JP2003162183A - Image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate waste of copying paper by decreasing miscopies. <P>SOLUTION: An image reader 3 is provided with a document table 7, a document cover 2 which is freely opened/closed and presses a document placed on the document table 7, and a reading means 51 which reads the image of the document on the document table 7. A process for reading an image is interrupted in response to an opening/closing sensor 6 which detects the opened/ closed state of the document cover 2, and to the detecting state of the sensor 6. Further, the image reader 3 has an interruption selection means 4c for predetermining whether a reading process is interrupted when the opening/closing sensor 6 is opened, a warning means 55 for informing that the document cover 2 is open, etc. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 applied to a digital reading type copying machine, a fax machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image reading apparatus is mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile,
The original placed on the original placing glass is pressed by the original cover, and then the start button is pressed to start image reading.

However, in the conventional copying apparatus, since the document cover can be freely opened and closed at any time, an image is read while the document cover is open, or a document that is closed during image reading. When the cover is opened, there are inconveniences such that the document is misaligned and the image cannot be read correctly, or the part other than the image is read in black.

On the other hand, for example, JP-A-5-6390
In the example of Japanese Patent No. 4, a copying machine is proposed which has an automatic start function for placing a document on a document table and automatically starting reading the document when the document cover is closed.

[0005]

However, in the technique disclosed in the above publication, the image reading operation is started only by opening and closing the document cover. Therefore, if the operator accidentally opens the document cover while reading the image, the document is read. There is no solution for miscopying, such as misalignment, which prevents the image from being read correctly, or light from the outside that causes parts other than the image to be read in black.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to reduce miscopy and reduce waste of copy paper.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document table, an openable / closable pressing plate for pressing a document placed on the document table, and a reading for reading an image of the document on the document table. In the image reading apparatus including the means, an opening / closing detection means for detecting the opening / closing state of the pressing plate, and a reading control means for automatically interrupting the image reading process in response to the detection state of the opening / closing detection means are provided. It is characterized by

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the pressing plate is opened during the reading of the image, the opening / closing detecting means detects that the pressing plate is opened and interrupts the image reading process. Due to this, when the pressing plate is opened, the document is misaligned, and the reading process is performed with this misaligned state, or light enters the platen from the outside, resulting in black streaks around the image. It is possible to prevent unwanted copying. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate waste of copy paper due to a reading error.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image reading apparatus according to the first aspect, in response to the open / close state of the pressing plate, an interruption selecting means capable of selecting in advance whether or not to interrupt the image reading process. Is provided.

According to the invention described in claim 2, claim 1
Whether or not to interrupt the reading process when the pressing plate is opened, since it is possible to select in advance whether or not to interrupt the image reading process when the pressing plate is opened, in addition to the same effects as the invention described in It is possible to support both operations.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the image reading device according to the item 1,
It is characterized in that a warning means for detecting the open state of the pressing plate is provided.

In the invention described in claim 3, claim 1
Alternatively, when the opening / closing detecting means detects the open state of the pressing plate, the same effect as that of the invention described in 2 is obtained, and when the opening state of the pressing plate is detected, a warning is given by a display or sound that the pressing plate is opened. Therefore, the operator recognizes that the pressing plate has been opened, and closes the pressing plate again, so that the document can be properly read.

The invention as defined in claim 4 is based on claims 1 to 3.
In the image reading device described in any one of 1 to 3, when the image reading process is interrupted by opening the pressing plate during image reading, the image reading process is automatically performed again when the pressing plate is closed. It is characterized in that a temporary stopping means is provided.

In the invention described in claim 4, claim 1
In addition to the same effect as the invention described in any one of 1 to 3, the pressing plate is opened during image reading, and the image reading process is interrupted. Then, when the pressing plate is closed again, the image reading process is automatically restarted. Therefore, it is not necessary to issue an image reading request after closing the pressing plate again, which improves the convenience of the operator.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image including a document table, an openable / closable pressing plate for pressing a document placed on the document table, and a reading means for reading an image of the document on the document table. In the reading device, when the image reading request is received with the pressing plate open, the image reading process is not performed at that time, and the command holding unit that performs the reading process when the pressing plate is closed is provided. Is characterized by.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when an image reading request is received with the pressing plate open, the reading process is performed after the pressing plate is closed. Therefore, it is not necessary to issue the image reading request again, and the convenience of the operator is improved.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a copier 1 as an image forming apparatus includes an image reading unit (image reading apparatus).
3 and the image forming section 5 and the like.

On the image reading surface of the image reading section 3, there is provided a document table 7 on which a document is placed.

A first carriage 9 having a halogen lamp 11 for illuminating a document placed on the document table 7 and a first mirror 13 for reflecting light from the document is provided below the document table 7. There is. The second carriage 1 is provided with a second mirror 16 and a third mirror 17 that sequentially reflect the light from the first mirror 13 in the vicinity of the first carriage 9.
5 are provided. The first carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 are driven in the left-right direction of the document table 7 for reading processing. The light reflected by the third mirror 17 is reflected by the lens 19
Is received by the fourth mirror 20a to the fifth mirror 20b,
Then, it passes through the sixth mirror 20c and is sent to the image forming unit 5.

The image forming unit 5 includes a sheet feeding unit 21 for feeding a transfer sheet, a photoconductor drum 23 as an image carrier, a charging device 25 for charging the photoconductor 23, and a photoconductor 23 for the photoconductor 23 by a developer. A developing device 31 that develops the electrostatic latent image as a toner image, a transfer belt 39 that transfers the developed toner image to the photoconductor 23, and a residue that remains on the photoconductor 23 after the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper. The cleaning device 41 includes a cleaning device 41 that removes toner, a fixing device 43 that fixes the toner image transferred onto the transfer paper, and the like.

The photosensitive drum 23 is uniformly charged by the charging device 25, and then the light emitted from the image reading section 3 is guided by the sixth mirror 29 in a predetermined direction.
Scanning exposure is performed based on the image information read by the image reading unit 3 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface. Then, the electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image by the developing device 31, and the transfer belt 3
The toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper via 9. Then, after fixing the toner image by the fixing device 43, the toner image is discharged from the paper discharging device.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a document cover (pressing plate) 2 is provided on the document table 7 so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range with the back side as a fulcrum.

When setting a document on the document table 7, the document table 7 is opened by rotating the front side of the document cover 2 upward, and the document is placed on the upper surface of the document table 7 by manual operation. After that, by rotating the front side of the document cover 2 downward, the upper surface of the document table 7 is closed.

An operation panel 4 is provided on the front side of the document table 7.
Is provided. The operation panel 4 includes a start key (image reading request) 4a for instructing the start of image reading by the operator, information on a size for designating the size of a document to be output and a magnification for designating the scale of an output image, and the document cover 2 It is composed of a display screen 4b for displaying a warning on the screen when opened. Further, in the present embodiment, a reading interruption setting key 4c for setting whether or not to interrupt the image reading process in response to the open / close state of the document cover 2 is provided.

The reading interruption setting key 4c switches the setting of whether or not to interrupt the image reading process in response to the open / close state of the document cover 2.

The character "interrupt" is displayed on the display screen 4b when the setting for interrupting the image reading process is performed, and the character "interrupt" is displayed when there is no setting. .

An open / close sensor (open / close detecting means) for detecting the open / close state of the original cover 2 is provided on the rear surface of the original table 7.
6 is provided. The open / close sensor 6 is provided at a corner of the document table 7, and the open / close sensor 6 is used for the document cover 2
The original cover 2 is recognized to be in the closed state when is touched. On the contrary, when the document cover 2 is opened due to a malfunction of the operator or the like, the detection unit is brought into a non-contact state with the document cover 2. In this state, the document cover 2 detects the open state and issues a detection signal.

As described above, the output signal of the detector changes depending on whether the upper surface of the document table 7 is completely closed or not, and whether the output signal of the detector is ON or OFF is determined. It is detected whether or not the document cover 2 completely closes the upper surface of the document table 7, that is, whether or not the image reading unit 3 is in a proper state for reading an image.

FIG. 4 shows the control unit of the copying machine 1 according to this embodiment.

The control section is mainly composed of a CPU 45 having a ROM 47 and a RAM 49.

The CPU 45 uses a predetermined area of the RAM 49 as a work area, and according to a control program stored in the ROM 47, based on the data from the operation panel 4 and the detection signals from the open / close sensor 6 and the like, via the driver. 1
The carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 are controlled.

The ROM 47 stores a control program for calculating control data for image reading processing based on various data input from the operation panel 4 and a reading operation according to the calculated control data. .

Further, the CPU 45 drives the first carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 in the left-right direction to open and close the reading means 51 for reading the image of the original on the original table 7 and the original cover 2. A read control unit 57 that responds to interrupt the image reading process, an open / close sensor 6 that detects the open / closed state of the document cover 2, and a read control that interrupts the image reading process in response to a signal from the open / close sensor 6. When the image reading process is interrupted by opening the control unit 57, the interruption selecting unit 54 that presets whether or not to interrupt the image reading process in response to the open / close state of the document cover 2, and when the image reading process is interrupted. When the document cover 2 is closed, the warning means 5 for issuing a warning when the open state is detected by the temporary stop means 53 for automatically performing the image reading process and the open / close sensor 6 again.
5, and an operation panel 4 for receiving various operations of the copying machine 1 and displaying various messages.

Next, the operation processing of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The operator sets the document on the document table 7 at a predetermined position. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the start key 4a of the operation panel 4 has been pressed (whether or not a reading request has been received). If it is determined that the start key 4a has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S2. If the start key 4a is not pressed, this step S1 is repeated.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the document cover 2 is in the closed state based on the output of the opening / closing sensor 6 of the document cover 2. If it is determined in step S2 that the document cover 2 is closed, the process proceeds to step S5, while if it is determined that the document cover 2 is not closed, the process proceeds to step S3 and the display screen of the operation panel 4 is displayed. Four
A warning message "Document cover is open" is displayed on the screen b. Then, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined again whether the document cover 2 is closed. If it is determined that the document cover 2 is closed, the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, the reading process is started. In the reading process, the first carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 scan the original document from the initial position in the right direction to acquire image information. In step S6, it is determined by the reading interruption setting key 4c of the operation panel 4 whether or not the reading processing is interrupted when the document cover 2 is opened, and if the reading processing is not set to be interrupted. Is step S7
Go to. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the image reading process is completed. If the image reading process is completed, the process proceeds to step S13 and ends.

On the other hand, in step S6, if the reading interruption setting key 4c is set not to interrupt the reading processing when the document cover 2 is opened, the process proceeds to step S8, and the reading processing is completed. Judge whether or not. If the reading process has been completed, step S13.
Ends at. If the reading process is not completed in step S8,
If the original cover 2 is being read, the process proceeds to step S9.
It is determined whether or not is closed. If the original cover 2 is closed, the process returns to step S8,
Continue the reading process.

When the document cover 2 is opened in step S9, a warning "Document cover is open" is displayed on the display screen 4b of the operation panel 4 based on the output of the open / close sensor 6 in step S10. It Note that this warning may be notified by, for example, the generation of sound or the like. Next, in step S11, the first carriage 9
The driving operation of the second carriage 15 is stopped, and the reading process is interrupted. In this case, all the data of the image part which has already been read is erased. And step S1
2 determines whether the document cover 2 is closed,
When the document cover 2 is closed, the process returns to step S5, the first carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 are returned to the initial positions, and then the image processing operation is restarted. In this case, it is not necessary to press the start key 4a again, and the reading process is automatically restarted.

As described above, the image reading unit 3 is provided with the open / close sensor 6 for detecting the open / close state of the original cover 2.
When the document cover 2 is opened during the reading process, the open / close sensor 6
Detects the open state and interrupts the image reading process. Therefore, it is possible to prevent miscopying such that the document cover 2 is opened and the position of the document on the document table 7 is displaced, or excess light enters and portions other than the image are read in black. Further, since a warning is displayed on the operation panel 4 when the document cover 2 is opened, the operator can recognize that the state in which the image processing operation is stopped is due to the document cover 2 being opened, and an appropriate condition is set. Correspondence can be taken. Further, whether or not to interrupt the image reading process when the document cover 2 is opened can be set in advance, so that it is possible to perform an appropriate process according to the usage state of the operator. Further, when the document cover 2 is closed again, it is not necessary to press the start key 4a again, and the reading process is automatically restarted from the beginning, which is convenient.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the description, the same parts as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. Is omitted.

FIG. 6 shows an image reading section 3 in another embodiment.
2 is a schematic block diagram of the control circuit of FIG. The control circuit is RO
Mainly composed of a CPU 45 having an M47 and a RAM 49, the CPU 45 is a reading unit for reading an image of a document on the document table 7 while driving the first carriage 9 and the second carriage 15 in the left-right direction. 51,
An open / close sensor 6 for detecting the open / closed state of the document cover 2 is connected to the operation panel 4. In this embodiment,
An instruction holding means 59 is provided. When the start key 4a is pressed while the document cover 2 is open, the command holding unit 59 does not perform the reading process at that time, but automatically starts the reading process when the document cover 2 is closed. To do.

FIG. 7 shows a document reading section 3 in the embodiment.
3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the control circuit of FIG. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the start key 4a of the operation panel 4 has been pressed (whether or not a reading request has been received). If it is determined that the start key 4a has been pressed,
Go to step S2. If the start key 4a is not pressed, this step S1 is repeated.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the document cover 2 is closed based on the output of the opening / closing sensor 6 of the document cover 2. If it is determined in step S2 that the document cover 2 is closed, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if it is determined that the document cover 2 is not closed, the process proceeds to step 14 to issue the read request to the command holding means 59. Save at. Then, in step S4, it is determined again whether or not the document cover 2 is closed. If it is determined that the document cover 2 is closed, then the process proceeds to step S5, based on the signal from the instruction holding means 59. , The reading process is started. The operation after step S5 may be the same as that of the above-described embodiment or may be according to another embodiment without being limited to this. Also, step 1
4, the read request may be stored in the command holding means 59, and then the read processing may be ended without performing the read processing.

As described above, when the original cover 2 is opened and the start key 4a is pressed, the command holding means 59 saves the reading request and the original cover 2 is closed again. Then, the reading process is started. Therefore, when the document cover 2 is open, the reading process is not performed, and erroneous copying can be prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the original placed on the original table 7 is assumed to be a thin original, but a thick original such as a book may be copied. in this case,
The open / close sensor 6 may interrupt the image processing when the document cover 2 is opened beyond a predetermined angle. Also,
The open / close sensor 6 may use an optical sensor.

[0046]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the pressing plate is opened during the reading of the image, the opening / closing detecting means detects the opening of the pressing plate and interrupts the image reading process. Due to this, when the pressing plate is opened, the document is misaligned, and the reading process is performed with this misaligned state, or light enters the platen from the outside, resulting in black streaks around the image. It is possible to prevent unwanted copying. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate waste of copy paper due to a reading error.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the invention is obtained, and it is possible to select in advance whether or not the image reading process is interrupted when the pressing plate is opened. When the plate is opened, it is possible to deal with both operations of interrupting the reading process.

According to the invention described in claim 3, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1 or 2 is exhibited, and when the open / close detecting means detects the open state of the pressing plate, the pressing plate is indicated by a character or a sound. Warns that is open. Therefore, the operator recognizes that the pressing plate has been opened, and closes the pressing plate again, so that the document can be properly read.

The invention described in claim 4 has the same effect as the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, and the pressing plate is opened during image reading to interrupt the image reading process. . Then, when the pressing plate is closed again, the image reading process is automatically restarted. Therefore, it is not necessary to issue an image reading request after closing the pressing plate again, which improves the convenience of the operator.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when an image reading request is received with the pressing plate open, the reading process is performed after the pressing plate is closed. Therefore, it is not necessary to issue the image reading request again, and the convenience of the operator is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a copying machine equipped with an image reading apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the periphery of a document table in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the periphery of the document table in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a control circuit of an image reading unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control circuit of the image reading unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a control circuit of an image reading apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control circuit of an image reading apparatus in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Copier 2 Original cover (pressing plate) 3 Image reading unit (image reading device) 4 Operation panel 4a Start key (image reading request) 4c Reading interruption setting key (interruption selection means) 6 Open / close sensor (open / close detection means) 7 Platen 51 reading means 53 Pausing means 54 Middle selection means 55 Warning means 57 Reading control means 59 Instruction holding means

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image reading apparatus comprising a document table, an openable and closable pressing plate for pressing a document placed on the document table, and a reading means for reading an image of the document on the document table. An image reading apparatus comprising: an opening / closing detection unit for detecting an opening / closing state; and a reading control unit for interrupting an image reading process in response to the detection state of the opening / closing detection unit. 2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation panel is provided with an interruption selecting unit that can select in advance whether or not to interrupt the image reading process in response to the open / close state of the pressing plate. . 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for detecting the open state of the pressing plate by the opening / closing detection means. 4. When the image reading process is interrupted by opening the pressing plate during image reading, a temporary stop means for performing the image reading process again when the pressing plate is closed is provided. The image reading device according to claim 1. 5. An image reading apparatus comprising an original table, an openable / closeable pressing plate for pressing an original placed on the original table, and a reading means for reading an image of the original on the original table. When an image reading request is received in the open state, the image reading apparatus is provided with an instruction holding unit that does not perform the image reading process at that time and then performs the reading process when the pressing plate is closed. .