Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-24
2004-11-09
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S065000, C271S301000, C271S291000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06814353
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder employed in copying machines, printers, facsimile machines, and the like that automatically transports original documents, and also relates to an image forming device comprising the same.
2. Background Information
Automatic document feeders employed in image forming devices such as copying machines, printers, and the like which automatically read image data and the like recorded on both sides of an original document are well known in the prior art.
This type of automatic document feeder is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Applications H07-175279 and H09-106116. These devices are schematically illustrated in
FIGS. 6 and 7
.
The device shown in
FIG. 6
is disposed along the path in which original documents D are transported (the path illustrated by the arrows a), and includes a loading tray
101
, a pick-up roller
102
, a paper supply roller
103
, a pair of transport rollers
104
, a transport drum
105
, transport rollers
106
,
107
, and
108
, a pair of discharge/reverse rollers
110
, and a discharge tray
111
. In addition, an original document reading position R is disposed between the transport rollers
107
and
108
. Here, the upper surface of each original document D mounted in the loading tray
101
is the A side, and the lower surface thereof is the B side.
When only the A side of an original document D is to be read out, the original document D is supplied from the loading tray
101
, the A side thereof is read, and is then discharged directly to the discharge tray
111
by the pair of discharge/reverse rollers
110
. More specifically, a plurality of original documents D placed in the loading tray
101
are first supplied and transported one sheet at a time by the pick-up roller
102
, the paper supply roller
103
, and the pair of transport rollers
104
. Next, while each original document D is transported by the transport drum
105
and the transport rollers
106
,
107
, and
108
, the A side thereof is read at the original document reading position R. Then, after the A side of each original document D is read, they are transported in the direction illustrated by the arrow a by rotating the discharge/reverse rollers
110
in the directions shown, and are then discharged to the discharge tray
111
with the A side thereof facing downward.
In contrast, when both the A side and the B side of an original document D are to be read, after the A side thereof is read, the original document D is transported in the direction of the arrows a by rotating the discharge/reverse rollers
110
in the same direction as described above. However, when the trailing edge of the original document D reaches the discharge/reverse rollers
110
, the discharge/reverse rollers
110
will reverse their rotations. Thus, each original document D is transported in the direction illustrated by the arrow b, transported to the original document reading position R by means of the transport drum
105
and the transport rollers
106
,
107
, and
108
such that the B side of each is facing away from the transport drum
105
, and the B side of each is then read. After the B side of each original document D is read, each is transported around the transport drum
105
, and is discharged to the discharge tray
111
. More specifically, after the B side of the original document D is read, it is transported in the direction illustrated by the arrows a by rotating the discharge/reverse rollers
110
in the directions shown, and when the trailing edge of each reaches the discharge/reverse rollers
110
, each is transported in the direction illustrated by the arrow b by reversing the rotation of the discharge/reverse rollers
110
. Then, each original document D will transported by the transport drum
105
and the transport rollers
106
,
107
, and
108
and discharged to the discharge tray
111
without being read. When this occurs, each original document D will be discharged with the A side of each facing downward.
FIG. 7
will now be described.
The device shown in
FIG. 7
eliminates the structure used to reverse the orientation of the A and B sides of an original document D. Because the device shown in
FIG. 7
has the same basic structure as the automatic document feeder shown in
FIG. 6
, only the differences between it and the device of
FIG. 6
will be described below.
This automatic document feeder is comprised of a drive roller
112
, driven rollers
113
,
114
, a switching claw
115
, a pair of reverse rollers
116
, and an intermediate tray
117
. Note that in this device, the drive roller
112
and the driven roller
113
below it form a pair of discharge rollers.
In this device, the switching claw
115
is placed in the position indicated by the dotted lines when only the A side of an original document D is to be read, and after the A side thereof is read, the original document D is discharged to the discharge tray
111
by rotating the drive roller
112
in the direction indicated by the arrow.
In contrast, when both the A side and the B side of an original document D are to be read, after the A side thereof is read, the switching claw
115
is placed in the position indicated by the solid lines, and the original document D is guided to the intermediate tray
117
by rotating the drive roller
112
and the pair of reverse rollers
116
in the directions indicated by the respective arrows.
When the trailing edge of the original document D reaches the reverse rollers
116
, the reverse rollers
116
reverse rotation, transport the original document D in the direction illustrated by the arrow b, and the B side thereof is then read at the original document reading position R. After the B side of the original document D is read, the orientation of the A and B sides is reversed and the original document D is discharged to the discharge tray
111
. More specifically, after the B side of an original document D is read, the switching claw
115
will be placed in the position indicated by the solid lines, and will be guided to the intermediate tray
117
by rotating the drive roller
112
and the reverse rollers
116
in the direction indicated by the respective arrows. Then, when the trailing edge of the original document D reaches the reverse rollers
116
, the reverse rollers
116
will reverse rotation, and will then transport the original document D in the direction indicated by the arrow b. The original document D is not read at this point. The switching claw
115
is placed in the position shown by the dotted line, and by rotating the drive roller
112
in the direction indicated by the arrow, the original document D is discharged to the discharge tray
111
with the A side thereof facing upward.
As noted above, in an automatic document feeder that can automatically read both sides (the A side and B side) of an original document D, it is preferable that the pair of reverse rollers be disposed a relatively short distance away from the original document reading position R, and that the pair of discharge rollers be disposed a relatively long distance way from the original document reading position R.
The reason for the former is that when the pair of reverse rollers is relatively far away from the original document reading position R, the pair of reverse rollers will also be relatively far away from the adjacent transport members (the transport rollers
106
or
108
in the example of FIG.
6
), and thus an original document that is not large enough to extend between the pair of reverse rollers and an adjacent transport member cannot be transported thereby. In addition, in this situation, the original document transport path will be long, and thus the time needed to read the original document (especially the time needed to read the B side and then switch the orientation of the A and B sides) will increase. Note that in situations in which the distance between the reverse rollers and the adjacent transport members is relatively long, a small original document (one whose length
Eto Takuya
Harada Hiroyuki
Kakuta Masayuki
Joerger Kaitlin
Kyocera Mita Corporation
Shinjyu Global IP
Walsh Donald P.
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