JP2015159362A - Image reading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading device capable of lightly and smoothly rotating a document cover with a small number of buffer members.SOLUTION: An image reading device 10 comprises a document cover 14, which is rotatably supported by a casing 33 of an ADF 13 and composed of a flat plate member. The document cover 14 comprises a folding part 40 and can be folded at a predetermined position (center position) in a horizontal direction 8 by the folding part 40. When the document cover 14 is rotated upward with respect to a device body 12, the document cover 14 undergoes a mountain fold and is housed so as to stand along the casing 33 of the ADF 13.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus having an automatic document feeder (ADF) and a document cover.

  Conventionally, an image reading apparatus such as an image reading apparatus that reads image information of a document is known. The image reading apparatus is provided with a document presser for pressing a document placed on a document placing table such as a contact glass and for preventing leakage of light irradiated to the document at the time of image reading. The document presser is rotatably supported by the housing of the image reading device, and has a closed position that covers the placement surface on the document placement table and an open position that exposes the placement surface away from the placement surface. It can be opened and closed between.

  As this type of image reading apparatus, an apparatus in which an automatic document feeder (ADF) is mounted on a document press is known. The automatic document feeder feeds the documents set on the document tray one by one to the reading position. The image reading apparatus can read a moving document by causing a reading unit such as a CCD to stand by below the reading position and reading the document fed by the automatic document feeder at the reading position. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus in which a frame of an automatic document feeder is rotatably supported with respect to a document press (see Patent Document 1) is known.

JP 2005-269448 A

  In the conventional image forming apparatus, since the automatic document feeder is mounted on the document retainer, the document retainer is heavy and the document retainer cannot be rotated smoothly. In addition, when the document presser is opened, a large load is applied to the rotating mechanism, which may damage the rotating mechanism. Further, when closing the document holder, there is a possibility that the document holder will be vigorously contacted, and the document table or the document holder may be damaged or the document may be damaged due to an impact at the time of contact. Therefore, in order to smoothly open and close the document retainer, it is conceivable to provide a buffer member such as a damper or a spring member of a rotation mechanism of the document retainer to reduce a load and an impact when the document retainer is opened and closed. However, providing the buffer member complicates the configuration around the rotation mechanism. In addition, the parts cost of the buffer member is required, which increases the cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of easily and smoothly rotating a document presser with a small number of buffer members.

  An image reading apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes an apparatus main body, an automatic document feeder, a document presser, and a bent portion. The apparatus main body has a document placement surface on an upper surface thereof. The automatic document feeder is provided on one end side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body. The document presser is rotatably supported by the casing of the automatic document feeder, and is in a closed position that covers the document placement surface and an open position that exposes the document placement surface apart from the document placement surface. The posture can be changed between. The bending portion is provided in the document presser and is configured to bend the document presser at a predetermined position from a rotation shaft of the document presser to a rotation end of the document presser.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to rotate the document press lightly and smoothly with a small number of buffer members.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of the image reading apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the automatic document feeder in the image reading apparatus of FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a front view showing the configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are examples embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In the following description, the vertical direction 6 is defined with reference to a state (for example, the state shown in FIG. 1) in which the image reading apparatus of each embodiment is installed on a flat support surface. Also, the front-rear direction 7 is defined with the front side of the paper surface of FIG. Further, a horizontal direction 8 is defined when the image reading apparatus is viewed from the front side.

[First Embodiment]
The image reading apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Note that the present invention can be applied not only to the image reading apparatus 10 but also to an image reading apparatus integrally provided in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image reading apparatus 10 includes an apparatus main body 12, an automatic document feeder 13 (hereinafter referred to as “ADF 13”), and a document presser 14.

  The apparatus main body 12 is a casing constituting the frame of the image reading apparatus 10 and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the width direction. A contact glass 21 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus body 12 as a document placement surface on which a document is placed. The contact glass 21 is arranged close to the right side in FIG. 1, and a document to be read is placed on the upper surface of the contact glass 21.

  An ADF 13 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12. The ADF 13 is provided in a region from the left end portion of the contact glass 21 to the left end portion of the apparatus main body 12 on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12. In other words, the ADF 13 is provided on the left end side which is one end on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12. A narrow contact glass 22 extending in the front-rear direction 7 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12 provided with the ADF 13. The ADF 13 includes a document tray 32 (an example of a document holding unit) that holds documents. The document tray 32 holds a document fed by the ADF 13. The document tray 32 is provided above the document presser 14.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus 10. In FIG. 2, the document retainer 14 is not shown. As shown in FIG. 2, the document tray 32 includes a tray portion 32A that is a holding surface for holding a document, and a pair of arm portions 32B that protrude from the left end portion of the tray portion 32A. The arm portion 32 </ b> A is provided on both side portions of the left end portion of the tray portion 32 </ b> A, and the protruding end reaches both side surfaces 33 </ b> A of the housing 33 in the front-rear direction 7. A support shaft 37 (see FIG. 3) that protrudes inward is provided at the protruding end of the arm portion 32B, and this support shaft 37 is rotatably supported on the side surface 33A. The support point of the support shaft 37 is located above a rotation shaft 36 of the document presser 14 described later. As a result, the document tray 32 can be rotated with respect to the housing 33 around a rotation fulcrum above the rotation shaft 36 that is a rotation fulcrum of the document presser 14. In the present embodiment, the document tray 32 is held by a stopper (not shown) in a posture slightly inclined from the horizontal (posture shown in FIG. 2), and is supported so as to be rotatable upward from this posture. .

  The ADF 13 moves the document so that the document reading position 22A on the contact glass 22 passes rightward in the left-right direction 8 in FIG. Specifically, the ADF 13 sequentially transports the document set on the document tray 32 by a plurality of transport roller pairs 17 driven by a document feed motor (not shown), and passes the document reading position 22A. Inside the ADF 13, a curved conveyance path 38 through which a document is conveyed is formed, and a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 17 are arranged along the conveyance path 38.

  Inside the ADF 13 is provided a guide member 15 that holds the moving document. An opening is formed below the guide member 15, and the document is exposed from the opening to the contact glass 22. The guide member 15 is provided at a position spaced apart from the document reading position 22A on the contact glass 22 upward by a predetermined distance. The interval is such that a document can pass through.

  A light source unit 19 is provided inside the apparatus main body 12. The light source unit 19 includes an array substrate 23 and a mirror 27. On the array substrate 23, a plurality of LEDs 31 are mounted for irradiating a document conveyed by the ADF 13 or a document placed on the contact glass 21 with light. The mirror 27 guides the reflected light reflected from the document to mirrors 28 and 29 described later. The array substrate 23 extends in the depth direction in FIG. 1, and a plurality of LEDs 31 are arranged along the direction. The mirror 27 is also extended in the depth direction in FIG. The light source unit 19 is configured to be movable in the left-right direction 8 by a motor (not shown). Therefore, when the light source unit 19 moves, the plurality of LEDs 31 and the mirror 27 also move in the same direction.

  Further, inside the apparatus main body 12, a CCD 25 that is an image pickup element, an optical lens 26, and mirrors 28 and 29 are provided. The optical lens 26 and the mirrors 28 and 29 extend in the depth direction in FIG. The reflected light emitted from the plurality of LEDs 31 and reflected from the document is guided to the optical lens 26 by appropriately arranged mirrors 27 to 29. The optical lens 26 collects incident light and makes it incident on the CCD 25. When light is incident on the CCD 25, the CCD 25 generates a digital signal corresponding to the amount of received light (amount of received light), and the generated digital signal is input to a control unit (not shown) as document image data. In the present embodiment, an example in which the CCD 25 is used as an image sensor will be described. However, a reading mechanism using a contact image sensor (CIS) may be used.

  Reading of a document image by the image reading apparatus 10 is performed according to the following procedure. First, the document is conveyed by the ADF 13 rightward in the left-right direction 8 at the document reading position 22 </ b> A or placed on the contact glass 21. Thereafter, in the former case, the light source unit 19 is disposed at a position where the original reading position 22A can be irradiated with light, and light is irradiated from the plurality of LEDs 31 toward the original being conveyed. In the latter case, light is emitted from the plurality of LEDs 31 toward the document while moving the light source unit 19 and the mirrors 28 and 29 from the predetermined home position to the right in the left-right direction 8. Then, the reflected light from the original is guided to the CCD 25 by the mirrors 27 to 29 and the optical lens 26, and a digital signal is generated and read by the CCD 25.

  When an original is placed on the contact glass 21 at the time of image reading, the contact glass 21 is covered with the original presser 14 in order to prevent light leakage. In the present embodiment, the document presser 14 is attached to the casing 33 of the ADF 13 as shown in FIG. That is, the ADF 13 is not mounted on the document retainer 14. Specifically, the document presser 14 is rotatably supported by a rotation support mechanism 34 provided in the housing 33. The rotation support mechanism 34 includes, for example, a bearing 35 provided on the housing 33 and a rotation shaft 36 provided on the document retainer 14. The bearing 35 is provided on the right side surface of the housing 33. The rotation shaft 36 is provided at the left end portion of the document retainer 14. The rotation support mechanism 34 is not limited to the above-described support mechanism, and any support mechanism can be used as long as the document presser 14 can rotate with respect to the housing 33.

  The document presser 14 is formed of a flat plate member. As described above, the ADF 13 is not mounted on the document retainer 14. Therefore, the document retainer 14 does not need to have a heavy frame, and can be formed of a light and thin member. The document retainer 14 is formed in a size that can cover at least the entire area of the contact glass 21. In the present embodiment, the document retainer 14 is supported by the rotation support mechanism 34, so that it is between a closed position that covers the contact glass 21 and an open position that is spaced upward from the contact glass 21 and exposes the contact glass 21. Posture change is possible.

  In the present embodiment, the document presser 14 is configured to be bent at a predetermined position in the left-right direction 8. Specifically, the document presser 14 is provided with a bent portion 40. The bending portion 40 is provided at a central position (predetermined position) in a range from the rotation shaft 36 of the document retainer 14 to the rotational end 14A of the document retainer 14, and allows the document retainer 14 to be bent at the central position. .

  The bending portion 40 has a bending shaft 41 parallel to the rotation shaft 36. The document presser 14 is divided into a first portion 43 closer to the rotation shaft 36 than the bending shaft 41 and a second portion 44 closer to the rotation end 14 </ b> A than the bending shaft 41. The right end portion of the first portion 43 is rotatably supported by the bending shaft 41, and the left end portion of the second portion 44 is rotatably supported by the bending shaft 41. Accordingly, the bent portion 40 can bend the first portion 43 and the second portion 44 with respect to the contact glass 21 in a mountain fold.

  Further, a sheet-like elastic member 39 colored in white is provided on the back surface of the document retainer 14. As a result, even if the document retainer 14 is bent at the bending portion 40 and the elastic member 39 is wrinkled, it is restored to its original state when the document retainer 14 is deployed. Further, since the back surface of the document presser 14 is covered with the elastic member 39, the bent portion 40 is not read.

  Since the image reading apparatus 10 is configured in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, the document retainer 14 is moved upward from a state where the document retainer 14 is in the closed position covering the contact glass 21 (see FIG. 3A). Is turned, the document presser 14 is bent into a mountain fold at the bent portion 40. Then, in a state where the document retainer 14 is bent, the document retainer 14 is folded compactly in an upright posture along the right side surface of the housing 33 of the ADF 13 (see FIG. 3B). As a result, the contact glass 21 is exposed, and the user can place the document on the contact glass 21. If the document retainer 14 is rotated upward while being bent, the bent portion 40 comes into contact with the back surface of the document tray 32. As described above, the document tray 32 is rotatably supported. Therefore, the document tray 32 is also rotated toward the housing 33 as the document retainer 14 is rotated upward. As a result, the document tray 32 is also folded in a compact manner in an upright position along the right side surface of the housing 33 in the same manner as the document presser 14. When the contact glass 21 is covered, the upper surface of the contact glass 21 is covered while the document retainer 14 is unfolded by pulling the second portion 44 of the document retainer 14 to the right.

  Further, as described above, since the ADF 13 is not mounted on the document retainer 14 and the document retainer 14 is formed of a light and thin member, the user rotates the document retainer 14 with a light load when opening and closing the document retainer 14. Therefore, the document presser 14 can be rotated easily and smoothly. Further, since the document presser 14 according to the present embodiment can be configured to be lightweight, it is not necessary to provide a buffer member such as a damper or a spring member as in the related art. As a result, the rotation maintaining mechanism 34 can have a simple configuration, and the product cost can be reduced by reducing the number of components.

[Second Embodiment]
The image reading apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same structure as the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol and showing.

  4 is a front view of the image reading apparatus 101, and FIG. 4A shows a state in which the document retainer 14 is in the closed position. In FIG. 4, the document tray 32 is not shown. As shown in FIG. 4A, the document holder 14 of the image reading apparatus 101 has two bent portions 40 (40A, 40B). The bent portions 40A and 40B are provided at positions separated in the left-right direction 8 in the document presser 14. In the present embodiment, the bent portion 40A is provided closer to the rotating shaft 36, and the bent portion 40B is provided closer to the rotating end 14A. By having the bent portions 40A and 40B, the document retainer 14 can be bent at the bent portions 40A and 40B.

  As described above, since the document retainer 14 is provided with the bent portions 40A and 40B, when the document retainer 14 is turned upward from the closed position (see FIG. 4A), the bent portions 40A and 40B are provided. The document retainer 14 is bent into a mountain fold at each 40B. As shown in FIG. 4B, the document retainer 14 can be disposed above the housing 33 of the ADF 13 with the document retainer 14 bent. Thereby, it is not necessary to secure a space for storing the document presser 14 between the contact glass 21 and the housing 33, and the apparatus main body 12 can be made compact in the left-right direction 8. Further, the document can be placed on the contact glass 21 without being disturbed by the folded document presser 14. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, by increasing the number of bent portions, even a thick original such as a book can be covered without a gap. Note that three or more bent portions 40 may be provided in the document retainer 14.

[Third Embodiment]
The image reading apparatus 102 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the same structure as each above-mentioned embodiment, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol and showing.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus 102. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above in that the ADF 13 is configured to be movable with respect to the apparatus main body 12. In FIG. 5, the rotation support mechanism 34, the document presser 14, and the document tray 32 are not shown.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image reading apparatus 102 is provided with a movement support mechanism 50 (an example of a movement support unit) that enables the ADF 13 to move with respect to the apparatus main body 12. The movement support mechanism 50 supports the housing 33 of the ADF 13 so as to be movable in a direction (contact / separation direction) that contacts and separates the contact glass 21 along the horizontal direction. Specifically, the movement support mechanism 50 supports the housing 33 slidably from the contact glass 21 to the left side. The movement support mechanism 50 includes a pair of rails 51 (51A, 52B) formed on the bottom surface of the housing 33 and a pair of guide grooves 52 (52A, 52B) formed on the top surface of the apparatus main body 12. It is a rail support mechanism. The pair of rails 51 extends in the left-right direction 8, and is provided at a position separated in the front-rear direction 7 on the bottom surface of the housing 33. Specifically, the rails 51 are provided at both ends in the front-rear direction 7 on the bottom surface of the housing 33. The guide groove 52 is formed at a position where each of the pair of rails 51 can be inserted. The left end portion of the guide groove 52 reaches the left side surface of the apparatus main body 12.

  Thus, since the movement support mechanism 50 is provided in the image reading apparatus 102, the ADF 13 can be slid to the left from the contact glass 21, as shown in FIG. For this reason, for example, even when there is no space on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12 for storing the document presser 14 bent and folded by the bending portion 40, the space can be secured by sliding the ADF 13 to the left side. . Thus, the document can be placed on the contact glass 21 without being disturbed by the folded document presser 14.

[Fourth Embodiment]
The image reading apparatus 103 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same structure as each above-mentioned embodiment, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol and showing.

  FIG. 7 is a left side view of the image reading apparatus 103. In addition to the configuration of the image reading apparatus 102 of the third embodiment described above, the image reading apparatus 103 of the present embodiment is provided with a mechanism for enabling the casing 33 of the ADF 13 to rotate with respect to the apparatus main body 12. It is a point. Specifically, in the moving support mechanism 50, a slit is formed on the bottom surface of the guide groove 52A formed on the rear side, and an engaging portion that engages with the slit 51A inserted into the guide groove 52A. 54 is provided. The engaging portion 54 of the rail 51 </ b> A is disposed below the bottom surface of the guide groove 52 </ b> A, and the upper end of the rail 51 </ b> A is exposed on the top surface of the apparatus main body 12 through the slit. For this reason, the rail 51 </ b> A can slide along the guide groove 52 </ b> A, but the upward pulling is restricted by the engaging portion 54. A support shaft 55 extending in the left-right direction 8 is formed at the upper end of the rail 51A. The housing 33 is formed with a bearing 56 that is supported by the support shaft 55.

  In the image reading apparatus 103, since the rail 51A and the guide groove 52A are configured as described above, the contact / separation direction in which the casing 33 of the ADF 13 contacts / separates with respect to the contact glass 21 (the same as the left / right direction 8). Direction) and is supported so as to be rotatable about the support shaft 55 as a rotation fulcrum. That is, in the image reading apparatus 103, as shown in FIG. 7B, the casing 33 is rotated with a direction parallel to the contact / separation direction and perpendicular to the rotation shaft 36 of the document presser 14 as a fulcrum. Can be made. As a result, the entire upper surface of the apparatus main body 12 can be exposed.

[Fifth Embodiment]
The image reading apparatus 104 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In addition, about the same structure as each above-mentioned embodiment, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol and showing.

  FIG. 8 is a front view of the image reading apparatus 104. As shown in FIG. 8, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the housing 33 of the ADF 13 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body 12. Specifically, a rotation support mechanism 60 (an example of a rotation support unit) is provided at the left end of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12. The rotation support mechanism 60 has a rotation shaft 61 provided at the left end portion on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 12. The rotation shaft 61 extends in the front-rear direction 7. The casing 33 is rotatably supported on the rotating shaft 61. Note that the rotation support mechanism 60 is not limited to the above-described support mechanism, and any support mechanism can be applied as long as the casing 33 can rotate with respect to the apparatus main body 12.

  In the image reading apparatus 104 configured as described above, the folded document holder 14 can be moved away from the contact glass 21 by rotating the housing 33 to the left. Thus, the document can be placed on the contact glass 21 without being disturbed by the folded document presser 14. Further, the entire upper surface of the apparatus main body 12 can be exposed.

10, 101, 102, 103, 104: Image reading device 12: Device body 13: ADF
14: Document holder 19: Light source unit 21: Contact glass 32: Document tray 33: Housing 34: Rotation support mechanism 40: Bending portion

Claims (7)

An apparatus body having a document placement surface on the upper surface;
An automatic document feeder provided on one end side of the upper surface of the apparatus body;
A posture between a closed position that is rotatably supported by the casing of the automatic document feeder and covers the document placement surface and an open position that is spaced apart from the document placement surface and exposes the document placement surface Changeable document holder,
An image reading apparatus, comprising: a bending portion that is provided on the document retainer and allows the document retainer to be bent at a predetermined position from a rotation shaft of the document retainer to a rotation end of the document retainer.   The bending portion includes a first portion closer to the rotation shaft than the bending shaft and a second portion closer to the rotation end than the bending shaft around a bending axis parallel to the rotation shaft. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus is bent in a mountain fold with respect to the document placement surface. A document holding unit for holding a document fed by the automatic document feeder;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document holding unit is supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the housing about a rotation fulcrum above a rotation fulcrum of the document presser.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the bent portions are provided in the document presser.   5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a moving support unit that supports the casing of the automatic document feeder so as to be movable in a contacting / separating direction that contacts and separates along the horizontal direction with respect to the document placing surface. Image reading apparatus.   The movement support unit supports the case so as to be movable in the contact / separation direction, and rotates the case with a direction parallel to the contact / separation direction and perpendicular to the rotation axis of the document presser as a fulcrum. 6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image reading apparatus is supported. 5. The rotating device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation support portion that is provided at one end of the upper surface of the apparatus main body and supports the casing of the automatic document feeder so as to be rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1.

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