JP2003087499A - Image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reader that can reduce its occupied area and stably carry even a thick flexible but hard sheet. SOLUTION: A sheet P contained in a tilted sheet container section 3 is carried on a first sheet carrying path R1 vertically extended up to image read sections 8, 9, the image read sections 8, 9 read an image of the sheet P and the sheet P whose image is read is discharged to a horizontal discharge paper stack section 14 through a second sheet carrying path R2 extended nearly horizontally. Then the image read section 9 is placed between the first carrying path R1 vertically extended and the second sheet carrying path R2 extended nearly horizontally, and the image read section 9 changes the carrying direction of the sheet P passing through the first carrying path R1 toward the second sheet carrying path R2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for reading an image formed on a sheet while conveying the sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image reading apparatus for reading an image formed on a sheet, there is an original feeding system for reading an image formed on an original while feeding an original which is a sheet. . Facsimile machines, scanners, copiers, etc. are known as such document feeding type image reading apparatuses.

By the way, among these devices, there is a type that simultaneously reads images on the front and back sides of a document. FIG. 8 shows an example of such a conventional image reading apparatus. In order to reduce the area occupied by the apparatus, this image reading apparatus is a conveyance path for making a U-turn of a document P, so-called U.
It has a turn pass.

When reading the original P, the original P is first placed on the original feed tray 101 on the front side of the apparatus (right side in the drawing).
Are set face-up, and the uppermost original of the originals P set in this way is sequentially separated one by one by the separating unit 102, and then the image is read by the image reading unit 104 by the conveying roller pair 103.
Send to 105.

Next, the front and back images of the original P are read by the image sensors 104a and 105a provided in the image reading units 104 and 105, respectively. Platen rollers 104b and 105b are provided on the facing surfaces of the image sensors 104a and 105a, respectively, and the platen rollers 104b and 105b bring the original P into close contact with the contact glass surface of each image sensor. The original image can be read well.

Then, the original P, from which the front and back images have been read in this way, thereafter passes through the U-turn guide portion 107 by the pair of conveying rollers 106, and the pair of discharge rollers 10
A document discharge tray 109 provided on the upper surface of the apparatus by 8
They are stacked on top of each other in the order of conveyance.

According to the image reading apparatus having such a structure, the area occupied by the apparatus is relatively small, and since the original P is taken in and ejected in the same direction, the original P can be easily set and collected. It can be carried out.

On the other hand, FIG. 9 shows another example of the conventional image reading apparatus. In this image reading apparatus, the original P is placed on the upper side (upper right side in the figure) on the rear side of the apparatus and the surface thereof is directed downward. It is a system that sets and conveys almost linearly.

When reading the original P, first, the original P is set downward on the original feed tray 101, and the lowermost original P of the originals P set in this way is separated by one sheet by the separating unit 102. After separating them one by one, a pair of transport rollers
The image is sent to the image reading units 104 and 105 by 03.

Next, the front and back images of the original P are read by the image sensors 104a and 105a provided in the image reading units 104 and 105, respectively. The original P from which the front and back images are read in this way is
After that, the pair of paper ejection rollers 108 stacks the documents downward on a document ejection tray 109 at the lower portion (lower left side in the drawing) on the front side of the apparatus in the order of conveyance.

According to the image reading apparatus having such a configuration, since the conveying path of the original P is almost a straight line, that is, a so-called straight path, the original P can be conveyed relatively stably, and the conveying rollers and There is an advantage that the transport guide can be configured to have a necessary minimum. further,
If the angle of the straight path is set to be large with respect to the horizontal plane and the document feed tray 101 is set up at an angle to convey the document P at a nearly vertical angle, the occupied (projected) area of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[0012]

However, in such a conventional image reading apparatus, for example, the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 8, in order to make the entire apparatus compact, the curvature of the U-turn guide portion is required. However, if the curvature is reduced in this way, not only a thick thick original document cannot be conveyed, but also the conveyance accuracy deteriorates and a conveyance failure easily occurs.

That is, when a document is conveyed using a U-turn path having a small curvature, the entire apparatus can be made compact, but the application range for the thickness of the document is narrower than that of the straight path. There is. In addition, there is a drawback that the U-turn section requires a carrying roller and a carrying guide, which complicates the configuration.

On the other hand, in the image reading apparatus as shown in FIG. 9, if the angle of the straight path is set to be large with respect to the horizontal plane and the original is conveyed at an angle close to the vertical, the occupied (projected) area of the apparatus can be kept small. However, in this case, it is necessary to arrange the document discharge tray 109 at an angle close to vertical.

However, as described above, the document discharge tray 109 is
The document output tray 109
There is a drawback that the position of is higher than the installation surface, the height of the device is increased, and the operability is deteriorated. Therefore, it is advantageous in terms of downsizing and operability of the apparatus to arrange the document discharge tray 109 at an angle as close to horizontal as possible.

However, as described above, the document discharge tray 10 is
When 9 is arranged at an angle close to horizontal, the original P conveyed at an angle close to vertical is conveyed in the original discharge tray 109.
It will change drastically before. When the document discharge angle greatly changes in this way, there are drawbacks that a thick thick document cannot be discharged, the discharged document is bent, and a discharge jam easily occurs.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation as described above, and makes it possible to reduce the occupied (projected) area of the apparatus and to stably convey even thick thick originals (sheets). An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading device capable of performing the above.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an image reading apparatus configured to discharge an image after reading an image of the sheet stored in an inclined sheet storage section,
An image reading unit that reads an image of the sheet, a substantially horizontal sheet discharge stacking unit that stacks the discharged sheets, and a first sheet conveyance path that vertically extends to convey the sheets to the image reading unit, A second sheet conveyance path extending in a substantially horizontal direction for conveying the sheet from which the image has been read to the substantially horizontal sheet discharge stacking section, and a first sheet conveyance extending in the vertical direction in the image reading section Provided between the path and the second sheet conveying path extending in the substantially horizontal direction, and the conveying direction of the sheet having passed through the first sheet conveying path in the image reading section is directed to the second sheet conveying path. The feature is that the direction is changed.

Further, according to the present invention, the image reading unit includes the first
It is characterized in that it is provided in a state in which it is inclined in the horizontal direction by a predetermined amount from the angle of the sheet conveying path, and that the conveying direction of the sheet is changed on the surface including the reading position of the image reading unit. is there.

In the present invention, the image reading unit is provided so as to face the image reading unit and an image reading unit for reading an image on the sheet, and the sheet is passed while being in close contact with the image reading unit. It is characterized by being provided with a regulation means.

The present invention is also characterized in that the regulating means is a roller.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the roller is provided so as to be shifted by a predetermined amount upstream of the reading position of the image reading means in the sheet conveying direction.

Further, according to the present invention, the regulating means is a plate-shaped member having a smooth surface, and the sheet-conveying direction of the plate-shaped member is changed upstream of the reading position of the image reading means in the sheet-conveying direction. It is characterized in that it is provided at a predetermined position where it can be removed.

Further, according to the present invention, an original document conveying means for conveying an original document along a conveying path, an image reading means for reading image information of the original document conveyed by the original document conveying means at a predetermined reading position, and the image reading means. In an image reading apparatus including a document discharging unit that discharges a document read by
The conveyance path is bent near the reading position of the image reading means.

The present invention is also characterized in that the conveying path is bent upstream of the image reading position of the image reading means.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided regulation means which is provided so as to face the image reading means and allows the document to pass while closely adhering to the document reading surface of the image reading means, and the conveying path is bent along the regulation means. It is characterized by doing.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the regulating means includes a roller, and the conveying path is bent along a peripheral surface of the roller.

The present invention is also characterized in that the regulating means is provided at a position upstream of the reading position of the image reading means in the original conveying direction by a predetermined amount.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the axial center position of the roller is arranged so as to be shifted by a predetermined amount upstream of the reading position of the original reading surface in the conveying direction.

[0030]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing its schematic structure.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is an image reading apparatus, 1A is an image reading apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as the apparatus main body), 2 is a paper feed port provided on the upper side of the apparatus main body 1A, 3
Is a document feed tray that is a slanted sheet storage unit that is disposed above the paper feed port 2 at an angle close to vertical, and the document P that is a sheet is placed in the paper feed port 2 with its lower end inserted. The document is set on the document feed tray 3 with the front side facing down.

Further, 5 is a feed roller to which a driving force is applied in the direction of pulling the original P into the apparatus main body 1A, and 6 is a retard roller. The retard roller 6 is connected to the retard roller 6 and will be described later. The torque limiter shown in FIG. 5 applies a driving force in a direction to push back the document P with a predetermined torque.

Further, reference numerals 8 and 9 denote upper and lower image reading portions for reading the image of the original P. The upper and lower image reading portions 8 and 9 are arranged so as to sandwich a first conveying path R1 described later, and the upper image The reading unit 8 reads the image on the back side of the document P, and the lower image reading unit 9 reads the image on the front side of the document P.

Next, the image reading operation of the image reading apparatus 1 thus constructed will be described.

First, when the start button 4 of the operation unit shown in FIG. 1 is pressed and a reading start command is issued, the feed roller 5 and the retard roller 6 start to rotate. Here, when only one original P enters the nip portion between the feed roller 5 and the retard roller 6, the retard roller 6 is rotated together with the original P by the torque limiter, whereby the original P is conveyed by the feed roller 5. It is sent to the carrying roller 7 by force.

When a plurality of originals P enter at the same time, the retard roller 6 is rotated by the torque limiter in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the originals P, and the second and subsequent sheets which are not in contact with the feed roller 5. The original P is pushed back, and when the original P is only the first sheet, the original P starts to rotate along with the conveyance of the original P. Then, due to the retard separation by the retard roller 6 as described above, the documents P are separated one by one and fed to the conveyance roller 7.

Next, the document P is transported by the transport roller 7 to the upper and lower image reading units 8 and 9 at a constant speed. By the way, in the present embodiment, the upper and lower image reading units 8 and 9 read the images formed on the front and back sides of the original P by the contact image sensor 200 which is an image reading unit.

FIG. 3 shows such a contact image sensor 2
00 is a view showing a configuration of the contact image sensor 200, and in the contact image sensor 200, as shown in the figure, an LED 202 as a light source, a lens array 203, and an image sensor (light receiving element) 204 are arranged in a frame 201. And the frame 201 including the reading position A of the contact image sensor 200.
A contact glass 205 is installed on the upper surface of the.

Here, this contact image sensor 200
When the document P passes above the contact glass 205, the LED 202 projects light. The light thus projected is reflected by the document reading surface at the reading position A, and is imaged on the image sensor (light receiving element) 204 by the lens array 203. further,
The image thus formed is converted into an electric signal by the image sensor (light receiving element) 204, and then various image processing is performed to read the original image.

Since the contact image sensor 200 has a shallow depth of focus, the upper and lower image reading units 8 and 9 provided with the contact image sensor 200 read the image information of the original P well. In order to do so, it is necessary to bring the original P into close contact with the surface of the contact glass installed on the contact image sensor.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the document P is pressed against the document reading surface of the image reading units 8 and 9 (FIG. 3) on the side opposite to the reading position A of the upper and lower image reading units 8 and 9. Platen rollers 10 and 11 are provided, which are in close contact with the contact glass surface (shown in FIG. 1) and which are the regulating means for conveying the document P at a predetermined speed.

Here, in the present embodiment, the surfaces of the platen rollers 10 and 11 are white so that a shading signal can be detected. The detection of the shading signal is performed when the document P is read by the image reading units 8 and 9.
It is performed by reading the white reference level of the white surface of the platen rollers 10 and 11 by the contact image sensor 200 before being conveyed to the.

Further, in the present embodiment, the platen rollers 10 and 11 have their outer peripheral surfaces at predetermined intervals without directly contacting the original reading surfaces (contact glass surfaces) of the upper and lower image reading portions 8 and 9. (0.5 mm) is maintained.

This prevents the white surfaces of the platen rollers 10 and 11 from becoming dirty and scratched, and prevents the shading signal from being detected poorly. At the same time, when the document P is not present, the platen rollers 10 and 11 and the contact glass are not separated. This is to suppress an increase in the load on the mechanical system due to contact friction.

On the other hand, as described above, the original P that has passed through the conveying roller 7 is then read by the upper image reading unit 8 whose reading surface is placed parallel to the original conveying direction, and the image on the back side is read. After that, the lower image reading unit 9 reads the image on the front side.

Next, the reading position A of the lower image reading unit 9
The document P that has passed through the discharge roller 1 is a discharge roller 1 that is a document discharge unit.
The sheet is conveyed to the document discharge tray 2, and is discharged from the discharge port 13 by the discharge roller 12 with the surface thereof facing downward onto the document discharge tray 14 which is a substantially horizontal discharge stacking section. The same operation is performed for the second and subsequent originals P, and the originals P are stacked on the original discharge tray 14 in the same order as when they were set on the original feed tray 3.

By the way, the original P is conveyed by the conveying roller 7 and the platen roller 1 until the rear end of the discharging roller 12 comes off.
It is conveyed at a constant speed by 0, 11 and the discharge roller 12. Here, the document feeding speed by the feed roller 5 is set to be slower than that of each of the rollers 7, 10, 11, 12 so as to properly read the document image.

Even when the document feeding speed by the feed roller 5 is set lower than the document feeding speed by the rollers 7, 10, 11, 12 in this way, the roller driving shaft of the feed roller 5 is not shown. Since the one-way clutch is connected, the feed roller 5 rotates together with the document P until the trailing end of the document P reaches the feed roller 5 after the leading end of the document P reaches the transport roller 7. .

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 16 is a lower side provided with a feed roller 5, a conveying (driving) roller 7, a platen roller 10, a lower image reading section 9 and a discharging (driving) roller 12 and forming a lower conveying guide. A frame 17 is an upper frame that includes the retard roller 6, the transport (driven) roller 7, the upper image reading unit 8, the platen roller 12, and the discharge (driven) roller 12, and forms an upper transport guide.

By the lower frame 16 and the upper frame 17, the first conveyance path R1 which is the first sheet conveyance path extending in the vertical direction for conveying the document P to the image reading portions 8 and 9 and the image are formed. A second transport path R2, which is a second sheet transport path for transporting the read document P to the substantially horizontal document discharge tray 14, is formed.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper frame 17 is rotatably supported by the apparatus main body 1A with an opening / closing hinge 15 provided near the discharge roller 12 as a fulcrum. When the document P is jammed on the conveyance path,
Alternatively, when the contact glass of the image reading units 8 and 9 or the platen rollers 10 and 11 are soiled, the upper frame 17
By opening and closing hinge 15 as a fulcrum to open first and second conveyance paths R1 and R2 as shown in the figure, the jam processing of the document or the cleaning of contact glass 205 and platen rollers 10 and 11 is performed. It can be done easily.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a document feeding drive system of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 18 denotes a document conveying motor, and a motor gear 19 of the document conveying motor 18 includes a gear 20 fixed to a shaft 12a of a discharging (driving) roller 12 by a gear train 19A and platen rollers 10 and 11. Gears 22 and 21 fixed to the shafts 10a and 11a, a gear 23 fixed to the shaft 7a of the conveying (driving) roller 7, and a shaft 5 of the feed roller 5.
It is connected to a gear 24 fixed to a, and each roller 7, 10,
Drive is transmitted to 11 and 12.

The drive of the gear 24 fixed to the shaft 5a of the feed roller 5 is further transmitted by the gears 25 and 26, the pulleys 27 and 28, and the belt 29, and the torque limiter 30 mounted inside the retard roller 6 is used. The retard roller 6 is driven via the.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the lower image reading section 9 is, as shown in FIG. 2, in the original feeding direction to the upper image reading section 8 whose reading surface is provided upstream, in other words, the first feeding. It is provided in a state of being inclined in the horizontal direction by a predetermined angle with respect to the sheet conveyance direction (angle) on the path R1.

By providing the lower image reading unit 9 in such a state that the lower image reading unit 9 is inclined by a predetermined angle, the original P that has passed the reading position A in the lower image reading unit 9 is contacted by the platen roller 11 to the contact glass 205. While changing the conveying direction along the surface including the reading position A of the second
It is adapted to be transported to the transport path R2.

Here, the original P is conveyed by the platen roller 11 while changing the conveying direction in this way, so that even if the angle formed by the first conveying path R1 and the second conveying path R2 is large, the conveying distance is short. Within the range, the conveyance direction of the document P can be changed without using another roller or the like.

As a result, even when the document feed tray 3 is provided at an angle close to vertical and the document discharge tray 14 is arranged at an angle close to horizontal, the document can be discharged to the document discharge tray 14 smoothly. In addition, the entire document transport path can be made compact, so that the apparatus main body 1A can be downsized, and the occupied (projected) area of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, a thick thick original P can be stably conveyed.

By the way, when the leading edge of the document P passes through the reading position A of the image reading units 8 and 9, the platen roller 1
The image reading unit 8 on the facing surface has the axis center positions of 0 and 11
When the read position A of each contact image sensor 200 of 9 is coincident with the reading position A of the conveyed document P, the front end of the conveyed document P comes into contact with the platen rollers 10 and 11 or the contact glass surface of the contact image sensor 200 due to an impact. Since the document P may flutter between the contact image sensor 200 and the platen rollers 10 and 11, it is preferable to suppress the fluttering of the document P for proper image reading.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention for suppressing such flapping of the original P will be described.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of the image reading apparatus according to this embodiment. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or corresponding parts.

In the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, the axial center positions of the platen rollers 10 and 11 are read from the reading positions A of the contact image sensors 200 of the image reading units 8 and 9 in the document conveying direction, respectively. It is arranged at a position shifted by a predetermined amount δ on the upstream side.

The platen roller 10,
By arranging the axis center position of 11 on the upstream side (front side) of the reading position A of each contact image sensor 200,
When the document P comes into contact with the platen rollers 10 and 11 or the contact glass surface of the contact image sensor 200,
The impact can be prevented from affecting the read image, and the behavior of the leading end of the document at the reading position A can be stabilized.

In the present embodiment, the value of the shift amount δ is 0 .. with respect to the platen roller diameter φ12 mm.
It is about 5 to 1.5 mm. However, even with such a small shift amount δ, the image reading line width of the contact image sensor 200 is extremely small.

In this way, the axial center positions of the platen rollers 10 and 11 are set to the reading position A of the contact image sensor 200.
Therefore, by displacing each of them by the predetermined amount δ on the upstream side in the document conveying direction, it is possible to suppress fluttering when the leading edge of the document P passes through the reading position A, and thus blur and density of the read image. Image defects such as unevenness can be prevented.

By the way, in the above description, in order to bring the original P into close contact with the original reading surface, the platen rollers 10, 1 are provided on the side of the contact image sensor 200 opposite to the reading position A.
Although the case where 1 is arranged has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the original P may be brought into close contact with the contact image sensor 200 by another member.

Next, using the other members in this manner, the original P
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the contact image sensor 200 and the contact image sensor 200 are in close contact with each other.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of the image reading apparatus according to this embodiment. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or corresponding parts.

In the figure, 31 and 32 are sheet members which are plate-like members provided in opposition to the contact image sensors 200 of the upper and lower image reading units 8 and 9 instead of the platen rollers. And, this sheet member 31,
The reference numeral 32 is fixed to the contact glass surface of the contact image sensor 200 with a predetermined space so that the originals P can be brought into close contact with the contact image sensor 200, respectively.

In the present embodiment as well, as in the first and second embodiments described above, the lower image reading unit 9 is used.
Is provided at a position where the conveyance angle of the document P is changed in the lower image reading unit 9, and the sheet members 31, 3 are
2 is provided at a predetermined position on the surface including the reading position of the lower image reading unit 9 so as to change the conveyance angle of the document P.

Further, the surfaces of the sheet members 31 and 32 are formed smoothly, and by smoothing the surfaces in this way, the conveyance resistance of the document P can be suppressed as much as possible and the conveyance jam can be prevented. You can Further, by setting the color of the sheet members 31 and 32 to be white, a function as a white reference plate is provided and a shading signal can be detected.

As described above, the sheet members 31 and 32 bring the document P into close contact with the document reading surfaces of the image reading units 8 and 9, so that the driving is performed to drive the rollers as in the case of using the platen roller. No mechanism is needed. This simplifies the structure and reduces the cost.

In the present embodiment, the sheet members 31 and 32 are fixed to the contact glass surface of the contact image sensor 200 with a predetermined space therebetween. You may make it contact with a certain pressing force.

Further, the conveyance direction changing point of the document P in the lower image reading section 9 is not strictly at the reading position A, but at any position on the surface of the contact glass 205 if it is upstream of the reading position A in the conveyance direction. But it's okay.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first sheet conveying path extending in the vertical direction for conveying the sheet stored in the inclined sheet storing section to the image reading section, and the image is read. An image reading unit is provided between the second sheet conveying path extending in the substantially horizontal direction, which discharges the sheet to the substantially horizontal sheet discharge stacking unit, and the image reading unit conveys the sheet having passed through the first sheet conveying path. By changing the direction to the direction toward the second sheet conveying path, the area occupied by the apparatus can be reduced and a thick thick sheet can be stably conveyed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image reading apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the image reading apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a contact image sensor of an image reading unit provided in the image reading apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the first and second conveyance paths of the image reading apparatus are opened.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a document feeding drive system of the image reading apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of an image reading apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of an image reading apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an example of a conventional image reading apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image reading device according to another example of a conventional image reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image reading device 1A device body 3 Document feed tray 8 Upper image reading section 9 Lower image reading section 10, 11 Platen roller 14 Document output tray 31, 32 sheet members 200 Contact image sensor 205 contact glass A reading position R1 first transport path R2 second transport path P manuscript

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06T 1/00 420 G06T 1/00 420J 5C072 H04N 1/04 H04N 1/12 ZF term (reference) 2H076 BA35 BA36 BA47 3F049 DA12 DA14 LA05 LB02 3F101 FB17 FD05 LA05 LB02 5B047 AA01 BA01 BA07 BB02 BC14 BC18 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB02 AB17 AB32 AC09 AD06 BA00 5C072 AA01 BA01 DA25 NA01 VA10 WA02 XA01

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An image reading apparatus configured to discharge an image of a sheet stored in an inclined sheet storage unit after the image is read, the image reading unit reading the image of the sheet; A substantially horizontal sheet discharge stacking section for stacking the read sheet, a first sheet conveying path extending in the vertical direction for conveying the sheet to the image reading section, and a substantially horizontal sheet discharge tray for reading the image read sheet. A substantially horizontal second sheet transporting path for transporting to the paper stacking section; a first sheet transporting path extending vertically in the image reading section and a second horizontal sheet transporting the image reading section; An image characterized in that it is provided between the sheet and a sheet, and that the image reading unit changes the conveying direction of the sheet that has passed through the first sheet conveying path to the direction toward the second sheet conveying path. Reader. 2. The image reading unit is provided in a state in which the image reading unit is horizontally inclined by a predetermined amount with respect to an angle of the first sheet conveying path,
2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance direction of the sheet is changed on the surface including the reading position of the image reading unit. 3. The image reading unit includes an image reading unit that reads an image on the sheet, and a restricting unit that is provided so as to face the image reading unit and that allows the sheet to pass while being in close contact with the image reading unit. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the regulation unit is a roller. 5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the roller is provided so as to be shifted by a predetermined amount upstream of the reading position of the image reading unit in the sheet conveying direction. 6. The regulating means is a plate-shaped member having a smooth surface, and the sheet-conveying direction can be changed on the plate-shaped member upstream of the reading position of the image reading means in the sheet-conveying direction. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image reading apparatus is provided at a predetermined position. 7. An original conveying means for conveying an original along a conveying path, an image reading means for reading image information of the original conveyed by the original conveying means at a predetermined reading position, and an image reading means for reading the image information. An image reading apparatus having a document discharging unit for discharging a document, wherein the conveyance path is bent near a reading position of the image reading unit. 8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the conveyance path is bent upstream of an image reading position of the image reading unit. 9. A regulation unit is provided opposite to the image reading unit to pass a document while closely adhering to a document reading surface of the image reading unit, and the conveyance path is bent along the regulation unit. 9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image reading apparatus is an image reading apparatus. 10. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the regulation unit includes a roller, and the conveyance path is bent along a peripheral surface of the roller. 11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the restricting unit is provided at a position upstream from the reading position of the image reading unit in the document conveying direction by a predetermined amount. 12. The image reading apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the axial center position of the roller is arranged at a position upstream of the reading position of the document reading surface in the transport direction by a predetermined amount.