Patent ID: 7306218

Claim:
A document transport apparatus for an image reading apparatus with a platen comprising: a sheet feeding tray, and a sheet discharging tray, sheet feeding means for drawing a document from the sheet feeding tray, said sheet feeding means being disposed at one side of the document transport apparatus, transport means, disposed adjacent to the sheet feeding means, for receiving the document from the sheet feeding means and transporting the document to a predetermined position on the platen of the image reading apparatus, sheet discharging means disposed adjacent to the transport means at a side opposite to the sheet feeding means and located at the other side of the document transport apparatus, said sheet discharging means discharging the document to the sheet discharging tray after the document is read at the platen, a switch back path disposed adjacent to the sheet discharging means and located between the transport means and the sheet discharging tray, said switch back path turning the document upside down, reversing a leading end and a trailing end of the document, and guiding the document to the sheet discharging means while turning the document upside down again, a sheet discharging path, disposed adjacent to the sheet discharging means, for turning the document upside down and guiding the document to the sheet discharging means without reversing the leading and trailing ends of the document, control means electrically connected to the transport means and the sheet discharging means, said control means controlling the transport means and the sheet discharging means such that the document after one side thereof has been read is transported to the switch back path, and the document is transported again from the switch back path to the predetermined position on the platen through the sheet discharging path, a guide member disposed at a discharge side of the platen, said guide member being positioned below the platen when the document is transported from the platen and above the platen when the document is transported to the platen, and switching means connected to the guide member for switching a position of the guide member according to a direction that the document is transported.