JP3487142B2 - Image reading apparatus and document alignment method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for aligning a document placed on a document table with high accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an original is read in an image reading apparatus such as a scanner, the original is placed on a platen glass, the original is positioned, and then a reading scanning system ((hereinafter, scanning system At this time, the operator can visually check the corners or positioning marks of the rectangular platen glass, and finely adjust the position of the document using this mark as a guide to set the position. Finish the matching.

Generally, an image reading apparatus is divided into a document placing system for setting the position of a document and a scanning system for optically scanning a document placed on a platen glass. Positional deviation and angular deviation of the output image occur due to the dimensional accuracy of the components that make up the scanning system and errors during assembly. After completing the assembling of the scanning system, in order to eliminate the positional deviation and the angular deviation that occur between the document position reference of the document placement system and the actual document according to the document position reference, the operator finally Makes rough adjustments to the original, and then makes fine adjustments to position the original. In addition to this, there is a method ((software processing) for correcting a misalignment by a computer, but there is a problem that the image deterioration becomes large with respect to the original document due to calculation error.

[0004]

As a conventional method for aligning the position of a document with high accuracy, a document position reference provided on the side of the platen glass of the document placement system and a document position reference set by a scanning system are used. It is desired to manufacture an image reading device with less deviation from the above.

However, it is difficult to completely eliminate the positional deviation between the document position reference of the scanning system and the document position reference of the document placing system due to dimensional accuracy of the parts, assembly error, and the like. In order to output such an image of the original document at a proper position, the operator must finally manually adjust the position of the original document.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of accurately setting an original and capable of highly accurate alignment so that the output of the image reading apparatus coincides with the position of the original placed by the operator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an original position reference for a scanning system and an original placement system that are misaligned during manufacturing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image reading device that can accurately align a document by an operator's operation.

[0008]

According to the image reading device of the first aspect of the present invention, by using the guide pin, the adjusting pin, the document guide sheet, etc. for aligning the document, the adjusting pin can be rotated. Since the inclination angle of the document guide sheet can be changed around the guide pins, even if there is a deviation in the position, angle, dimensions, etc. of the document table of the document placement system,
The position on which the document is placed can be accurately aligned with the desired position of the scanning system. Therefore, the output of the image reading apparatus provided with this document position aligning means becomes the data of the image positioned with high accuracy.

According to the image reading apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, since the guide pin hole and the adjustment pin hole are formed on the side opposite to the operator's position with respect to the document table, the operator can perform the document setting operation. Since there is no obstruction, the document position can be set easily.

According to the image reading apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, since the guide pin hole and the adjustment pin hole are formed on the same plane as the document table, if the guide pin and the adjustment pin are removed, the document table is adjusted. Even if a large original is placed, the original can be set without interference between the original and the upper surface of the case.

According to the image reading apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the guide pin hole is set at a position closer to the corner resist on the document table than the adjustment pin hole, the position of the document can be easily set.

[0012]

According to the image reading apparatus of the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the document guide sheet is made of the transparent member, it does not hinder the reading of the transparent document.

According to the image reading apparatus of the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the original guide sheet is made of a flexible film member, the original is inserted under the original guide sheet,
The position and angle can be easily adjusted, and the adhesion of the original to the platen glass can be improved.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, at least one line parallel to the sub-scanning direction of the image reading device or a line perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction is printed on the document guide sheet. Therefore, the position of the document can be accurately matched in the reading and scanning direction.

[0016] According to the image reading apparatus original alignment method according to claim 8 of the present invention, the step of fitting the guide pin and alignment pins in the guide pin holes and adjusting pin holes of the case upper surface, the guide pin and adjustment pin Based on the image obtained by fitting the circular hole and the long hole of the document guide sheet into the sheet, the step of activating the reading scanning system, and the image obtained by the operation of the reading scanning system, the position of the document guide sheet is visually checked. Since it includes a step of correcting by turning operation, it is possible to output data of an image positioned with high accuracy.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments showing an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 7, various components of a reading scanning system (not shown) are built in the case 2 of the image reading apparatus 1. A document placing system 4 for placing a document is formed on the upper surface of the case.
1 and 2 show a state in which the platen cover 7 is removed.

The document placing system 4 includes a platen glass 5 as a document table provided on the upper surface of the case 2, a corner resist 6 serving as a reference position for a document placed on the platen glass 5, and a platen cover 7 for the platen glass 5. And hinges 8 and 9 to which the platen cover 7 is rotatably attached to the case 2. A document is placed on the platen glass 5, corner portions of the document are placed on the corner resist 6, and the platen cover 7 is closed. After that, the reading scanning system is operated to read the image of the document.

A guide pin hole 11 for setting a document guide sheet and an adjustment pin hole 12 are provided on the side of the platen glass 5 of the document placing system 4 opposite to the operator side. The document guide sheet has a grid line 20 on a transparent member as shown in FIG.
A first original guide sheet 13 into which a blank is inserted and a transparent second original guide sheet 14 as shown in FIG. 4 are used. First
The grid lines 20 of the document guide sheet 13 are made up of lines which are orthogonal to the scanning direction and which are parallel to each other, and it is necessary to visually check whether or not the position of the document placed on the platen glass 5 is placed without being properly inclined. You can Further, the document guide sheets 13 and 14 are provided on the platen glass 5
There is a function of sandwiching the document between these and these sheets so as not to scatter. Since the second document guide sheet 14 is a transparent sheet having no grid lines, the reading of the image of the document is not impaired when reading the image.

These first and second document guide sheets 1
An embodiment of a guide pin that adjustably mounts 3 and 14 on the platen glass 5 is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and an adjusting pin for adjusting the inclination angle of the first and second document guide sheets 13 and 14 is shown. An example of is shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.

The guide pin 17 is provided with legs 23 and 24 on the lower surface of a disk-shaped flange 25. Legs 23,2
4 has a cylindrical outer periphery and can be elastically fitted into the guide pin hole 11. The knob portion 22 is formed in a convex shape on the upper surface of the flange 25. The knob portion 22 has a cylindrical shape, and the first and second
The circular holes 31 of the original guide sheets 13 and 14 can be guided without play.

The adjusting pin 18 is provided with two leg portions 27, 28 eccentrically on the lower surface of a disc-shaped flange 29. The two legs 27 and 28 have a cylindrical outer shape and can be fitted into the adjustment pin hole 12 with an elastic force.
The knob portion 26 formed on the upper surface of the flange 29 can rotate this adjusting pin by a flat-blade screwdriver or the like. With the legs 27 and 28 fitted in the adjustment pin holes 12, turn the knob 26 with a screwdriver to move the knob 2
The axis of 6 can be displaced in a direction approaching the platen glass 5 and a direction moving away from the platen glass 5. Disk-shaped flanges 25, 2
Reference numeral 9 prevents the document guide sheets 13 and 14 from entering the gaps with the guide pin holes. Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, the knob portion 26 of the adjustment pin 18 has a leg portion 27,
A mark 30 is provided to indicate a direction that coincides with the eccentric direction of 28.

As shown in FIG. 7, a guide pin 17 is fitted in the guide pin hole 11, an adjustment pin 18 is fitted in the adjustment pin hole 12, and a circle of the first original guide sheet 13 is inserted in the knob portion 22 of the guide pin 17. Adjusting pin 18 by fitting hole 31
The elliptical hole 32 of the first document guide sheet 13 is fitted into the knob portion 26 of the. When the angle of the adjusting pin 18 in the fitted state is rotated in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 9, the first original guide sheet 1 with respect to the platen glass 5 as shown in FIG.
3 rotates around the guide pin 17.

Next, the procedure for aligning the document in this embodiment will be described.

(First Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 7, a guide pin hole 11 and an adjustment pin hole 1 on the inner side of the platen glass 5 are provided.
The guide pin 17 and the adjusting pin 18 are fitted to the unit 2 respectively.
At this time, the mark 30 of the adjustment pin 18 is directed toward the guide pin 17. As a result, the adjustment pin is set at the center of the adjustment range. Next, the circular hole 31 of the first manuscript guide sheet 13 with the grid is inserted into the knob portion 22 of the guide pin 17.
, And the elliptical hole 32 is fitted into the knob portion 26 of the adjustment pin 18.

Next, by inserting the original between the first original guide sheet 13 and the platen glass 5 with the original surface facing the platen glass 5, the outer shape of the original and the grid lines 20 are visually aligned to each other. The orientation of the original can be aligned with the reading direction. In particular, for a small original such as a photograph or a business card, it is possible to place a plurality of originals in the same direction, so that the reading in the same direction can be easily performed.

(Second Embodiment) A method of setting a document with higher accuracy will be described. First original guide sheet 1
3 is fitted to the guide pin 17 and the adjustment pin 18, the platen cover 7 is closed, and the reading scanning system is operated. Then, the grid lines of the first document guide sheet 13 are read and displayed on a display device such as a computer (not shown) to which the image reading device 1 is connected. The adjustment pin 18 is rotated to adjust the inclination angle of the first document guide sheet 13 so that the inclination of the displayed grid line becomes zero. The operation of reading this grid line and adjusting with the adjustment pin 18 is repeated until the inclination of the grid line becomes zero.
Find the angle (rotation position) of.

By this operation, the reading direction of the reading scanning system and the direction of the grid line 20 can be matched. Therefore, if the rotation position of the adjustment pin 18 is fixed, the outline of the document can be simply adjusted to the grid lines thereafter.
It is possible to more accurately match the document direction and the document reading direction.

(Third Embodiment) A method of accurately setting a transparent original such as an OHP original or a film original will be described. As in the second example described above, the angle (rotational position) of the adjustment pin 18 is adjusted so that the inclination of the grid line 20 of the guide sheet 13 of the first original becomes zero. Then, the first original guide sheet 13 is removed, the second original guide sheet 14 is set, and the first original guide sheet 13 is set from above. A transparent original such as an OHP is put between the platen glass 5 and the second original guide sheet 14, and the outer shape of the original is matched with the grid lines of the first original guide sheet 13. Next, the first document guide sheet 14 is removed and the platen cover 7 is closed. Here, the reading scanning system is operated to perform reading. It is possible to align the direction of the transparent original with high accuracy and prevent grid lines from being reflected.

According to this method, instead of the platen cover 7, a transmissive light source unit (not shown) for a transmissive original, which has a light source for irradiating the transmissive original, is mounted so that a plurality of frames are cut. A plurality of sets of 35 mm film can be accurately aligned and read.

If the position of the original 35 is adjusted by the procedure shown in the first to third embodiments, the image data of the image read in the state where the original 35 is in the proper position and the proper angle and inclination are obtained. , From the image reading device 1.

As shown in FIG. 8, the inclination of the first document guide sheet 13 can be adjusted by turning the adjusting pin 18 for guiding the oval hole 32, and as shown in FIG. If it is .10, 0.4mm in the minus direction, +
If it is 0.25, the position of the oblong hole 32 of the first document guide sheet 13 moves in the plus direction of 1.0 mm. The operator converts this turning angle and movement distance in advance,
The positional deviation of the document guide sheet can be corrected by turning the adjustment pin 18 by an appropriate angle so that the position becomes a desired straight position.

In this embodiment, when there is a positional deviation between the scanning system and the document placing system, this document guide sheet can be adjusted to an appropriate angle by adjusting the turning angle of the adjusting pin 18. Also, a transparent document guide sheet 13 or 14
If a document is inserted between the platen glass 5 and the platen glass 5, the document will not be blown off and the document will not be displaced on the platen glass 5 even if wind comes from the outside.
The position of the document 35 can be fixed by the document guide sheet 13 or 14. As a result, there is an effect that an image can be read by operating the reading scanning system appropriately.

Further, according to this embodiment, a large number of small originals can be aligned at desired positions, and the originals are prevented from being scattered by the wind when the platen cover is closed.

The embodiment described above can of course be modified as follows.

If guide pins 17 can be fitted in the adjustment pin holes 12 and guide pins are used at two locations, adjustment is not required and the orientation of the original can be aligned with the reading direction with much higher accuracy than in the prior art. It will be possible.

If a flexible (flexible) film member having a good flatness, such as polycarbonate, is used as the document guide sheets 13 and 14, the document is aligned by half the document guide sheet from the operator side. In this way, you can press the document on the back side and adjust the position and angle while directly touching the document on the front side, so you can make fine adjustments to the document position and document angle, as well as the wrinkled platen glass of the document. Adhesion to can also be improved.

Further, since the document guide sheets 13 and 14 can be easily removed and can be aligned by simply aligning the document with the grid lines as described above, if a plurality of document guide sheets are used, During the reading operation, the original can be fixed and set on the original guide sheet with a tape or the like at another place, and the efficiency of the reading operation can be improved.

Furthermore, since both the guide pin 17 and the adjusting pin 18 can be removed, it does not become an obstacle as a projection even when it is desired to read a document larger than the document table.

In addition to the grid lines, it is desirable that the original guide sheet 13 be provided with angle scales 41 for the protractor. Specifically, when it is desired to read at a certain angle, for example, when creating many advertisements and arranging many similar products at a predetermined angle, it is necessary to place the photograph (original) at an angle. In such a case, by aligning the angle scale and the document, it becomes possible to accurately read the document at an arbitrary position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention with a platen cover removed.

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow II shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a first document guide sheet with a grid according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a transparent second document guide sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a side view of a guide pin according to an embodiment of the present invention, and B is a perspective view thereof.

FIG. 6A is a side view of an adjustment pin according to an embodiment of the present invention, B is a perspective view thereof, and C is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation of correcting a document guide sheet position according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a turning angle of an adjusting pin and a position adjusting distance of a document guide sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing how to use the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image reading device 2 cases 3 scanning system 4 Original placement system 5 Platen glass 6 corner resist 7 Platen cover 8, 9 hinges 11 Guide pin hole 12 Adjustment pin hole 13 First original guide sheet 14 Second original guide sheet 17 guide pins 18 Adjustment pin 20 grid lines 31 round hole 32 oval hole 35 manuscript 41 angle scale 42 Center of angle scale

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-8-265512 (JP, A) JP-A-2-311838 (JP, A) JP-A-6-130509 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 2-78941 (JP , U) Actual development Sho 61-33042 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108 H04N 1/04-1/207 G03B 27 / 32 G03B 27/42-27/48 G03B 27/58-27/64

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A document table on which a document is placed, a guide pin hole provided outside the document table, and a front plate.
A top case having an adjusting pin holes from serial guide pin holes are formed apart a predetermined distance, and can fit the guide pin to the guide pin hole, and can fit adjustment pin in the adjusting pin hole, the guide pin A document guide sheet having a circular hole that can be fitted to the adjustment pin and an elongated hole that can be fitted to the adjustment pin, wherein the document guide sheet is tilted around the guide pin by rotating the adjustment pin. An image reading device having a changeable corner. Wherein said guide pin hole and the adjusting pin holes, according to claim 1, characterized in that formed on the cases <br/> scan the upper surface of the side opposite to the operator's position relative to the platen Image reading device. 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the guide pin hole and the adjustment pin hole are formed on the same plane as the document table. 4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide pin hole is located closer to a corner resist on the document table than the adjustment pin hole. 5. The original guide sheet is made of a transparent material.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that
The image reading device described. 6. The original guide sheet has flexibility.
2. A film member as claimed in claim 1 or 2.
5. The image reading device according to any one of 5 above. 7. The image reading is performed on the original guide sheet.
A line parallel to the sub-scanning direction of the picking device, or the sub-scanning direction
Make sure that at least one line perpendicular to the direction is printed.
The image according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that
Image reader. 8.Guide pin hole and adjustment pin on the top of the case
Step of fitting the guide pin and the adjustment pin into the hole, Circular holes in the document guide sheet on the guide pins and adjustment pins
And the step of fitting the long holes, Activating the reading and scanning system, Based on the image obtained by the operation of the reading scanning system
The position of the document guide sheet by visually
And a step of making a correction by turning the steering wheel.
A method for aligning documents in an image reading apparatus.