Conveyor of a copying apparatus

A conveyor apparatus used in a copying apparatus of the type using separate diffusion transfer photographic materials, and a photosensitive material in the form of a roller contained in a magazine which is withdrawn and cut to a predetermined length to form a photosensitive sheet. A latent image is created in the photosensitive sheet by exposing it using a light source, and an image-receiving material in the form of a sheet is superposed under the exposed photosensitive sheet. A positive image is formed on the image-receiving material using a diffusion transfer processing. The image-receiving sheet is withdrawn from a cassette wherein a stack of image-receiving sheets are contained. The conveyor apparatus includes feeding rollers disposed in front of the cassette for feeding the image-receiving sheet to a superposition station of the apparatus, an extracting roller for extracting an uppermost image-receiving sheet in the stack and transferring it to a position between the feeding rollers so that it is nipped by the rollers, and a sensor for detecting the image-receiving sheet nipped between the feeding rollers to cause withdrawing rollers to rotate so as to withdraw the photosensitive material from the magazine and transport it to an exposure station where the exposing is performed. If the sensor does not detect the image-receiving sheet within a predetermined time, copying operations are suspended.

Background of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a conveyor of a diffusion transfer type 
copying apparatus for conveying copy materials. 
In a diffusion transfer type copying apparatus, two separate copy materials 
are used: a negative or photosensitive material in which a latent image is 
created as a result of exposure and a positive or image-receiving material 
where the positive image is formed. 
One such diffusion transfer type copying apparatus is disclosed in Japanese 
Patent Unexamined Publication No. 59-204,042. In the apparatus taught by 
this Japanese Publication, a photosensitive material in the form of a roll 
contained in a magazine is withdrawn therefrom and cut to a predetermined 
length to thereby form a photosensitive sheet. The sheet is conveyed to an 
exposure station, where it is held flat so as to be exposed. After 
exposure, the sheet is superposed with an image-receiving material in the 
form of another sheet, which has been withdrawn from a cassette. The two 
sheets are then passed through a developing reagent and then held for a 
time in a storing chamber for diffusion transfer processing. Upon the 
completion of diffusion transfer processing, the image-receiving sheet is 
peeled apart from the photosensitive sheet. Thus, a positive transfer 
image is formed on the image-receiving sheet, and the image-receiving 
sheet is, after having been washed and dried, taken out of the copying 
apparatus. 
A camera type copying apparatus, in which a roll of photosensitive material 
and a sheet of image-receiving material are used, has been proposed. An 
example of such a camera type copying apparatus is to be found in Japanese 
Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-138,935. 
Because the photosensitive material which is thinner than the 
image-receiving sheet is contained in the form of a roll in a magazine, a 
large number of copies can be made from a roll of photosensitive material. 
However, since the image-receiving sheet not only is thick itself but also 
has a pod containing a processing reagent, it is hard to stack a large 
number of image-receiving sheets in a cassette. Therefore, running out of 
image-receiving sheets during copying is a problem in such a copying 
apparatus. 
In the conventional copying apparatus, when a copying button is operated, a 
photosensitive material is withdrawn from the magazine and an exposure is 
made with no reference to whether an image-receiving sheet or 
image-receiving sheets are in a casette or not. Therefore, if there is no 
image-receiving sheet in the cassette, the photosensitive material is 
wasted. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a copying material 
conveyor apparatus in a copying machine in which the withdrawal of 
photosensitive material is suspended when the copier is out of 
image-receiving sheets. 
The above object of the present invention is achieved by providing a 
conveying apparatus including a mechanism for extruding an image-receiving 
sheet from a cassette to force it to be bit between a pair of feed 
rollers; a sensor for detecting the image-receiving sheet being bitten by 
the feed rollers; withdrawing rollers for withdrawing a photosensitive 
material in the form of a roll contained in a magazine; and a controller 
for allowing the withdrawing rollers to rotate when the sensor detects the 
image-receiving sheet bit between the feed rollers and suspending the 
withdrawing rollers when the sensor detects no image-receiving sheet. 
According to a feature of the present invention, when a copy start button 
is operated, the extruding mechanism extrudes the foremost image-receiving 
sheet of a stack of image-receiving sheets contained in a cassette and 
forces the sheet to be bit between a pair of feed rollers. The sensor, 
during detection of the image-receiving sheet bit between the feed 
rollers, provides the controller with a signal. During the signal, the 
controller continues to control the copying operation, causing the 
withdrawing rollers to rotate so as to withdraw the photosensitive 
material from the magazine, form a photosensitive sheet, and advance the 
sheet to an exposure position. In contrast, if the controller does not 
receive a signal from the sensor, the controller suspends the copying 
apparatus from withdrawing and cutting the photosensitive material, and 
thereby avoids interrupting a copying operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, a silver salt type color copying apparatus 10 is 
shown. Over the top of the copying apparatus 10, there is a transparent 
table 11 on which a color original 12 (from which a copy is made) is 
placed with its front side facing down. A cover plate 13 having a white 
inner surface is provided for covering the original 12. 
An illumination light unit 14, which includes therein an illumination lamp 
15, a reflector 16 and a reflection mirror 17, is moved back and forth in 
parallel with the transparent table 11 by means of a first motor 18 so as 
to scan the color original 12 with, for example, an illumination light 
formed in a line by a slit member (not shown). Adjacent the light unit 14, 
there is a mirror unit 19 having two mirrors 20 and 21 disposed positioned 
at a right angle (with respect to each other) to reflect and feed back 
light from the light unit 14. The mirror unit 19 is synchronized with the 
light unit 14 to move back and forth at one-half the speed of the light 
unit 14 by means of a second motor 22 coupled to the unit 19 through a 
driving belt (not shown), to thereby maintain a constant distance to the 
original. The mirror unit 19 is adapted to be adjusted in position 
relative to the light unit 14 when copying magnification is to be changed. 
Under one end of the transparent table 11, there is a sensor 23 such as a 
micro-switch to detect the presence of the light unit 14 at the end of 
scanning. 
A lens unit 24 has front and rear lens groups 25 and 26 (which are shown as 
single-element lens groups for simplicity), three color filters, namely 
yellow Y, cyan C and magenta M, disposed between the front and rear lens 
groups 25 and 26, and aperture plates 27 and 28 disposed behind the rear 
lens group 26. The plates 27 and 28 are movable in opposite directions. 
The color filters Y, C, and M are insertable into and removable from 
optical axis P of the lens unti 24 independently of each other to regulate 
the amount of exposure light passing therethrough. Thus, the three color 
components of light, and hence the balance of exposure light, is 
controlled. The three color filters Y, M and C, may, although being 
movable independently of each other in this preferred embodiment, be 
replaced with two color filters attached to a slidable transparent plate 
as is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44-2542. 
It is worth noting that ink used for printing color articles generally has 
a sensitivity distribution with a peak at about 570 nm for green and dyes 
used for making photographic color prints have a sensitivity distribution 
with a peak at about 535 nm for green. In contrast, the photosensitive 
material used in this embodiment has a sensitivity distribution with a 
peak about 560 nm for green. 
To make copies from a printed original and a photographic original under 
the same copying condition, a green absorption filter 29 is retractably 
disposed between the rear lens group 26 and the apertures 27 and 28 to cut 
or absorb partially green light having relatively longer wavelengths. This 
green absorption color filter 29 is moved out of the optical path P when 
the light unit 14 scans the original 12 to detect its color density prior 
to copying. It is to be understood that, if using a photographic material 
having a sensitivity distribution with a peak at a relatively short 
wavelength, for example 540 nm, for green, no green absorption color 
filter 29 is needed. When the green absorption color filter 29 is 
completely inserted in the optical path P, then the aperture plates 27 and 
28 move close to each other so as to regulate the amount of light. The 
lens unit 24 is moved along the optical path P to change its position so 
as to vary the magnification ratio. 
For directing the light reflected from the original 12 to an exposure 
station 46, there are fixed mirrors 32 and 33, and a swingable mirror 
shutter 34. The shutter 34 rotates about a shaft 36 so that it can be 
removed from the optical path P when a solenoid 35 is energized so as to 
allow the light reflected form the original 12 to travel to a light 
measurement unit 37. 
There is a magazine 40 containing a roll of a photographic (photosensitive) 
material 41 which can be processed by a diffusion transfer processing. The 
photosensitive material 41 is withdrawn by means of a withdrawing 
mechanism in the form of a pair of rollers 42 disposed in front of the 
magazine 40. Either one of the pair of withdrawing rollers 42 is adapted 
to move slightly up and down while being rotated, to thereby prevent the 
material 41 from deflecting sideways or becoming wavy. 
As is shown in detail in FIG. 2(A), the material 41 withdrawn from the 
paper magazine 40 is guided along its opposite sides by means of guide 
rails 43 in the form of a U-shaped channel. The guide rail 43 is inclined 
upwardly at an angle. The rail is also deviated upwardly at its forward 
end from the center, between a pair of conveyor rollers 44a and 44b. The 
rollers 44a and 44b are disposed on one side of the exposure station 46 
and are formed of a wide hollow drum which bite and apply an appropriately 
weak force to the material 41 so as to prevent it from becoming fogged due 
to pressure. 
Disposed opposite to the conveyor rollers 44a and 44b and on the other side 
of the exposure station 46 is another pair of conveyor rollers 45a and 
45b. These two pairs of conveyor rollers 44a and 44b, 45a and 45b are 
synchronized with the withdrawing rollers 42 so as to force and convey the 
photosensitive material 41 through an upwardly curved passage 48. This 
curved passage is defined by a hollow chute having a thin rectangular 
cross section made of plastic or steel. The curved passage 48 contributes 
to shortening the overall length of the copying apparatus. If there is 
insufficient space to accommodate an upwardly curved passage 48, the 
passage can be curved downwardly. It is also permissible to form a passage 
by using multiple rollers and guide members. 
When the photosensitive material 41 is detected at its leading end by a 
sensor 49, a cutter 50 is caused to cut the material 41 into a 
predetermined length to form a photosensitive sheet 41A. The sheet 41A is 
further conveyed by the conveyor rollers 44a and 44b, 45a and 45b until a 
sensor 51 detects the rear end of the sheet. At the moment the sensor 51 
detects the end of the sheet, all the conveyor rollers stop their 
rotation. 
When making a copy from the color original 12, the conveyor rollers 44a, 
44b, 45a and 45b are rotated in reverse in synchronism with the rotation 
of the light unit 14 so as to move the sheet 41A back toward a rotary drum 
53, exposing the sheet at the exposure station 46. 
As is shown in detail in FIG. 2(B), between the conveyor rollers 44a and 
44b and the rotary drum 53 there is a guide plate 54 disposed in a 
horizontal plane passing the center between the conveyor rollers 44a and 
44b. Because the guide rails 43 are, as previously described, deviated 
upwardly at their forward end, the sheet 41A moving back is prevented from 
being caught by the end of the guide rails 43. As a result, the 
photosensitive sheet 41A smoothly enters between the guide rails 43 and 
the guide plate 54, advancing in a horizontal direction along guide plate 
54. 
There is a curved guide member 55 extending around the rotary drum 53, and 
there is a roller 56 in contact with the outer periphery of the rotary 
drum 53. The rotary drum 53 advances and sends the sheet 41A along the 
curved guide member 55 until the rear end (now the lending end) of the 
sheet 41A is stopped by a first stopper 58. This stopper 58 places the 
sheet 41A in position and then is retracted under a guide plate 57 by 
means of a solenoid 59. 
A cassette 63 is mounted on the copying apparatus 10. In this cassette 63 
there is a stack of a plurality of positive material or image-receiving 
sheets 60. Each of the sheets 60 has, near its leading end, a rupturable 
pod 61 containing a processing reagent therein and a funnel member 62 in 
the form of an envelope for directing the processing reagent released from 
the pod 61. An extrusion roller 64 is brought into contact with the 
uppermost image-receiving sheet 60 upon mounting the cassette 63 on the 
apparatus 10 and extrudes the sheet forward between a pair of feed rollers 
65. When a sensor 67 disposed adjacent to the feed rollers 65 detects the 
leading end of the image-receiving sheet 60, the extrusion roller 64 
stops. Then, another photosensitive material 41 is withdrawn from the 
magazine 40. 
After placing of the exposed photosensitive sheet 41A in position by the 
first stopper 58, the extrusion roller 64, as well as the feed rollers 65, 
is caused again to rotate, further advancing the uppermost image-receiving 
sheet 60 until its leading end is stopped by a second stopper 68 operated 
by a solenoid 69, thereby placing the sheet 60 under the sheet 41A. It is 
noted that the extrusion roller 64 is formed to contact only with side 
margins of the image-receiving sheet 60 so as not to rupture the pod 61. 
The feed rollers 65 are made spongy to produce only a slight pressure 
therebetween to avoid rupturing the pod 61. It is also to be noted that 
the sheets 41A and 60 have the same construction of material layers as 
peel-apart type instant film units now available in the market. 
When the image-receiving sheet 60 is in position at the second stopper 68, 
a solenoid 70 is actuated to move down a lever 71, having a sealing means 
72 attached to its end, so as to connect the ends of the sheet 41A and the 
sheet 60. Owing to this connection, the two separate sheets are maintained 
in registry. For a more positive connection, it is preferred to previously 
apply a hot melt cementing reagent onto the funnel 62. 
The superposed sheets 41A and 60 are passed between a pair of processing 
rollers 75 and 76 to rupture the pod 61. As the sheets are advanced by the 
processing rollers 75 and 76, the processing reagent released from the pod 
61 is distributed in a uniform layer between the sheets 41 and 60. The 
sheets 41 and 60 are then conveyed to a heating section 78 for heating 
them at a predetermined temperature. This heating section includes a 
heater 79 incorporated in a table 80 and a plate 82 maintained at a 
constant temperature. Reference numeral 83 is a sensor for detecting the 
temperature of the heater. After a predetermined time, a door 84 is opened 
to withdraw the top end of the plate 82 from the apparatus 10 through a 
lever 85. 
The apparatus works in cooperation with a circuit shown in FIG. 3. The 
light measuring unit 37 comprises three light sensors 37a, 37b and 37c for 
blue, green and red, respectively for detecting light intensities of these 
three components of exposing light. Outputs from these three light sensors 
37a to 37c are amplified by an amplifier 90 and then converted into 
digital signals by an A/D converter 91. The digital signals are then 
logarithmically transformed by a logarithmic transformer 92 to provide 
density signals for the three colors, and the density signals are in turn 
written in a memory by means of a controller 93. The controller 93 
operates various sections of the apparatus to effect a sequential control 
of operation in accordance with a control program stored in the memory 94. 
According to the density signals from the light measuring unit 37, the 
controller 93 causes a driver 96 to rotate a motor 97 so as to adjust the 
yellow filter (Y) in position. In the same way, the controller 93 causes 
drivers 98 to 100 to rotate motors 101 to 103, respectively, so as to 
adjust the magenta, cyan and green absorption filters (M), (C) and 29 and 
the aperture plates 27 and 28 in position. To control movement of the 
light unit 14, mirror unit 19 and lens unit 24, there are motors 18, 22 
and 30 which cooperate with drivers 104 to 106, respectively, connected to 
the controller 93. A motor 108 connected to the controler 93 through a 
driver 109 is rotatably coupled to the conveyor rollers 44a, 44b, 45a and 
45b through a clutch 110 and to the feed rollers 42, the roller 56 and the 
processing rollers 75 and 76 through clutches 107 and 111 to 113, 
respectively. A motor 115 connected to the controller 93 through a driver 
114 is rotatably coupled to the extrusion roller 64 and feed rollers 65. 
Connected to the controller 93 is an operation panel 118 which is provided 
with a copying button or key for starting a copy, color correction keys 
for manually effecting color balance corrections, density correction keys 
for manually effecting density corrections and other keys. The temperature 
sensor 83 detects a temperature of the heating section 78 to provide a 
signal which in turn is converted into a digital signal by an A/D 
converter 119 and then is sent to the controller 93. Drivers 120 through 
125 connected to the controller 93 drive the heater 79 and solenoids 35, 
59, 69 and 70, respectively. A driver 126 causes a buzzer (not shown) 
after expiration of a predetermined time allotted for development. A 
driver 127 causes a display 128 to indicate errors such as running out of 
paper or paper jamming. 
The sequential control of the copying apparatus according to the invention 
will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4-9. As is shown 
in FIG. 4, at first, the color original 12 is placed on the transparent 
table 11 and is covered with the plate 13. The copying key on the 
operation panel 118 is pressed to start the control program, at which time 
the motors 97, 101 and 102 are started to set the color filters (Y), (M) 
and (C) to their initial positions. Simultaneously, the motor 103 is 
started to remove the green absorption filter 29 from the optical path P 
as well as to fully open the aperture plates 27 and 28. 
The controller 93 controls the motor 18 to effect a pre-scanning of the 
original 12 while withdrawing an image-receiving sheet 60 from the 
cassette 63. When the motor 18 is rotated, the light unit 14 is moved 
together with the mirror unit 19 to scan the original 12 with a line 
illumination. The reflected light from the original 12 is directed toward 
the light measuring unit 37 through the mirrors 17, 20 and 21 and the lens 
unit 24, and then the mirrors 32 and 33, in the stated order. The 
measuring unit 37 (having the sensors 37a, 37b and 37c for blue, green and 
red) detects three color components of the reflected light to provide 
signals which are then amplified, converted into digital signals and then 
logarithmically transformed into density signals for storage in the memory 
94. 
As is shown in FIG. 4, during the pre-scanning, the motor 115 is actuated 
to rotate the extrusion roller 64 and the feed rollers 65 so as to 
withdraw the foremost image-receiving sheet 60 from the cassette 63. 
During withdrawal of the sheet 60, its leading end is detected by the 
sensor 67 upon exiting from the pair of feed rollers 65. The sensor 67 
provides a signal which in turn is sent to the controller 93, which then 
stops the motor 115. If the sensor 67 does not detect the sheet 60 within 
a predetermined time after the actuation of the motor 115, the controller 
93 stops the motor 115. That is caused when in fact the cassette 63 is 
empty or when the foremost sheet 60 is jammed before reaching the sensor 
67. In these cases, the controller 93 causes the driver 127 to display a 
warning message such as "out of paper" or "paper jam" on the display 
device 128. According to these warning messages, an operator takes 
approriate action. 
When the sensor 67 detects the leading end of the sheet 60, the controller 
93 causes the motor 108 to rotate the withdrawing rollers 42, 44a, 44b, 
45a and 45b to withdraw the photosensitive material 41 from the magazine 
40 and advance it toward the exposure station along the guide member 43. 
As this guide member 43 is deviated upward with respect to the rollers 
44a, the material 41 strikes the peripheral surface of the roller 44a and 
is smoothly nipped by the rollers 44a and 44b. The material 41 is lightly 
pressed by the rollers 4a and 44b, and forced to move toward the rollers 
45a and 45b. As these rollers 44a, 44b and 45a, 45b continue to rotate, 
the material 41 enters into and advances along the curved passage 48. 
As is shown in FIG. 5, when the leading end of the material 41 is detected 
by the sensor 49, operation of the motor 108 is temporarily suspended. 
During this suspension, the cutter 50 is actuated to cut the material 41 
into a predetermined length to form the photosensitive sheet 41A. At the 
completion of cutting, the motor 108 is started again. However, at this 
time, the withdrawing rollers 42 are restricted by the clutch 111 (see 
FIG. 3), and only the conveyor rollers 44a to 45b are allowed to 
continuously rotate. Thus, only the sheet 41A is advanced while the 
material 41 is left behind. When the rear end of the sheet 41A is detected 
by the sensor 51 as shown in FIG. 6, the motor 108 is stopped. 
When the light unit 14 has moved the length of the original 12 and the unit 
is detected by the sensor 23, pre-scanning is complete. In response to 
detection of the light unit 14 by the sensor 23, the motor 18 starts to 
rotate in the reverse direction simultaneously with turning off the lamp 
15, to return the light unit 14 to its original position. Thereafter, the 
controller 93 reads out densities for blue, red and green from the memory 
94 to calculate exposures for these three colors. Based on the calculated 
exposures, the controller 93 causes the motors 97, 101 and 102 to rotate 
to adjust the color filters Y, M and C in position in order to regulate 
the components of exposing light. At this time, the motor 103 is also 
rotated so as to place the green absorption filter 29 in the optical path 
P to cut a longer wavelength component of green wavelength range of the 
line illumination light. It should be noted that, as the green absorption 
filter 29 has an elongated rectangular shape, a further movement of the 
green filter 29 in the optical path P causes the aperture plates 27 and 28 
to move close to each other to adjust the amount of the line illumination 
light. Manual control of the components and the amount of slit 
illumination light can be performed by operating the color and density 
correction keys of the operation panel 118. 
After the adjustment of the color filters and aperture plates, the 
controller 93 turns on the lamp 15 and causes the motor 18 to rotate to 
again move the light unit 14 and the mirror unit 19 to the right as viewed 
in FIG. 1, to scan the original 12 with the line illumination light. 
Simultaneously, the motor 108 is rotated in reverse to rotate the conveyor 
rollers 44a to 45b in the reverse direction through the clutch 110, to 
move sheet 41A from a position shown in FIG. 6 at the same speed as the 
light unit 14. Consequently, the sheet 41A is moved over the exposure 
position. Because the rollers 44a to 45b apply a gentle pressure against 
the sheet 41A, the sheet 41A is maintained flat while between the rollers 
44a to 45b. 
Even if the end of the sheet 41A is slightly curled, the rear end of the 
sheet 41a can enter smoothly between the guide members 43 and 54 because 
the ends of these guide members are disposed close to the rollers 44a and 
44b. Therefore, the sheet 41A can be moved back over the horizontally 
disposed guide member 54 without being caught by the guide member 43. 
Owing to this smooth movement of the sheet 41A, the rollers 44a to 45b 
cause no slippage due to changes of load, thereby allowing the sheet 41A 
to move at a constant speed. As a result, no dark stripes are formed on a 
copy. 
Following the movement of the sheet 41A by the rollers 44a to 45b, the 
speed of movement of the sheet 41A becomes stable. Therefore, the sheet 
41A is well synchronized with the light unit 14 and the sheet is also 
maintained very flat, so that exposure of the sheet 41A is performed with 
high stability. For such a stable exposure, the mirror shutter 34 is 
actuated after a predetermined time from the initiation of movement of the 
sheet 41A to effect exposure of the sheet 41A. At the beginning of 
exposure, as is shown in FIG. 7, the sheet 41A has been moved by a 
distance L and placed on the guide member 54. During exposure, exposure 
light reflected from the original 21 travels through the lens unit 24 and 
is reflected downwardly by the mirror shutter 34, and thereafter reaches 
the slit exposure station 46 to form a latent image of the color original 
on the sheet 41A. 
With reference to FIG. 8, when the rear end of the sheet 41A reaches the 
rotary drum 53, it is gently nipped between the rotary drum 53 and the 
roller 56. Immediately before the sheet 41A reaches the drum 53, the 
controller 93 causes the solenoid 35 to raise the mirror shutter 34 out of 
the optical path P to complete the exposure to the sheet 41A. 
Although the roller 56 is suspended by the clutch 107 during the reverse 
rotation of the rollers 44a to 45b, the sheet 41A, being thrust by the 
conveyor rollers 44a to 45b, can be nipped between the roller 56 and the 
drum 53 by itself. Once the sheet 41A is bit by the roller 56 and the drum 
53, it is moved along the guide member 55 until the now leading end 
reaches the first stopper 58. 
When the sheet 41A is stopped by the first stopper 58, a sensor (not shown) 
provides a signal in response to which the controller 93 stops the reverse 
rotation of the motor 108. Thereafter, the controller 93, after energizing 
the solenoid 59 to retract the first stopper 58 from projecting through 
the guide member 57, causes the motor 115 to start its rotation to rotate 
the extrusion roller 64 and the feed rollers 65, thereby to further 
withdraw the foremost image-receiving sheet 60 and advance it along the 
guide member 57. At this time, the sheet 41A, having one end bit between 
the drum 53 and the roller 56, is kept flat at its opposite end placed on 
the guide member 57. Because the sheet 41A has some elasticity, it acts as 
an upper guide member for the sheet 60, which enables the sheet 60 to 
smoothly slip under the sheet 41A. When the sheet 60 contacts the second 
stopper 68, a sensor (not shown) provides a signal with which the 
controller 93 stops the motor 115. As is shown in FIG. 9, when the sheet 
60 is stopped by the second stopper 68, the funnel 62 of the sheet 60 is 
overlapped by the sheet 41A. Thereafter, the controller 93 energizes the 
solenoid 70 to downwardly move the lever 71 with the sealing means 72, 
thereby connecting the end of the sheet 41A to the funnel 62 of the sheet 
60. 
After the sheets are connected, the second stopper 68 is retracted and then 
the motor 108 is started to rotate in the reverse direction, rotating the 
processing rollers 75 and 76 through the clutches 107 and 113. 
Simultaneously, the motor 115 is also started to again rotate the rollers 
64 and 65, thus advancing the sheet 60. Consequently, the sheet 60 is bit 
by the processing rollers 75 and 76. The sheet 41A follows the sheet 60. 
As the extrusion roller 64 continues to rotate, the next image-receiving 
sheet 60 is withdrawn from the cassette 63 and is bit by the feed rollers 
65. When the sensor 67 detects the next sheet 60, the motor 115 is stopped 
by the controller 93. 
The processing rollers 75 and 76 which are pressed against each other by 
means of a spring member bite and advance the overlapped sheets 41A and 
60. At the beginning of this advancement of the overlapped sheets, the 
processing rollers 75 and 76 rupture the pod 61 to release a developing 
reagent therefrom and distribute it in a uniform layer between the sheets 
41A and 60. The overlapped sheets between which the developing reagent is 
distributed enter the passage 81 of the constant temperature plate 82 
(maintained at a predetermined temperature, e.g., 25.degree. C., by the 
temperature sensor 83 and the heater 79). 
The overlapped sheets 41A and 60 are left with their ends slightly 
projecting from the passage 81 for diffusion transfer processing. After a 
predetermined time, the buzzer makes a sound to indicate that the 
diffusion transfer processing of the overlapped sheets is complete. The 
door 84 is opened to pull the constant temperature plate 82 partially out 
of the apparatus 10 via the lever 85. After removing the overlapped sheets 
from the constant temperature plate 82, the sheet 60 on which the positive 
image has been formed is peeled apart from the sheet 41A. 
To make another copy, another color original is placed on the table 11 and 
the copying key is operated to start the same sequential control. At this 
time, as the end of the next image-receiving sheet 60 has been bit between 
the feed rollers 65, a pre-scanning is immediately started as well as the 
withdrawal of the paper 41 from the magazine 40. If the cassette 63 is 
empty, the sensor 67 produces no signal and, in response to the absence of 
the sensor's signal, the controller 93 causes the motor 115 to start its 
rotation. As previously described, since the sensor 67 produces no signal 
for a predetermined period of rotation of the motor 115, the controller 93 
stops the motor 115 so as to interrupt the copying operation. 
When the paper 41 is depleted or jammed, the sensor 49 will not provide a 
signal. In this case, a warning message is also displayed on the display 
device 128. It should be understood that various changes and modifications 
may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts 
without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the 
appended claims are intended to cover the various changes and 
modifications of the disclosed invention, as well as the disclosed 
invention.