JP2005318426A - Draft reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus to detect a draft which has been left behind. <P>SOLUTION: A presence or absence of the draft is detected on a contact glass 6 by a draft-detecting sensor 7. When the draft is left behind on the contact glass 6, the draft is displayed as being left behind by the display of an operation panel 5. When the draft is left behind, a press plate 3 is released by an automatic press plate switching apparatus 8. Furthermore, the user of a client PC 10 is informed of the draft being left behind via a network 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a document reading apparatus that reads a document placed on a contact glass and an image forming apparatus including such an image reading apparatus.

An image reading apparatus applied to an image forming apparatus places an original on a contact glass, scans from below, and optically reads the original. In the case of a digital method, the read document data is converted into an electrical signal by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and further converted into digital data. Thereafter, various types of image processing are performed, and a laser modulated by document data is applied to the photoconductor to form a latent image.
By the way, in the conventional image reading apparatus, an original is placed on the contact glass to read the original, but it is considered that the next user has completed the reading before the reading, and the original may be removed. After the reading is completed, the previous user may think that the reading has not been completed due to misplacement of the document, and the use time of the next user may be delayed.
Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1 or the like, when a document that has been transmitted or copied remains on the document placement unit after the image of the document is transmitted or copied, a message indicating that the document is to be removed is displayed on the display of the operation unit. The technology to do is known.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-308390

However, in recent years, the cost requirement has become severe due to the price reduction of the image forming apparatus, and it has been required to reduce the number of sensors as much as possible. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the pressure plate that opens and closes the document placement portion. It is necessary to provide sensors for detecting the removal of a document that has been transmitted or copied on the document placement section, such as a pressure plate opening / closing detection sensor, a document size detection sensor, and a document presence / absence detection sensor. Therefore, there is a drawback that the configuration is complicated and the cost is high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of notifying a user that a document has been left behind with a simple configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is characterized in that an original detection unit for detecting presence / absence of an original on the contact glass and the original on the contact glass based on a detection result of the original detection unit. A determining unit configured to determine whether the document is misplaced; and a display unit configured to display the document misplaced when the determining unit determines that the document is misplaced. .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the original reading apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising: a pressure plate that presses down the original on the contact glass; and a pressure plate opening / closing means that opens and closes the pressure plate, and the pressure plate is closed. When the determination means determines that the document is misplaced, the control means includes a control means for opening the pressure plate by the pressure plate opening / closing means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the document reading apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising network control means for controlling connection with an external device via a network, and the contact glass is applied to the contact glass by the determination means. It is determined whether the placed document is before reading or after reading, and the determination result is displayed on the display means, and when the determining means determines that the document is misplaced The information for notifying misplacement is transmitted to the external device via the network control means.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the document reading device according to any one of the first to third aspects is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the presence or absence of a document on the contact glass is detected by the document detection means, and whether or not the document is left on the contact glass by the determination means based on the detection result. When the document is determined to be misplaced, the misplacement of the document is displayed on the display means. Therefore, it is possible to use forgetting to remove the document with a simple configuration such as providing one document detection means. Can be informed.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the original is left behind by the determination means, the pressure plate is opened by the pressure plate opening / closing means. You will be able to be sure.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the determination means determines whether the document placed on the contact glass is before reading or after reading, displays the determination result on the display means, and determines the determination. When the means determines that the manuscript has been misplaced on the contact glass, it informs the external device of the misplacement via the network. This makes it possible to know the forgetting of the document and the usage status of the image reading apparatus without standing.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to realize an image forming apparatus that can obtain the effects of the first to third aspects.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an image reading apparatus (network scanner) that can be connected to a network will be described as an example.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a document reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the document reading apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a pressure plate 3 is attached to an upper side of an apparatus main body 2 so as to be openable and closable, and an ADF (automatic document feeder) 4 is provided above the pressure plate 3. An operation panel 5 is disposed on the front surface of the upper hand of the apparatus body 2, and a document detection sensor 7 is disposed below the contact glass 6. Further, the image reading apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is provided with a pressure plate automatic opening / closing device 8 as a platen opening / closing means.
The ADF 4 is used for continuous scanning of a document during scanning or copying. The operation panel 5 displays an indicator with an LED indicating that the original has been left behind, an indicator before reading that indicates that the original on the contact glass 6 has not been read, and an indication that the original on the contact glass 6 has been read. And a reading completion indicator. The document detection sensor 7 includes, for example, a plurality of reflection sensors (not shown) and the like, and detects the presence or absence of a document by detecting any document size. The automatic pressure plate opening / closing device 8 has a mechanism that moves up and down by, for example, a motor or solenoid actuator (not shown), and is pushed downward when the pressure plate 3 is closed. Conversely, when the pressure plate 3 is opened, the dynamic opening / closing device 8 is pushed upward to open the pressure plate 3. Therefore, in the case of such a configuration, the pressure plate automatic opening / closing device 8 serves as a switch to detect the open / closed state of the pressure plate 3.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the image reading apparatus 1 is connected to client PCs 10 (10-1, 10-2, 10-3) via a network 9. The number of client PCs 10 can be set arbitrarily.
The document reading apparatus 1 includes a scan control unit 11, a network control unit 12, a document detection control unit 13, an operation panel control unit 14, a determination unit 15, and a pressure plate opening / closing control unit 16. When it is determined that there is a document misplacement, a message to that effect is displayed on the operation panel 5 via the operation panel control unit 14, and at the same time, information about document misplacement is sent from the network control unit 12 to each of the client PCs 10-1 to 10-3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the document is left behind in the image reading apparatus of the present embodiment.
In this case, first, when power is turned on by a power switch (not shown) of the apparatus body 2, the pressure plate opening / closing controller 16 controls the pressure plate automatic opening / closing device 8 to detect the open / closed state of the pressure plate 3 (step S101). When the pressure plate 3 is closed, the document detection control unit 13 controls the document detection sensor 7 to detect the presence or absence of the document (step S101). When the automatic pressure plate opening / closing device 8 detects the closed state of the pressure plate 3 and the original detection sensor 7 detects that there is an original, the determination unit 15 assumes that the original on the contact glass 6 is in a state before reading. The panel control unit 14 notifies the user that the document is in a state before being read using the display on the operation panel 5 (step S102).
Thereafter, reading (step S103) is started, and when the reading is completed (step S104), the operation panel 5 notifies the user that the reading is completed (step S105). When the document detection sensor 7 detects that there is a document on the contact glass 6 after reading is completed, the determination unit 15 determines that the document has been left behind (step S106), and the pressure plate opening / closing control unit 16 automatically opens and closes the pressure plate. Control is performed so as to open the pressure plate 3 of the apparatus 8 (step S107), and thereafter, the information regarding the document misplacement is transferred to the client PC 10 connected via the network 9 (step S107), and the processing is completed. .
Therefore, according to such an image reading apparatus of the present embodiment, the presence or absence of a document on the contact glass 6 is detected by one document detection sensor 7, and the operation is performed when the document is left on the contact glass 6. Since the misplacement is displayed on the display of the panel 5, it is possible to notify the user that the document has been forgotten with a simple configuration.
When it is determined that the document is left behind, the pressure plate 3 is opened by the pressure plate automatic opening / closing device 8 so that the user can be surely notified that the document has been left behind.
Furthermore, since the user of the client PC 10 is notified via the network 9 that the document has been left behind, the user of the client PC 10 can notify the user that he / she has forgotten to leave the seat without standing.
In the present embodiment, the scanner has been described as an example of the image reading apparatus. However, this is merely an example, and any image forming apparatus provided with the image reading apparatus can be applied. Needless to say.

1 is an external perspective view of a document reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when an original is left behind in the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reader, 2 Apparatus main body, 3 Pressure plate, 4 ADF, 5 Operation panel, 6 Contact glass, 7 Original detection sensor, 8 Pressure plate automatic opening / closing device, 9 Network, 10 Client PC, 11 Scan control part, 12 Network control part , 13 Document detection control unit, 14 Operation panel control unit, 15 Discrimination unit, 16 Pressure plate opening / closing control unit

Claims (4)

A document detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a document on the contact glass;
A discriminator for discriminating whether or not the manuscript is misplaced on the contact glass based on a detection result of the manuscript detector;
An original reading apparatus, comprising: a display means for displaying misplacement of the original when the determination means determines that the original is misplaced. 2. The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressure plate for pressing the document on the contact glass;
Pressure plate opening and closing means for opening and closing the pressure plate,
A document reading system comprising: a control unit that opens the pressure plate by the pressure plate opening and closing unit when the determination unit determines that the document is misplaced when the pressure plate is closed. apparatus. The document reading device according to claim 1 or 2,
Network control means for controlling connection with an external device via a network,
The determination means determines whether the document placed on the contact glass is before reading or after reading, and displays the determination result on the display means, and the determination means misplaces the document. When it is determined that the document has been left, information for notifying the external device of misplacement is transmitted via the network control means. An image forming apparatus comprising the document reading device according to claim 1.

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