driving of the swing solenoid 105 is stopped by the controller 101 and the stopper claw 14 is retracted upward from the leading end position of the document bundle P.
Next, the controller 101 drives the drive solenoid 104 to bring the calling roller 10 into contact with the document bundle P, and at the same time, the paper feeding motor 100 is driven to rotate forward to rotate the calling roller 10 clockwise so that the upper layer from the document bundle P is reached. Then, the document located at is fed, and the feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12 are rotated clockwise to separate only the topmost document from the document bundle P.
[0042]
The separated document is sandwiched between a pull-out driving roller 13 that rotates counterclockwise and a pull-out driven roller 13 a that rotates with the pull-out driving roller 13, pulled out from the paper feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12, and conveyed toward the contact glass 2. The
Next, when the registration sensor 15a detects the leading edge of the document, the controller 101 determines whether there is a next document based on the detection signal from the document detection sensor 15b.
[0043]
When there is a next document, the controller 101 stops driving the drive solenoid 104, retracts the calling roller 10 from the document bundle P, further drives the paper feed motor 100 in the reverse direction and drives the conveyance belt motor 102 in the normal direction. .
At this time, the calling roller 10 and the feeding roller 11 are stopped by the drive system interposed between the feeding motor 100 and the calling roller 10, the feeding roller 11, the reverse roller 12, and the pull-out driving roller 13, and the pull-out driving roller is stopped. 13 is continuously rotated in the counterclockwise direction and the reverse roller 12 is continuously rotated in the clockwise direction, thereby preventing the subsequent original from entering the nip portion between the feeding roller 11 and the reverse roller 12. And is not separated.
[0044]
When the registration sensor 15a detects the trailing edge of the document during the conveyance, the controller 101 counts the rotation pulse of the conveyance belt motor 102 from the detection time, and when the rotation pulse reaches a predetermined value, The driving is stopped and the conveying belt 16 is stopped, whereby the document is stopped at the exposure position on the contact glass 2.
On the other hand, when the trailing edge of the document is detected by the registration sensor 15a, the controller 101 drives the paper feed motor 100 again, separates the subsequent document as described above, and conveys the document toward the contact glass 2. When the original is detected by the registration sensor 15a, the paper feed motor 100 is stopped to wait for the next original in advance.
[0045]
When the original stops at the exposure position of the contact glass 2, the copying machine 1 reads and exposes the original. When this reading and exposure are completed, a restart signal is input from the copying machine 1 to the controller 101 via the interfaces 109 and 110. When this signal is input, the controller 101 drives the conveyor belt motor 102 to rotate forward. Then, the document is carried out from the contact glass 2 to the paper discharge means 7 by the transport belt 16.
[0046]
At this time, since the first switching claw 24 stands by at the home position, the controller 101 drives the paper discharge motor 103 at the same time as the conveyance belt motor 102 is driven after the document reading and exposure are completed. Therefore, the document held by the reversing drive roller 20 and the discharge driven roller 21 is discharged linearly to the first discharge tray 8 without reversing the front and back surfaces.
[0047]
When the next document feed start signal is input, the driving solenoid 104 is driven to bring the calling roller 10 into contact with the document bundle P, and the feeding motor 100 is driven again to call the calling roller 10 and the feeding roller. 11 or the like is driven to separate the subsequent document as described above and conveyed toward the contact glass 2 to continue the above-described processing.
Next, a process when the document transportation is interrupted for some reason during the document transportation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flow is a program stored in a ROM provided in the controller 101 and executed by the controller 101.
[0048]
Here, the following cases can be considered as the cause of the interruption.
(1) Interruption due to recording paper jam in the copier 1
(2) Interruption due to jam in ADF3 separation / feeding means 5
(3) Abort due to jam in ADF3 paper discharge means 7
First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not a skip paper discharge signal has been received from the copying machine 1. This skip sheet discharge signal is used to determine whether the interruption due to the above (1) or the clear / stop key provided on the operation unit 108 of the copying machine 1 has been pressed. Is received, all the documents in the transport path of the ADF 3 are discharged.
[0049]
Next, it is determined whether or not the document remains in the conveyance path by determining whether or not the registration sensor 15a, the paper discharge sensor 28, and the reverse sensor 29 are OFF (step S2). In step S3, it is determined that all the documents in the conveyance path have been discharged, and it is determined whether the document detection sensor 15b is OFF.
[0050]
On the other hand, if the skip paper discharge signal is not received in step S1, the registration sensor 15a, the paper discharge sensor 28, and the reverse sensor 29 determine whether or not a jam has occurred in the separation / paper supply means 5, as indicated by (2). If the jam does not occur, the process proceeds to step S2.
If a jam occurs, the cover 1a is opened and all the originals in the separating / feeding means 5 are removed, and then the presence or absence of the original in the reversing path 42 is determined by the registration sensor 15a. Is completely removed and the cover 3a is closed, the ADF 3 is reset to the initial state.
[0051]
Next, it is determined whether or not the document detection sensor 15b is OFF (step S3). If the document detection sensor 15b is ON, it is determined that the document is within the movement range of the stopper claw 14 and swings. The state where the solenoid 105 is turned OFF and the stopper claw 14 is moved to the retracted position is maintained, the drive of the drive solenoid 104 is stopped, and the calling roller 10 is retracted from the document bundle P (step S7).
[0052]
On the other hand, when the document detection sensor 15b is OFF, it is determined that there is no document within the moving range of the stopper claw 14, and the swinging solenoid 105 is turned ON to move the stopper claw 14 to the home position and drive. Stop driving the solenoid 104 and pull the calling roller 10 Document tray 4 (Steps S6 and S7). For this reason, a new bundle of documents can be reset on the document table 4a.
[0053]
Next, after the ADF 3 is lifted up, it is lifted down (step S8), and when the ADF 3 is correctly set on the copying machine 1, a jam clearing process is performed (step S9).
Further, in the case where jam does not occur in the separating / feeding means 5 in step S9 and a jam is caused by (1), if there is no first document, the leading edge of the document placed on the document placing table 4 is fed. The roller 11 and the reverse roller 12 are sandwiched. At this time, as described above, all the first-out originals in the conveyance path or the originals on the contact glass 2 are discharged by the skip paper discharge signal from the copying machine 1. At this time, when the original is not exposed at the exposure position of the contact glass 2, the number of originals is displayed on the display panel 112 of the copying machine 1.
[0054]
At this time, if there is a document within the movement range of the stopper claw 14 by the document detection sensor 15b, the stopper claw 14 has been moved to the retracted position, so that this unexposed document is used as the document on the document table 4. After the addition, when the copy start switch is operated again, document feeding is resumed.
In the case of jam due to (3), the process is the same as when the skip paper discharge signal is received. In this case, exposure is performed at the exposure position of the contact glass 2 when all the originals on the conveyance path are removed. If not, the number of originals is displayed on the display panel 112 of the copying machine 1. At this time, since the stopper claw 14 is moved to the retracted position, after the unexposed document is added to the document on the document table 4 and the copy start switch is operated again, the document feeding is resumed. Is done.
[0055]
As described above, in the present embodiment, when the conveyance of the document is interrupted and the document stays on the document conveyance path, the stopper claw 14 is set to the retracted position until the document is removed from the separating / feeding means 5. Therefore, the stopper claw 14 can be prevented from colliding with the document, and the document can be prevented from being damaged by the stopper claw 14.
[0056]
Further, since the document does not get caught on the stopper claw 14 when the document staying on the separating / feeding means 5 is taken out, the document can be easily taken out.
Further, when the document staying place is not the separation / paper feeding means 5, the stopper claw is positioned at the retracted position, and the document separation / paper feeding operation is resumed, so that the document transport operation is interrupted and separated. When a document stays on a conveyance path other than the paper feeding means 5, all the documents are reset on the document placement table 4 simply by adding the retained document to the document placed on the document placement table 4. Can be made unnecessary, and the original can be fed again in this state, and the usability of the ADF 3 can be improved.
[0057]
Further, when the document staying at the staying position is not exposed at the exposure position of the contact glass 2, the number of staying documents is displayed on the display panel 112 provided in the copying machine 1. Since it is only necessary to add an unexposed document to the document placed on the mounting table 4, it is possible to prevent the document that has already been exposed from being reset and re-exposed. Document transport time can be shortened.
[0058]
The display means such as the display panel may be provided on the ADF 3 side.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the conveyance of the original is interrupted and the original stays on the original conveyance path, the regulating means is set to the retracted position until the original is removed from the separating / feeding means. Since it is positioned, it is possible to prevent the restricting means from colliding with the original, and it is possible to prevent the original from being damaged by the restricting means.
[0060]
Further, since the original is not caught by the restricting means when taking out the staying original from the separating / feeding means, the original can be taken out easily.
Further, when the document transport operation is interrupted and the document stays on a transport path other than the separating / feeding means (for example, on the contact glass or the paper discharge means), the retained document is placed on the document placement table. This makes it unnecessary to reset all the originals on the original table simply by adding them to the original, and can refeed the originals in this state, thereby improving the usability of the automatic document feeder. be able to.
[0061]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since it is only necessary to add an unexposed original to the original placed on the original placing table, it is possible to reset and reexpose the already exposed original. This can be prevented, and the document transport time can be shortened.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to reset all the documents on the document table by simply adding the accumulated document to the document placed on the document table, and in this state, The document can be re-fed and the usability of the automatic document feeder can be improved.
[0062]
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since it is only necessary to add the staying document to the document placed on the document placing table after knowing the number of staying documents not exposed in advance, the exposure has already been performed. In addition, it is possible to prevent the original from being re-set and re-exposed, and the time for transporting the original can be shortened.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic document feeder that achieves a document feeding method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a drive mechanism of an automatic document feeder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a separating / feeding unit according to an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a stopper claw, a sheet feeding roller, a reverse roller, and a calling roller according to an embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing when the conveyance of an original according to an embodiment is interrupted.
[Explanation of symbols]
3 ADF (automatic document feeder)
4 Document tray (document table)
5 Separation / feeding means
14 Stopper claw (regulation means)
15b Document detection sensor (detection means)
101 Controller (control means)
112 Display panel (display means)

Claims (4)

An automatic document feeder mounted on an image forming apparatus,
A document table on which a stack of documents composed of a plurality of documents can be placed;
Separating / feeding means for separating the uppermost document one by one from the document stack placed on the document placing table and transporting it one by one toward the exposure position;
It is provided so as to be movable between a home position that contacts the document table and a retracted position that retracts from the document table. Restricting means for restricting movement to the downstream side of the document conveyance direction,
An automatic document feeder comprising: a detecting unit that detects presence or absence of a document on a document conveyance path including the document table;
Providing a control means for controlling movement of the restricting means based on detection information from the detecting means;
The control means waits until the original is removed from the separation / feeding means when the conveyance of the original is interrupted during the conveyance of the original, and at least when the original stays on the conveyance path of the separation / feeding means. Is based on the detection information from the detection means, after the restriction means is positioned at the retracted position, when the staying original is removed from the conveyance path, the restriction means is positioned at the home position,
When the staying place of the document is not on the transport path of the separating / feeding means, the regulating means is maintained in the retracted position, and the separating / feeding operation of the document is performed when the feeding start signal is input. An automatic document feeder that restarts.   2. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the number of staying documents when the document staying at the staying position is not exposed at the exposure position. 2. A document conveying method using an automatic document conveying device according to claim 1, wherein when the document stays on a conveyance path other than the separating / feeding means, the regulating means is positioned at a retracted position, and the document is placed on the document placing table. the residence document on the document stack after Tsukeashi the document feeding method characterized by separating from the document at the top to resume document separation and feeding operation when the sheet feed start signal is input . 3. A document conveying method using an automatic document conveying device according to claim 2, wherein when the document stays on a transport path other than the separating / feeding means, the restricting means is positioned at a retracted position, and the number of staying documents. and displayed by the display means, the said residence document displayed by the display means to the document stack on the document table after Tsukeashi, resume document separation and feeding operation when the input paper feeding start signal And a document conveying method characterized in that the document is separated from the document located at the uppermost position.

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