JP3137058B2 - Small reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small-sized reading apparatus, and more particularly to a small-sized reading apparatus which mounts a handy scanner equipped with a contact-type image sensor and photoelectrically converts and reads an original image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a small-sized reading apparatus capable of carrying and reading a document by mounting a handy scanner of this type, a document is accurately transported to a document, has a high reading accuracy, and is small and lightweight. There is a demand for excellent portability and low manufacturing cost. As a conventional line of the reading device, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
JP-163325 A discloses an image scanner device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the image scanner device. As shown in FIG. 4, the image scanner device 10 holds the handy scanner 1 with the reading unit and the scanner roller facing the upper surface. A main body 12 capable of conveying a sheet-shaped information medium on the upper surface, and two pairs of drive rollers provided above the main body 12 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the information medium and having axes parallel to each other. 15 and 6, and a drive unit 13 having a guide facing the handy scanner 1 on a lower surface thereof.
On the downstream side of the main body 12 in the information medium transport direction, the driven roller is provided so as to be urged upward, and the axis is provided in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the information medium. It is configured to be detachable, and configured to be pressed and held on a reference portion provided on the main body 12 via a pressing means, and to convey an information medium between the handy scanner 1 and the guide. Through the reading unit of the handy scanner 1, the recorded contents of the information medium can be scanned and read. In the conventional example, with such a configuration, as described above, the commercially available handy scanner 1 can be attached and detached, and the information medium, that is, the original can be accurately conveyed. It is expected to be greatly improved. In addition, since the rotatable drive unit 13 is mounted, the interval of the conveyance path can be changed according to the thickness of the document, and the operability corresponding to processing such as paper jam or maintenance and inspection is improved. Excellent points are shown.

[0004]

As shown in FIG. 4, the above-described conventional reading device equipped with a handy scanner equipped with an image sensor has a complicated device configuration, a large size, and a required size. The number of components has also increased to a large number, which has led to poor portability in use,
There is a disadvantage that the manufacturing cost increases.

Further, although the document passing through the input section of the handy scanner is conveyed along the guide, the document is not always in close contact with the input section. When an original such as thin paper is conveyed, there is a disadvantage that a gap is easily generated between the input unit and the original, thereby deteriorating the resolution.

Further, when the image scanner is attached or detached, it is necessary to release the drive unit and open / close the scanner holding member, which causes a disadvantage in operation of the apparatus.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks,
By simplifying the document transport mechanism and improving the degree of contact between the document and the input unit of the handy scanner, it is possible to provide a small-sized reading device that is extremely compact, has excellent portability, is low-cost, and has improved reading accuracy. is there.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a small-sized reader for mounting a handy scanner, for transporting and reading an original, provided in the input section of the handy scanner and in the small reader. The recorded content of the document is read by directly contacting the platen roller and pressing the platen roller to convey the document between the platen roller and the input unit.

As a method of reducing the frictional force between the outer periphery of the platen roller and the input portion, a method of lining the outer periphery with a rubber having a high hardness, a method of coating a ready-made rubber tube, and a method of covering the platen It is characterized by selecting and using any one of the methods of arranging low-viscosity rubber having low hardness in several directions in the longitudinal direction of the roller, and using the longitudinal direction of the platen roller. It is characterized in that a ready-made O-ring or square ring is used as low-hardness and sticky rubber that is arranged in a mixture at several locations in the direction.

Further, the handy scanner is located on a side surface of the small-sized reading device at an intermediate position between a document feeding port provided at an upper part of the apparatus and a paper discharging port provided at a lower part of the apparatus. Wherein the document conveyed from the paper feed port and the input unit of the handy scanner mounted in the insertion groove are provided at an angle which is in a relative parallel positional relationship. In addition, a specific elastic body is provided on a bottom surface of the insertion groove so as to push up a handy scanner set in the insertion groove so as to press against a platen roller.
In addition, as the elastic body, one kind of elastic body selected from a leaf spring, a coil spring, and sponge rubber may be used. Further, the side wall of the insertion groove may be lined with a Teflon sheet having a small friction coefficient.

[0011]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a side surface and a plane of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) shows a side sectional view, and FIG. 1 (b) is smaller than the side sectional view. FIG. In FIG. 1, a paper feed port 23 into which a document 22 is inserted is provided on the upper surface of the small-sized reading device 21 according to the first embodiment, and the presence or absence of the document 22 is provided below the paper feed port 23. The photo sensor 24 to be detected is fixed. In addition, a discharge port 2 for the original 23 is provided at the lower front part.
5 and a guide 26 for guiding the document 22 to the paper discharge port 25 are provided. Further, between the paper feed port 23 and the paper discharge port 25, a mounting groove 28 for mounting the handy scanner 27 is provided.
However, the right side is provided as an opening. The mounting groove 28 is provided at a right angle to the delivery direction of the document 22, and a plurality of pressing springs 29 are fixed to the bottom surface thereof. On the other hand, a platen roller 30 for feeding the document 22 is fixed above the mounting groove 28, and is connected to a small DC motor 34 via a plurality of gears 31, 32 and 33. A leaf spring for pressing the document 22 is fixed in front of the platen roller 30.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). In FIG. 1, when the handy scanner 27 having the input unit 36 and the scanner roller 37 facing upward is inserted into the mounting groove 28 having the side surface of the small-sized reading device 21 as an opening until it hits the stopper 38, the opening of the mounting groove 28 is opened. Stop when the rear part of the handy scanner 27 protrudes several tens mm from the part. The inserted handy scanner 27 is pushed up in parallel by the pressing spring 29 on the bottom surface of the mounting groove 28, and
Is in close contact with the platen roller 30, and the scanner roller 3
7 comes into close contact with the leaf spring 35.

At this time, D for driving the platen roller 30
The torque (g · cm) required for the C motor 34
Is different depending on the case where the document 22 is not inserted, the case where the document 22 is inserted and the type of the inserted document 22. FIG. 2 shows the pressing force (g) when the object to be transported is a business card, a copy sheet, a photograph, and a case where a document is not inserted.
6 is a graph showing a relationship between f) and a conveying force (torque: g · cm). As is clear from the graph of FIG. 2, when the original 22 such as a business card or copy paper is inserted between the platen roller 30 and the input unit 36, the platen roller 3
Since the coefficient of friction between the input unit 36 and the document is lower than the coefficient of friction between 0 and the document 22, the torque is reduced by about 1/3 compared to when the document 22 is not inserted.

On the other hand, when a coating process having a different friction coefficient between the front and the back is performed as shown in the photograph, the frictional force between the front and the input part (note: made of glass) 36 in the photograph is generally increased. Since the friction force between the back of the photograph and the platen roller (rubber) 30 is greater, the greater the force pressing the input unit 36, the more the brake is applied to the front of the photograph and the input unit 36 side. As shown in the graph of FIG. 2, when the pressing force is 400 gf or more, the photograph cannot be transported. Therefore, the force for pressing the input unit 36 of the handy scanner 27 against the platen roller 30 is preferably 500 gf or less in consideration of the conveyance of a photograph or the rated torque of the DC motor 34 (200 g · cm).

Also, as described above, the handy scanner 27
When a low force is applied, a thin Teflon sheet is attached to the side surface of the mounting groove 28 shown in FIG. 1 so that the frictional force between the side surface of the handy scanner 27 and the mounting groove 28 is reduced. This allows the handy scanner 27 to be inserted or pressed against the platen roller 30 to be extremely smooth.

When the document 22 is inserted into the paper feed port 23 of the small-sized reading device 21, the DC motor 34 starts operating in response to a sensing input from the photo sensor 24, and is operated via a plurality of gears 33-31. The platen roller 30 rotates clockwise (arrow A in FIG. 1). The document 22 continues to pass between the leaf spring 35 and the scanner roller 37, is sandwiched between the platen roller 30 and the input unit 36, and is conveyed at a predetermined speed by the rotational force of the platen roller 30. At this time, after the recorded contents of the original 22 are read by the input unit 36 and the action of the encoder due to the rotational movement of the scanner roller 37, the recorded contents are taken into the personal computer through a signal cable (not shown). It is. After the reading is completed, the document 22 is guided by the guide 26 and discharged from the paper discharge port 25. The discharge of the document 22 is detected by the photo sensor 24. , The DC motor 34 stops. In this embodiment, the platen roller 30 and the input unit 36 of the handy scanner 27 are used.
Since a simple type of transport mechanism is used in which the device is directly pressed, high reading accuracy and downsizing of the apparatus main body can be realized.

Next, an example of the platen roller used in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a front external view of the platen roller 30 of the present embodiment. A gear 31 is mounted on the platen roller 30, and in the small-sized reading device 21 of the present embodiment, when the original 22 is not inserted, the input unit 3 made of glass that is always in contact with the original 22.
In order to reduce the frictional force between the DC motor 6 and the DC motor 34 to reduce the load, the outer periphery of the DC motor 34 is covered with viton rubber having relatively high hardness. However, as described above, when a photograph is used as the document 22, for example, although conveyance at 500 gf or less is possible, the frictional force between the front of the photograph and the input unit 36 is still lower than the back of the photograph and the platen roller. Since the frictional force is larger than the frictional force between the rollers 30 and 30, irregular conveyance due to skew or the like often occurs. Therefore, as a countermeasure, in the platen roller 30 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a ring 40 of a low-hardness and high-adhesion material such as silicon is provided in several places in the longitudinal direction of the platen roller 30. As a result, the frictional force between the front of the photograph of the document 22 and the input unit 36 is reduced by the friction between the back of the photograph and the platen roller 3.
It is reduced to a value smaller than the frictional force between zero.

As described above, the ring 40 is inserted into the platen roller 30 at several places because the platen roller 30 and the glass input unit 36 are not inserted when the document 22 is not inserted. This is because the load (torque) of the DC motor 34 is reduced by minimizing the frictional force therebetween. Similar effects can be obtained by using a silicone rubber O-ring or square ring instead of the ring 40.

That is, in the platen roller 30 of the present embodiment, by inserting several rings having low hardness and high adhesiveness, an increase in the load of the DC motor 34 is suppressed, and the friction coefficient between the front and back of a photograph or the like is reduced. Even in the case of a different document 22, the document 22 can be accurately conveyed.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the input section having high adhesion and the simple transport mechanism are made possible, so that the original can be transported accurately and the reading accuracy is improved. Thus, there is an effect that a small-sized reading device excellent in portability can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view and a plan sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a pressing force and a conveying force corresponding to various originals.

FIG. 3 is a front view of one example of a platen roller in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a conventional image scanner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 27 Handy scanner 12 Main body 13 Drive unit 15, 16 Drive roller 21 Small reading device 22 Document 23 Paper feed port 24 Photosensor 25 Paper discharge port 26 Guide 28 Mounting groove 29 Press spring 30 Platen roller 31-33 Gear 34 DC motor 35 leaf spring 36 input section 37 scanner roller 38 stopper

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/04-1/207 H04N 1/00 B65H 5/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer for conveying a document by a DC motor.
A ten roller and an input part pressed against the platen roller
A handy scanner having an upper surface formed thereon.
Between the ten roller and the input section of the handy scanner.
The original is conveyed, and the original is read by the input unit.
A small reading device for reading the platen.
The rubber has a low hardness and sticky rubber on the outer circumference in the longitudinal direction.
Formed by arranging a plurality of O-rings or square rings
The handy scanner is equipped with a paper feed
It is formed at the middle position between the paper exit and the paper exit at the bottom.
Into the mounting groove with an elastic body on the bottom
The feeding direction and the input unit of the handy scanner are relatively
A small-sized reading device characterized by being parallel to . 2. The mounting groove of the handy scanner,
2. The small-sized reader according to claim 1, wherein the side wall is lined with a Teflon sheet having a small coefficient of friction.