JP2001127967A - Hand scanner and facsimile machine using the scanner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and light-weight hand scanner which can be applied for reading even for a book original and which has high resolution and high quality and causes no occurrence or distortions in the read images and also to provide a facsimile terminal which uses the hand scanner. SOLUTION: This hand scanner 17 includes a reading device 8, which reads the image information by the movement of a contact face 20 relative to an original and encoders 23 and 25 which are attached to the main body 14 of the scanner 17 and detects the movement of the face 20 to obtain synchronizing signals for reading the image information. The scanner 17 has a shaft body 26, which supports the device 8 freely rotatably with respect to the main body 14 with a contact state secured between the face 20 and the original and also has a roller 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand scanner and a facsimile apparatus using the same, and more particularly to a hand scanner type apparatus using a contact image sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of home facsimile machines, the use of home facsimile machines has been different from the conventional ones, and various functions have been provided. Functions tend to be emphasized as main functions for home facsimile machines.

[0003] Briefly referring to the drawings, FIG.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a conventional facsimile apparatus with a main part cut away, showing a state in which a lid is opened. In the figure, 101 is a facsimile main body, 102 is a document reading unit, 103 is a recording unit composed of an ink jet printer, and is a document tray configured to be able to stack a plurality of documents G shown by two-dot chain lines. 105, a document separating unit 111 that sequentially separates and transports the documents one by one from the plurality of documents, and a document feed roller unit 1 including a pinch roller provided opposite a feed roller that feeds the document to a reading unit
07 and a reading device 108 which is a reading device for actually reading, and a contact type image sensor or the like is used.

A document discharge roller unit 109 composed of a pair of rollers for discharging the sheet document G from the facsimile main body after reading, and a document discharge tray (not shown) for stacking documents discharged outside the machine. It is composed of

The upper document guide 112 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the main body 101 with respect to the conveyance path of the document G as shown in the figure, whereby the document contact surface (glass surface) of the reading device 108 becomes dirty. , And it is possible to remove the document G that has caused a paper jam on the transport path.

In the above-described configuration, the original is placed on the original tray 105 of the main body 101 with the original surface of the sheet-like original G shown down with a two-dot chain line, and the original is sandwiched when the upper original guide 112 is closed. Pair of paper feed rollers 1
07, the image data is read as electronic information by a reading device 108 disposed downstream of the transport path, and the image data is read out of the apparatus by a pair of paper discharge rollers 116, 109 disposed further downstream. It is configured to discharge.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a use state of the reading unit 117. The reading unit 117 is placed on a sheet-like original G placed on a desk, and the original is read while being moved in the direction of the arrow by hand. Is illustrated.

As shown in the figure, the reading unit 117 used is provided at the front side of the reading device 108, so that a roller 1 for obtaining a reading synchronizing signal with the movement is provided.
16, an encoder 123 that meshes with a gear provided on the roller, and a pickup 125 that senses the rotation amount of the encoder 123. Also,
The reading device 108 has a contact surface member 120 with the original G.
Are provided so as to be able to move in close contact with the document surface as shown in the figure.

In this way, not only the sheet-like original G conveyed inside the apparatus but also the removed hand scanner is held by hand and moved to read image information on the paper.
The so-called hand scanner reading has been started.

On the other hand, as the use of the facsimile apparatus has been diversified, the above-mentioned reading unit 117 has been detached from the facsimile main body, and there has been a method of reading while scanning not only the sheet document G but also the book document B.

[0011]

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing how the reading unit 117 is used for scanning while scanning not only the sheet document G but also the book document B.

In this figure, such hand scanner reading has several problems. As one of them, when the central binding portion of the book document B is read as shown in FIG. 13, the reading device 108 of the hand scanner 117 is moved along the curved surface of the book document due to the curvature of the document at that portion. Since the image cannot be brought into close contact with the original and the image is read in a state of being lifted from the original surface (the amount of C in the figure), the depth of focus of the reading device 108 is out of the range, and as a result, a predetermined resolution cannot be obtained. There is a drawback that an unreadable image is obtained.

In addition, when reading a color or the like, a color shift occurs due to a variation in the amount of reflected light due to poor adhesion.
Higher quality color reading cannot be performed.

Further, as another problem, the conventional hand scanner has a rotating roller 11 that moves on the paper surface of the document either before or after or both in the traveling direction of the reading device.
6, the size of the hand scanner in the scanning direction increases, resulting in a large hand scanner. As a result, it is not suitable for reading a narrow central portion of the book document B, and it is considered at present that hand scanner reading is not suitable for a book document.

Further, the conventional hand scanner is relatively large as described above, so that it is inconvenient to carry.
There is a strong demand for improvement along with the inconvenience of usability.

As described above, against the background of a demand for improvement of a user, there has been a strong demand for a hand scanner which is smaller and can be used not only for reading a sheet document but also for reading a book document.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is small and lightweight, and can be used not only for reading a sheet document but also for reading a book document. Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand scanner capable of reading at a high resolution and a facsimile apparatus using the same.

[0018]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems,
In order to achieve the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a hand scanner provided in a hand scanner body, wherein a reading unit for reading image information while moving the contact surface while keeping the contact surface in close contact with the document is provided. And a pivoting means for rotating the hand scanner main body relatively to the reading means.

A hand scanner having a hand scanner body provided with reading means for reading image information while moving the contact surface while keeping the contact surface in contact with the document, and movement amount detecting means for obtaining a synchronization signal for the reading. And
The image forming apparatus further includes a shaft supporting means for rotating the hand scanner main body relatively to the reading means in the close contact state.

Further, the moving amount detecting means is provided with a roller which partially projects from the upper and lower surfaces or one surface of the scanner main body to contact and follow the original.

Further, the pivot support means includes a rotation detecting sensor for detecting the position of the rotation.

A facsimile apparatus using a hand scanner, comprising: a storage section provided on a facsimile main body side for detachably storing the hand scanner main body; and a document conveying means for conveying the document. Output means for outputting a received document.

In a facsimile apparatus using a hand scanner, the document conveying means is provided on a lid which is openably and closably held at an upper surface of the facsimile main body, and is in contact with the roller. It is characterized by having a driving roller to be driven.

The output means is a serial recording apparatus of an ink jet recording type or an electrophotographic type.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, FIG. 1A shows the hand scanner 14.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of FIG. 1, showing a state in which it is turned to a position shown by a solid line and a position shown by a two-dot chain line. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the contact sensor section.

In FIG. 1A, a hand scanner 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a reading device 8 such as a contact-type image sensor for reading an image, which is detached from a facsimile apparatus to be described later or used or can be used alone. The roller 16 for smoothly moving the hand scanner and outputting a synchronization signal used for reading, the encoder 23 for detecting the amount of movement in synchronization with the roller, the electrical unit 18 to which these are connected, and the hand scanner Body 17
It is composed of

The inside of the reading device 8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the contact surface portion 20 is formed of a glass member that is in close contact with the document, illumination means 21 such as an LED array, and a selfoc lens array 23 for guiding light reflected from the document to the light receiving element portion 22. .

On the other hand, the reading device 8 is rotatably held by the shaft 26 with respect to the main body 17, and the rotation position of the shaft 26 can be detected by the sensor 27. When reading the sheet document G using the hand scanner 14 configured as described above, the reading surface of the reading device 8 is brought into close contact with the document surface G as described above with reference to FIG. The image information is moved to obtain electronic information by photoelectric conversion technology such as a contact image sensor. Then save to flash memory or
An image output is obtained by a facsimile apparatus by a recording device. In this case, if the adhesion between the sheet document G and the reading device 8 is poor, accurate image reading cannot be performed. In particular, as shown in FIG. When reading the original from the curved portion of the central binding margin of the book, a gap C of several mm or more occurs between the reading device 8 and the original surface as shown in FIG.
The following contact-type image sensor is out of focus and cannot be read, and in reality, hand scanner reading at the center of the book is almost impossible. Therefore, even if a reduction optical system (composed of a lens and a mirror) having a deeper depth of focus (several mm) than a contact image sensor is employed, the size of the apparatus becomes large, and operability as a hand scanner cannot be expected. As the reading portion becomes larger, it is actually impossible to read a narrow curved portion such as the center of a book.

Therefore, in order to solve the actual use limitation and the deterioration of the quality of the read image in reading the hand scanner, especially in reading the book, the reading device 8 constituting the hand scanner 14 as shown in FIGS. 17 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 26.

That is, the hand scanner main body 17 is provided with a shaft 26 of a rotation supporting portion for rotatably supporting the reading device 8 and a sensor 27 as position detecting means for detecting the position of the reading device 8. The upper surface 16b of the roller 16 as shown in FIG.
And the lower surface 16a partially project from the main body 14 to the outside.

As described above, the roller 16 is also partially protruded from the surface of the hand scanner body 17 opposite to the reading surface 20, so that the center binding margin of the book document B can be reduced as shown in FIG. After moving to the reading section,
The hand scanner body 17 is rotated in the double arrow direction without changing the contact state between the reading surface and the document surface, and the scanner body 17 is rotated by using the upper surface portion 16b of the roller 16 provided on the opposite surface of the scanner body 17. Can be moved in the opposite direction.

The main body of the hand scanner 17 used as described above is detachably provided as shown in the side view of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a state where the lid is opened.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the facsimile main body 1 is provided with a storage section 1a shown by a broken line so that the hand scanner main body 17 can be attached and detached as shown.

The facsimile apparatus 1 is provided with a document reading unit using an image sensor of a hand scanner main body 17 and a recording unit 3 composed of an ink jet or electrophotographic printer. Tray 5 configured to be able to stack a plurality of documents, a document separating roller 6 for sequentially separating and transporting the documents one by one from the plurality of documents, and a sheet feeding roller for feeding the documents to a reading unit. A document feed roller unit 7 composed of pinch rollers and a reading device 8 as a reading device for actually reading are used, and a contact image sensor or the like is used.

A document discharge roller unit composed of a pair of rollers for discharging the sheet document G out of the facsimile main body after reading, and a document discharge tray 10 for stacking documents discharged outside the machine. ing.

The upper document guide 12 is provided with a plate 2 for bringing the document G into close contact, and is configured to be rotatable with respect to the main body 1 as shown in FIG. Document G that has cleaned the document contact surface 20 of the device 8 or has caused a paper jam on the conveyance path
It is possible to remove it. Further, the recording sheet S is configured to pass through the recording unit 3 as shown in the drawing and to be discharged forward after recording.

In the hand scanner detachably provided from the facsimile main body as described above, an image reading means as a reading device is displaceably attached to the hand scanner main body, and rollers and the like for moving the hand scanner main body. By providing the moving means on the surface opposite to the original contact surface, it is possible to continuously move the scanner body in the opposite direction without changing the contact state between the reading device and the original. This makes it possible to read the central portion of the book document from one central portion with smooth movement to the other reading portions, and as a result, it is possible to read without image disturbance due to movement unevenness.

As described above, in the hand scanner detachably provided from the facsimile main body, the image reading means as a reading device is configured to be displaceably mounted on the hand scanner main body, so that the center of a book original or the like can be obtained. Even in the curved portion of the binding margin, the image reading means as a reading device is displaced with respect to the main body of the hand scanner to completely adhere to the curved portion and enable high-resolution reading without image blur. Rotate the hand scanner without changing the contact state and use the moving means such as rollers provided on the opposite side of the scanner body to move the scanner continuously and smoothly, and read without disturbing the image due to uneven movement of the hand scanner. Can be made possible.

Further, in the case of color reading or the like, color misregistration with a color document caused by uneven reading of color image information due to poor movement of the hand scanner body can be avoided by the moving means of the hand scanner. High quality color reading becomes possible. In addition, it is possible to avoid a color shift due to a variation in the amount of reflected light due to a poor adhesion at the time of color reading or the like, thereby enabling higher quality color reading.

7 and 8 are external perspective views of a hand scanner according to another embodiment.
Are respectively provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body 17 of the hand scanner. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a main part. First, in FIG. 7, the document contact surface 20 faces in the double arrow direction in the figure, and in FIG. 8, the document contact surface 20 faces in the double arrow direction in the figure.
7, 8, and 9, the same reference numerals are given to the components already described, and the description thereof is omitted. The roller 16 protrudes from only one side to the outside.

In the above arrangement, the book document is read while moving in the direction of arrow D shown in FIG. In this state, the movement of the reading device 8 is stopped, and FIG.
The hand scanner body 17 is rotated in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. As described above, reading can be continuously performed smoothly except for the central portion of the book document, and even when reading a sheet document, it is possible to perform reading without image disturbance due to uneven movement of the hand scanner.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is small and lightweight, and can be used not only for reading sheet documents, but also for reading book documents.
It is possible to provide a hand scanner capable of reading high-quality and high-resolution images and a facsimile apparatus using the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a side view of a hand scanner according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1B and 1B are cross-sectional views of a contact sensor unit in FIGS.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the hand scanner shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the hand scanner shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in which the hand scanner is mounted on a facsimile machine.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in which a hand scanner is mounted on a facsimile machine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the hand scanner.

FIG.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of a hand scanner according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a main part of the hand scanner of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of the hand scanner of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a main part of a conventional facsimile apparatus in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional hand scanner.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional hand scanner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile main body 2 Document reading part 3 Recording part 5 Document tray 8 Reading device (image reading means) 10 Document discharge tray 12 Upper document guide 13 Document conveying path 14 Hand scanner 16 Roller

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A hand scanner provided in a hand scanner body, wherein reading means for reading image information while moving a contact surface in a state of contact with a document is provided, wherein the reading means is provided with respect to the reading means in the contact state. A hand scanner, comprising: a shaft supporting means for relatively rotating the main body of the hand scanner. 2. A hand scanner having a reading means for reading image information while moving the contact surface while keeping the contact surface in close contact with the document, and a movement amount detecting means for obtaining a synchronization signal for reading the hand scanner body. A hand scanner, comprising: a shaft supporting means for rotating the hand scanner main body relatively to the reading means in the close contact state. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving amount detecting means includes a roller which abuts on and follows the document by partially protruding from upper and lower surfaces or one surface of the scanner main body. Hand scanner as described. 4. The hand scanner according to claim 1, wherein the pivot support means includes a rotation detection sensor for detecting the position of the rotation. 5. A facsimile apparatus using the hand scanner according to claim 1, wherein a storage unit provided on a facsimile main body side for detachably storing the hand scanner main body. A facsimile apparatus using a hand scanner, comprising: a document conveying means for conveying the document; and an output means for outputting a received document. 6. A facsimile apparatus using the hand scanner according to claim 2, wherein said document conveying means is provided on a lid which is openably and closably held at an upper surface portion of said facsimile main body, and wherein said roller is provided. A facsimile apparatus using a hand scanner, comprising: a driving roller driven to contact the image forming apparatus. 7. A facsimile apparatus using a hand scanner according to claim 5, wherein said output means is an ink jet recording type serial recording device or an electrophotographic type.