JPH09278266A - Document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retract a regulation plate, which is arranged on the discharge tray side freely retractably, when a long document is fed. SOLUTION: A document feeder, by which read documents D are stacked in collated form on a discharge tray 12 with their tips arranged in order, is provided with a photosensor 1 detecting a conveying directional length of the document D, a regulation plate 13 arranged on the discharge tray 12 side for arranging the tip parts of the documents D in order, a shutter 14, and a solenoid 15 which detects the document D with the predetermined length or more and retracts the regulation plate 13 from the discharge tray 12 face. If an unexpectedly long document D is fed, the regulation plate 13 is retracted from the discharge tray 12 face, so that the document D can be prevented from being hooked on the regulation plate 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document feeder, and more specifically, it automatically conveys a document placed on a document table and reads it at a predetermined position, and discharges the document after the reading to a discharge tray. The present invention relates to a document feeder for stacking and loading.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional document feeder, in order to stack documents after being read by a reading section in an aligned state on a discharge tray, for example, side regulating members are provided to regulate the left and right sides of the documents. A regulation plate for regulating the leading edge of the original has been provided for the purpose of aligning the leading edges of the discharged originals in the transport direction.

[0003]

However, for example, when originals having different original lengths are sent to the discharge tray, if the position of the regulating plate is set assuming the originals of a predetermined length, it is longer than that. When a document is sent, the leading end of the document is caught by the regulation plate, and the document is damaged.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and its object is to make a restriction plate for aligning the leading ends of originals freely appearing and retracting even when originals having different original lengths are mixed. An object of the present invention is to provide a document feeding device that can easily cope with the problem.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a document (1) placed on a document table (21).
0) is forcibly conveyed toward the document reading unit (11), the document (D) is read by the document reading unit (11), and the document (D) after reading is conveyed toward the discharge tray (12). Then, a document feeding device (9) capable of stacking the document (D) in an aligned state on the discharge tray (12).
In (01), a detection means (1) for detecting the length of the original document (D) in the transport direction and a leading edge regulating means (for aligning the leading end portion of the original document (D) provided on the side of the discharge tray (12) ( 13) and the detection means (1) detects a document (D) having a length in the transport direction of a predetermined value or more, the front end regulating means (13) is temporarily moved from the discharge tray (12) surface. And a retracting means (14, 15) for retracting to.

[0006] Preferably, the tip regulation means (13)
Has a restricting member which is provided so as to be retractable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the tray surface of the discharge tray (12).

Further, preferably, the tip regulating means (1
3) is arranged so as to be tiltable with respect to the tray surface of the discharge tray (12).

(Operation) Based on the above-described matters specifying the invention, in the present invention, the length of the original document (D) is changed during the continuous conveyance of the original document (D) from the original table (21) toward the reading section. Detecting means (1) for detecting and discharged document (D)
And a tip regulation means (13) for aligning the tip sides of the ejection trays (1).
2) Retreat means (14, 15) for temporarily retreating from the surface
By including the document (D), for example, when the document (D) contains a document longer than expected, this is automatically detected during transportation, and the leading edge regulating means (13) is set. It is possible to immediately retract the original (D) from the surface of the discharge tray (12) and prevent the original (D) from being damaged by being caught by the leading edge regulating means (13).

The reference numerals in the parentheses are for the purpose of contrasting with the drawings, but do not limit the present invention in any way.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First of all, FIG. 3 shows an example of an image forming apparatus main body (copier main body) equipped with a document feeder according to the present invention.

The image forming apparatus main body (copier main body) 900 includes a document feeding device 901, a platen glass 921 of a document reading unit 11 described later, a light source 907, a lens system 908, a paper feeding unit 909, an image forming unit 902, and a control unit. The device 930 and the like are provided.

The paper feeding unit 909 accommodates recording sheets and is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 900.
11 and the deck 91 arranged on the pedestal 912
Three. The image forming unit 902 includes a cylindrical photosensitive drum (image forming unit) 914 and a developing device 91 around the photosensitive drum (image forming unit) 914.
5, a transfer charger 916, a separation charger 917, a cleaner 918, a primary charger 919, etc. are provided respectively. At the downstream side of the image forming unit 902, the conveyance device 920,
A fixing device 904, a discharge roller pair 905, and the like are provided.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus main body will be briefly described.

When a paper feed signal is output from a controller (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body side 900, the cassette 9
The sheet S is fed from 10, 911 or the deck 913. On the other hand, the original document D placed on the original document table 21 is sent to the original document reading unit 11, and the original document D is read in the original document reading unit 11.
Is illuminated by a light source 907. At this time, the light that is applied to and reflected by the document D is applied to the photosensitive drum 914 through the lens system 908. The photosensitive drum 914 is charged in advance by a primary charger 919, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by irradiation with light, and then the electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing unit 915 to form a toner image. .

The sheet material S fed from the paper feeding unit 909
The skew is corrected by the registration roller 910, and the timing is adjusted to be sent to the image forming unit 902. In the image forming unit 902, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 914 is
The sheet material S to which the toner image has been transferred to the sheet material S that has been transferred by the transfer charger 916 is charged to the opposite polarity to the transfer charger 916 by the separation charger 917, and is transferred from the photosensitive drum 914. Separated.

Then, the separated sheet material S is conveyed to the fixing device 904 by the conveying device 920, and the transferred image is permanently fixed on the sheet material S by the fixing device 904.
The sheet material S on which the image is fixed is discharged from the apparatus main body 900 by the discharge roller pair 905. In this way,
An image is formed on the sheet material S fed from the paper feeding unit 909 and is discharged.

In the above, the present invention relates to the structure of the document feeding device 901 described above.

As shown in FIG. 1, the document D placed on the document table 21 is automatically fed by the paper feed roller 3, and is conveyed by the conveyance roller 6 and the separation rollers 2 and 2. 5,
It is sent to the document reading section 11 by the number 5. The document reading unit 11 has the light source 907 and the lens system 908 below the platen glass 921 as described above. After the document is read by the document reading unit 11, the feed roller 8 and the conveyor belt 9 are provided. And is discharged to the discharge tray 12 by the discharge roller 4.

In the present invention, the detecting means for detecting the length of the original D in the conveying direction, the leading end regulating means provided on the side of the discharge tray 12 for aligning the leading end portions of the original D, and the detecting means. And a retracting means for temporarily retracting the leading edge regulating means from the surface of the discharge tray 12 based on the detection of the document D whose length in the transport direction is a predetermined value or more.

That is, a photo sensor 1 is provided in front of the carrying rollers 5, 5, and the photo sensor 1 detects the length of the document D in the carrying direction in advance. Further, on the side of the discharge tray 12, there is provided a regulating plate 13 as a leading edge regulating means for aligning the leading end portions of the documents D. In the vicinity of the regulation plate 13, the regulation plate 13
A photo sensor 16 is provided to detect the position of the.

Further, the document D read by the document reading section 11 is conveyed by the conveyor belt 9 and the discharge roller 4 and discharged to the discharge tray 12 side. The discharged originals D are aligned with the leading ends thereof regulated by the regulation plate 13 and are stacked on the ejection tray 12 in an aligned state.

On the other hand, originals D having different lengths from the original table 21
When the sheet is sent, the length of the document D is detected in advance by the photo sensor 1 provided in front of the transport rollers 5, 5, and the position of the regulation plate 13 is detected by the photo sensor 16. The length of the original document D and the position of the regulation plate 13 are compared and judged by the control device 930.

As a result, when the length of the document D is longer than the position of the regulating plate 13, the solenoid 15 constituting the retreating means is activated based on the detection of the long document D by the photosensor 1. As a result, the shutter 14 is opened, whereby the regulation plate 13 descends toward the tray 17 provided below the discharge tray 12. Thus, by retracting the regulation plate 13 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the document placement surface of the discharge tray 12, it is possible to prevent a long document from being caught by the regulation plate 13.

In this case, the regulating plate 13 once lowered is manually pushed up in the next use, but the sensor 16 detects the upward movement of the regulating plate 13 and the solenoid 15 is actuated to operate the shutter 14. Is to close.

In the above description, the regulation plate 13 may be automatically returned to the original position after the regulation plate 13 is lowered and the long original D is completely discharged. For this purpose, a motor / gear combination mechanism or the like for automatically allowing the regulating plate 13 to be retracted from the surface of the discharge tray 12 may be attached.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the regulation plate 13 is retracted by retracting it from the surface of the discharge tray 12 has been described. You may make it arrange | position inclining with respect to the discharge tray 12 surface.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, the regulating plate 13 is rotatably pivoted about a pin 20,
Further, a gear 13a is formed on the other end side of the regulation plate 13. Then, the gear 19 is attached to the shaft of the motor 18 arranged in the vicinity of the regulation plate 13, and the gear 13 is meshed with the gear 19, so that the motor 18 is driven to move the regulation plate 13 through the gear 19. Can be tilted.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a document whose length in the transport direction is greater than a specified value is detected,
By temporarily retracting the leading edge regulating means that regulates the leading edge of the document on the discharge tray side from the surface of the discharge tray, for example, the length of the document is mixed and the document longer than expected is discharged. Even in the case that the document is caught, it is possible to prevent the problem that the document is caught by the leading edge regulating means and the document is damaged.

In this case, it is possible to prevent the document from being caught in the leading edge regulating means by allowing the leading edge regulating means to be retracted into and out of the ejection tray surface, and by retracting the leading edge regulating means at an angle with respect to the ejection tray surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing an entire document feeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a mechanism of a main part for retracting the tip regulation means.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of an image forming apparatus main body to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 16 Photo sensor 2 Separation roller 3 Paper feed roller 4 Ejection roller 5, 6 Conveyor roller 9 Conveyor belt 11 Document reading section 12 Ejection tray 13 Restriction plate 14 Shutter 15 Solenoid 18 Motor 19 Gear 20 pin 21 Manuscript table D Manuscript 901 Manuscript Feeder

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A document placed on a document table is forcibly conveyed toward a document reading unit, the document is read by the document reading unit, and the document after reading is conveyed toward a discharge tray to discharge the document. In a document feeding device capable of stacking the originals in an aligned state on a tray, a detection means for detecting the length of the originals in the conveying direction, and a leading edge regulation provided on the discharge tray side for aligning the leading edges of the originals Means and a retracting means for temporarily retracting the leading edge regulating means from the surface of the discharge tray based on the detection means detecting a document having a length in the transport direction of a predetermined value or more. Characteristic document feeder. 2. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the leading edge regulating means has a regulating member provided so as to be retractable in a direction substantially orthogonal to a tray surface of the discharge tray. 3. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the leading edge regulating means is arranged so as to be inclined with respect to the tray surface of the discharge tray.