JP2008054088A - Original reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an original reader capable of preventing blurring and distortion of an original image by smoothly carrying an original along a carrying path without causing jam in the original and surely reducing a shock and original slackness which occur when a guide member scoops up the original from a platen and when the original advances between a pair of ejection rollers in the original reader having a carrying path bent toward an original paper ejection side from an original reading position. <P>SOLUTION: A control roller 34b (original control member) for controlling the floating of the original is arranged at a bent part 32 (transition part) between the platen 1a for reading the original and an inclination guide 27 for scooping up the original from the platen 1a and guiding the original toward an original paper ejecting means, and the control roller 34b is arranged pressably toward the bent part 32 within the range of an angle θ provided when a perpendicular h1 with respect to the plane of the platen 1a intersects a perpendicular h2 with respect to a guiding plane 28 of the inclination guide 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document reading apparatus having an optical reading unit such as a copying machine or a facsimile, and in particular, a document including a document regulating member for smoothly transporting a document after reading processing toward a document discharge unit. The present invention relates to a reading device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of document reading apparatus includes a document conveying device called an ADF (automatic document feeder) that feeds documents one by one from a document feeding unit and automatically supplies them to a document reading position; A document reading apparatus main body that reads an image of the document conveyed to the reading position by an optical reading unit; On the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body, a first platen glass for reading a document sent by the document conveying device and a second platen glass for reading a stationary document are provided. In order to place a document on the second platen glass, it is attached to the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body by a hinge device so as to be freely opened and closed.

  The document reading unit is provided with scanning means for reading the documents sequentially conveyed from the document feeding unit. As this scanning means, for example, light is applied to a document passing over the platen, and the reflected light is collected by a condenser lens and read by a CCD line sensor, or light is applied to a document passing over the platen. There is one that directly reads the reflected light by a contact sensor without condensing the reflected light.

  A general document reading apparatus has a conveyance path that is curved from the document reading position toward the paper discharge side. Further, a supply roller pair and a discharge roller pair are provided before and after the platen, and a guide for scooping up the leading edge of the document read on the platen and guiding it to the discharge roller pair on the downstream side of the document reading position. A member is provided. Conventionally, when scanning a document conveyed along such a curved conveyance path, the impact when the document is scooped up from the platen by the guide member or the impact when the document enters the discharge roller pair affects the read image. And problems such as image blurring occurred. In particular, when the leading edge of the document collides with the guide member or the discharge roller pair, a reaction force in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction is applied to the document, which causes a phenomenon that the document stops for a moment at the reading position, resulting in distortion in the read image. There is a problem. Further, due to the collision with the guide member and the carry-out roller described above, the original is slackened in the space of the path bending portion or the stepped portion in the conveyance path, and this slack is sandwiched between the supply roller pair and the discharge roller pair. However, when the document is transported, the image is not affected, but when the trailing edge of the document passes through the supply roller, only the leading edge of the document is transported and the trailing edge stops when the trailing edge of the document is removed. As a result, the original image is greatly distorted, which is a serious problem.

  In order to solve such problems, a flexible film member is provided from the upper surface of the platen along the guide surface of the guide member, and the original is pressed by a bent portion extending from the upper surface of the platen to the guide member. Those are known (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

On the other hand, there is a type in which a pressing roller that presses a document in a plane on a platen downstream of the reading position is provided to suppress the influence of document impact on the downstream side in the document transport direction (see Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-87510 JP 2001-309118 A JP 11-258869 A

  However, in an apparatus using a film member, a transport load is generated by the pressing force of the film member. Therefore, when the front end side of the original is pressed against the film member and fed, the front end of the original is held between the discharge roller pair. The conveyance speed of the document is slightly different from that when it is sent. This difference in the conveyance speed of the document affects the read image. In particular, when the pressing force of the film member is large, a weakly original document such as thin paper cannot be smoothly conveyed, which causes a problem such as an original jam.

  In addition, in an apparatus that employs a pressure roller as a member for pressing a document, the document is smoothly conveyed because the sliding resistance is small with respect to the film member. It is difficult to position the roller at the bent portion. In particular, when the document conveying device is attached to the reading device main body, the position of the pressing roller that contacts the platen is adjusted in order to adjust the document conveying device so that the document conveying direction is perpendicular to the reading line of the reading unit. Variations cannot reliably regulate the document at the bent portion.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to smoothly convey a document along the conveyance path without causing a jam or the like in a document reading apparatus having a conveyance path bent from the document reading position toward the document discharge side. In addition, the impact of the document when it is picked up from the platen by the guide member or when the document enters the discharge roller pair and the looseness of the document are reliably reduced, and the document reading can prevent the document image from being blurred or distorted. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, an original reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a platen for reading an original, an original feed unit disposed on the upstream side of the platen, and an original discharge disposed on the downstream side of the platen. An original reading apparatus comprising paper means and an inclined guide that scoops up an original from the platen and guides the original toward the original discharge means, and an original that restricts lifting of the original at a transition portion between the platen and the inclined guide A regulating member is disposed, and the document regulating member can be pressed toward the transition portion within a range of an angle θ formed by intersecting a perpendicular to the platen surface and a perpendicular to the inclined guide surface. .

  According to the present invention, even when the document restricting member is displaced from the position facing the transition portion between the platen and the inclined guide, the original restricting member is perpendicular to the platen surface and perpendicular to the inclined guide surface. Can be moved to the transition portion naturally by being installed so as to be able to be pressed within the range of the angle θ that can be formed by intersecting. As a result, even when the inclination angle of the inclination guide is adjusted or there is an installation error, the conveyed document is reliably regulated at the transition portion without being lifted or clogged, and the document is smoothly fed. It can be conveyed from the paper means toward the document discharge means.

  Embodiments of a document reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an overall configuration of a document reading apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a document conveying device provided in the document reading apparatus. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the opening / closing structure of the document conveying device with respect to the document reading device.

  The document reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a document reading apparatus main body H, a document conveying apparatus A attached to the upper part of the document reading apparatus main body H, and the document conveying apparatus A that can be opened and closed with respect to the document reading apparatus main body H. The hinge device K is supported by the hinge device K. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a platen 1 a for reading a document conveyed by the document conveying device A and a platen for reading a stationary document such as a book are provided on the upper surface of the document reading device main body H. 1b, and the document conveying device A is attached by a hinge device K so that the upper surface of the image reading unit 6 for reading a document image can be opened and closed. As shown in FIG. 3, two hinge devices K are provided at a position spaced apart by a predetermined distance on the rear side of the document reading device main body H. When the document conveying device A is attached to the hinge device K, one hinge device is fixed and the position of the other hinge device is moved so that the attachment position of the document conveying device A with respect to the document reading device main body H is set. Configured to adjust.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the image reading unit 6 provided in the document reading apparatus main body H receives a light source 2 for irradiating lamp light to a document conveyed on the platen 1a and reflected light from the conveyed document. A plurality of mirror groups 3 that guide in a predetermined direction, a lens 4 that converges the reflected light guided by the mirror group 3, and a CCD 5 that photoelectrically converts the light converged by the lens 4 are provided on the platen 1a. The image of the passing document can be read sequentially.

  The document conveying apparatus A has a sheet feeding tray 10 on which a plurality of documents are placed, and a conveying path 11 that conveys documents fed one by one from the sheet feeding tray 10 onto the platen 1a of the document reading apparatus main body H described above. And a paper discharge tray 12 for storing documents that have passed over the platen 1a.

  A plurality of transport rollers are disposed in the transport path 11 as means for transporting the document from the paper feed tray 10 to the paper discharge tray 12 via the platen 1a. These transport rollers include a feed roller 13 for feeding documents one by one from the sheet feed tray 10, a first feed roller 14 for feeding the fed documents to the transport path 11, and the vicinity of the upstream side of the platen 1a. The second paper feed roller 15 is disposed on the downstream side of the platen 1a, and the second paper discharge roller 17 is disposed at the entrance of the paper discharge tray 12. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance path 11 includes a first conveyance path 11a that reverses the original while bending it and conveys it to the original reading position 21, and an original reading position 21 (specifically, below the platen 1a). And a second transport path 11b for transporting the document that has passed through the image reading unit 6 when the document passes the platen 1a.

  The first transport path 11a from the first paper feed roller 14 through the second paper feed roller 15 to the platen 1a is curved so that the document fed from the paper feed tray 10 is smoothly fed onto the platen 1a. Is formed. The first and second paper feeding rollers 14 and 15 are respectively composed of driving rollers 14a and 15a disposed inside the first transport path 11a and outer driven rollers 14b and 15b pressed against the driving rollers. It is configured. The original conveyed by the first and second paper feed rollers 14 and 15 is discharged onto the platen 1a while being guided by the upper guide plate 25a and the lower guide plate 26a. In FIG. 1, a motor for rotating the drive rollers 14a and 15a is omitted.

  On the other hand, the second transport path 11b is formed in a substantially straight line by an upper guide plate 25b and a lower guide plate 26b which are inclined obliquely upward from the downstream end of the platen 1a. The paper is conveyed to the paper discharge tray 12 by the first paper discharge roller 16 and the second paper discharge roller 17. Further, a scooping guide member (inclination guide) 27 for scooping up the front end of the document read at the document reading position 21 of the platen 1a and guiding it to the second transport path 11b is provided immediately downstream of the platen 1a. It is disposed on the upper surface of the main body H. The inclined guide 27 is formed with a guide surface 28 that is inclined so as to continue from the downstream end of the platen 1 a toward the lower guide plate 26 b, and the document is guided along the guide surface 28.

  On the downstream side of the document reading position 21, a document regulating member (regulating roller) 34 b is provided at a bent transition portion for scooping up the document that has passed through the document reading position 21 along the guide surface 28 of the inclined guide 27. Yes. Although the details will be described later, the regulating roller 34b is urged in a direction toward the transition portion (bent portion) 32 between the downstream end portion of the platen 1a and the upstream end portion of the inclined guide 27. The roller unit 31 that is unitized is attached to the upper guide plates 25a and 25b.

  4 and 5 show an example of the configuration of the roller unit 31 and its mounting structure. The roller unit 31 includes the restriction roller 34b, a rotation shaft 35 that penetrates the central portion of the restriction roller 34b, and supports the restriction roller 34b in a rotatable manner, and end portions 35a, A spring 36 as an urging means for urging 35b toward the bent portion 32 from an oblique direction, a flange 34a provided at both ends of the rotating shaft 35 and having a slightly larger diameter than the regulating roller 34b, and the rotating shaft 35 And a holder 37 to which a spring 36 is attached. Note that the holder 37, the spring 36, and the flange 34a are provided with the same members at both end portions 35a and 35b of the rotating shaft 35, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, the roller unit 31 has a holder 37 that supports both end portions 35 a and 35 b of the rotating shaft 35 at the end in the width direction perpendicular to the document conveying direction of the upper guide plates 25 a and 25 b. The lower end surface of the regulating roller 34 b that is fixed to the portion via the mounting screw 38 and supported by the rotating shaft 35 is disposed so as to protrude toward the bent portion 32. As shown in FIG. 4, the bearing portion 39 of the holder 37 is formed larger than the diameter of the rotating shaft 35. As a result, the rotary shaft 35 can be swung by the biasing force of the spring 36 within the range of the diameter of the bearing portion 39. Further, as will be described later, even when the contact of the regulating roller 34b with the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H is shifted from the bent portion 32 by the adjustment of the attachment of the document conveying apparatus A, the document conveying apparatus By closing A with respect to the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H, the regulating roller 34b swings so as to be automatically positioned at a position facing the bent portion 32. The holder 37 is formed with a recess 37a for supporting the spring 36, and the spring 36 is attached to the recess 37a to define the biasing direction of the spring 36. Further, the flanges 34a are respectively provided on both ends of the outer side of the document conveying area on the rotation shaft 35 of the regulating roller 34b, and come into contact with the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H, so A slight gap is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the regulating roller 34 b is supported so that the rotating shaft 35 can be freely rotated with respect to the bearing portion 39 of the holder 37, and the urging direction by the spring 36 is directed toward the bent portion 32. Is set. Hereinafter, details regarding the urging direction by the spring 36 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the document conveying apparatus A is attached to the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H so as to be freely opened and closed. When the document conveying apparatus A is attached to the document reading apparatus main body H, the document conveying apparatus A performs document conveying. Adjustment is made so that the direction and the reading line of the platen 1a of the document reading apparatus main body H are orthogonal to each other. Actually, the regulation roller 34b may be displaced from the position where the platen 1a of the document reading apparatus main body H and the bent portion 32 of the inclined guide 27 are opposed to each other due to the attachment adjustment of the document conveying apparatus A or the crossing of parts. Therefore, in order to move the regulating roller 34 b to a position facing the bent portion 32, the regulating roller 34 b may be urged toward the bent portion 32.

  FIG. 6 shows the operation when the regulating roller 34b is displaced from the position facing the bent portion 32 between the platen 1a and the inclined guide 27 of the document reading apparatus main body H. FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, when the position of the regulating roller 34b is shifted to the platen 1a side with respect to the bent portion 32 (34b1), it is biased from the angle θ1 (90 °) in the left direction from the perpendicular h1 of the platen 1a. For example, the regulation roller 34b1 moves in the direction f1 of the bent portion 32. Further, when the position of the regulating roller 34b is shifted to the inclined guide 27 side with respect to the bent portion 32, if the urging is performed from the angle θ1 (90 °) in the right direction from the perpendicular h2 with respect to the guide surface 28 of the inclined guide 27, the regulation is performed. The roller 34b moves in the direction f2 of the bent portion 32. In the present invention, even if the regulating roller 34b is shifted to either the platen 1a side or the inclined guide 27 side, the inclination line for automatically allowing the regulating roller 34b to move to the bent portion 32. A predetermined angle θ of S1 and S2 was defined. The predetermined angle θ is an angle with respect to the platen 1a surface when the perpendicular h2 determined by the inclination angle θ2 of the bent portion 32 is translated and intersected in the horizontal direction as it is on the vertical h1 side, or the vertical line h1 is directly in the horizontal direction on the vertical h2 side. Is an angle with respect to the guide surface 28 when intersecting with a parallel movement. Therefore, the restriction roller 34b is set so as to be urged from the direction within the range of the angle θ. Note that the biasing direction of the regulating roller 34b is ideally considered as a bisector of the inclination angle θ2 at the bent portion 32 when the regulating roller 34b is positioned at a position facing the bent portion 32 in consideration of the balance. It is desirable to be on F.

  Next, based on FIG.7 and FIG.8, the rocking | fluctuation operation | movement of the control roller 34b is demonstrated. FIG. 7 shows the swinging operation when the regulating roller 34b is installed with a slight deviation L1 from the bending point 33 of the bending portion 32 toward the inclined guide 27 side. FIG. 7A shows a state immediately before the document conveying device A is closed with respect to the upper surface of the document reading device main body H. FIG. In this state, the regulating roller 34b is slightly displaced from the bending point 33 toward the inclined guide 27 by L1. Thereafter, when the document feeder A is further moved downward, the flange 34 a of the roller unit 31 first comes into contact with the guide surface 28 of the inclined guide 27. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the spring 36 biases the rotating shaft 35 of the flange 34a and the regulating roller 34b from the downstream side with respect to the perpendicular h2 of the guide surface 28 in the direction of the arrow F1 in the figure. Therefore, the flange 34 a and the regulating roller 34 b move upstream along the guide surface 28. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the regulating member 25c provided on the upper guide plate 25a abuts on the upper surface of the platen 1a, and the document conveying apparatus A is positioned on the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H. In a state (closed state) where the document conveying device A is positioned on the upper surface of the document reading device main body H, the flange 34a and the regulating roller 34b are positioned at positions facing the bent portion 32 as shown in FIG. It is done.

  On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows a swinging operation in the case where the regulating roller 34b is installed with a slight shift of L2 from the bending point 33 of the bending portion 32 to the platen 1a side. In FIG. 8A, in a state immediately before the document conveying apparatus A is closed with respect to the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H, the regulation roller 34b is slightly displaced from the bending point 33 toward the platen 1a by L2. It has become. When the document conveying apparatus A is moved downward from this state, after the flange 34a of the roller unit 31 comes into contact with the upper surface of the platen 1a, as shown in FIG. 8B, the regulating member 25c is moved to the upper surface of the platen 1a. The document conveying device A is positioned on the upper surface of the document reading device main body H. In this process, as indicated by an arrow F2 in FIG. 8A, the rotary shaft 35 is urged by the spring 36 from the upstream direction with respect to the perpendicular h1 on the upper surface of the platen 1a. 8b, the flange 34a and the regulating roller 34b move downstream along the platen 1a surface, and the flange 34a and the regulating roller 34b face the bent portion 32 as shown in FIG. Positioned in position.

  That is, in this embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the spring 36 is attached to the holder 37 so as to urge the rotation shaft 35 from the direction within the angle θ, and the document conveying apparatus A is moved downward. Thus, the regulating roller 34b is automatically moved to the bent portion 32 between the platen 1a and the inclined guide 27 only by closing the upper surface of the document reading apparatus main body H. As a result, even when the position facing the bent portion 32 is shifted due to the mounting tolerance when the document conveying apparatus A is mounted on the document reading apparatus main body H or the mounting adjustment with respect to the reading line, the bending when the document conveying apparatus A is used. Since it moves to a position facing the portion 32, the document path in the bent portion 32 can be regulated to be extremely small, and a good read image can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the rotation shaft 35 is provided with the flange 34a and the gap is formed between the restriction roller 34b and the bent portion 32. However, the restriction roller 34b is not provided with the flange 34a but the bent portion 32 is provided. You may comprise so that it may contact | abut. In this case, in order to reduce the load on the document, a plurality of rollers arranged in the width direction are individually attached to the holder 37 of the roller unit 31, and a spring for urging each of the individually attached rollers is provided. Is preferred. Of course, the biasing direction of each spring at this time is within the range of the angle θ described above. Moreover, in the said embodiment, the example using the regulation roller 34b which can rotate freely was shown. The restriction roller 34b is optimal in that the coefficient of friction with the document can be kept low, but the unit may be configured using a plate-shaped or rectangular guide instead of the restriction roller 34b.

  The roller unit 31 described above is disposed downstream of the document reading position 21 so as to face the bent portion 32 applied to the inclined guide 27, thereby smoothly discharging the document, The purpose was to prevent distortion. In combination with this roller unit 31, a second roller unit 41 as shown in FIG. 9 is also provided at the stepped portion 42 upstream of the document reading position 21, so that the trailing edge of the document is at the stepped portion 42. Drop impact can be suppressed. As shown in FIG. 9, the second roller unit 41 is configured so that the biasing direction of the spring 46 is different from the biasing direction of the spring 36 of the roller unit 31 on the downstream side of the document reading position 21. Good.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an overall configuration of a document reading apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the document reading apparatus. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an opening / closing structure of a document conveying device with respect to a document reading device. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the structure of a roller unit. It is a top view which shows the structure of a roller unit. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for defining an urging direction (angle θ) of a document regulating member. It is explanatory drawing which shows an effect | action when the position of a document control member shift | deviates to the inclination guide side. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation when the position of the document restricting member is shifted to the platen side. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a document reading apparatus configured by additionally arranging a sheet feeding roller at a preceding stage of a document reading position.

Explanation of symbols

H Document reading apparatus main body A Document conveying apparatus K Hinge apparatus P Document h1, h2 Vertical line S1, S2 Inclination line θ, θ1 Angle θ2 Inclination angle 1a Platen 1b Platen 2 Light source 3 Mirror group 4 Lens 5 CCD
6 Image reading unit 10 Paper feed tray 11 Transport path 11a First transport path 11b Second transport path 12 Paper discharge tray 13 Feeding roller 14 First paper feed roller 15 Second paper feed roller 16 First paper discharge roller 17 Second discharge Paper roller 21 Document reading position 25a, 25b Upper guide plate 25c Restricting member 26a, 26b Lower guide plate 27 Inclined guide 28 Guide surface 31 Roller unit 32 Bending portion 33 Bending point 34a Flange 34b Restricting roller (original regulating member)
35 Rotating shafts 35a, 35b End portions 36, 46 Spring 37 Holder 37a Recessed portion 38 Mounting screw 39 Bearing portion 41 Roller unit 42 Step portion

Claims (4)

A platen for reading a document, a document feeding unit disposed on the upstream side of the platen, a document discharge unit disposed on the downstream side of the platen, and the document discharge unit scooping up the document from the platen In a document reading apparatus provided with an inclined guide for guiding toward the
A document restricting member for restricting the lifting of the document is disposed at a transition portion between the platen and the inclined guide, and the document restricting member has an angle θ formed by a perpendicular line with respect to the platen surface and a perpendicular line with respect to the inclined guide surface. An original reading apparatus capable of being pressed toward the transition portion within a range. A platen for reading a document, a document feeding unit disposed on the upstream side of the platen, a document discharge unit disposed on the downstream side of the platen, and the document discharge unit scooping up the document from the platen In a document reading apparatus provided with an inclined guide for guiding toward the
A document restricting member disposed opposite to the transition portion between the platen and the inclined guide, a biasing means for biasing the document restricting member toward the transition portion, and the document restricting member can swing in the document transport direction. And supporting means for supporting,
The urging means is disposed so that the urging direction of the document restricting member is within a range of an angle θ formed by a perpendicular line to the platen surface and a perpendicular line to the inclined guide surface intersecting each other. A document reader. 3. The document restricting member, the supporting means, and the urging means are constituted by a single unit, and this unit is attached to a guide plate provided opposite to the platen and the inclined guide. The document reading apparatus described. A platen for reading a document, and a main unit having an inclined guide provided to be connected to the platen and inclined with respect to the platen;
A document feed unit for supplying a document to the platen, and a document transport unit having a document discharge unit for discharging a document sent through the inclined guide after passing over the platen;
A document reading apparatus comprising hinge means for supporting the document transport unit so as to be openable and closable with respect to the platen surface of the main unit.
A document restricting member that restricts a document at a transition portion between the platen and the inclined guide, a biasing unit that biases the document restricting member toward the transition portion, and the document restricting member can be swung in a document transport direction. And supporting means for supporting,
The urging means is disposed so that the urging direction of the document restricting member is within a range of an angle θ formed by a perpendicular line to the platen surface and a perpendicular line to the inclined guide surface intersecting each other.
The document restricting member is supported by the support means so as to be movable to a position facing the connecting portion between the platen and the inclined guide when the document transport unit is closed with respect to the main body unit. An original reading apparatus characterized by the above.

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