JP2006203840A - Image reading apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve trouble that it becomes difficult to small-size an image reading apparatus, production costs increase since the number of components is increased and the apparatus becomes expensive, in an image reading apparatus which reads an image of an original by aligning a plurality of line sensors in a zigzag shape and is configured by providing a driving roller and a driven roller for holding an original 5 in press-contact with the driving roller in front and rear portions of an image reading section in a sub scanning direction and by providing an original pressing member for tightly adhering the original carried on the image reading section onto contact glass. <P>SOLUTION: In an image reading apparatus of the present invention, an original carrying unit operated to an original to carry in a sub scanning direction is configured to be operated to the original to carry in a region aligned in a zigzag shape to constitute an inverse phase relative to image sensors. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, and more specifically, a plurality of line sensors in which reading pixels are arranged in a row are arranged in a staggered manner in the main scanning direction, and the reading is carried in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the line sensor. The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that sequentially reads a large-size original on which a power image is formed by the line sensor.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of an original conveying scanner which is this type of image reading apparatus. In the figure, 1 is a scanner body, 2 is sequentially 0, 1, 2,... In the main scanning direction of the figure. , N−1, N and a contact type image sensor in which a plurality of read pixels composed of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a row, 3 is a document conveying unit, 4 is a document pressing unit, 5 is a document, and 7 is a control unit. .
A base 11 serving as a frame of the scanner main body is formed to have a U-shaped cross-sectional view extending in the main scanning direction, and a plurality of contact-type images for reading large-sized original images such as A0 and A1. The sensors S1, S2, S3,... Are arranged on the base 11 in two rows in a staggered manner so as to be separated by an interval l in the sub-scanning direction. A contact glass 12 made of a transparent glass member or the like is provided on the base 11. The base 11, the contact type sensor 2, and the contact glass 12 constitute an image reading unit.
A driving roller 31 to which a rotational driving force is transmitted by a rotational driving mechanism (not shown) and a pinch roller 32 that is a driven roller that presses against the driving roller 31 and sandwiches the document 5 are provided in front and rear portions in the sub-scanning direction of the image reading unit. Is provided.
When reading an original image with this image reading apparatus, first, the original 5 is inserted between a driving roller 31 and a pinch roller 32 provided on the upstream side in the sub-scanning direction, and is sandwiched between them. The document 5 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by being driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow. In synchronization with the conveyance of the document 5, the document 2 is sequentially read by the sensor 2, stored in the line buffer 72 as data for each line in the main scanning direction, and the frame memory 73 read out from the line buffer 72. The image data of the entire document 5 is generated by combining the data for each line by shifting the separation distance (l) of each sensor in the sub-scanning direction.
The created image data of the document 5 is transmitted to a host device such as a computer via the interface circuit 74.

In the contact image sensor 2 used in this image reading apparatus, the light beam emitted from the light source 21 is reflected from the document 5 and is incident on the lens array 22 and forms an image on the line sensor 23. In order to perform good image reading, it is indispensable that the document 5 is conveyed in close contact with the contact glass 12. Therefore, in this type of document conveying type image reading apparatus, a document pressing unit 4 that presses the document 5 conveyed on the image reading unit against the contact glass 12 is provided, whereby the document 5 is directed in the direction of the contact glass 12. It is comprised so that it may urge and stick.
In this document pressing mechanism, a pressing member 40 made of a plate-like member having the same plane as the contact glass 12 is fixed in the main scanning and sub-scanning directions in order to bring the document 5 into close contact with the contact glass 12 and immediately above the document 5. Therefore, this is made to act and its own weight is used as a pressing force.
JP 2003-125159 A

In an image reading apparatus that reads a large document image by arranging a plurality of line sensors in a staggered manner, the driving roller 31 and the document 5 are pressed against the front and rear portions of the image reading unit in the sub-scanning direction as described above. A pinch roller 32 that is a driven roller to be sandwiched is provided, and a document pressing member 4 is provided for bringing the document 5 conveyed on the image reading unit into close contact with the contact glass 12, so that the document is arranged in the sub-scanning direction of the apparatus. A space for providing a transport mechanism is required, which makes it difficult to reduce the size of the apparatus, and increases the number of parts, resulting in a problem that the production cost increases and the apparatus becomes expensive. It was.
The present invention has been made to solve these problems.

  In the image reading apparatus of the present invention, the document conveying means that acts on the document to be read and conveys the image in the sub-scanning direction acts on the document in an area that is in reverse phase to the staggered image sensor. It was made to convey this.

  According to the image reading apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size of the apparatus, and it is possible to reduce the number of parts and to produce the apparatus at low cost.

  Document conveying means composed of a driving roller and a driven roller that are pressed against each other via a document whose image is to be read is arranged in a zigzag manner in an area that is in reverse phase with respect to the image sensor arranged in a zigzag pattern. .

The image reading apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are diagrams showing an image reading apparatus of the present invention, and the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the conventional apparatus described above.
In the figure, reference numeral 6 denotes a top cover member that is rotatably attached to the image reading apparatus main body 1 so as to be opened and closed. In the image reading apparatus of this embodiment, the top cover member 6 has a contact image sensor. 2 is provided. With this configuration, when the image of the document 5 is read, the operator can confirm the side on which the image to be read of the document 5 is formed. As an example, the contact image sensor 2 may be provided on the image reading apparatus main body 1 side.
As shown in FIG. 1, also in the image reading apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of contact image sensors 2 are arranged in two rows in a staggered manner apart from each other in the sub-scanning direction by an interval l as in the conventional apparatus described above. Thus, the large document 5 is configured to be capable of reading an image in the full width region in the main scanning direction.

The document conveying means 8 having the most characteristic configuration in the image reading apparatus of the present invention extends in the main scanning direction corresponding to the contact image sensor 2 on the image reading apparatus main body 1 and is sub-scanned with each other. Staggered so that the two driving rollers 81 are spaced apart in the direction by a distance l, and are in pressure contact with the driving roller 81 in a state where the cover member 6 is closed, and in opposite phase to the contact image sensor 2. A plurality of driven rollers 82 arranged in a shape. Note that the reverse phase referred to here is the same position in the main scanning direction as opposed to the contact image sensor 2 in which a plurality of driven rollers 82 are arranged in a staggered manner, and is opposed to each other with a separation distance l in the sub scanning direction. It is provided at the position.
When the document 5 is conveyed (document reading operation), as shown in FIG. 2, when the cover member 6 is closed, the document 5 is pressed against the driving roller 81 and a restoring force of a compression spring that is an elastic member. And the contact glass of the line sensor 2. In this state, the two drive rollers 81 are rotationally driven in synchronization by a drive motor (not shown) and its rotational driving force transmission mechanism, whereby the document 5 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction.
According to the present embodiment, the document 5 is sandwiched between the driven rollers 82 arranged in a staggered manner and the drive roller 81 pressed against this (via the document 5). While being conveyed in the scanning direction, in the contact image sensor 2, the driving roller 81 presses the document 5 against the contact glass so as to be in close contact with each other, so that the image reading can be performed satisfactorily.
As described above in detail, in the image reading apparatus of the present invention, in the image reading unit composed of the image sensors arranged in a staggered manner, the image reading unit is configured in a region where the image sensor is not provided, thereby forming the image reading unit. This eliminates the need for a space for installing the conveying means that had to be provided on the front and rear sides in the sub-scanning direction of the image forming unit, thereby reducing the size of the apparatus, and the document 5 in the region in contact with the contact type line sensor 2 (contact In addition to being able to perform good image reading, the number of parts can be reduced. Previously, expensive contact glass was provided throughout the reading unit, but in the case of this embodiment, it is only necessary to provide contact glass only in the contact-type sensor portion, which makes it possible to configure the apparatus at low cost. Become.

In the first embodiment, the image sensor 2 (contact glass) is pressed against the driving roller 81 together with the driven roller 82, whereby the surface on which the image to be read of the document 5 is formed on the image sensor 2. Although it has been configured to be able to adhere closely and perform image reading satisfactorily, for example, when the conveyed document is an extremely thin material, when the pressure contact force to the image sensor (contact glass) increases, The frictional force causes a problem such that the document cannot be transported or the document is damaged in the worst case.
In order to convey such a document, in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, when the driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 of the document conveying means 8 are brought into pressure contact, the image sensor 2 (contact glass). This is configured so that a predetermined gap, that is, a gap, is formed between the drive roller 81 and the drive roller 81, and is provided so as to eliminate the above-described problems.
In the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, when the cover member 6 is closed, the driven roller 82 provided in the staggered region having the opposite phase to the image sensor 2 comes into pressure contact with the drive roller 81. In addition, a predetermined gap is formed between the image sensors 2 (contact glass) arranged in a staggered pattern and the driving roller 81 facing the image sensors 2 (contact glass). That is, in the cover member 6, the position where the driven roller 82 is attached is closer to the driving roller 81 than the image sensor 2 (contact glass), and the height is different in the vertical direction in the figure, whereby the image sensor 2. A predetermined gap is formed between the driving rollers 81.
In the second embodiment, for example, a sensor that can be used as the image sensor 2 that allows a certain depth in the depth of focus can be adopted as a characteristic of the sensor. Since the document 5 is supported by the driven rollers 82 arranged in a zigzag pattern on the two driving rollers 81 in the direction, the image sensor can be pressed and supported in a generally two-dimensional plane. The document 5 can be reliably conveyed between the allowable range of the focal depth of 2, that is, the predetermined gap (gap) in the figure, and good image reading can be performed.
Further, the driving roller 81 of the second embodiment is constituted by a cylindrical roller extending in the main scanning direction, and is opposed to the image sensor 2 when a document is conveyed as shown in FIG. 3 (a gap is formed). In this gap area, the document 5 is also rotationally driven, and the rotational driving force is transmitted only to the back surface (the back surface of the surface facing the sensor 2 on which the image to be read is formed) in this gap portion. As a result, this acts as a guide member for document conveyance, and the document 5 can be conveyed well.

In the first and second embodiments described above, a cylindrical roller member extending in the main scanning direction is used as the driving roller 81. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the images are arranged in a staggered manner. You may comprise this with the several roller member which made the rotating shaft the 2 straight line extended in the main scanning direction facing a sensor and a drive roller.
When the document 5 is brought into pressure contact with the image sensor 2 (contact glass) as in the first embodiment, the plurality of roller members 811 and 812 are provided to be fixed to the rotating shaft 810, and a drive motor (not shown) is provided. In addition, by rotating the rotating shaft 810 by the rotational driving force transmission mechanism, the driving roller group 811 in pressure contact with the driven roller 82 and the driving roller group 812 provided in the arrangement region of the image sensor 2 are rotationally driven. Can be held between the driven roller 82 and the image sensor 2 (contact glass).
When the document 5 to be conveyed is configured not to be pressed against the image sensor 2 (contact glass) as in the second embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the image sensor 2 (contact glass) is a drive roller group. The plurality of roller members 811 and 812 are provided to be fixed to the rotating shaft 810 so as not to be pressed against the 811 and 812, and the rotating shaft 810 is provided by a driving motor (not shown) and its rotating driving force transmission mechanism. By rotating, the driving roller group 811 in pressure contact with the driven roller 82 and the driving roller group 812 provided in the arrangement region of the image sensor 2 are rotationally driven, and the document roller 5 8 is in pressure contact with the driven roller 82. A drive roller group 8 provided in the area where the image sensor 2 is disposed while being held and conveyed. In 2, by transmitting the rotational driving force only to the rear surface portion of the document 5 to be conveyed to the gap portion provided between the image sensor 2 is provided to act as a guide member for the document transport.
Further, the drive roller group 812 provided in the region where the image sensor 2 is disposed may be configured to be rotatably attached to the rotation shaft 810, that is, as a free roller, thereby being configured as a document transport guide mechanism. . In this case, a gap is formed between the sensors 2 as in the second embodiment described above, or the original document 5 is pressed against the image sensor 2 (contact glass) from the back side of the document 5 as in the first embodiment. You may form so that it may follow with conveyance of 5.
Alternatively, in order to form a predetermined gap between the image sensors 2 (contact glass) as in the second embodiment, the driving roller group 812 provided in the region where the image sensor 2 is disposed is driven to come into pressure contact with the driven roller 82. It is also possible to configure by forming with a diameter smaller than that of the roller group 811.
Further, the drive roller group 812 provided in the region where the image sensor 2 is provided is omitted, and a plate-like member or the like is provided in this region with a predetermined gap in the transport path of the document 5 to transport the document. You may comprise a guide member.

FIG. 5 shows that the driving roller 81 is provided only in a region facing the driven roller 82 arranged in a staggered pattern opposite in phase to the image sensor, and this driving roller 81 is applied to the second embodiment described above. The guide member for conveying the document may be configured by providing a plate-like member or the like with a predetermined gap in the conveyance path of the document 5 at a portion facing the image sensor 2.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, means for individually rotating and driving the plurality of drive rollers 81 is provided, and means 83 for pressing the document 5 is provided in a region facing the image sensor 2, as shown in FIG. As described above, an image reading apparatus that performs good image reading by pressing and bringing the document 5 into pressure contact with the contact glass may be configured.

  In the above-described embodiment, the driving roller 81 is provided on the image reading apparatus main body 1 side, and the driven roller 82 that is in pressure contact with the area arranged in a zigzag pattern having the opposite phase to the image sensor is provided. A driving roller may be provided in an area arranged in a staggered pattern so as to be in reverse phase with the image sensor, and a driven roller may be provided on the image reading apparatus 1 side. You may comprise so that it may be provided in either or both of a roller side and a driven roller side.

In the above-described embodiment, a compression spring, which is an elastic member, is applied to the driven roller 82 so as to be in pressure contact with the driving roller 81 provided on the image reading apparatus 1 side. May be provided on the drive roller side.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the above-described embodiment is that a plurality of driven rollers 82 arranged in a staggered manner so as to be in opposite phase to the contact image sensor 2. Is fixed and supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the top cover member 6, and the driving roller 81 provided on the image reading apparatus main body 1 side can move in a direction in pressure contact with the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82. It is a point that is supported to become. Further, the driving roller 81 is configured to be constantly urged in the direction of the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82 by a pressure unit 83 that acts in contact with the driving roller 81.
That is, as shown in FIG. 8, both end portions of the rotation shaft 810 of the drive roller 81 provided so as to extend in the main scanning direction are inserted into the sliding grooves 131 formed in the side plate 13 provided in the scanner body 1. The driving roller 81 is provided so as to be movable along the sliding groove 131 in the Z-axis direction in the drawing, that is, in the direction toward the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82. The pressure unit 83 that acts on the driving roller 81 includes an arm 832 that is rotatably attached to the scanner main body 1, a roller 831 that is rotatably attached to the arm 832, and an arm 832 that acts on the roller 832. A compression spring 833 that is brought into pressure contact with 81 is configured such that the driving roller 81 is constantly urged in the direction of the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82 by the restoring force of the compression spring 833. When the driving roller 81 is rotationally driven by a rotational driving means including a motor and a transmission mechanism (not shown), a roller 831 pressed against the driving roller 81 is provided to follow, and the pressure unit 83 is in response to the rotational driving of the driving roller 81. The driving roller 81 is biased in the direction of the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82 without being a load.
In the document conveying portion of this embodiment, the means for urging the two driving rollers 81 provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the conveying path of the document 5 in the direction of the image sensor 2 and the driving roller 81 are independent of each other. For example, even if the thickness of the original is not constant in the sub-scanning direction, such as a large drawing having a hanger, the relative distance between the image sensor 2 and the image reading surface of the original 5 is always constant. That is, the image reading surface of the document 5 can be positioned at the focal length of the contact type sensor 2, thereby achieving an advantageous effect that good image reading can be performed.
As shown in FIG. 7, the document 5 is inserted into the image reading unit, brought into contact with the driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 on the upstream side in the transport direction (sub-scanning direction), and the driving roller 81 is further driven by driving means (not shown). When driven to rotate, the document 5 is sandwiched between the drive roller 81 and the driven roller 82 (in FIG. 7). At this time, the driven roller 82 is supported so as to be fixed to the cover member 2. The drive roller 81 rotates the arm 832 against the restoring force of the compression spring 833 of the pressure unit 83 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, and the thickness of the document 5 is such that the rotation drive shaft 810 slides in the slide groove 131. Pushed down by minutes.
In this state, the driving roller 81 is rotated to convey the document 5 in the sub-scanning direction, and the document image is read by the image sensor 2 provided on the upstream side (on the conveyance path of the document 5).
When the document 5 is conveyed and the image reading by the image sensor 2 is sequentially performed, the leading end portion of the document 5 comes into contact with the driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 on the downstream side in the sub-scanning direction and is further conveyed to The driving roller 81 is pushed down against the restoring force of the compression spring 833 and is sandwiched between the driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 on the downstream side of the conveyance path. (Figure 7 bottom)
At this time, the driving roller 81 on the upstream side of the conveying path follows the thickness of the document 5 (along the sliding groove 131) and slides in the direction of the driven roller 82 and the image sensor 2, thereby The distance between the image reading surface and the image sensor 2 is configured to be constant without depending on the change in the thickness of the document. Further, as shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 7, the driving rollers 81 provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the document transport path are slidable independently and urged toward the image sensor 2, so that the document 5 Even when the thickness of the image sensor is not constant in the sub-scanning direction, the relative distance between the image sensor 2 and the image reading surface of the document 5 can be always constant.

9 and 10 show that when the document 5 is sandwiched between the drive roller 81 and the driven roller 82 on the upstream side in the document transport direction, the downstream drive roller 81 has a predetermined amount when the above-described fifth embodiment of the present invention is used. A gap is formed between the driven roller 82 and the driven roller 82 by being pushed down.
In the sixth embodiment, link mechanisms 84 that engage with the rotation shafts 810 of the respective drive rollers 81 upstream and downstream in the document transport direction are provided at both ends in the main scanning direction. The link mechanism 84 includes a plate 840 in which grooves 841 and 842 are formed, a rotary shaft 843 that rotatably supports the plate 840 on the side plate 13 of the scanner body 1, and a tension spring 844 that constantly biases the plate 840. It is comprised by.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the groove 841 formed in the plate 840 is formed so as to engage with the lower side of the rotation shaft 810 of the driving roller 81 provided on the upstream side of the conveyance path of the document 5. The plate 840 is formed so as to follow down when the document 5 is held down, and the groove 842 is formed so as to be engaged with the upper side of the rotation shaft 810 of the drive roller 81 on the downstream side. Has been. The tension spring 844 always urges the plate 840 upward about the rotation shaft 843, that is, the drive roller 81 on the upstream side of the document conveyance path (in the same manner as the pressure unit 83) in the direction in which the drive roller 81 is pressed against the image sensor 2 and the driven roller 82. It is provided as follows. (Figure 9 top view)
In the image reading apparatus of the sixth embodiment, when the document 5 is inserted into the image reading unit and sandwiched between the upstream drive roller 81 and the driven roller 82, the thickness of the document 5 is shown in FIG. Accordingly, when the upstream drive roller 81 is pushed down, the plate 840 engaged with the rotating shaft 810 is pushed down against the restoring force of the tension spring 844 and engaged with the groove 842 of the plate 840. The downstream drive roller 81 (rotation shaft 810) is also pushed down, thereby releasing the pressure contact between the downstream drive roller 81 and the driven roller 82, and forming a gap therebetween. (Figure in Figure 9)
Further, when the document 5 is sequentially conveyed and the leading end reaches the downstream driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82, the document 5 is inserted into the formed gap, and the downstream driving roller 81 has the thickness of the document 5. In response, the plate 840 is disengaged and pushed down.
By configuring as in the sixth embodiment of the present application, the impact when the document 5 is inserted between the driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 on the downstream side is reduced as compared with the case where each is pressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a jamming phenomenon (a conveyance failure state in which the document is folded in a complicated manner) that occurs when the document collides with the downstream driving roller 81 and the driven roller 82 that are pressed against each other and the document is further conveyed. It becomes possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, the driven roller 82 provided in the region arranged in a staggered pattern so as to be in reverse phase with the image sensor 2 is configured by a plurality of roller members, but this is configured by a single roller. Also good.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure which shows 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows 3rd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows 4th Example of this invention. It is the figure which applied 4th Example of this invention to 1st Example. It is a figure which shows 5th Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows 5th Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows 6th Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows 6th Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional image reading apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Scanner main body 2 Close contact type image sensor 3 Document conveyance part 4 Document press part 5 Document 6 Top cover part 7 Control part 8 Document conveyance part

Claims (14)

A plurality of staggered image sensors and a document conveying means for acting on the document and conveying it in the sub-scanning direction, and creating image data of the entire document from image data obtained from each image sensor In the image reading device,
The image reading apparatus, wherein the document conveying means is provided so as to act on the document in an area arranged in a zigzag pattern so as to have an opposite phase to the image sensor. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1.
The image reading apparatus, wherein the document conveying means is configured such that a driving roller and a driven roller provided so as to come into pressure contact with each other via a document are arranged in a staggered pattern opposite in phase to the image sensor.   The document conveying means includes a driven roller arranged in a zigzag pattern opposite in phase to the image sensor, and a driving roller provided so as to be in pressure contact with the driven roller via the document. 3. The image reading apparatus according to 2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3.
An image reading apparatus characterized in that a driving roller of the document conveying means is constituted by two rollers disposed in the main scanning direction so as to face the image sensor and the driven roller arranged in a staggered manner. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3.
The driving roller of the document conveying means is constituted by a plurality of rollers having two straight axes extending in the main scanning direction facing the image sensor and the driven roller arranged in a staggered manner as rotation axes. Reader.   6. A predetermined gap is formed between the driving roller and the image sensor when the driven roller and the driving roller of the document conveying unit are pressed against each other via the document. Image reading apparatus.   6. The image reading according to claim 3, wherein when the driven roller and the driving roller of the document conveying unit are pressed against each other via the document, the driving roller presses the document in the direction of the image sensor. apparatus.   The document conveying means includes a driving roller arranged in a staggered pattern having an opposite phase to that of the image sensor, and a driven roller provided so as to be in pressure contact with the driving roller via the document. 3. The image reading apparatus according to 2.   9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the driven roller of the document conveying unit includes a plurality of roller members. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An image reading apparatus, comprising: a pressing unit that acts on a document conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the document conveying unit and presses the document toward the image sensor.   When the driving roller and the driven roller on the upstream side of the document conveying path of the document conveying means are pressed against each other via the document, the pressure contact is released against the pressing force of the pressing means acting on the downstream driving roller and the driven roller. 11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising means for performing the operation.   11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the pressing member is one of a driving roller and a driven roller of the document conveying unit. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An image reading apparatus, comprising: a document guide member provided to face the image sensor and guiding a document conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the document conveyance unit.   14. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the document guide member is one of a driving roller and a driven roller of the document conveying means.

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