JP2004252315A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus in which paper powder and paper dust or the like infiltrating from the vicinity of glass for reading a sheet type original is prevented from adhering to the mirror or the like of an optical unit. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus A shifted to an energy low consumption mode such as a preheating mode when a sheet type original reading position becomes a home position at the original reading standby time of a scanner and reading preparation and reading operation are not performed for a fixed time, the optical unit 1 is moved from the sheet type original reading position just before shifting to the energy low consumption mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, the sheet document reading position is a home position at the time of waiting for reading of a scanner document, and when there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time, or when the image forming apparatus itself does not operate, the energy of the preheating mode or the like is reduced. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of shifting to a consumption mode.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art An image reading device and an image processing device provided with such an image reading device are conventionally known (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-298592 A [Patent Document 2]
JP 2000-184133 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The image forming apparatus includes a light source for illuminating the document, a mirror for guiding reflected light from the document illuminated by the light source, a lens for forming an image of the reflected light, and a document for imaging with the lens. A pulse motor for driving scanning means for reading an image.
[0005]
In such an image forming apparatus, the sheet original reading position becomes a home position in a standby state for reading the scanner original, and when there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time, or when there is no operation in the image forming apparatus itself, a preheating mode or the like is performed. To the low energy consumption mode.
[0006]
As described above, when the optical unit is always at the home position at the time of standby for reading the scanner document, when the sheet document is transported, paper dust is generated due to the poor quality paper or the like, and the sheet document reading position at the sheet document reading position is not used. The paper dust easily accumulates near the glass.
[0007]
Also, if the image reading device is installed in a place where environmental conditions such as dust are not good, paper dust and dust etc. adhere to the mirror and the like of the optical unit from a gap near the sheet document reading glass, and the streak is formed. Abnormal image is likely to occur.
[0008]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which prevents paper dust and dust coming around from the vicinity of a sheet original reading glass from adhering to a mirror or the like of an optical unit in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. To provide.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention according to claim 1, the sheet original reading position becomes a home position at the time of standby for reading the scanner original, and when there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time, the energy of the preheating mode or the like is set. The most main feature of the image forming apparatus that shifts to the low consumption mode is an image forming apparatus that moves the optical unit from the sheet document reading position immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode.
[0010]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detection function for detecting opening / closing of the pressure plate or the auto document feeder above the image reading unit, and the opening / closing detection is performed by the pressure plate or the auto document feeder. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical unit is moved from the sheet document reading position immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode only when it is detected that the sheet is open.
[0011]
In the invention according to the third aspect, immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode, when the optical unit is moved, the home position detection by the home position detection means moves to a position outside the detection, and then the low energy consumption is performed. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which shifts to a consumption mode, is a main feature.
[0012]
In the invention described in claim 4, the position where the optical unit is moved and stopped immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode is the end of the white reference plate in the image reading unit. Item 1 is a main feature of the image forming apparatus.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading unit of the image forming apparatus of FIG.
[0014]
1 and 2, the image forming apparatus A includes an optical unit 1 in which a first mirror unit 2 including a light source and a first mirror supported at both ends, and also an optical unit 1 at both ends. A second mirror unit 3 composed of a supported second mirror is provided.
[0015]
The first mirror unit 2 and the second mirror unit 3 are each driven at a speed of 2: 1 according to a signal of an image reading request for each line sent from a control board for image formation or a host computer. It is configured to sequentially read an image while moving along the document.
[0016]
When the sheet document conveyed from the ADF (auto document feeder) B is conveyed on the sheet document reading glass 7, the image of the document is illuminated by a lower light source, and The reflected light is imaged by an imaging lens 4 via a first mirror 2, a second mirror 3, and a third mirror 3, and the formed image is converted into an electric signal by a reading sensor 5 such as a CCD. It is transferred to a control board for formation or a host computer or the like.
[0017]
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the vicinity of the sheet original reading glass and the optical unit when the image reading operation is on standby. At the time of reading operation standby, the optical unit 1 waits at the sheet document reading position (home position), and detects that the optical unit 1 is at the home position by the home position detection sensor 9 (see FIG. 2). continuing.
[0018]
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the vicinity of the sheet original reading glass and the optical unit when the image forming apparatus is in the low energy consumption mode. The image forming apparatus A has a low energy consumption in a preheating mode or the like (a state in which the display unit of the operation unit is not displayed) when there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time or when the image forming apparatus A itself does not operate. Move to consumption mode.
[0019]
In general, after returning to the low energy consumption mode, when returning, it is unknown whether the optical unit 1 is at the regular home position, and therefore, a homing operation (reciprocating operation for turning off / on the home position detection sensor) is performed.
[0020]
Thereafter, a shading operation (operation of reading the white reference plate 6 and performing image correction control) is performed, the optical unit 1 is moved to the home position, and after stopping, the preparation for reading is completed, and the reading operation is ready.
[0021]
In the present invention, the optical unit 1 is moved and the home position detection sensor 9 is turned off immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode only when it is detected that the open / close detection sensor 10 of the pressure plate or ADF B is open. At a certain position, and at a position near the end of the white reference plate 6, and shifts to the low energy consumption mode.
[0022]
When returning to the normal mode, since the home position detection sensor 9 is off and the optical unit 1 is present at the end position of the white reference plate 6, the operation for returning to the home position position is performed. Then, the light source is turned on, shading is performed, and when the optical unit 1 returns to the home position, the optical unit 1 is stopped, the preparation for reading is completed, and the reading operation can be performed.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to claim 1, when there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time, or when there is no operation in the image forming apparatus itself, a preheating mode or the like (a state in which the display unit of the operation unit is not displayed). Immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode, the optical unit is moved from the gap near the sheet original reading glass, and then is shifted to the low energy consumption mode, so that the sheet comes around from the vicinity of the sheet original reading glass. Paper dust and dust can be prevented from adhering to the mirror and the like of the optical unit.
[0024]
According to the second aspect, when the pressure plate above the image reading unit or the opening / closing detection unit of the ADF detects that the pressure plate or the ADF is open (the paper dust coming around from the vicinity of the sheet document reading glass and Only when the optical unit is susceptible to dust or the like), the optical unit is moved from the gap near the sheet original reading glass and then shifted to the low energy consumption mode, so that the optical unit comes around from the vicinity of the sheet original reading glass. It is possible to prevent paper dust and dust from adhering to the mirror and the like of the optical unit, and to minimize the amount of energy used for operating the optical unit.
[0025]
According to the third aspect, immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode, when the optical unit is moved, the home position detection by the home position detection means moves to a position outside the detection, and then the low energy consumption mode is set. By making the transition, the reciprocating operation of the reading preparation operation (home position position detecting operation) when returning to the next normal energy mode, which is conventionally performed, can be omitted, and the return time can be shortened.
[0026]
According to the fourth aspect, immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode, when the optical unit is moved, the image reading unit moves to the end position of the white reference plate, and then shifts to the low energy consumption mode. Accordingly, it is possible to omit the outward movement of the reciprocating operation of the reading preparation operation (shading operation) at the time of returning to the next normal energy mode, and to shorten the return time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire image forming apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading unit of the image forming apparatus of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the vicinity of a sheet original reading glass and an optical unit in an image reading operation standby state.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the vicinity of a sheet original reading glass and an optical unit when the image forming apparatus is in a low energy consumption mode.
[Explanation of symbols]
A Image forming apparatus B Press plate (or ADF)
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 optical unit 2 first mirror unit 3 second mirror unit 4 imaging lens 5 CCD sensor 6 white reference plate 7 sheet original reading glass 8 scale 9 home position detection sensor 10 pressure plate or ADF open / close detection sensor

Claims (4)

When the sheet document reading position becomes the home position in the standby state of the scanner document reading, and there is no reading preparation and reading operation for a certain period of time, the image forming apparatus shifts to the low energy consumption mode such as the preheating mode. An image forming apparatus characterized in that an optical unit is moved from the sheet document reading position immediately before shifting. It has a detection function for detecting the open / close of the pressure plate or the auto document feeder above the image reading unit, and when the open / close detection detects that the pressure plate or the auto document feeder is open. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical unit is moved from the sheet document reading position only immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode. Immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode, when the optical unit is moved, the home position detection by the home position detection means moves to a position outside detection, and then shifts to the low energy consumption mode. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical unit is moved and stopped at the end of the white reference plate in the image reading unit immediately before shifting to the low energy consumption mode. Image forming apparatus.

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