JPH08290850A - Automatic document feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an automatic document feeding device in which can be shortened time required to refeed paper after the jam disposal of documents by not releasing the pressure applied to a sheaf of documents by a pressure means in the case of an unfeeding jam being generated. CONSTITUTION: When a holdup jam is generated in a document conveying path 11, pressure applied by a push-up plate 7 is released simultaneously with the opening of an opening/closing cover 19. In the case of an unfeeding jam being generated by a document separating failure, a body 1a is opened/closed to release the jam, and at this time, the push-up plate 7 is maintained in a specified paper feeding start position without releasing pressure applied by the push-up plate 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder, and more specifically, it is provided in an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a compound facsimile machine, a scanner machine, or the like, and feeds a plurality of sheet originals in a predetermined manner. The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder having a pressure unit that applies pressure to a start position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic document feeder, a large number of sheet originals are stacked and accommodated so that a large number of sheet originals can be copied, and a push-up plate for pushing up the sheet originals to a predetermined start sheet feeding position. There is a device in which a receiving means such as the like is provided, and the original is brought into contact with a paper feeding belt or the like by pushing up the receiving means to a predetermined paper feeding start position and is conveyed to the reading position by the paper feeding belt or the like. .

By the way, in such an automatic document feeder, when a sheet document fed from the receiving means causes a jam or the like on the conveying path, the jammed document is removed and then the receiving means. Since the work of pressing the sheet against the paper feed belt etc. again is included, it is necessary to separate the receiving means from the paper feed belt etc. and then press it again against the paper feed belt etc. The work has become very troublesome.

[0004] Therefore, conventionally, as a means for solving such a problem, there is one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-139822. In this device, a stacking means for stacking sheet originals and pushing them up to a predetermined sheet feeding start position and a sheet original pushed up to a predetermined sheet feeding start position by this receiving means are separated one by one, A sheet feeding unit that conveys the sheet toward an image reading position via a conveyance path, an automatic lowering unit that is provided in the receiving unit, and automatically lowers sheet originals stacked and stored in the receiving unit, and a sheet. When a trouble signal such as a jam of a document is sent to send a sheet document,
A control means for operating the automatic lowering means is provided so that the jam processing of the sheet original can be performed easily and quickly. As a trouble signal for feeding the sheet original when a jam of the sheet original occurs, the registration sensor provided in the original conveying path keeps outputting the signal when the original stays in the conveying path for a predetermined time or more. There is a so-called non-feed jam in which the registration sensor does not detect the document due to a jammed stay or a document separation failure.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional automatic document feeder, a separation failure of sheet originals occurs and a non-feed jam occurs which remains on the receiving means. Even in this case, since the automatic lowering means is operated, the re-feeding operation is delayed by the amount that the receiving means is pushed up to the predetermined feeding start position again when re-feeding after the jam processing. There was a problem of being lost.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a non-feed jam occurs, the time required for re-feeding the sheet original after the jam processing is performed without releasing the pressurization of the original bundle by the pressing means. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic document feeder that can shorten the time.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an automatic document feeder mounted on an image reading device so as to be openable and closable, and an original placing table on which an original stack of a plurality of sheet originals is placed, and the original placing table A pressurizing unit that is provided to press the document stack to a predetermined paper feed start position, and separates the sheet originals one by one from the document stack that has been pressed to the predetermined paper feed start position by the pressurizing unit, and feeds them through the transport path. Separating / feeding means that conveys the image toward the image reading position, an opening / closing cover that can be opened and closed with respect to the main body of the apparatus so that the conveying path can be exposed, and a separating and A sheet original detecting unit for detecting the opened sheet original, an open / closed state detecting unit for detecting an open / closed state of the open / close cover, and an operation detecting unit for detecting an operation other than the open / closed state of the open / close cover. In the paper feeder, When it is determined that the sheet document remains in the conveying path based on the release signal provided in the pressure device and releasing the pressure of the document stack by the pressure device, and the detection signal from the sheet document detection device, At the same time that the opening / closing cover is detected to be opened based on the detection signal from the opening / closing state detecting means, the pressure of the pressing means is released, and the sheet is detected based on the detection signal from the sheet document detecting means. When it is determined that a document has not been fed, a motion other than the cover opening is detected based on the detection signal from the motion detecting means, and control is performed to maintain the pressure applied by the pressure applying means. And a control means.

In this case, when a jam occurs in the sheet original conveying path (the sheet original conveying path from the original placing table to the original reading position), the cover is opened and the pressing means operates at the same time. Since the pressurization is released, the jam processing in the transport path is quickly performed. Further, when a non-feed jam occurs due to poor separation of documents, the jam is released when an operation other than the cover opening operation is performed, and at this time, the pressure applied by the pressurizing means is released. Instead, since the sheet is located at the predetermined start sheet feeding position, sheet document feeding is immediately resumed after the processing of the non-feed jam, and the time required for sheet re-feeding is shortened.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the operation detecting means detects an operation in which the main body of the apparatus is opened and closed with respect to the image reading apparatus. It is characterized by that. In that case, since the non-feeding jam is processed only by opening and closing the main body of the apparatus, the working time of the jam processing is greatly shortened and the time required for re-feeding is greatly shortened.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 are views showing a first embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention, and the present invention is applied to a sheet-through type automatic document feeder for reading a document being conveyed through a slit glass. An example is shown.

First, the structure will be described. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic document feeder, which is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to a contact glass 3 provided on an upper surface of a copying machine 2 which constitutes an image reading apparatus. Four
1 bundle of originals P made up of a plurality of sheet originals placed on the
The slit glass 5 is automatically fed sheet by sheet.

A pair of side fences 6 are mounted on the document table 4.
Is provided (only the front side is shown in FIG. 1), and the side fence 6 positions the document P in the width direction. Further, in front of the document placing table 4 (document stack P
A push-up plate (pressurizing means) 7 is provided on the front side of the sheet feeding device. The push-up plate 7 contacts the document stack P with the lower end of the sheet feeding belt 8 at the predetermined feeding start position. The front side of the document stack P is pushed up.

The paper feed belt 8 feeds the document stack P pushed up by the push-up plate 7, and the sheet document fed by the paper feed belt 8 is moved to the uppermost position by the separation roller 9. Only the originals that are located are separated. This separated sheet original is
A guide glass 10 guides the document to a slit glass 5 which is a reading position of a document via a conveyance path 11, and the slit glass 5 is exposed by an exposure device (not shown). The exposed sheet original is conveyed by a pair of conveyance rollers 12 and a pair of paper ejection rollers 13 to a conveyance path 14.
After being conveyed above, it is ejected onto the document ejection tray 15.

In the present embodiment, the paper feed belt 8, the separation roller 9 and the conveyance roller 10 constitute a separation / paper feeding means, and these members are driven by the conveyance motor 25. A document detecting sensor 16 is provided on the document placing table 4, and the sensor 16 outputs a signal to the controller 17 by detecting that a document is set on the document placing table 4. . A registration sensor (sheet document detecting means) 18 is provided on the transport path 11, and the sensor 18 detects the front and rear ends of the sheet document and outputs a signal to the controller 17. The controller 17 outputs a signal to the controller of the copying machine 2 based on the signal from the registration sensor 18, and the copying machine 2 controls the exposure device based on this signal to read the original through the slit glass 5. .

An opening / closing cover 19 is provided on the side of the main body 1a of the apparatus 1, and the opening / closing cover 19 is provided on the main body 1a.
It constitutes a part of the transport path 11 together with the side portion of a and can be opened and closed with respect to the main body 1a so that the transport path 11 can be exposed. Further, the main body 1a below the opening / closing cover 19 is provided with a micro switch 20 as an opening / closing state detecting means, and the switch 20 is turned on / off as the opening / closing cover 1a is opened / closed to open / close the opening / closing cover 19. The open / closed state is detected and a signal is output to the controller 17. Further, a paper discharge sensor 21 is provided on the transport path 14, and the paper discharge sensor 21 detects the front and rear ends of the sheet document and outputs a signal to the controller 17.

The main body 1a is located below the main body 1a of the apparatus 1.
A micro switch (operation detecting means) 24 for detecting the open / closed state of a is provided, and this switch 24 is turned on / off in accordance with the opening / closing of the main body 1a to detect the open / closed state of the main body 1a, and to the controller 17. It is designed to output a signal. On the other hand, the push-up plate 7 is configured to move up and down by a drive mechanism 22 as shown in FIG. 2. The drive mechanism 22 is not described in detail, but a motor, a speed reducer for reducing the drive force of the motor, and It may be composed of an actuator that converts the motion of the speed reducer into vertical motion of the lifting plate 7, or may be composed of a cylinder that moves the lifting plate 7 up and down. The drive mechanism 22 is driven by a signal from the controller 17, and the controller 17 determines that the sheet original remains in the sheet original conveying path 11 based on the detection signal from the registration sensor 18. When the determination is made, the opening and closing cover 19 is detected based on the detection signal from the micro switch 20 and is operated at the same time, so that the front side of the sheet originals stacked and accommodated on the push-up plate 7 is moved. It is designed to move down automatically.

The controller 17 is a registration sensor.
When it is determined that a non-feeding jam of the sheet original has occurred based on the detection signal from 18, and when it is detected that the main body 1a is opened / closed based on the detection signal from the microswitch 24, the drive mechanism The push-up plate 7 is not moved downward by 22 and is kept at the same position, and the document stack P is pressed against the separation belt 8. In this embodiment,
The drive mechanism 22 constitutes a pressurizing means and a releasing means, and the controller 17 constitutes a control means.

A push-up plate detection sensor 23 is provided below the push-up plate 7, and the sensor 23 detects the push-up plate 7 moved downward and outputs a signal to the controller 17. Has become. When the signal from the sensor 23 is input, the controller 17 stops the driving of the drive mechanism 22 and positions the push-up plate 7 at a predetermined downward movement position. Next, FIG.
The operation will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. The flow of FIG. 4 is executed by the controller 17.

First, it is judged whether or not the print button (copy start key) is turned on (step S1),
When it is turned on, it is determined whether or not the document stack P is placed on the document table 4 based on the output information from the document detection sensor 16 (step S2). When the document detection sensor 16 detects the document stack P, it is determined that the document stack P is placed, and at this time, the drive mechanism 22 moves the push-up plate 7 upward to move the front side of the document stack P. Is brought into contact with the paper feed belt 8 (step S3), the conveyance motor 25 is driven (step S4), and the original stack P is separated into one sheet by the paper feed belt 8 and the separation roller 9 and is fed.

Immediately after the start of driving of the carry motor 25, the number of rotations of the carry roller 10 is counted by a pulse generator (not shown) (step S5). Next, the transport roller 10
Sensor when the number of rotations is within a predetermined pulse
It is determined whether the leading edge of the sheet document is detected by step 18 (step S6). The predetermined pulse is a pulse count corresponding to the distance from the paper feed start position to the registration sensor 18 plus some distance.

When the leading edge of the sheet original is not detected within the predetermined pulse, a slip or the like occurs between the separation belt 8 and the separation roller 9 and the original stack P, and the sheet original is not separated. (Step S
7) The driving of the carry motor 25 is stopped, and the fact that a jam has occurred is displayed (step S8). When the user determines from the display content of the display unit that the jam has not occurred, the user opens and closes the main body 1a.

Then, it is determined whether or not the main body 1a is opened / closed by the micro switch 24, and when it is detected that the main body 1a is opened / closed, the jam state is reset (YES in step S12), and the process proceeds to step S1. And step S1
Perform the following processing. On the other hand, when the leading edge of the sheet original is detected by the registration sensor 18 within the predetermined pulse in step S6, the number of pulses of the transport roller 10 from the time when the leading edge is detected is counted (step S13), and the registration is performed within the predetermined pulse. It is determined whether the sensor 18 has detected the trailing edge of the sheet document (step S14).

When the trailing edge of the sheet document is not detected within the predetermined pulse, it is determined that the sheet document stays in the transport path 11 (so-called stay jam) (step S15) and the driving of the transport motor 25 is stopped. And at the same time, it is displayed on the display section (step S8). The user opens the open / close cover 19 when it is determined from the display contents of the display unit that there is a jam. Therefore, the transport path 11 is exposed as shown in FIG.

Then, it is determined whether or not the main body 1a is opened / closed by the micro switch 24 (step S9), and if it is not opened / closed, it is determined whether or not the opening / closing cover 19 is opened (step S10). In this case, since the opening / closing cover 19 is opened by the user, it is determined that the sheet original remains in the conveyance path 11 from the original placing table 4 to the slit glass 5, and the driving mechanism 22 is immediately driven to push it up. The plate 7 is moved downward (step S11), and the document stack P is separated from the paper feed belt 8. Next, when the user removes the sheet originals from the conveyance path 11 and sets the original bundle P again (step S12), the process proceeds to the flow of step S1 and the drive mechanism 22 moves the push-up plate 7 upward. It is again moved to the original feeding start position.

If the trailing edge of the original is detected by the registration sensor 18 within the predetermined pulse in step S14, it is determined that the jam of the sheet original has not occurred, and the image of the original sheet is read by the exposure device. After reading (step S16), when the document detection sensor 16 detects that there is a subsequent sheet document on the document table 4 (YES in step S17), the flow from step S4 is executed to read an image. Then, the jam removal processing is performed, and if there is no document (NO in step S17), the current processing is ended.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the retention jam occurs in the sheet original conveyance path 11, the opening / closing cover 19 is opened and the pressure applied by the push-up plate 7 is released at the same time. It is possible to quickly perform jam processing in the transport path 11. Further, when a non-feed jam occurs due to poor separation of originals, the jam is released by opening and closing the main body 1a, and at this time, a predetermined paper feed is started without releasing the pressure applied by the push-up plate 7. In position,
The feeding of the sheet original can be immediately restarted after the processing of the non-feed jam, and the time required for the re-feeding can be shortened.

Further, since the non-feeding jam can be processed only by opening and closing the main body 1a, the working time of the jam processing can be greatly shortened and the time required for re-feeding can be greatly shortened. be able to. In the present embodiment, the stack of documents P is pressed against the separation belt 9 from the lower side, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be pressed from the upper side to the lower side. This type is described in the examples below.

FIGS. 5 to 12 are views showing a second embodiment of the automatic document feeder according to the present invention. In the present invention, an original automatic document feeder of the type in which the original is stopped by the contact glass and the original is read through the contact glass. Applied to. In FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, 31 is an automatic document feeder, and this device 31 covers a contact glass 32 provided at the upper part of an image reading device (not shown) and constituting a reading position. This device 31
A document placing table 33 on which a document bundle P made up of a plurality of sheet documents is placed and a sheet original at the bottom of the document bundle P placed on the document placing table 33 are separated one by one and fed onto the contact glass 32. Separation unit (separation / paper feeding unit) 34 for sending, and separation / paper feeding unit
The transport unit 35 that loads and unloads the sheet document sent from the sheet 34 onto the contact glass 32, and the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet document transported by the transport unit 35 are reversed, and then the discharge table.
A paper discharge unit 37 that discharges onto the paper 36 and a controller 38 that controls these are provided.

The separating section 34 is provided with a calling roller 41 for feeding the sheet originals located at the lowermost part of the original stack P placed on the original placing table 33, and contactable with and separating from the calling roller 41. The document stack P is operated by the calling solenoid 70.
A pressing lever 41a that presses the calling roller 41 from above, a separation roller 43 that is provided in front of the calling roller 41 in the document conveying direction, and is turned on and off by the paper feed clutch 42, and the separation roller 43. Separation belt 44 for separating the bottom sheet original into one sheet in conjunction with
A document detection sensor 45 for detecting the presence or absence of the document stack P on the 33,
The separation roller 43 and the separation belt 44 separate only the lowermost sheet original due to the difference in speed between them and the difference in friction coefficient with the original paper, and then the conveyance path that connects the original placing table 33 and the contact glass 32. It is designed to be transported to 52.

The calling lever 41a is driven by a calling solenoid (release means) 70,
When the calling solenoid 70 is driven by the controller 38, as shown in FIG. 9, the original stack P is pressed against the calling roller 41 from above. The calling roller 41 and the separation roller 43 described above are operated by the controller 32.
A plurality of gears 47 from a conveyance motor 46 that is driven N / OFF
The driving force is transmitted to the sheet feeding clutch 42 via A, 47B, 47C, and 47D, so that the sheet feeding clutch 42 is rotated. The paper feed clutch 42 is designed so that the driving force is cut off by the registration sensor (sheet document detecting means) 48 detecting the leading edge of the sheet document. When the driving force is cut off, the separation roller 43 is driven. The force is cut off so that subsequent sheet documents will not be separated. When the trailing edge of the sheet document is detected by the registration sensor 48, the sheet feeding clutch 42 is activated again to operate the separation roller 43 to feed the subsequent sheet document.

The conveying section 35 is provided on the same axis as the separating roller 43, holds the sheet original separated by the separating roller 43 and the separating belt 44 together with the driven roller 49, and places the original on the original table 33.
And a pull-out roller 50 that conveys the contact glass 32 on a conveying path 52, a pulse generator 51 that is provided on the same axis as the driven roller 49 and counts the number of rotations of the driven roller 49, and the conveying path 52. The registration sensor 48 is provided to detect the front edge and the rear edge of the sheet document, the conveyor belt 55 wound around the pair of rollers 53 and 54, and a plurality of lower portions of the conveyor belt 55 are pressed against the contact glass 32. The pressing rollers 56a to 56d, and the fixed roller 57 that determines the position for inserting the sheet original between the conveying belt 55 and the contact glass 32.

In the carrying section 35, when the carrying motor 46 is normally rotated, the rotational force is transmitted to the pull-out roller 50 through the gears 47A, 47B, 47C and 47E, and the carrying motor 46 is rotated in the reverse direction. As a result, the rotational force is applied to the gears 47A, 47A.
It is configured to be transmitted to the roller 53 via B, 47C, and 47F, and when the transport motor 46 is normally rotated, the sheet original separated by the separating unit 34 is carried into the reading position on the contact glass 32. , The sheet original after the reading is completed is conveyed from the contact glass 32 to the discharge portion 37.

Here, the reading position is, for example, a position where the rear end position of the sheet original in the conveying direction coincides with the front end of the left original scale 58 which is the reference position of the contact glass 32 in FIG. A driven roller to which the rotational force of the transport motor 46 is transmitted after detecting the trailing edge of the document.
By driving the conveyor belt 55 in the reverse direction based on the count number of 49, the leading end of the original scale 58, that is, the reference scale is matched. Note that the gear 47C has a built-in one-way clutch, and when the conveyance motor 46 rotates in the reverse direction, the rotational force of the motor 46 is separated by the separating unit 14 and the pullout roller 50.
It is designed not to communicate to.

The paper discharge section 37 is provided with a reversing guide 59 which extends upward from the roller 54 side on the contact glass 32 and a guide, which is provided along the guide 59 and is operated by a paper discharge motor 60. The roller 61 and the sheet discharge position provided on the downstream side of the sheet discharge roller 61, and the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet document conveyed by the sheet discharge roller 61 are reversed, and then discharged onto the sheet discharge table 36 and the sheet document. After reversing the lower surface, the deflecting claw 62 that can switch to the document returning position for returning the sheet original to the contact glass 32 again, the paper discharge sensor 63 for detecting the original in the reverse guide 59, and the downstream of the reverse guide 59 And a discharge roller 64 that discharges the original to the discharge table 36,
And a branch guide 65 that divides a passage communicating with the contact glass 32 from the reversing path together with the deflecting claw 62 when the deflecting claw 62 is in the document returning position. There is.

The paper discharge roller 61 is connected to the paper discharge motor 60, and the paper discharge sensor 63 outputs a signal to the controller 38 when detecting the leading edge of the document, and the controller 38 causes the paper discharge motor 60 to output.
Is designed to slow down. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, an opening / closing cover 66 is provided on the side of the main body 31a, and the opening / closing cover 66 opens the side of the main body 31a so that the conveyance path 52 can be exposed to the outside. Fulcrum 66 for main body 31a
It can be opened and closed around c. Also, the open / close cover 66
Is provided with a lever 66a, and the main body 31a is provided with a micro switch 67.
The lever 66a turns on the micro switch 67 when the
It is designed to be turned off.

The output information from the micro switch 67 is output to the controller 38, and the controller 67 detects the open / closed state of the open / close cover 66 based on this output information. In the present embodiment, the lever 66a and the micro switch 67 constitute the open / closed state detecting means. Further, a filler 66b is swingably provided on the opening / closing cover 66,
The document detection sensor 45 detects the filler 66b when the opening / closing cover 66 is closed. When the original stack P is placed on the original table 33, the original bundle P causes the filler 66b to swing clockwise in FIG. 11A, and the original detection sensor 45 does not detect the filler 66b. This state is output to the controller 38 as the set state of the document bundle P.

A micro switch (motion detecting means) 68 for detecting the open / closed state of the main body 31a is provided below the main body 31a. The switch 68 is turned on / off when the main body 31a is opened / closed. The open / closed state of the main body 31a is detected and a signal is output to the controller 38. When the controller 17 determines that the sheet original remains in the sheet original conveyance path 52 based on the detection information from the registration sensor 48, the opening / closing cover 66 is opened based on the detection signal from the micro switch 67. When the calling solenoid 70 is driven at the same time when is detected, the calling lever 41a is moved upward to release the press of the document stack P against the calling roller 41.

The controller 38 is a registration sensor.
When it is determined based on the detection signal from 48 that a sheet document non-feed jam has occurred, and based on the detection signal from the microswitch 68, it is detected that the main body 31a is opened / closed, the calling solenoid By 70, the calling lever 41a is maintained in the same position without moving up, and the document stack P is pressed against the calling roller 41. In this embodiment, the controller 17 constitutes the control means.

In FIG. 10A, 69a to 69c detect the width of the sheet original by detecting the sheet original at a position corresponding to the width of the sheet original according to the width of the original. It is a document size detection sensor, and includes a photo sensor, a micro switch, or the like. Next, the operation will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. The flow of FIG. 12 is executed by the controller 17.

First, it is determined whether or not the print button (copy start key) is turned on (step S21),
When it is turned on, it is determined based on the output information from the document detection sensor 45 whether the document stack P is placed on the document table 33 (step S22). When the document detection sensor 45 detects the document stack P, it is determined that the document stack P has been placed, and at this time, the calling solenoid 70 moves the calling lever 41 downward to move the front side of the document stack P. While contacting the calling roller 41 (step S23),
By driving the transport motor 46 (step S24), the separation roller
The document bundle P is separated into one sheet by the 43 and the separation belt 44 and is fed.

Immediately after the conveyance motor 46 is driven, the pulse generator 51 counts the number of rotations of the driven roller 49 (step S25). Then, it is determined whether or not the leading edge of the sheet original is detected by the registration sensor 48 when the rotational speed of the driven roller 49 is within a predetermined pulse (step S26). The predetermined pulse is a pulse count corresponding to the distance from the paper feed start position to the registration sensor 48 plus some distance.

When the leading edge of the sheet document is not detected within the predetermined pulse, a slip or the like occurs between the separation roller 43 and the separation belt 44 and the document stack P, and the sheet document is not separated. (Step S2
7) The driving of the carry motor 46 is stopped and the jam is displayed (step S28). When the user determines from the display content of the display unit that the jam has not occurred, the main body 31a is opened and closed.

Then, by the micro switch 67, the main body
It is determined whether or not 31a has been opened / closed, and if it is detected that it has been opened / closed, the jammed state is reset, the process proceeds to step S21, and the processes from step S21 are executed.
On the other hand, in step S26, the registration sensor 48
If the leading edge of the sheet document is detected by the, the number of pulses of the driven rollers 49 from the time when the leading edge is detected is counted (step S33), and whether the rear edge of the sheet document is detected by the registration sensor 48 within a predetermined pulse. It is determined whether or not (step S34).

When the trailing edge of the sheet original is not detected within the predetermined pulse, it is determined that the sheet original stays in the conveying path 52 (so-called stay jam) (step S35), and the driving of the conveying motor 46 is stopped. And at the same time, it is displayed on the display section (step S28). If the user determines that there is a jammed jam from the contents displayed on the display unit, the user opens the open / close cover 66 as shown in FIG. 11 (b). Therefore, the transport path 52 is exposed.

Then, by the microswitch 68, the main body
It is determined whether or not 31a is opened / closed (step S29), and if not opened / closed, it is determined whether or not the opening / closing cover 66 is opened (step S30). In this case, the user opens / closes the opening / closing cover 66. Since it is opened, it is determined that the sheet original remains in the conveying path 52 from the original placing table 33 to the contact glass 32, and the calling solenoid 70 is immediately turned off to move the calling lever 41a upward (step S31). , The document stack P is separated from the calling roller 41. Next, when the user removes the sheet original from the conveyance path 52 and sets the original bundle P again (step S3
2) The procedure moves to the flow of step S21, the call solenoid 70 moves the call lever 41a downward, and moves the document feed start position again.

If the trailing edge of the original document is detected by the registration sensor 48 within the predetermined pulse in step S34, it is determined that the sheet original document is not jammed, and the image of the original sheet is determined by the exposure device. After reading (step S36), when the document detection sensor 45 detects that there is a subsequent sheet document on the document table 33 (YES in step S36), the flow from step S4 is executed to read an image. Then, the jam removal process is performed, and if there is no document (NO in step S36), the current process ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the jam jam occurs in the sheet original conveyance path 52, the opening and closing cover 66 is opened and the pressing lever 41a releases the pressure at the same time. The jam in the path 52 can be quickly removed. Further, when a non-feed jam occurs due to poor separation of documents, the jam is released by opening and closing the main body 31a, and at this time, the pressurization by the calling lever 41a is not released and the predetermined feeding start position is released. Since it is maintained at, the feeding of the sheet original can be immediately restarted after the processing of the non-feeding jam, and the time required for the re-feeding can be shortened.

[0048]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the cover is opened when a jam occurs in the sheet document transport path (the sheet document transport path from the document table to the document reading position). At the same time, the pressurization of the pressurizing means is released, so that it is possible to quickly perform the jam processing in the conveyance path. Also, if a non-feed jam occurs due to poor separation of documents, the jam is released when an operation other than the cover opening operation is performed, and at this time, the pressure applied by the pressure applying means is not released. Since the sheet is maintained at the predetermined sheet feeding start position, the sheet document feeding can be immediately restarted after the processing of the non-feed jam, and the time required for sheet re-feeding can be shortened.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the non-feed jam is processed only by opening and closing the main body of the apparatus, the jam processing work time can be greatly shortened and the re-feeding can be performed. The time required for can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of the automatic document feeder with the open / close cover of the first embodiment open.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of an automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of a separation unit and a conveyance unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a separation unit and a conveyance unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control system of a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the vicinity of the calling lever of the second embodiment.

10A is a diagram showing a layout of electric components of a separation unit and a conveyance unit of the second embodiment, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a state in which an opening / closing cover is opened.

11A is a diagram showing a state when the opening / closing cover of the second embodiment is closed, and FIG. 11B is a diagram showing a state when the opening / closing cover is opened.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 31 Automatic Document Feeding Device 2 Copier (Image Reading Device) 4, 33 Document Placement Plate 7 Lifting Plate (Pressurizing Means) 8 Feeding Belt 8 (Separating / Feeding Means) 9 Separation Roller 9 (Separating Rollers 9 Paper feed means 10 Transport rollers 10 (separation / paper feed means) 11, 52 Transport paths 17, 38 Controller (control means) 18, 48 Registration sensor (sheet original detection means) 19, 66 Open / close cover 20, 67 Micro switch ( Open / closed state detection means 22 Drive mechanism (pressurization means, release means) 24, 68 Micro switch (motion detection means) 34 Separation section (separation / paper feeding means) 66a Lever (open / closed state detection means) 70 Calling solenoid (release means) )

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic document feeder mounted on an image reading device so as to be openable and closable, and a document table on which a document stack made up of a plurality of sheet documents is placed, and a document table provided on the document table. Pressurizing means for pressurizing the bundle of original documents to a predetermined sheet feeding start position, and sheet originals are separated one by one from the original sheet bundle pressed to the predetermined sheet feeding start position by the pressing means, and image reading is performed via the conveying path. Separating / feeding means for conveying toward a position, an opening / closing cover provided for opening and closing with respect to the main body of the apparatus so as to expose the conveying path, and a sheet provided in the conveying path and separated. An automatic document feeder including a sheet document detecting unit for detecting a document, an open / closed state detecting unit for detecting an open / closed state of the open / close cover, and an operation detecting unit for detecting an operation other than the open / closed state of the open / close cover. In the pressing hand The release means for releasing the pressure applied to the document stack by the pressure means, and the open / closed state when it is determined that the sheet original remains in the conveying path based on the detection signal from the sheet original detecting means. While the opening of the opening / closing cover is detected based on the detection signal from the detecting means, the pressure of the pressing means is released at the same time, and the failure of the sheet original is detected based on the detection signal from the sheet original detecting means. When it is determined that a feeding jam has occurred, and when an operation other than the cover opening is detected based on the detection signal from the operation detecting means, a control means for controlling to maintain the pressurization by the pressurizing means. And an automatic document feeder. 2. The automatic document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the operation detecting means detects an operation of opening and closing the main body of the apparatus with respect to the image reading apparatus.