JP2012065064A - Image reading apparatus and image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus capable of stably conveying a document of an embossed card without bending by a simple constitution, and to provide an image formation apparatus equipped with the image reading apparatus.SOLUTION: An image reading apparatus 2 of this invention comprises: a conveyance part (pairs of first rollers 40 and pairs of second rollers 70) and a reading part (a first reading part 32 and a second reading part 34). The conveyance part conveys an embossed card 301 etc. which is a medium to be read. The reading part reads an image of the medium to be read which the conveyance part conveys. The conveyance part comprises a pair of first rollers 42 and 43 including low-hardness rollers (a driving roller 52 and a driving roller 53) which when the embossed card 301 having an embossed section 303 and a planar section 305 are conveyed while being inserted and held between nip sections, deform in abutting on the embossed section 303 and decrease in diameters of the abutting sections.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads an image while conveying a document, and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus.

  A conventional image reading apparatus can read an image while conveying a small and thick plastic card (hereinafter referred to as an embossed card) such as a credit card or a cash card that has been embossed. There is something.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, an embossed card 301 includes an embossed portion 303 on which an embossed (convex character) 302 is formed, and a flat surface portion 305 without the embossed 302. The embossed portion 303 is usually surrounded by a flat portion 305 and is a lower half region of the embossed card 301 except for both ends of the long side of the embossed card (in FIG. 1A, a dotted square). The emboss 302 displays an identification number, name, expiration date, and the like. The emboss 302 has a predetermined height and protrudes to the front side of the emboss card 301, and the embossed portion 303 is thicker than the flat portion 305.

  As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1D, the conventional image reading apparatus holds the embossed card 301 between the roller pair 242 and the roller pair 243 and conveys the embossed card 301 by the reading unit 234. Read the image. The roller pair 242 includes a driving roller 252 and a driven roller 262, and the roller pair 243 includes a driving roller 253 and a driven roller 263. The drive roller 252 and the drive roller 253 are attached to the same rotating shaft 250 and have the same material and the same diameter. The driven roller 262 and the driven roller 263 are attached to the same rotating shaft 260 and have the same material and the same diameter. Further, the rollers 252, 253, 262, and 263 do not deform so much when the embossed card 301 is sandwiched.

  When the conventional image reading apparatus conveys the embossed card 301 in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow A, the roller pair 242 sandwiches only the flat portion 305, and the roller pair 243 sandwiches the flat portion 305 and the embossed portion 303 of the embossed card 301. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 1C, in the conventional image reading apparatus, while the embossing card 301 is being conveyed by the roller pair 242 and the roller pair 243, the roller pair 243 follows the flat surface portion 305 and the embossing portion 303 at the nip portion. When sandwiched, each roller is somewhat deformed, but the amount of deformation is small, so that the drive roller 252 of the roller pair 242 is in a floating state. Therefore, the embossed card 301 cannot be transported by the roller pair 242, and the embossed card 301 is transported only by the roller pair 243. Further, the distance from the center of the rotating shaft 250 to which the driving roller 253 is attached to the flat portion 203 of the embossed card 301 changes by the height of the embossed card 302, and the speed at which the embossed card 301 is conveyed changes suddenly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1E, the direction of the emboss card 301 in the transport direction changes during the transport, and as shown in FIG. 1F, the image 310 of the emboss card 301 read by the reading unit 234 is displayed. There was a problem of bending on the way.

  Conventionally, a card image reading that prevents the embossed card from being obliquely fed by providing a reference frame and a movable frame in the card conveyance path and urging the movable frame with respect to the reference frame by a spring. An invention of the device is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-139704 A

  However, since the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is an image reading apparatus dedicated to an emboss card, there is a problem in that it cannot read a document of another size such as plain paper. To enable the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 to read a document of another size, the movable frame must be moved according to the document, resulting in a complicated structure and an increased number of parts. Therefore, the problem that the cost increases occurs.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus that can stably convey an embossed card original without bending, and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus with a simple configuration.

  The image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a transport unit and a reading unit. The transport unit includes two sets of first roller pairs that transport the medium to be read while being sandwiched by the nip unit. The reading unit reads an image of the read medium conveyed by the conveyance unit. The first roller pair deforms when it comes into contact with the emboss when the embossed card having the flat portion and the embossed portion provided with the emboss of a predetermined height is sandwiched and conveyed by the nip portion, and the contact portion Is provided with a low hardness roller whose diameter is smaller than the embossed height.

  In this configuration, when the image reading apparatus sandwiches and conveys the embossed portion of the embossed card, the low hardness rollers of the two pairs of first rollers are deformed when abutting against the emboss and the diameter of the abutted portion is reduced. It becomes smaller than the height of the emboss. For example, when one of the first roller pairs is transporting the flat portion of the embossed card, the other first roller pair is transporting the embossed portion following the flat portion of the embossed card. The rollers of the first roller pair do not float, and the emboss card is sandwiched between the nip portions of the two pairs of first rollers. Thereby, it can prevent that the conveyance speed of an embossed card changes suddenly like the past, and the direction with respect to the conveyance direction of an embossed card can change during conveyance, and it can convey stably. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the image of the embossed card read by the reading unit from being bent in the middle with a simple configuration.

  In the above invention, the low hardness roller has a knurled shape.

  In this configuration, the surface of the low hardness roller (the tip of the knurl) is more easily deformed than when the low hardness roller is cylindrical, so when the embossed portion of the embossed card hits the tip of the knurl, the diameter of the contact portion is reduced. It can be surely made smaller than the height of the emboss. Therefore, the orientation with respect to the transport direction does not change during transport of the embossed card, and the image of the embossed card read by the reading unit can be prevented from being bent halfway.

  In the above invention, the transport section includes the second roller pair. The second roller pair is installed upstream of the reading position of the reading unit in the conveyance direction of the medium to be read, and conveys the medium to be read to the reading position. The first roller pair is installed downstream of the reading position of the reading unit in the conveyance direction of the medium to be read, and conveys the medium to be read from the reading position. The embossed card has an embossed part surrounded by a flat part. The distance from the nip portion of the first roller pair to the nip portion of the second roller pair is less than the length from the front end portion of the embossed portion in the emboss card transport direction to the rear end portion in the transport direction of the emboss card.

  In this configuration, when the nip portion of the first roller pair conveys the embossed portion subsequent to the flat portion of the embossed card, the nip portion of the second roller pair holds the embossed card. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the orientation of the embossed card from changing in the middle of the transport of the embossed card.

  In the above invention, the pressing force by which the other roller presses the low hardness roller which is one roller of the first roller pair is higher than the pressing force by which one roller presses the other roller in the second roller pair.

  When a low-hardness roller is used for the first roller pair, the pressing force between the rollers decreases, and the document conveying force decreases. In this configuration, since one roller of the first roller pair presses the other roller higher than the second roller pair, the embossing card conveying force is improved and the embossing card is conveyed in the conveying direction. It is possible to prevent the orientation with respect to change.

  In the above invention, the transport unit includes a third roller pair that is attached to the rotation shaft of each roller of the first roller pair and has a roller having a hardness higher than that of the low hardness roller of the first roller pair.

  In this configuration, the embossed card is conveyed by the first roller pair, and the read medium having a size larger than the embossed card is conveyed by the first roller pair and the second roller pair, so that not only the embossed card but also the embossed card is used. In addition, a medium to be read can be stably conveyed.

  In the above invention, the reading unit includes a first reading unit and a second reading unit. The first reading unit reads an image on one surface of the medium to be read conveyed by the conveyance unit. The second reading unit reads an image on the other surface of the read medium conveyed by the conveying unit.

  In this configuration, the images on both sides of the read medium are read with a single conveyance of the read medium. Therefore, a mechanism for turning over the read medium is unnecessary, and an image on the read medium can be read in a short time.

  In the above invention, the image reading apparatus includes a paper feed tray, a conveyance path, and a discharge tray. The paper feed tray feeds the read medium. The transport path is inclined downward from the paper feed tray and is installed in a straight line. The discharge tray discharges a thick medium to be read arranged downstream of the conveyance path. The conveyance unit and the reading unit are installed along the conveyance path.

  A thick medium to be read like an embossed card is difficult to bend the image when transporting or reading the image. In this configuration, since the paper feed tray and the discharge tray are connected to the linearly arranged transport path, the image can be read smoothly without bending the embossed card.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the image reading apparatus of the present invention and an image forming unit. The image forming unit forms an image on the recording material based on the image read by the image reading device.

  In this configuration, the image forming apparatus can stably convey an embossed card or a medium to be read that is larger than the embossed card without changing the orientation with respect to the conveyance direction during conveyance. Therefore, an image without bending can be formed.

  According to the present invention, the document of the embossed card can be stably conveyed without being bent with a simple configuration.

(A) is an external view of an embossed card. (B)-(D) are three views showing a state where a conventional image reading apparatus conveys an emboss card, (B) is a plan view, (C) is a left side view, and (D) is a front view. . (E) is a top view which shows the state from which the direction with respect to the conveyance direction changed during conveyance of an embossed card | curd. (F) is a diagram showing an image read by the image reading device of an embossed card whose orientation with respect to the transport direction has changed during transport. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an external view which shows the size of an embossing card | curd, and the position of an embossing part. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image reading unit. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a paper feed tray and an image reading unit. (A) is a top view which shows the state which the roller of an image reading part conveys an embossing card | curd or paper. (B), (C) is a front view which shows the roller of an image reading part. (D) is an external view of a knurled roller. It is a table | surface showing the material of each roller of an image reading part, hardness, a diameter, and pressing force. 3A and 3B are three views showing a state in which the roller of the image reading unit conveys the embossed card, where FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a left side view, FIG. 3C is a front view, and FIG. It is an enlarged view of the 1st roller pair in a figure. (A), (B) is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a 1st roller pair group and a 2nd roller pair group.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image reading unit (image reading device) 2 and an image forming unit 3. The image reading unit 2 reads an image of a document (read medium) such as an emboss card or plain paper. The image forming unit 3 is disposed below the image reading unit 2 and forms an image read by the image reading unit 2 on a recording sheet.

  The image reading unit 2 includes a document conveying unit 20, a document placing table 30, a first reading unit 32, and a second reading unit 34. The document placing table 30 is installed on the lower side of the document conveying unit 20, and the document can be placed on the document placing table 30 by moving the document conveying unit 20 to open the upper surface of the document placing table 30.

  The document transport unit 20 includes a paper feed tray 21, a document guide 22, a transport path 23, a path switching member 24, a transport path 25, a first paper discharge unit 26, and a second paper discharge unit 27. A plurality of transport rollers are installed in the transport path 23 and the transport path 25. Further, on both surfaces of the conveyance path 23, a first reading guide unit 28 and a second reading guide unit 29 are installed above the first reading unit 32 and below the second reading unit 34. The first reading guide unit 28 and the second reading guide unit 29 are in contact with the document conveyed through the conveyance path 23, and stabilize the conveyance of the document read by the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34.

  The document transport unit 20 transports the document placed on the paper feed tray 21 to the positions of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 installed on both sides of the transport path 23 with a plurality of transport rollers.

  The first reading unit 32 reads an image of the first surface (one surface) of the document conveyed on the conveyance path 23 or an image of the document placed on the document placing table 30. The second reading unit 34 reads an image on the second surface (the other surface) of the document conveyed on the conveyance path 23. The first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 may be configured by a reduction optical system including a CCD or CIS. The first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 read images on both sides of the document and output image data of the document to the image forming unit 3. The first reading unit 32 reads an image of a document at a reading position set on the downstream side in the document transport direction of the transport path 23 with respect to the reading position of the second reading unit 34. In the present invention, as described above, the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 can read the images on both sides of the document conveyed on the conveyance path 23, so that a mechanism for turning the document over is unnecessary. The image on the read medium can be read in a short time.

  When the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 read an image of a document, the document conveying unit 20 guides the document to a paper discharge unit corresponding to the thickness of the document by the path switching member 24. That is, the document transport unit 20 guides a thick document (for example, a thickness of 0.6 mm or more) such as an emboss card or an envelope to the second paper discharge unit (discharge tray) 27 by the route switching member 24, and the other document than the thick document. A document (for example, a thickness of less than 0.6 mm) is guided to the first paper discharge unit 26 via the conveyance path 25 by the path switching member 24.

  When a document is placed on the document placement table 30, the image reading unit 2 moves the first reading unit 32 to a position facing the document by a moving mechanism (not shown), and causes the first reading unit 32 to display an image of the document. To read.

  The conveyance path 23 is inclined downward (in the figure, between the sheet feed tray 21 and the path switching member 24 so that the document contacts the lower end of the sheet feed tray 21 and is reliably conveyed by the conveyance mechanism. Inclined to the left.) The conveyance path 23 is substantially straight (straight), and it is possible to prevent a read image from being defective or jammed due to variations in the conveyance speed when a thick original is conveyed.

  The image forming unit 3 includes an optical scanning device 101, four image forming units 102 to 105, an intermediate transfer unit 106, a fixing unit 107, a paper feed cassette 110, a conveyance path 111, a paper discharge unit 114, and the like. In the transport path 111, a plurality of transport rollers 112A to 112G are installed.

  The optical scanning device 101 forms an electrostatic latent image on at least one of the photosensitive drums of the four image forming units 102 to 105 based on the input image data. The image forming unit 102 forms a yellow toner image. The image forming unit 103 forms a magenta toner image. The image forming unit 104 forms a cyan toner image. The image forming unit 105 forms a black toner image.

  The intermediate transfer unit 106 is disposed above the image forming units 102 to 105 and includes an intermediate transfer belt 161 and a transfer roller 162. The toner images formed by the four image forming units 102 to 105 are transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 161. When the image forming unit 3 forms a color image, the toner images are transferred from the four image forming units 102 to 105 to the intermediate transfer belt 161 in order, and a color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 161.

  A sheet (recording material) P on which an image is formed is transported from a sheet feeding cassette 110 to a nip portion between the intermediate transfer belt 161 and the transfer roller 162 via a transport path 111 by a plurality of transport rollers.

  The toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 161 is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer roller 162. Then, the paper P on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 107.

  The fixing unit 107 includes a heating roller 171 and a pressure roller 172, and the paper P is sandwiched between the two rollers to fix the toner image on the paper P by heat.

  The sheet P on which the toner image is fixed is conveyed by the heating roller 171, the pressure roller 172, and the conveying roller 112 </ b> G and is discharged to the paper discharge unit 114.

  Next, the size of the embossed card and the position of the embossed part will be described. The size of the embossed card 301 and the position of the embossed portion 303 are defined by the standard (JIS X 6302-1). The positional relationship between the embossed portion 303 and the flat portion 305 is as described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the minimum size of the embossed card 301 is defined as a width A = 85.47 mm and a height B = 53.92 mm. The thickness t of the embossed card 301 is defined as 0.76 mm. As shown in FIG. 1A, the embossed portion 303 has a distance C = 7.65 mm from one short side of the card to the center line of the first character, and the center line of the final character from one short side of the card. Is defined as D = 75.49 mm and height E = 14.53 (maximum). The height H of the emboss 302 is defined as 0.26 mm to 0.48 mm.

  Next, a configuration around the first reading unit and the second reading unit will be described. As shown in FIG. 4A, the first roller pair group 40 is installed on the downstream side of the conveyance path 23 in the document conveyance direction from the reading positions of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34. A second roller pair group 70 is installed on the upstream side in the document conveyance direction from the reading positions of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 in the conveyance path 23. The first roller pair group 40 sandwiches a document whose image has been read by the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 and conveys the original to the second paper discharge unit 27 or the conveyance path 25. The second roller pair group 70 holds the original conveyed from the paper feed tray 21 to the conveyance path 23 and conveys the original to the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the first roller pair group 40 includes four roller pairs. The four roller pairs are arranged in the order of roller pair 41 (third roller pair), roller pair 42 (first roller pair), roller pair 43 (first roller pair), and roller pair 44 (third roller pair). Has been.

  The second roller pair group 70 includes four roller pairs 71 to 74 (second roller pairs). The four roller pairs are arranged in the order of a roller pair 71, a roller pair 72, a roller pair 73, and a roller pair 74.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the document guide 22 provided in the paper feed tray 21 includes two guide plates 22A and a guide plate 22B. The guide plate 22 </ b> A and the guide plate 22 </ b> B are configured to move symmetrically with respect to a center line L that connects the middle point between the roller pair 42 and the roller pair 43 and between the roller pair 72 and the roller pair 73. Thus, the center of the document placed on the paper feed tray 21, the center line L, and the guide plate 22A are moved according to the size of the document placed on the paper feed tray 21. The documents are conveyed so that the two match. The image reading unit 2 sandwiches and conveys the embossed card 301 between the nip portion of the two roller pairs 72 and 73 and the nip portion of the two roller pairs 42 and 43, and nips the four roller pairs 71 to 74. The plain paper 311 is nipped and conveyed by the nip portion of the four pairs of rollers 41 to 44.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the roller pair 41 includes a driving roller 51 and a driven roller 61. The roller pair 42 includes a driving roller 52 and a driven roller 62. The roller pair 43 includes a driving roller 53 and a driven roller 63. The roller pair 44 includes a driving roller 54 and a driven roller 64. The driving rollers 51 to 54 are attached to the rotating shaft 50. The driven rollers 61 to 64 are attached to the rotary shaft 60.

  Similarly, the roller pair 71 includes a driving roller 81 and a driven roller 91. The roller pair 72 includes a driving roller 82 and a driven roller 92. The roller pair 73 includes a driving roller 83 and a driven roller 93. The roller pair 74 includes a driving roller 84 and a driven roller 94. The driving rollers 81 to 84 are attached to the rotating shaft 80. The driven rollers 91 to 94 are attached to the rotating shaft 90.

  The driven rollers 61 to 64 and the driven rollers 91 to 94 are formed to have the same diameter (for example, 6 mm) and the same width. As shown in FIG. 6, the driven rollers 61 to 64 and the driven rollers 91 to 94 are formed of the same material (for example, polyacetal resin (POM)). Although not shown in FIG. 6, the driven rollers 61 to 64 and the driven rollers 91 to 94 have the same hardness.

  The driving roller 51, the driving roller 54, the driving roller 81 to the driving roller 84 are formed of the same material and the same hardness with rubber (for example, ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM)) with the same diameter (for example, 15 mm) and the same width. . The drive roller 52 and the drive roller 53 are formed of the same material and the same hardness with rubber having the same hardness (for example, ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM)). The driving roller 52 and the driving roller 53 are low hardness rollers having lower hardness than the driving roller 51, the driving roller 54, and the driving rollers 81 to 84. The hardness of the driving roller 52 and the driving roller 53 is such that the driving roller 52 or the driving roller 53 is deformed when contacting the emboss 302 when the embossed portion 303 is sandwiched, and the diameter of the contacting portion is greater than the height of the embossed 302. It is better to set it to be smaller. For example, when the hardness of the driving roller 51, the driving roller 54, and the driving roller 81 to the driving roller 84 is 70 in Asker C hardness, the hardness of the driving roller 52 and the driving roller 53 is preferably 20 to 30 in Asker C hardness.

  With this configuration, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7D, when the roller pair 43 sandwiches the embossed portion 303 of the embossed card 301, the drive roller 53 (radius D1 before deformation) is deformed. Thus, the contact portion with the emboss 302 becomes the radius D2, and becomes smaller than the height H of the emboss 302. At this time, the surface of the drive roller 53 comes into contact with a portion where the embossed portion 303 does not have the emboss 302 or the flat portion 305, or the surface of the drive roller 53 comes into contact with the embossed 302, and the surface of the drive roller 52 comes into contact with the flat portion 305. Since it abuts, the height H of the emboss 302 can be ignored. Thus, when the roller pair 42 or the roller pair 43 sandwiches the embossed portion 303 following the flat surface portion 305, the embossed card 301 can be sandwiched and conveyed by the roller pair 42 and the roller pair 43. The conveyance speed of 301 does not change suddenly. Therefore, as in the prior art, while the two roller pairs are transporting the embossed card 301, the driving roller of one roller pair floats, so the orientation of the embossed card 301 in the transport direction changes, and It is possible to prevent the problem that the images read by the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 are bent in the middle.

  The driving rollers 52 and 53 may be formed in a cylindrical shape when the hardness is lowered as described above, but it is desirable to change the shape so that the driving rollers 52 and 53 are easily deformed when hitting the emboss 302. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5D, a knurled shape may be used. By adopting such a shape, the surfaces of the drive rollers 52 and 53 are more easily deformed than in the case of a cylindrical shape. That is, when the embossed portion 207 of the emboss card 301 hits the tip of the knurl, the tip of the knurl is deformed. Thereby, the diameter of the contact part of the drive rollers 52 and 53 can be reliably reduced. Accordingly, since the embossed card 301 can be sandwiched and transported by the roller pair 42 and the roller pair 43, when the embossed portion 303 is transported following the flat portion 305 of the embossed card 301, it is transported by only one roller pair. It becomes possible to prevent the transfer speed from changing suddenly and changing the direction with respect to the transfer direction during transfer.

  When the drive rollers 52 and 53 are knurled, the height (thickness) of the emboss is 0.48 mm at the maximum, so that the height of the knurled mountain is preferably 1 mm, for example.

  As described above, when the hardness of the driving rollers 52 and 53 is lower than the hardness of the other driving rollers, the pressing force of the driven roller to the driving roller is reduced, and the document conveying force is reduced. Therefore, the pressing force of the driven roller 62 against the driving roller 52 and the pressing force of the driven roller 63 against the driving roller 53 are preferably made higher than the pressing force of the other driven rollers 61, 64, 91 to 94 against the opposing driving roller. . In order to increase the pressing force of the driven roller, the diameters of the driving roller 52 and the driving roller 53 are made slightly larger than those of the other driving rollers 51, 54, 81 to 84. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the diameters of the driving roller 51, the driving roller 54, and the driving rollers 81 to 84 are 15 mm, the diameters of the driving rollers 52 and 53 may be 16 mm. In this case, as an example, the pressing force of the driven rollers 61, 64, 91 to 94 against the driving roller facing each other is 6N (Newton), and the pressing force of the driven rollers 62, 63 against the driving roller facing each other is 8N. In addition, the document conveying force was improved, and the document could be conveyed without any problem. Therefore, when the hardness is made lower than that of the other driving rollers, by increasing the pressing force of the driven roller facing the driving roller, it is possible to prevent the orientation of the embossed card 301 from changing during the conveyance, It is possible to prevent the conveyance force of the emboss card 301 from being lowered.

  Note that when the embossed portion 303 of the embossed card 301 is conveyed by the nip portion of the roller pair 43, only the driving roller 53 may have a low hardness. However, depending on the user, it is also conceivable to set the emboss card 301 on the paper feed tray 21 so that the embossed portion 303 is sandwiched and conveyed by the nip portion of the roller pair 42. In that case, if the driving roller 52 is not low in hardness, the read image is bent. Therefore, when only the drive roller 53 is made to have a low hardness, a notation for limiting the direction in which the emboss card 301 is set in the paper feed tray 21 is necessary. Further, when the restriction on the direction in which the emboss card 301 is set is troublesome, both the driving roller 52 and the driving roller 53 are preferably made to have a lower hardness than the other driving rollers.

  Further, the driving roller 82 of the roller pair 72 and the driving roller 83 of the roller pair 73 may have a low hardness like the driving rollers 52 and 53. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the orientation with respect to the transport direction from changing during transport of the embossed portion 303 following the flat surface portion 305. However, when configured so as to satisfy the following conditions, the drive rollers 82 and 83 may remain high in hardness as shown in FIG.

  When the driving roller 82 and the driving roller 83 are high in hardness, when the roller pair 72 or the roller pair 73 sandwiches the embossed portion 303 following the flat surface portion 305, the direction of the embossed card 301 in the transport direction changes. However, since the direction of the embossed card 301 in the transport direction changes only at this time, the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 of the embossed card 301 change when the direction of the embossed card 301 in the transport direction changes. If the image is not read, the read image will not be bent midway.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Distance L1 between rotation shaft 80 and rotation shaft 90 (roller pair 72, 73) and the image reading position of second reading unit 34> distance C from one short side of embossed card 301 to the center line of the first character (= 7.65mm)
Then, when the embossed card 301 is conveyed to the second roller pair group 70 and not conveyed to the first roller pair group 40, bending of the read image does not occur.

  When the orientation of the embossed card 301 with respect to the transport direction changes, the embossed card 301 is transported obliquely with respect to the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34, so that the entire read image of the embossed card 301 is tilted. However, the length of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction is increased in advance so that the entire image can be photographed even if the embossed card 301 is conveyed obliquely. If it is configured to correct the inclination of the emboss card 301, there is no particular problem.

  Note that when the roller pair 72 or the roller pair 73 completes the conveyance of the embossed portion 303 and conveys the flat surface portion 305, the conveyance speed of the embossed card 301 also changes abruptly. However, at this time, since the embossed card 301 is held between the roller pair 72 or the roller pair 73, the embossed card 301 is held between the roller pair 72 and the roller pair 73. .

  Next, the distance between the first roller pair group 40 and the second roller pair group 70 may be set according to the configuration of the image reading unit 2.

  When the size of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34 can be reduced, and the distance between the nip portion of the first roller pair group 40 and the nip portion of the second roller pair group 70 can be reduced. As shown in FIG. 8A, the distance L3 between the nip portion of the first roller pair group 40 and the nip portion of the second roller pair group 70 is expressed as (embossed card width A) − (one short side of the card). The distance from the side to the center line of the first character is preferably less than C). That is, it is preferable to make the length less than the length from the front end of the embossed portion 303 of the embossed card 301 to the rear end of the embossed card 301 in the transported direction. In this configuration, when the first roller pair group 40 holds the first emboss 302 from one short side of the emboss card 301 at the nip portion, the second roller pair group 70 holds the emboss card 301 at the nip portion. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the orientation with respect to the transport direction from changing during the transport of the embossed card 301.

  On the other hand, when the distance between the nip portion of the first roller pair group 40 and the nip portion of the second roller pair group 70 needs to be increased due to the size of the first reading unit 32 and the second reading unit 34. As shown in FIG. 8B, the distance L3 between the nip portion of the first roller pair group 40 and the nip portion of the second roller pair group 70 is expressed as (embossed card width A)-(one of the cards). The distance C) from the short side to the center line of the first character may be longer than C). In this configuration, when the first roller pair group 40 holds the first emboss 302 from one short side of the emboss card 301 at the nip portion, the second roller pair group 70 holds the emboss card 301 at the nip portion. However, since the driving rollers 52 and 53 have a lower hardness than the other driving rollers as described above, the orientation with respect to the transport direction does not change during the transport of the embossed card 301.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when reading an image while transporting the emboss card 301, the orientation with respect to the transport direction does not change midway. Can be formed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus 2 ... Image reading part (image reading apparatus) 3 ... Image forming part 20 ... Original document conveyance part 22 ... Original document guide 23, 25 ... Conveyance path 26 ... First paper discharge part 27 ... Second paper discharge part 30 ... Document placing table 32 ... First reading unit 34 ... Second reading unit 40 ... Roller pair group 41-44, 71-74 ... Roller pair 50, 60, 80, 90 ... Rotating shaft 51-54, 81-84 ... Drive Rollers 61-64, 91-94 ... driven rollers 70 ... roller pair group 101 ... optical scanning device 102 ... image forming unit 103 ... image forming unit 104 ... image forming unit 105 ... image forming unit 106 ... intermediate transfer unit 107 ... fixing unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Paper feed cassette 111 ... Conveyance path 114 ... Paper discharge part 161 ... Intermediate transfer belt 162 ... Transfer roller 171 ... Heating roller 172 ... Addition Roller 301 ... embossed card 302 ... embossing 303 ... embossed part 305 ... planar portion

Claims (8)

A transport unit including two pairs of first roller pairs for transporting the medium to be read by holding the read medium at the nip unit;
A reading unit that reads an image of a medium to be read conveyed by the conveying unit at a reading position;
A transport unit that is installed downstream of the reading position in the transport direction of the medium to be read and includes two pairs of first rollers that sandwich and transport the medium to be read by a nip portion;
With
The first roller pair deforms when it comes into contact with the emboss when the embossed card having a flat portion and an embossed portion provided with an emboss of a predetermined height is held between the nip and conveyed. An image reading apparatus comprising a low-hardness roller having a diameter of a contact portion that is smaller than the height of the emboss.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the low hardness roller has a knurled shape. The transport unit is
A second roller pair that is installed upstream of the reading position of the reading unit in the conveying direction of the medium to be read and sandwiches the medium to be read at a nip portion and conveys the medium to the reading position;
The first roller pair is installed downstream of the reading position of the reading unit in the conveyance direction of the medium to be read, and the medium to be read is sandwiched by a nip portion and conveyed from the reading position,
The embossed card has the embossed part surrounded by the flat part,
The distance from the nip portion of the first roller pair to the nip portion of the second roller pair is less than the length from the front end portion in the transport direction of the emboss portion of the emboss card to the rear end portion in the transport direction of the emboss card. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1.   In the first roller pair, the pressing force by which the other roller presses the low hardness roller which is one roller is higher than the pressing force by which one roller presses the other roller in the second roller pair. Item 4. The image reading apparatus according to Item 3. The transport unit is
5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third roller pair which is attached to a rotation shaft of each roller of the first roller pair and has a roller having a hardness higher than that of the low hardness roller. The reading unit is
A first reading unit that reads an image of one surface of a medium to be read conveyed by the conveyance unit;
A second reading unit that reads an image on the other surface of the medium to be read conveyed by the conveying unit;
An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: A paper feed tray for feeding the read medium;
A conveyance path that is inclined downward from the sheet feeding tray and is installed in a straight line;
A discharge tray for discharging a thick read medium disposed downstream of the transport path;
With
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance unit and the reading unit are installed along the conveyance path. An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material based on an image read by the image reading device;
An image forming apparatus.

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