JP2017022554A - Transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transport device capable of cleaning a reading window for reading images while suppressing an influence on document transport performance.SOLUTION: An image reading device having a transport device comprises: a white roller for transporting a document while pressing the document to an ADF glass; a cleaning member independent of the white roller; a rotation mechanism part 43 which vertically moves the white roller while the white roller can be brought into contact with or separated from the ADF glass; and a control part 5 which controls the cleaning member to clean the ADF glass while controlling the rotation mechanism part 43 to separate the white roller from the ADF glass.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyance device that conveys a document to be read.

  There is known an automatic document feeder (ADF) that automatically conveys a document read by an image reading device.

  The automatic document feeder conveys a document while pressing it against a reading window of the image reading device with a roller. At this time, the image reading apparatus optically reads an image of the document passing through the reading window. The reading window is made of colorless and transparent glass. If foreign matter adheres to the reading window, the light irradiating the original and the light reflected from the original in the image reading apparatus and the light reflected from the original may be blocked, resulting in reading abnormalities. For this reason, it is necessary to clean the reading window.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses an image reading apparatus in which an elastic member protruding from an outer peripheral surface of a roller is attached to a roller that conveys a document while pressing the document against a reading window. In this apparatus, by rotating a roller having an elastic member, dust adhering to the reading window is removed by being removed by the elastic member or attached to the elastic member.

JP 2000-270152 A

  The physical distance and contact condition between the roller and the reading window of the automatic document feeder described above must be kept constant while the roller is rotating. This is for the stable conveyance of the document.

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, since the roller is modified and an elastic member for cleaning is attached, the contact condition between the roller and the reading window cannot be kept constant. This affects the document conveying performance.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport device that can clean a reading window for image reading while suppressing the influence on the document transport performance.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of the conveying device according to the present invention is that a conveying roller that conveys an original while pressing it against a reading window for image reading, a cleaning member independent of the conveying roller, A roller elevating unit that elevates and lowers the conveying roller with respect to the reading window, and a control for cleaning the reading window by the cleaning member in a state where the conveying roller is separated from the reading window by the roller elevating unit. And a control unit.

  The 2nd characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention is further equipped with the rotation mechanism part which rotates the said cleaning member coaxially with the rotating shaft of the said conveyance roller, The said control part is said by the said rotation mechanism part. By rotating the cleaning member, the cleaning member is controlled to be disposed at a position where the reading window is cleaned.

  A third feature of the transport apparatus according to the present invention is that the cleaning member is impregnated with a cleaning solution for the reading window.

  A fourth feature of the transport device according to the present invention is that the cleaning member is impregnated with a cleaning solution for the reading window, and the cleaning mechanism is configured to retreat the cleaning member from the reading window after cleaning. It is further provided with a waste liquid removing unit that slides on the reading window when the cleaning member rotates and scrapes the cleaned waste liquid from the reading window.

  The 5th characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention is further equipped with the accommodating part which accommodates the said cleaning member inside, exposing the contact part to the said reading window of the said cleaning member, The said accommodating part is in the said accommodating part. It exists in being divided into several parts by the several partition member arrange | positioned along the direction where an inclination produces.

  A sixth feature of the transport device according to the present invention is arranged adjacent to a contact portion of the cleaning member to the reading window, and contacts the reading window when the cleaning member is pressed against the reading window. It is in providing further the protection part which protects a cleaning member from compression.

  According to the 1st characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention, a conveying apparatus is provided with the cleaning member independent of the conveying roller. The control unit controls the cleaning window to be cleaned by the cleaning member in a state where the conveying roller is separated from the reading window by the roller lifting unit. As a result, the reading window can be cleaned without using the conveying roller, so that the reading window can be cleaned without modifying the conveying roller and without impairing the original conveying performance of the conveying roller. Therefore, it is possible to clean the reading window while suppressing the influence on the document conveying performance.

  According to the 2nd characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention, the cleaning member rotates coaxially with the rotating shaft of a conveying roller, and is arrange | positioned in the position which cleans a reading window. Accordingly, the cleaning member can be guided to a contact portion with the conveyance roller where the foreign matter is most likely to adhere to the reading window without performing fine position control.

  According to the 3rd characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention, since the cleaning member is impregnated with the cleaning solution for a reading window, it can respond to the removal of the viscous substance adhering to the reading window.

  According to the fourth feature of the transport device according to the present invention, the waste liquid removing unit slides on the reading window when the cleaning member is rotated by the rotating mechanism unit for retracting the cleaning member from the reading window after cleaning, The waste liquid after cleaning is scraped from the reading window. As a result, the reading window can be made free of foreign matter faster than waiting for the waste liquid to spontaneously evaporate.

  According to the 5th characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention, the accommodating part is partitioned off into the several part by the several partition member arrange | positioned along the direction where an inclination arises in a accommodating part. Thereby, since the movement of the cleaning solution is restricted, nonuniformity of the cleaning solution in the cleaning member is suppressed.

  According to the 6th characteristic of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention, since a protection part protects a cleaning member from compression, the excessive deformation | transformation of a cleaning member can be suppressed.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic document feeder and an image reading unit of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of an automatic document feeder and an image reading unit of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front view of a reading and conveying unit of an automatic document feeder. FIG. 3 is a side view of a reading conveyance unit of an automatic document conveyance device. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the cleaning head which cuts and shows a part of cleaning member. It is sectional drawing which shows the subsidence state of the solution for cleaning in a cleaning head. It is a side transmissive view showing the sinking state of the cleaning solution in the cleaning head. It is a figure which shows the state of the cleaning solution when an automatic document feeder is opened. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement at the time of the periodic cleaning of ADF glass in an image reading apparatus. It is a flowchart of an error process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of the cleaning of ADF glass by the user instruction | indication in an image reading apparatus. It is a flowchart of a foreign material detection process. It is a flowchart of a dirt width determination process. It is a flowchart of an automatic cleaning process. It is explanatory drawing of rotation operation | movement at the time of moving a cleaning head from a storing position to a cleaning position. It is explanatory drawing of rotation operation | movement at the time of moving a cleaning head from a storing position to a cleaning position. It is explanatory drawing of rotation operation | movement at the time of moving a cleaning head from a storing position to a cleaning position. It is explanatory drawing of sliding operation | movement of a cleaning head. It is explanatory drawing of rotation operation | movement at the time of returning a cleaning head from a cleaning position to a storing position.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or equivalent parts and components are denoted by the same or equivalent reference numerals.

  The following embodiments exemplify devices for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is the material, shape, structure, arrangement, etc. of each component. Is not specified as follows. The technical idea of the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus including a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic document feeder (ADF) and an image reading unit of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the automatic document feeder and the image reading unit. FIG. 4 is a front view of the reading conveyance unit of the automatic document conveyance device. FIG. 5 is a side view of the reading conveyance unit. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cleaning head shown with a part of the cleaning member cut away. In the following description, the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 2 is the front-rear direction, and the front surface direction is the front. In addition, the top, bottom, left, and right of the paper surface in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image reading apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an automatic document feeder 2, an image reading unit 3, an operation panel 4, and a control unit 5. In addition, the conveyance device of the claims includes a part of the automatic document conveyance device 2 (a reading conveyance unit 26 described later) and the control unit 5.

  The automatic document feeder 2 conveys a document to be read in the sheet through reading mode. The sheet-through reading mode is a mode for reading an image of a document while automatically conveying the document. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic document feeder 2 includes a paper feed tray 11, a transport unit 12, and a paper discharge tray 13.

  The paper feed tray 11 is a tray on which a document to be read in the sheet through reading mode is placed.

  The conveyance unit 12 conveys a document to be read in the sheet through reading mode. The transport unit 12 includes a paper feed roller 21, a paper feed motor 22, a registration roller 23, a registration motor 24, an upstream lead roller 25, a reading transport unit 26, a downstream lead roller 27, and a paper discharge roller 28. The lead motor 29, the upstream guide plate 30, and the downstream guide plate 31 are provided. 2 and 3, the path indicated by the broken line arrow is a transport path R along which the document is transported.

  The paper feed roller 21 transports the document placed on the paper feed tray 11 toward the registration roller 23 along the transport path R.

  The paper feed motor 22 rotates the paper feed roller 21.

  The registration roller 23 temporarily stops the original conveyed from the paper supply roller 21 and corrects the skew feeding, and then conveys the original toward the upstream lead roller 25.

  The registration motor 24 rotates the registration roller 23.

  The upstream read roller 25 conveys the document conveyed from the registration motor 24 toward the ADF glass 61 described later.

  The reading conveyance unit 26 conveys the document on the ADF glass 61. The detailed configuration of the reading conveyance unit 26 will be described later.

  The downstream read roller 27 conveys the document that has been conveyed on the ADF glass 61 toward the paper discharge roller 28.

  The paper discharge roller 28 discharges the original conveyed from the downstream lead roller 27 to the paper discharge tray 13.

  The read motor 29 rotationally drives the upstream lead roller 25, the downstream lead roller 27, the paper discharge roller 28, and a white roller 36 described later.

  The upstream guide plate 30 guides the conveyed document from the upstream lead roller 25 to the ADF glass 61.

  The downstream guide plate 31 guides the conveyed document from the ADF glass 61 to the downstream lead roller 27.

  The paper discharge tray 13 is a tray on which a document discharged from the transport unit 12 in the sheet through reading mode is placed.

  The above-described reading conveyance unit 26 of the conveyance unit 12 includes a white roller (corresponding to a conveyance roller in claims) 36, a pair of supports 37 </ b> F and 37 </ b> R, a support rocking shaft 38, and a cleaning unit 39.

  The white roller 36 conveys the document conveyed from the upstream lead roller 25 toward the downstream lead roller 27 while pressing the document against the ADF glass 61. As shown in FIG. 5, the white roller 36 has a cylindrical shape that is elongated in the front-rear direction. The white roller 36 has a white outer peripheral surface.

  The white roller 36 is supported by a support body 37F, 37R so that a white roller shaft 36a, which is a rotation shaft, is rotatable. A white roller gear 36b is fixed to the white roller shaft 36a. The white roller gear 36b is transmitted with a rotational driving force of a lead motor 29 for rotating the white roller 36 via a gear or the like (not shown).

  The supports 37F and 37R support the white roller shaft 36a in a rotatable manner. A white roller shaft 36a is connected to the right ends of the supports 37F and 37R. The left ends of the supports 37F and 37R are supported by the support swing shaft 38. The supports 37F and 37R can swing around a support swing shaft 38.

  The support swing shaft 38 is a shaft for swinging the supports 37F and 37R. The support swing shaft 38 is installed so that the axial direction is parallel to the front-rear direction. A support 37F is disposed at the front end of the support swing shaft 38, and a support 37R is disposed at the rear end of the support swing shaft 38.

  The cleaning unit 39 cleans the surface of the ADF glass 61. The cleaning unit 39 includes a cleaning head 41, a cleaning head cap 42, and a rotation mechanism unit 43.

  The cleaning head 41 removes foreign matter on the ADF glass 61. The cleaning head 41 is provided independently of the white roller 36. The cleaning head 41 includes a cleaning member 46 and a housing portion 47.

  The cleaning member 46 is a member for cleaning the ADF glass 61 with a cleaning solution. The cleaning member 46 is formed in a columnar shape having a circular cross section along a plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction and elongated in the front-rear direction. The cleaning member 46 is made of a material that can absorb and hold liquid. For example, the cleaning member 46 is made of sponge, nonwoven fabric, or the like.

  The cleaning member 46 is impregnated with a cleaning solution for the ADF glass 61. The cleaning solution is a solution that can dissolve a viscous substance such as office glue that is supposed to adhere to the ADF glass 61. The cleaning solution is composed of, for example, a mixed solution of water and ethanol. According to the mixed solution of water and ethanol, water-soluble components such as PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and PVP (polyvinyl pyrodrine) used as main components in office glue can be efficiently removed.

  Further, by using a sponge or non-woven fabric as the cleaning member 46, it is possible to adsorb and remove viscous substances dissolved by the cleaning solution and foreign substances that are not viscous and exist on the ADF glass 61.

  A part of the cleaning member 46 protrudes and is exposed from an opening 47a of the accommodating portion 47 described later. A portion exposed from the opening 47a becomes a contact portion to the ADF glass 61 during cleaning.

  The accommodating portion 47 accommodates the cleaning member 46 inside while exposing a part of the cleaning member 46. The accommodating portion 47 is formed in a cylindrical shape that is circular in cross section along a plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction and elongated in the front-rear direction.

  An opening 47 a for exposing a part of the cleaning member 46 is formed in the accommodating portion 47. The opening 47 a is formed over the entire front and rear direction of the storage portion 47 on the upper side of the storage portion 47 in a state where the cleaning head 41 is in the storage position. The cleaning member 46 is exposed by protruding outward from the opening 47a.

  Here, the storage position of the cleaning head 41 is the home position of the cleaning head 41, and is the position of the cleaning head 41 shown by a solid line in FIG. The position of the cleaning head 41 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 is a cleaning position. The cleaning position is a position when the cleaning head 41 cleans the ADF glass 61. The cleaning position corresponds to a position directly below the white roller 36 during document conveyance. 2, 3, and 5 to 7 are views in a state where the cleaning head 41 is in the storage position.

  A part of the accommodating portion 47 forms a pair of protective claws (corresponding to a protective portion in claims) 48A and 48B. The protective claw 48A is disposed adjacent to the left side of the opening 47a (exposed portion of the cleaning member 46) when the cleaning head 41 is in the retracted position. The protective claw 48B is disposed adjacent to the right side of the opening 47a in the same state. The protective claws 48 </ b> A and 48 </ b> B are in contact with the ADF glass 61 when the cleaning member 46 is pressed against the ADF glass 61 during cleaning and play a role of protecting the cleaning member 46 from compression.

  The protective claw 48B slides on the ADF glass 61 and cleans when the cleaning head 41 is rotated by the rotating mechanism 43 for retracting the cleaning head 41 from the ADF glass 61 and moving it to the storage position after cleaning. The waste liquid is scraped from the ADF glass 61. The protective claw 48B functions as a waste liquid removing unit.

  A plurality of convex portions 49 are formed on the surface of the protective claw 48B. The convex portion 49 is for scraping the waste liquid from the ADF glass 61. The convex portion 49 has an asymmetric shape in the tangential direction of rotation of the cleaning head 41 (X direction in FIG. 6). Specifically, the convex portion 49 has a vertical surface 49a on the front side and a curved surface 49b on the rear side in the traveling direction when the cleaning head 41 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.

  The vertical surface 49a is a plane along the normal direction of the surface of the protective claw 48B. The vertical surface 49a is a surface that scrapes waste liquid from the ADF glass 61 when the cleaning head 41 rotates counterclockwise after the cleaning and moves from the cleaning position to the storage position. The curved surface 49b is a surface that curves outward between the upper end of the vertical surface 49a and the surface of the protective claw 48B. The curved surface 49b is for smoothly sliding on the ADF glass 61 when the cleaning head 41 rotates clockwise at the start of cleaning and moves from the storage position to the cleaning position.

  In addition, you may form the convex part 49 also on the surface of 48 A of protective claws.

  Moreover, the accommodating part 47 is partitioned into a plurality of parts by a plurality of partition members 50 arranged along the front-rear direction. The partition member 50 is for restricting the movement of the cleaning solution in the cleaning member 46 and suppressing the nonuniformity of the cleaning solution. The partition member 50 is erected on the bottom surface of the accommodating portion 47.

  The cleaning head cap 42 is for suppressing volatilization of the cleaning solution in the cleaning member 46 of the cleaning head 41. The cleaning head cap 42 is disposed at a position covering the cleaning member 46 exposed from the opening 47a of the accommodating portion 47 of the cleaning head 41 disposed at the storage position.

  The rotation mechanism 43 rotates the cleaning head 41 coaxially with the white roller shaft 36a. When the cleaning head 41 is rotated by driving the rotation mechanism unit 43, the cleaning head 41 is movable between the storage position and the cleaning position. Further, the rotation mechanism unit 43 can rotate the cleaning head 41 to swing the white roller 36 around the support swing shaft 38 so that it can be lifted and lowered with respect to the ADF glass 61. . The rotation mechanism unit 43 functions as a roller lifting unit.

  The rotation mechanism unit 43 includes a rotation gear 51, support members 52F and 52R, connection members 53F and 53R, and a rotation motor 54.

  The rotation gear 51 is rotated by the rotation driving force of the rotation motor 54. The rotation gear 51 is disposed on the white roller shaft 36a, but is not fixed to the white roller shaft 36a.

  The support members 52F and 52R support the cleaning head 41 via the connection members 53F and 53R. The support members 52F and 52R are disposed on the white roller shaft 36a, but are not fixed to the white roller shaft 36a. The support member 52 </ b> F is disposed on the front side of the white roller 36 and is fixed to the rotation gear 51. Thereby, the support member 52 </ b> F rotates together with the rotation gear 51. The support member 52R is disposed on the rear side of the white roller 36.

  The connection members 53F and 53R connect the support members 52F and 52R and the cleaning head 41, respectively. Thereby, when the rotation gear 51 and the support member 52F rotate, the cleaning head 41 rotates.

  The rotation motor 54 generates a rotation driving force for rotating the cleaning head 41. The rotational driving force of the rotational motor 54 is transmitted to the rotational gear 51 via a gear or the like (not shown). The cleaning head 41 is rotated by the rotation of the rotation gear 51 by the rotation driving force of the rotation motor 54. Here, since the rotation gear 51 and the support members 52F and 52R are not fixed to the white roller shaft 36a, the cleaning head 41 rotates independently from the white roller 36. Further, even when the white roller shaft 36a rotates, the cleaning head 41 does not rotate.

  The image reading unit 3 reads an image of a document. The image reading unit 3 includes an ADF glass (corresponding to a reading window in claims) 61, a waste liquid absorber 62, a flat bed glass 63, and an optical reading unit 64.

  The ADF glass 61 is a reading window for the optical reading unit 64 to read an image of a document in the sheet-through reading mode. The ADF glass 61 is made of a colorless and transparent glass having a characteristic that the light that the optical reading unit 64 irradiates on the original and the reflected light from the original are not polarized or shielded. The ADF glass 61 is formed in a plate shape elongated in the front-rear direction.

  The waste liquid absorber 62 absorbs the waste liquid scraped from the ADF glass 61 by the protective claw 48B after cleaning. The waste liquid absorber 62 is disposed on the downstream side (right side) of the ADF glass 61. The waste liquid absorber 62 is formed in an elongated plate shape having a length equivalent to that of the ADF glass 61 in the front-rear direction.

  The flat bed glass 63 is a reading window through which the optical reading unit 64 reads an image of a document in the flat bed reading mode. The flat bed reading mode is a mode in which a fixed original placed on the flat bed glass 63 is read while being scanned by the optical reading unit 64. The flat bed glass 63 is made of glass having the same characteristics as the ADF glass 61.

  Here, in the flat bed reading mode, the user places an original on the flat bed glass 63. Therefore, the automatic document feeder 2 can be opened and closed with respect to the image reading unit 3 by rotating around the rear end as a fulcrum.

  The optical reading unit 64 optically reads a document image. The optical reading unit 64 includes a light source that emits light for irradiating a document, and a line sensor (none of which is shown) in which light receiving elements such as a CCD are arranged on a line.

  The operation panel 4 displays various input screens and accepts input operations by the user. The operation panel 4 includes a display unit 66 and an input unit 67.

  The display unit 66 displays various input screens. The display unit 66 includes a liquid crystal display panel and the like.

  The input unit 67 receives an input operation by the user and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation. The input unit 67 includes various operation keys, a touch panel, and the like.

  The control unit 5 controls the operation of each unit of the image reading apparatus 1. The control unit 5 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like.

  Specifically, in the sheet-through reading mode, the control unit 5 controls the optical reading unit 64 to read an image of a document while conveying the document by the automatic document conveying device 2. In the flat bed reading mode, the control unit 5 performs control so that the document placed on the flat bed glass 63 is read while being scanned by the optical reading unit 64.

  Further, when cleaning the ADF glass 61, the control unit 5 drives the rotation mechanism unit 43 to clean the ADF glass 61 by the cleaning member 46 in a state where the white roller 36 is separated from the ADF glass 61. Control.

  Next, a document reading operation in the image reading apparatus 1 will be described.

  In the sheet-through reading mode, an original is placed on the paper feed tray 11 by the user. When the reading start is instructed, the control unit 5 controls the document placed on the paper feed tray 11 to be transported along the transport path R to the paper discharge tray 13 by the transport unit 12. Here, the cleaning head 41 is disposed at the storage position, and the white roller 36 is in contact with the ADF glass 61.

  Then, the control unit 5 controls the optical reading unit 64 to read an image of the original when the original passes through the ADF glass 61 while being pressed by the white roller 36.

  In the flat bed reading mode, the user opens the automatic document feeder 2 with respect to the image reading unit 3 and places a document on the flat bed glass 63. When an instruction to start reading is given, the control unit 5 controls the original placed on the flat bed glass 63 to be read while being scanned by the optical reading unit 64. After the reading is completed, the user opens the automatic document feeder 2 with respect to the image reading unit 3 and collects the document on the flat bed glass 63.

  By the way, in the cleaning head 41 in the storage position, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the cleaning solution L sinks in the housing portion 47 due to its own weight. FIG. 10 shows the state of the cleaning solution L when the automatic document feeder 2 is opened for placing or collecting the document in the flat bed reading mode in a state where the cleaning solution L is sinking. Shown in The opening angle θk when the automatic document feeder 2 is opened is, for example, 45 ° to 60 °.

  When the automatic document feeder 2 is opened, the cleaning head 41 is inclined in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. Due to this inclination, the cleaning solution L moves to the rear side (lower side), but movement beyond the partition member 50 is limited. Thereby, the nonuniformity of the cleaning solution L in the cleaning member 46 is suppressed.

  Next, the operation at the time of cleaning the ADF glass 61 in the image reading apparatus 1 will be described.

  The ADF glass 61 is periodically cleaned. The ADF glass 61 is also cleaned when instructed by the user.

  First, an operation during regular cleaning of the ADF glass 61 in the image reading apparatus 1 will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation during regular cleaning of the ADF glass 61 in the image reading apparatus 1. The process of the flowchart of FIG. 11 is started when it is time to periodically clean the ADF glass 61. The timing of regular cleaning is set so as to arrive every predetermined period, for example. In addition, periodic cleaning may be performed every time the number of originals read in the sheet-through reading mode reaches a predetermined number.

  In step S1 of FIG. 11, the control unit 5 controls the display unit 66 to start warning display. Specifically, the control unit 5 causes the display unit 66 to start displaying a screen indicating that the ADF glass 61 is being cleaned.

  Next, in step S2, the control unit 5 performs a foreign object detection process. The foreign object detection process is a process for determining whether or not a foreign object exists on the ADF glass 61. The contents of the foreign object detection process will be described later.

  Next, in step S <b> 3, the control unit 5 determines whether there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 based on the result of the foreign object detection process.

  When it is determined that there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 (step S3: YES), in step S4, the control unit 5 executes a dirt width determination process. The dirt width determination process is a process for determining whether the dirt width on the ADF glass 61 is within the range to be cleaned by the cleaning unit 39. The dirt width is the size of foreign matter in the front-rear direction. The details of the dirt width determination process will be described later.

  Next, in step S5, the control unit 5 determines whether or not the dirt width is within the cleaning target range based on the result of the dirt width determination process.

  When it is determined that the dirt width is within the cleaning target range (step S5: YES), in step S6, the control unit 5 executes an automatic cleaning process. The automatic cleaning process is a process for automatically cleaning the ADF glass 61 by the cleaning unit 39. The details of the automatic cleaning process will be described later.

  Next, in step S7, the control unit 5 executes a foreign object detection process similar to that in step S2.

  Next, in step S8, the control unit 5 determines whether or not there is no foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 based on the result of the foreign matter detection processing in step S7.

  When it is determined that there is no foreign matter (step S8: YES), the control unit 5 determines that the automatic cleaning is completed, and cancels the warning display on the display unit 66 in step S9. Thereby, the display indicating that the ADF glass 61 is being cleaned is completed. As a result, a series of operations are completed.

  In step S3, when it is determined that there is no foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 (step S3: NO), the control unit 5 ends the warning display on the display unit 66 in step S9 because cleaning is unnecessary. Thereby, a series of operation | movement is complete | finished.

  If it is determined in step S5 that the dirt width is outside the cleaning target range (step S5: NO), and if it is determined in step S8 that there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 (step S8: NO), the control unit 5 Advances to step S10.

  Here, when it is determined in step S5 that the dirt width is outside the cleaning target range (step S5: NO), it is considered that foreign matter that exceeds the cleaning limit by the automatic cleaning process exists on the ADF glass 61. If it is determined in step S8 that there is a foreign substance on the ADF glass 61 (step S8: NO), it is considered that there is a foreign substance that cannot be removed by the automatic cleaning process.

  In step S <b> 10, the control unit 5 switches the warning display on the display unit 66 to a display requesting the user to confirm and remove the foreign matter on the ADF glass 61. Specifically, the control unit 5 causes the display unit 66 to start displaying a screen instructing to perform a foreign matter confirmation work and a removal work on the ADF glass 61 according to the user guide.

  Next, in step S11, the control unit 5 executes error processing. The error process is a process for canceling the error state when there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 that cannot be removed by the apparatus alone. The details of error processing will be described later. When the error processing ends, a series of operations ends.

  Next, the error processing performed in step S11 of FIG. 11 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  After the warning display is switched in step S10 of FIG. 11 described above, the user performs a confirmation operation and a removal operation of the foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 according to the user guide. The user who has performed the foreign substance removal operation performs an operation for canceling the warning display on the input unit 67. On the other hand, in step S21 in FIG. 12, the control unit 5 determines whether or not an operation for canceling the warning display has been performed. When it is determined that the warning display cancel request operation is not performed (step S21: NO), the control unit 5 repeats step S21.

  If it is determined that an operation for canceling the warning display has been performed (step S21: YES), in step S22, the control unit 5 executes a foreign object detection process.

  Next, in step S <b> 23, the control unit 5 determines whether or not there is no foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 based on the result of the foreign matter detection process.

  When it is determined that there is no foreign matter (step S23: YES), in step S24, the control unit 5 cancels the warning display on the display unit 66. Thereby, the display requesting the user to confirm and remove the foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 ends. As a result, the error processing ends.

  When it is determined that there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 (step S23: NO), in step S25, the control unit 5 switches the warning display on the display unit 66 to a display for requesting a serviceman call from the user.

  Next, in step S <b> 26, the control unit 5 determines whether or not a warning display cancel request operation has been performed. When it is determined that the warning display cancel request operation has not been performed (step S26: NO), the control unit 5 repeats step S26.

  If it is determined that an operation for requesting cancellation of the warning display has been performed (step S26: YES), the control unit 5 proceeds to step S24 and cancels the warning display on the display unit 66. Thus, the display requesting the user for a serviceman call is completed. As a result, the error processing ends.

  When the ADF glass 61 is restored to a state in which optical reading is not hindered by the user operation by the error processing described above, the warning display is canceled and the original can be read in the sheet-through reading mode. On the other hand, when the ADF glass 61 does not reach the state recovery even by the user work, the user can be prompted to make a serviceman call. Even when the ADF glass 61 does not recover due to user work, it is possible to read the document in the sheet-through reading mode by canceling the warning display according to the user operation. Yes.

  Next, an operation at the time of cleaning the ADF glass 61 according to a user instruction in the image reading apparatus 1 will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of cleaning the ADF glass 61 according to a user instruction in the image reading apparatus 1. The process of the flowchart in FIG. 13 is started when the cleaning of the ADF glass 61 is instructed by the user's operation on the input unit 67.

  The processes in steps S31 to S41 in FIG. 13 are the same as the processes in steps S1 to S11 in FIG.

  In step S33, when it is determined that there is no foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 (step S33: NO), in step S42, the control unit 5 displays a warning on the display unit 66 and does not require cleaning of the ADF glass 61. Switch to the screen display indicating that

  Next, the control unit 5 proceeds to step S39, and cancels the warning display on the display unit 66. Thereby, the display which shows that the cleaning of ADF glass 61 is unnecessary is complete | finished. As a result, a series of operations are completed.

  Next, the foreign object detection process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The foreign object detection process is a process performed in steps S2 and S7 in FIG. 11, step S22 in FIG. 12, and steps S32 and S37 in FIG.

  In step S <b> 51 of FIG. 14, the control unit 5 controls the optical reading unit 64 to read the ADF glass 61. Specifically, the control unit 5 generates read data for one line along the main scanning direction (front-rear direction) by irradiating light toward the ADF glass 61 and reading the reflected light from the white roller 36. The optical reading unit 64 is controlled to do so. Here, it is assumed that the read data is RGB format data.

  Next, in step S52, the control unit 5 performs color / colorless determination of each dot of the read data. Specifically, the control unit 5 combines the RGB data of each dot of the read data with the additive color correction rule, and binary-determines whether each dot is colored or colorless based on the combined data. . And the control part 5 produces | generates the color determination data which shows the determination result of each dot.

  Next, in step S53, the control unit 5 counts the number of colored dots based on the color determination data.

  Next, in step S54, the control unit 5 determines whether or not the number of colored dots is “0”.

  When it is determined that the number of colored dots is “0” (step S54: YES), the control unit 5 determines that there is no foreign matter on the ADF glass 61 in step S55. Thereby, the foreign object detection process is completed.

  When it is determined that the number of colored dots is not “0” (step S54: NO), the control unit 5 determines that there is a foreign object on the ADF glass 61 in step S56. Thereby, the foreign object detection process is completed.

  Next, the dirt width determination process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The dirt width determination process is a process performed in step S4 in FIG. 11 and step S34 in FIG.

  In step S61 in FIG. 15, the control unit 5 divides the color determination data generated in step S52 in FIG. 14 described above into a plurality of blocks for each predetermined number of dots.

  Next, in step S62, the control unit 5 counts the number of colored dots for each block.

  Next, in step S63, the control unit 5 generates binary block data in which the value of the block having the number of colored dots “0” is “0” and the value of the block having the number of colored dots “1 or more” is “1”. Generate.

  Next, in step S64, the control unit 5 counts the number of colored blocks. The number of colored blocks is the number of blocks whose value in the binary block data is “1”.

  Next, in step S65, the control unit 5 determines whether or not the number of colored blocks is equal to or greater than the stain width determination threshold value. The dirt width determination threshold is set to a value that is less than the number of blocks corresponding to the lower limit of the length in the short direction of the document that can be read by the image reading apparatus 1. As a result, it is possible to make the dirt width that would cause a paper jam outside the cleaning target range.

  When it is determined that the number of colored blocks is equal to or greater than the stain width determination threshold (step S65: YES), in step S66, the control unit 5 determines that the stain width is outside the cleaning target range. Thereby, the dirt width determination process is completed.

  When it is determined that the number of colored blocks is less than the stain width determination threshold (step S65: NO), in step S67, the control unit 5 determines that the stain width is within the cleaning target range. Thereby, the dirt width determination process is completed.

  Next, the automatic cleaning process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The automatic cleaning process is a process performed in step S6 in FIG. 11 and step S36 in FIG.

  In step S71 of FIG. 16, the control unit 5 moves the cleaning head 41 from the storage position to the cleaning position. Specifically, the control unit 5 drives the rotation motor 54 to rotate the cleaning head 41 clockwise by 180 ° as viewed from the front side. Accordingly, the cleaning head 41 arranged at the storage position as shown in FIG. 6 moves as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, and is arranged at the cleaning position as shown in FIG. At this time, when the cleaning head 41 enters between the white roller 36 and the ADF glass 61, the white roller 36 is pushed up and separated from the ADF glass 61.

  Here, on the left side (upstream side) of the white roller 36, a guide plate (not shown) or the like for accurately allowing the document to enter between the white roller 36 and the ADF glass 61 is disposed. For this reason, when the cleaning head 41 is moved from the storage position to the cleaning position, the cleaning head 41 is rotated clockwise as viewed from the front side in order to avoid the cleaning head 41 from contacting the guide plate or the like.

  When the cleaning head 41 is disposed at the cleaning position, all the vertical load received by the white roller shaft 36 a is applied to the cleaning head 41, and the cleaning member 46 is pressed against the ADF glass 61. On the other hand, in the cleaning head 41, the protective claws 48A and 48B abut against the ADF glass 61 to protect the cleaning member 46 from excessive compression.

  Returning to FIG. 16, following step S <b> 71, in step S <b> 72, the control unit 5 determines whether or not the permeation standby time has elapsed since the cleaning head 41 was placed at the cleaning position. The permeation standby time is a time for waiting for the cleaning solution L that has sunk in the accommodating portion 47 to permeate the surface of the cleaning member 46 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 while the cleaning head 41 is in the retracted position. When determining that the permeation standby time has not elapsed (step S72: NO), the control unit 5 repeats step S72.

  When it is determined that the permeation standby time has elapsed (step S72: YES), in step S73, the control unit 5 controls the rotation motor 54 to perform the sliding operation of the cleaning head 41. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20, the control unit 5 rotates the cleaning head 41 alternately left and right by the cleaning rotation angle θs. Thereby, the cleaning member 46 slides left and right on the ADF glass 61. When the cleaning head 41 is rotated a predetermined number of times alternately left and right, the control unit 5 stops the cleaning head 41 at the cleaning position.

  When a viscous substance is attached on the ADF glass 61, the cleaning member 46 slides on the ADF glass 61, so that the viscous substance is changed into a gel or liquid state by the cleaning solution. Then, the viscous material whose state has changed is adsorbed by the cleaning member 46 and thereby removed from the ADF glass 61. Further, foreign substances that are not viscous and are present on the ADF glass 61 are removed from the ADF glass 61 by being adsorbed by the cleaning member 46. In this way, the ADF glass 61 is cleaned.

  By cleaning the cleaning head 41 by rotating the cleaning head 41 alternately left and right by the cleaning rotation angle θs, the ADF glass 61 is efficiently cleaned as compared with the case of cleaning while rotating the cleaning head 41 by 360 °. it can.

  Returning to FIG. 16, following step S <b> 73, in step S <b> 74, the control unit 5 retracts the cleaning head 41 from the cleaning position and returns it to the storage position. Specifically, the control unit 5 drives the rotation motor 54 to rotate the cleaning head 41 by 180 ° counterclockwise when viewed from the front side.

  Here, when the cleaning solution separated from the cleaning member 46 by the cleaning remains on the ADF glass 61 as the waste liquid, when the protective claw 48B slides on the ADF glass 61 as shown in FIG. The waste liquid is scraped from the ADF glass 61 by the vertical surface 49 a of the convex portion 49. The waste liquid scraped from the ADF glass 61 is absorbed by the waste liquid absorbent 62.

  The waste liquid remaining on the ADF glass 61 is naturally vaporized, but the ADF glass 61 can be quickly made free of foreign matter by scraping it from the ADF glass 61 by the protective claw 48B as described above.

  When the cleaning head 41 returns to the storage position, the white roller 36 returns to the state where it is placed on the ADF glass 61. Thereby, an automatic cleaning process is complete | finished.

  As described above, in the image reading apparatus 1, the cleaning unit 39 has the cleaning member 46 independent of the white roller 36. The white roller 36 can be brought into contact with and separated from the ADF glass 61 by swinging around the support swing shaft 38 by driving the rotation mechanism 43. The control unit 5 controls the ADF glass 61 to be cleaned by the cleaning member 46 in a state where the rotation mechanism unit 43 is driven and the white roller 36 is separated from the ADF glass 61. Accordingly, since the ADF glass 61 can be cleaned without using the white roller 36, it is possible to clean the ADF glass 61 without modifying the white roller 36 and without impairing the original conveyance performance of the white roller 36. . Therefore, according to the image reading apparatus 1, the ADF glass 61 can be cleaned while suppressing the influence on the document conveying performance.

  In the image reading apparatus 1, the rotation mechanism 43 rotates the cleaning member 46 coaxially with the white roller shaft 36a. The control unit 5 rotates the cleaning member 46 by the rotation mechanism unit 43 to arrange the cleaning member 46 at the cleaning position. Accordingly, the cleaning member 46 can be guided to a contact portion with the white roller 36 where the foreign matter is most likely to adhere to the ADF glass 61 without performing fine position control. Further, since the rotation shaft of the cleaning member 46 is made common with the white roller shaft 36a, the complication of the apparatus configuration can be suppressed.

  In the image reading apparatus 1, since the ADF glass 61 is cleaned by the wet cleaning member 46 impregnated with the cleaning solution for the ADF glass 61, it is possible to cope with the removal of the viscous substance fixed to the ADF glass 61.

  In the image reading apparatus 1, when the cleaning member 46 rotates and retracts from the ADF glass 61 after cleaning, the protective claw 48 </ b> B slides on the ADF glass 61 and scrapes the waste liquid from the ADF glass 61. As a result, the ADF glass 61 can be made free of foreign matter faster than waiting for the waste liquid to naturally vaporize.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus 1, the protective claws 48 </ b> A and 48 </ b> B protect the cleaning member 46 from compression, so that excessive deformation of the cleaning member 46 can be suppressed.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus 1, the accommodating portion 47 is partitioned into a plurality of parts by a plurality of partition members 50 arranged along the front-rear direction, which is a direction in which an inclination occurs when the automatic document feeder 2 is opened. Thereby, since the movement of the cleaning solution is restricted, the unevenness of the cleaning solution in the cleaning member 46 is suppressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning unit 39 is configured to rotate the cleaning head 41 using the white roller shaft 36a as a rotation shaft. However, the cleaning head 39 is provided with another shaft as a rotation shaft. The structure which rotates 41 may be sufficient.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the components without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading apparatus 2 Automatic document conveying apparatus 3 Image reading part 4 Operation panel 5 Control part 12 Conveying part 21 Paper feed roller 22 Paper feed motor 23 Registration roller 24 Registration motor 25 Upstream lead roller 26 Reading conveyance part 27 Downstream lead roller 28 Ejection Paper roller 29 Lead motor 36 White roller 36a White roller shaft 37F, 37R Support body 38 Support body rocking shaft 39 Cleaning unit 41 Cleaning head 42 Cleaning head cap 43 Rotating mechanism unit 46 Cleaning member 47 Storage unit 47a Opening portion 48A, 48B Protective claw 49 Convex part 50 Partition member 51 Rotating gear 52F, 52R Support member 53F, 53R Connection member 54 Rotating motor 61 ADF glass 62 Waste liquid absorber 64 Optical reading unit

Claims (6)

A transport roller for transporting a document while pressing the document against a reading window for image reading;
A cleaning member independent of the transport roller;
A roller elevating part for elevating and lowering the conveying roller so as to be able to contact and separate from the reading window;
And a control unit configured to control the cleaning member to clean the reading window in a state where the conveying roller is separated from the reading window by the roller lifting / lowering unit. A rotation mechanism for rotating the cleaning member coaxially with the rotation axis of the transport roller;
2. The transport according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the cleaning member to be disposed at a position for cleaning the reading window by rotating the cleaning member by the rotation mechanism unit. apparatus.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is impregnated with a cleaning solution for the reading window. The cleaning member is impregnated with a cleaning solution for the reading window;
A waste liquid removing unit that slides on the reading window when the cleaning member is rotated by the rotation mechanism unit for retracting the cleaning member from the reading window after cleaning, and scrapes the cleaned waste liquid from the reading window; The transport apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: Further comprising an accommodating portion for accommodating the cleaning member inside while exposing a contact portion of the cleaning member to the reading window;
The conveying device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the accommodating portion is partitioned into a plurality of portions by a plurality of partition members arranged along a direction in which the accommodating portion is inclined. A protective portion is provided adjacent to the contact portion of the cleaning member to the reading window and further protects the cleaning member from compression by abutting against the reading window when the cleaning member is pressed against the reading window. The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein