JP2007251430A - Original reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an original reader capable of preventing the saturation of an image sensor while improving an S/N ratio independent of a variation in the sensitivity of the image sensor or that of an optical quantity of a light source. <P>SOLUTION: A flat light shielding plate 129 that can slide in a vertical direction is arranged before a condenser lens 125 on the optical path of the light reflected on an original. A light quantity control part 160 monitors light incident on the condenser lens 125, and controls a sliding amount of the light shielding plate 125 so that the maximum light quantity of the light comes into a specified range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an original reading apparatus that reads an original by irradiating the original with light and receiving reflected light by an image sensor.

  In a document reading apparatus such as an image scanner unit that irradiates light on a document and receives the reflected light by an image sensor such as a CCD, an electrical signal output from the image sensor is amplified by an auto gain controller (AGC) and analog Digitally converted and output to the image processing unit.

  In order to improve the S / N ratio of the image signal and obtain a high-quality image, it is necessary to increase the amplitude of the analog image signal from the image sensor so that it is less susceptible to noise. In order to increase the analog image signal amplitude from the image sensor, it is sufficient to increase the light amount of the light source. However, if the light amount is increased too much, the image sensor is saturated (the light amount and the output signal amplitude are not proportional).

    Further, when the analog image signal amplitude of the image sensor is increased, the digital output signal of the IC (AFE-IC) that receives the signal is saturated (the digital output signal with respect to the input image signal is not proportional).

The image sensor itself also has sensitivity variations (when the sensitivity is good, the output with respect to the input light increases). Generally, the light amount of the lamp used as the light source varies (usually about ± 10%), and the image sensor sensitivity variation (usually about ± 10%). ), The lamp light quantity is set so that the amplitude of the analog image signal from the image sensor and the digital output signal of the AFE-IC are not saturated at the maximum light quantity variation and image sensor sensitivity. Image sensor The analog image signal amplitude becomes small, and it becomes susceptible to noise, resulting in low image quality.
JP-A-9-37027

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an original reading apparatus capable of improving the S / N ratio and preventing saturation of the image sensor and the AFE-IC, regardless of variations in sensitivity of the image sensor and light amount of the light source. It is to be.

  An original reading apparatus according to the present invention is an original reading apparatus that includes an image sensor and reads an image of an original, and includes a light source that irradiates light to an original to be read, and an optical that guides reflected light of the original to the image sensor. A system, a light-shielding unit that is slidably disposed on the optical path of the reflected light and in front of the optical system, and that adjusts the amount of light incident on the optical system, and the image sensor has a predetermined light amount. And a light amount adjusting means for sliding the light shielding portion so that the maximum output value when the reflected light from the reference original reflecting light is received falls within a specified range.

  According to this configuration, the light shielding portion is disposed in front of the optical system on the optical path of the reflected light of the document, and the slide amount of the light shielding portion is adjusted, so that variations in the sensitivity of the image sensor and the light amount of the light source can be reduced. Regardless of variations, it is possible to output from the image sensor an electric signal having a maximum amplitude that does not saturate the image sensor and the AFE-IC, and the S / N ratio can be improved.

  Moreover, the said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said light-shielding part is a flat light-shielding plate. According to this configuration, since the light shielding portion is configured by the flat light shielding plate, the light shielding plate can be easily slid.

  Further, in the above configuration, the light shielding unit includes two light shielding plates slidably arranged in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the light output from the optical system, and the light shielding plate has the optical axis. It is preferable to adjust the amount of light by sliding in the direction sandwiched from both sides.

  According to this configuration, the light amount adjustment range can be increased without shielding the central direction of the optical axis.

  Further, in the above configuration, it is preferable that the light amount adjusting unit includes a driving unit that slides the light shielding unit. According to this configuration, since the driving unit adjusts the slide amount of the light shielding portion, it is possible to automatically adjust the amount of light incident on the optical system.

  Further, in the above configuration, the light amount adjusting unit includes a light amount saturation determination unit that obtains a maximum value of an output value of each pixel output from the image sensor and obtains a saturated light amount from the obtained maximum value so as to be a specified value. In addition, it is preferable to slide the light shielding portion.

  According to this configuration, the amount of light incident on the optical system is adjusted so that the maximum value of each pixel becomes a specified value, so that the amount of light can be adjusted more accurately.

  Further, in the above-described configuration, an auto gain controller that adjusts the gain of the electric signal output from the image sensor is further provided, and the auto gain controller has a constant gain while the light amount is adjusted by the light amount adjusting unit. It is preferable to set the value. According to this configuration, since the gain of the auto gain controller is set to a constant value while the light amount adjusting means is adjusting the light amount, the light amount can be adjusted with higher accuracy.

  According to the document reading apparatus of the present invention, an electric signal having a maximum amplitude that does not saturate the image sensor and the AFE-IC is obtained from the image sensor regardless of variations in sensitivity of the image sensor and light amount of the light source. It is possible to output, and the S / N ratio can be improved.

  FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus when an original reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a scanner, a facsimile, or a digital multifunction peripheral. The image forming apparatus includes a document reading unit 100 and a main body unit 200. The document reading unit 100 includes a document cover 110 and a document placement unit 120. The document cover 110 transports a document tray 111 on which a plurality of documents can be placed, a pair of paper feed rollers 112 for picking up the placed documents one by one, and the picked-up document to the document reading position RP. In addition, a registration roller pair 113 is provided which regulates the oblique feeding of the document and adjusts the leading edge of the document. In the vicinity of the registration roller pair 113, there is disposed a timing switch 114 used for determining the conveyance timing of the leading edge of the original image to the original reading position RP.

  The document placing unit 120 receives light reflected from the light source 121 disposed below the document reading position RP and the document at the document reading position RP via the mirrors 122, 123, and 124 and the condenser lens 125. Line sensor 126. Further, a transparent and flat contact glass 127 is disposed on the upper surface of the document placing portion 120. A reference document 128, which will be described later, is attached to the contact glass 127 at a position corresponding to the document reading position RP. On the optical path of the reflected light of the document, a light shielding plate 129 is attached at a position before the condenser lens 125 so as to be slidable in the + z direction or the −z direction which is a direction orthogonal to the optical axis.

In the automatic reading mode in which the original placed on the original tray 111 is read, the light source 121 irradiates the original conveyed one by one by the paper feed roller pair 112 and the like in a fixed state, and the optical line sensor 126 The reflected light is read in units of one line, for example. In the manual reading mode for reading the document placed on the contact glass 127, the light source 121 receives a driving force from a motor (not shown) while irradiating the document with light, and moves to the right at a constant speed. The optical line sensor 126 receives reflected light from the document. For example, when the light source 121 moves to the position of the light source 121 ′ indicated by the dotted line, the light irradiation is stopped, the driving force by the motor (not shown) is received, the light source 121 moves to the left at a constant speed, and the light source indicated by the solid line The position is returned to the position 121 (home position). The optical line sensor 126 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Device),
Alternatively, it is configured by a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) or the like, receives reflected light of the document from the light source 121, and generates an electrical signal having a level corresponding to the amount of reflected light, thereby generating an image of the document line by line. Read.

  The main body 200 includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes 201, a plurality of paper feed rollers 202, a transfer roller 203, a photosensitive drum 204, a developing device 205, an exposure device 206, a fixing roller 208, a discharge port 209, a discharge tray 210, and the like. .

  The photosensitive drum 204 is uniformly charged by a charging device (not shown) while rotating in the direction of the arrow. The exposure device 206 converts the modulation signal generated based on the image data of the original read by the optical line sensor 126 into a laser beam and outputs it, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 204. The developing device 205 supplies a developer to the photosensitive drum 204 to form a toner image.

  On the other hand, the paper feeding roller 202 pulls out the recording paper from the paper feeding cassette 201 in which the recording paper is stored, and feeds the recording paper to the transfer roller 203. The transfer roller 203 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 204 to the conveyed recording paper, and the fixing roller 208 heats and transfers the transferred toner image to the recording paper. Thereafter, the recording paper is carried into the paper post-processing unit 300 from the discharge port 209 of the main body unit 200. The recording paper is also discharged to the discharge tray 210 as necessary.

  The paper post-processing unit 300 includes a carry-in port 301, a recording paper transport unit 302, a carry-out port 303, a stack tray 304, and the like. The recording paper transport unit 302 sequentially transports the recording paper carried into the carry-in port 301 from the discharge port 209 and finally ejects the recording paper from the carry-out port 303 to the stack tray 304. The stack tray 304 is configured to move up and down in the direction of the arrow in accordance with the number of recording sheets stacked from the carry-out port 303.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the light shielding plate 129. In FIG. 2, the longitudinal direction of the optical line sensor 126 is in the x direction and the direction orthogonal to each of the x and y directions is z in the plane in which the optical axis direction of the reflected light of the document is the y direction and the y direction is the normal line. The direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the light shielding plate 129 is disposed in the vicinity of the condenser lens 125 on the upstream side of the condenser lens 125 on the optical path of the reflected light. A columnar member 131 whose longitudinal direction is the z direction is attached to one side of the light shielding plate 129 in the x direction, and a rack gear 132 whose longitudinal direction is the z direction is attached to the other side. A pinion gear 133 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft of the motor M1. The pinion gear 133 meshes with the rack gear 132. Therefore, the light shielding plate 129 receives the torque of the motor M1 and slides in the + z direction (upward direction in the figure) or the -z direction (downward direction in the figure). As the motor M1, for example, a stepping motor can be employed.

  The light shielding plate 129 is made of a member made of a plastic having a black surface and a flat plate shape, and the length in the x direction is longer than the diameter of the condenser lens 125. Therefore, as the light shielding plate 129 slides in the + z direction, the amount of light guided to the optical line sensor 126 decreases, and as it slides in the −z direction, the amount of light guided to the optical line sensor 126 increases.

  FIG. 3 is a view when the contact glass 127 is viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the reference document 128 is attached to the left end of the contact glass 127. The reference document 128 is made of, for example, a member such as white plastic, and the x direction is the longitudinal direction.

  4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus section shown in FIG. The document reading unit 100 includes an optical line sensor 126, an AFE (analog front end) 140, an image processing unit 150, a light amount adjustment unit 160, an image memory 170, and a control unit 180. In FIG. 4, only those related to the present invention are shown, and those not related are omitted. The optical line sensor 126 outputs, to the AFE 140, an electrical signal representing the density of the read original image obtained by reading the original image line by line under the control of the control unit 180.

  The AFE 140 amplifies an analog electric signal (hereinafter referred to as “analog output value”) output from the optical line sensor 126 under the control of the control unit 180, and the CDS processing unit 141, AGC (auto Gain controller) 142, and A / D converter 143. The CDS processing unit 141 performs correlated double sampling on the analog output value output from the optical line sensor 126 to remove fixed pattern noise.

  The AGC 142 is output from the CDS processing unit 141 using the gain determined by the image processing unit 150 so that the analog output value becomes an appropriate level for A / D conversion by the A / D converter 143. Amplifies the analog output value. The A / D converter 143 converts the analog output value amplified by the AGC 142 into a digital electric signal (hereinafter referred to as “digital output value”).

  The image processing unit 150 operates when the control unit 180 sets the image forming apparatus to the normal operation mode, and performs predetermined image processing on the digital output value output from the A / D converter 143. And output to the image memory 170. The light amount adjustment unit 160 operates when the control unit 180 sets the image forming apparatus to the light amount adjustment mode, and includes a maximum value calculation unit 161, a motor control unit 162, and a light amount saturation region determination unit 163. Yes. Here, the light amount adjustment mode is a sliding amount of the light shielding plate 129 shown in FIG. 2 so that an appropriate amount of light is incident on the condenser lens 125 when the optical line sensor 126 reads the reference document 128. This is the mode to decide. The normal operation mode is a mode in which the image forming apparatus reads an original to acquire an image of the original and prints the image on a recording sheet.

  The maximum value calculation unit 161 calculates the maximum value of the digital output value of each pixel constituting one image line of the reference document output from the A / D converter 143. The motor control unit 162 drives the motor M1 to slide the light shielding plate 129 shown in FIG. 2 in the + z direction or the −z direction.

  When the light amount saturation region determination unit 163 moves the light shielding plate 129 from a position where the amount of incident light to the lens 125 is minimum in a direction (−z direction) in which the amount of incident light increases with a predetermined step size, the maximum value calculating unit The light shielding plate position where the maximum value of the digital output value calculated in 161 saturates with respect to the movement amount of the light shielding plate 129 is obtained, and the light shielding plate position is set to the position of the step width just before the saturation position. The light amount saturation region will be described with reference to FIG. The horizontal axis represents the position of the light shielding plate 129, and the vertical axis represents the maximum output value of the AFE 140. The position of the light shielding plate is moved from the position where the incident light amount is minimum with the step width a to the direction in which the incident light amount increases (right direction in the figure). At this time, if the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 is not saturated, the maximum output value of the AFE 140 is increased by a substantially constant value D1 with respect to the step size a (P1 to P2). On the other hand, if the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 is saturated, the maximum output value of the AFE 140 can be obtained only by increasing the AFE output D2 smaller than the value D1 with respect to the step size a (P2 to P3). For example, when the decrease rate (D2 / D1) of the increase amount is lower than 0.5, it is determined that the incident light amount to the optical line sensor 126 is saturated.

  The control unit 180 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the entire image forming apparatus. In the present embodiment, in particular, the optical line sensor 126, the AFE 140, the image processing unit 150, the light amount adjustment unit 160, and the image memory. The clock signal which synchronizes 170 is output and the operation | movement of these blocks is synchronized.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus when the control unit 180 sets the image forming apparatus to the light amount adjustment mode. Note that the control unit 180 sets the image forming apparatus to the light amount adjustment mode, for example, at the initial operation immediately after the power is turned on to the image forming apparatus and after a predetermined time has elapsed. First, in step S1, the image processing unit 150 sets the gain of the AGC 142 to a predetermined value. Here, the gain value set by the image processing unit 150 uses a gain of 1 as a predetermined value when the light amount adjustment unit 160 adjusts the light amount, and is constant during the light amount adjustment. Value is set.

  In step S2, the light shielding plate 129 is moved to a predetermined position by the motor control unit of the light amount adjusting unit 161. The predetermined position is a position where the light shielding plate 129 has a minimum amount of light incident on the lens 125, for example, a position where the light shielding plate 129 covers the entire lens 125 in FIG.

  In step S <b> 3, the control unit 180 causes the light source 121 to irradiate the reference document 128, and the optical line sensor 126 receives the reflected light and outputs an analog output value for one line to the AFE 140. The AFE 140 performs the above-described processing on the analog output value to generate a digital output value, and sequentially outputs the digital output value of each pixel to the maximum value calculation unit 161. The maximum value calculation unit 161 compares the digital output values of the pixels, calculates the maximum value, outputs the maximum value to the light amount saturation determination unit 163, and stores the light amount saturation determination unit 163 together with the position of the light shielding plate 129 at that time. Here, the maximum value calculation unit 161 may calculate the average value for each pixel with respect to the digital output values of two or more lines of the reference document 128.

  In step S4, the light amount saturation region determination unit 163 determines whether or not the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 has been saturated from the previous maximum value and the current maximum value as described with reference to FIG.

  When it is not determined in step S4 that the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 is saturated (NO in step S4), in step S5, it is determined whether the position of the light shielding plate is the maximum opening position with respect to the lens 125. If it is not the opening position (NO in step S5), in step S6, the motor control unit 162 slides the light shielding plate 129 in a direction in which the amount of incident light to the lens 125 increases (-z direction) with a predetermined step size. Thereafter, the process returns to step S3 and the reference document is read again.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S5 that the position of the light shielding plate is the maximum opening position with respect to the lens 125 (YES in step S5), the light shielding plate position remains at that position, and this process ends.

    Further, when it is determined in step S4 that the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 is saturated (YES in step S4), the position of the light shielding plate is moved to the previous position in step S7, and this process ends. To do.

  Thereafter, the light shielding plate 129 is fixed at the slide position adjusted in the light amount adjustment mode, the normal mode is executed, and an image is formed on the recording paper.

  As described above, according to this image forming apparatus, the sliding amount of the light shielding plate 129 is set so that the amount of light incident on the optical line sensor 126 when the optical line sensor 126 reads the reference original 128 becomes a predetermined value. Therefore, it is possible to output an electric signal having the maximum amplitude without saturating the optical line sensor 126 and the AFE 140 without depending on the sensitivity of the optical line sensor 126 and the variation in the light amount of the light source 121. / N ratio can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the number of light shielding plates 129 is one. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two light shielding plates may be used. FIG. 7 is a view showing a light shielding portion composed of two light shielding plates. As shown in FIG. 7, the light shielding unit 400 is disposed at a position in front of the condenser lens 125 on the optical path of the reflected light of the document, and the two light shielding plates 401 and 402 and the light shielding plates 401 and 402 in the x direction. The light shielding side plates 403 and 404 provided on both sides of the head are provided. The light shielding plates 401 and 402 and the light shielding side plates 403 and 404 have a flat plate shape, and are made of a member such as black plastic like the light shielding plate 129 shown in FIG. Columnar members 405 and 406 having a longitudinal direction in the z direction are attached to one side of the light shielding plates 401 and 402 in the x direction. In addition, rack gears 407 and 408 having a longitudinal direction in the z direction are attached to the other side of the light shielding plates 401 and 402.

  The rack gears 407 and 408 mesh with the pinion gears 409 and 410 attached to the ends of the rotation shafts of the motors M2 and M3. Slide in the direction and positioned.

  As shown in FIG. 7, if the light shielding plates 401 and 402 slide so as to sandwich the optical path from the vertical direction with respect to the optical path of the reflected light of the original, the reflected light of the original is guided to the center of the condenser lens 125 and The adjustment range can be further expanded.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus when the document reading apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus. It is a block diagram of a light-shielding plate. It is a figure when the contact glass is seen from above. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus section shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a light-shielding plate position and AFE output. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus when a control unit sets the image forming apparatus to a light amount adjustment mode. It is drawing which showed the light-shielding part comprised from two light-shielding plates.

Explanation of symbols

121 Light source 122 Mirror 125 Condensing lens 126 Optical line sensor 127 Contact glass 128 Reference document 129 Light shielding plate 131 Columnar member 132 Rack gear 133 Pinion gear 140 AFE
141 CDS processing unit 142 AGC
143 A / D converter 150 Image processing unit 160 Light amount adjustment unit 161 Maximum value calculation unit 162 Motor control unit 163 Light amount saturation region determination unit 170 Image memory 180 Control unit 401, 402 Light shielding plate 403, 404 Light shielding side plate 405, 406 Columnar member 407, 408 Rack gear 409, 410 Pinion gear M1-M3 Motor

Claims (6)

An original reading apparatus that includes an image sensor and reads an image of an original,
A light source for irradiating light on a document to be read;
An optical system for guiding reflected light of the document to the image sensor;
A light-shielding portion that is slidably disposed at a position in front of the optical system on the optical path of the reflected light, and adjusts the amount of light incident on the optical system;
The image sensor includes light amount adjusting means for sliding the light shielding portion so that a maximum output value when receiving reflected light from a reference original that reflects a predetermined amount of light falls within a specified range. A document reader.   The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding portion is a flat light shielding plate.   The light shielding unit includes two light shielding plates arranged to be slidable in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of light output from the optical system, and the light shielding plate slides in a direction sandwiching the optical axis from both sides. The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of light is adjusted.   The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light amount adjusting unit includes a driving unit that slides the light shielding unit.   The light amount adjusting unit includes a light amount saturation determination unit that obtains a maximum value of an output value of each pixel output from the image sensor, and obtains a saturated light amount from the obtained maximum value, and the light shielding unit is set to the specified value. The document reading device according to claim 1, wherein the document reading device is slid. An auto gain controller for adjusting a gain of an electrical signal output from the image sensor;
The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auto gain controller sets the gain to a constant value while the light amount is adjusted by the light amount adjusting unit.

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