JP4071777B2 - Image reading device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image reading apparatus that acquires image information described in a document, such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine, has a contact glass for placing the document on the surface, and a document presser that sandwiches the document by being placed opposite to the surface of the contact glass. Some have a board. The surface area of the contact glass is roughly the same size as large paper so that images of various sizes of documents can be obtained, from small cards such as licenses and business cards to large paper. .
In this image reading apparatus, when reading an original, the original is placed on the surface of the contact glass, and the original is sandwiched between the original pressing plate and the contact glass. In this state, the image information described in the document that contacts the contact glass is acquired by the image reading unit (scanner) of the image reading apparatus.
In addition, as a conventional image reading apparatus, there is an apparatus that acquires image information of a normal paper document and a card smaller than the paper document by separate scanners (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-11-187170

However, in the conventional image reading apparatus, when closing the document presser with a small card placed on the surface of the contact glass, the card slides on the surface of the contact glass due to wind pressure or the like. There is a problem that the positioning of the card is troublesome because the card is displaced from the front surface.
In the image reading apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the image information of a large original and a small card is acquired by separate scanners, so that the above-described misalignment of the card can be prevented. However, since a plurality of scanners are required, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the image reading apparatus increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of preventing the displacement of a card without increasing the manufacturing cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following means.
In the present invention, a document is sandwiched by a plate-shaped contact glass disposed on the surface of the housing and a document pressing plate 7 covering the contact glass, and the surface of the contact glass is formed by an image reading unit disposed in the housing. An image reading apparatus for reading image information of a document placed on a surface of the housing adjacent to a peripheral edge of the contact glass, between the surface of the housing and the contact glass and the document pressing plate. An insertion means for inserting a thin plate-shaped card is provided.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the insertion means comprises a recess formed on the surface of the housing, and the bottom surface of the recess is smoothly connected to the surface of the contact glass.
Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that at least one side surface of the recess standing vertically from the bottom surface is formed along the insertion direction of the card.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the bottom surface of the recess is smoothly connected to the surface of the housing.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an end portion of the document pressing plate adjacent to the insertion means that is recessed in a direction along the surface of the document pressing plate facing the surface of the contact glass from the end portion. A notch that penetrates in the thickness direction of the plate is formed.

Further, according to the present invention, a groove recessed in the thickness direction of the document pressing plate from the surface of the document pressing plate facing the surface of the contact glass is formed at an end portion of the document pressing plate adjacent to the insertion unit. The groove opens toward the insertion means.
Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that a side surface of the groove standing vertically from the bottom surface of the groove toward the surface of the document pressing plate is formed along the insertion direction of the card.

According to the present invention, when the card smaller than the surface area of the contact glass is placed on the contact glass by inserting the card between the contact glass and the document holding plate using the inserting means, the document holding plate is Since the card can be sandwiched between the contact glass and the document pressing plate without opening and closing, it is possible to prevent the card from being displaced relative to the surface of the contact glass.
Further, since the same image reading unit can read image information described on a card disposed on the surface of the contact glass and a document having a size larger than the card, an increase in manufacturing cost of the image reading apparatus can be prevented.

1 to 3 show an embodiment according to the present invention, and the embodiment described here is a case where the present invention is applied to a copying machine. As shown in FIG. 1, a copying machine (image reading apparatus) 1 according to this embodiment acquires print data of a document and prints it on a printing paper. A contact glass 5 disposed on the front surface 3a, a document pressing plate 7 covering the contact glass 5, and an image reading section 9 for reading image information of the document disposed on the surface 5a of the contact glass 5.
Further, the copying machine 1 includes a paper feed cassette 11 that stores printing paper of a plurality of types of sizes from the front surface 3 b side of the housing 3. The printing paper fed from the paper feeding cassette 11 and printed with the print data of the document is transferred from the paper discharge port 13 opened on the left side surface 3c of the housing 3 to the paper discharge tray 15 by a conveyance roller (not shown). It is to be handed over.

The contact glass 5 is formed by forming transparent glass into a substantially rectangular plate shape, and is configured to place a document to be printed on a surface 5a thereof.
The document pressing plate 7 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape so as to cover the entire surface 5 a of the contact glass 5. The document pressing plate 7 has one end 7a connected to the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 located on the back surface 3d side of the housing 3, and is rotatable about the reference axis L1 with respect to the upper surface 3a of the housing. It is said that. The reference axis L1 is adjacent to the rear end side 5b of the contact glass 5 located on the back surface 3d side of the housing 3, and extends in a direction (AB direction) parallel to the rear end side 5b. Thus, the document pressing plate 7 can be opened and closed with respect to the contact glass 5 by rotating around the reference axis L1.
2 and 3, the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 is disposed at a position recessed from the upper surface 3a of the housing 3. The document pressing plate 7 includes an elastically deformable cushion portion 17 such as a sponge. The cushion portion 17 constitutes a surface 7b of the document pressing plate 7 disposed to face the surface 5a of the contact glass 5. ing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image reading unit 9 is arranged inside the housing 3 so as to face the outside through the contact glass 5, and includes a line light source and a line sensor (not shown). . The line light source and line sensor of the image reading unit 9 are arranged in a direction (CD direction) orthogonal to the rear end side 5b of the contact glass 5, that is, the left end side 5c of the contact glass 5 located on the left side 3c side of the housing 3. Extending in the direction along the line.
The image reading unit 9 stands by in the vicinity of the left end side 5 c of the contact glass 5, and reads the image information of the document placed on the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 in the longitudinal direction (AB direction) of the contact glass 5. It is configured to read the image information of the document by scanning the document. That is, when reading the document, the image reading unit 9 moves from the left end side 5c of the contact glass 5 toward the right end side 5d opposite thereto (B direction). Return to the standby position near the left edge 5c.

An operation panel 19 including a print start key 19a, a display unit 19b, and the like is provided on the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 located on the front surface 3b side of the housing 3. By operating the operation panel 19, Thus, it is possible to check various print settings and print statuses in the copying machine 1. That is, on the operation panel 19, for example, the size of the printing paper can be selected in accordance with the paper size of the document.
The image reading unit 9 described above is configured to start scanning from the left end side 5c side of the contact glass 5 in accordance with the size of the printing paper selected on the operation panel 19. That is, since the scanning distance of the image reading unit 9 moving from the left end side 5c of the contact glass 5 changes according to the size of the selected printing paper, when printing the image information of the original on the printing paper, the original Are arranged close to the left end side 5c side of the contact glass 5.

Further, the copying machine 1 inserts a thin plate-like card such as a license or a business card between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 with the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 covered with the document pressing plate 7. An insertion recess (insertion means) 21 is provided.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the insertion recess 21 is formed to be recessed from the upper surface 3 a of the housing 3 and is located on the front surface 3 b side of the housing 3 and arranged in parallel with the rear end side 5 b. Adjacent to the front edge 5e of the glass 5. The insertion recess 21 is located in the vicinity of the left end side 5c side of the contact glass 5 in the front end side 5e.

The bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 is inclined from the upper surface 3 a of the housing 3 toward the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5, and is smoothly connected to the housing 3 and the surfaces 3 a and 5 a of the contact glass 5. The inclination direction of the bottom surface 21 a is a direction (CD direction) orthogonal to the front end side 5 e of the contact glass 5.
In addition, a pair of side surfaces 21b and 21c are formed at both ends in the width direction (AB direction) of the insertion recess 21 so as to stand vertically from the bottom surface 21a toward the top surface 3a of the housing 3. Each side surface 21b, 21c is formed to extend in a direction (CD direction) orthogonal to the front end side 5e of the contact glass 5.

Further, the other end portion 7c of the document pressing plate 7 located on the opposite side of the one end portion 7a connected to the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 is directed in the direction from the other end portion 7c of the document pressing plate 7 toward the one end portion 7a ( A notch 23 is formed which is recessed in the (C direction) and penetrates in the thickness direction of the document pressing plate 7. The notch 23 is formed at a position adjacent to the insertion recess 21 in the other end 7 c of the document pressing plate 7.
In a state where the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 is covered with the document pressing plate 7, a part of the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 is exposed to the outside through the notch 23. In this state, the other end portion 7c of the document pressing plate 7 adjacent to the notch portion 23 comes into contact with the upper surface 3a of the housing 3, and the cushion portion 17 is compressed and elastically deformed. For this reason, a gap S that opens toward the bottom surface 21 a is formed between the surface 7 b of the cushion portion 17 located adjacent to the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 and the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5. .

A method of reading image information of the card 31 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view smaller than the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 using the copying machine 1 configured as described above will be described below.
First, the card 31 is placed on the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 with the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 covered with the document pressing plate 7. In this state, the sides on both sides of the card 31 are in contact with the side surfaces 21 b and 21 c of the insertion recess 21. That is, the card 31 is restricted by these side surfaces 21b and 21c from moving in the direction (AB direction) along the front edge 5e of the contact glass 5, and moves only in the direction (CD direction) along the left edge 5c of the contact glass 5. can do.
Next, the card 31 disposed on the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 is moved in the C direction toward the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5, and the tip of the card 31 is inserted into the gap S. Therefore, when the card 31 is further moved in the C direction from this state, the card 31 is elastically deformed with the movement of the card 31, and the card 31 is moved to the surface 7b of the cushion portion 17 and the surface of the contact glass 5. It can be inserted into the gap with 5a.

  In the state where the entire card 31 is arranged on the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5, the card 31 is arranged in the vicinity of the left end side 5 c and the front end side 5 e of the contact glass 5. In this state, a part of the card 31 can be exposed to the outside through the notch 23 of the document pressing plate 7. That is, even when the card 31 is sandwiched between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7, it is possible to touch a part of the card 31 exposed outward with fingers.

  Thereafter, in a state where the card 31 is sandwiched between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7, the image reading unit 9 waits near the left end side 5 c of the contact glass 5 by pressing the print start key 19 a of the operation panel 19. The image information described on the surface 31a of the card 31 that contacts the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 is acquired while moving in the B direction from the position. In this case, it is preferable that the operation panel 19 is appropriately operated in advance to select a small paper size and set the scanning distance of the image reading unit 9 to be small.

As described above, after the acquisition of the image information is completed, the card 31 exposed outward from the notch 23 is moved in the D direction with fingers, and the card 31 is moved between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7. Take out from.
In the copying machine 1, when reading image information written on a paper document (not shown) larger than the card 31, the contact is made with the document pressing plate 7 opened with respect to the contact glass 5. A paper document is placed on the surface 5 a of the glass 5. Then, the document pressing plate 7 is rotated around the reference axis L 1 to cover the contact glass 5, and the operation panel 19 is operated to acquire image information of the paper document by the image reading unit 9.

As described above, according to the image reading apparatus 1, the card 31 can be sandwiched between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 without opening and closing the document pressing plate 7 with respect to the contact glass 5. Further, the positional deviation of the card 31 with respect to the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 can be prevented.
In addition, since the same image reading unit 9 can read the image information described on the small card 31 or the large paper document arranged on the surface 5a of the contact glass 5, the manufacturing cost of the copying machine 1 can be read. An increase can also be prevented.

Further, the card 31 can be smoothly moved from the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 to the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 by smoothly connecting the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 and the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5. Therefore, the card 31 can be easily inserted between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7.
Further, the side surfaces 21 b and 21 c of the insertion recess 21 are formed so as to extend from the upper surface 3 a of the housing 3 toward the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5, and therefore between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7. When the card 31 is inserted, the sides on both sides of the card 31 abut against the side surfaces 21b and 21c, and the card 31 can be moved only in the direction along the side surfaces 21b and 21c of the insertion recess 21. Therefore, the orientation of the card 31 on the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 can be easily set.

Further, by forming the notch 23 in the document pressing plate 7, even if the position and orientation of the card 31 on the contact glass 5 are shifted, the card 31 is moved by touching the exposed portion of the card 31 with fingers. Therefore, the position of the card 31 on the contact glass 5 can be easily corrected.
In addition, since a part of the card 31 arranged on the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 can be visually recognized through the notch 23, the card 31 is removed after the image reading by the image reading unit 9 is completed. It is possible to prevent forgetting.
Further, since the card 31 exposed outward from the notch 23 can be moved by a finger, the document pressing plate 7 can be moved from between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 without opening the document pressing plate 7 with respect to the contact glass 5. The card 31 can be easily taken out.

Further, since the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 is smoothly connected to the upper surface 3 a of the housing 3, the length of the card 31 in the insertion direction (CD direction) of the card 31 is the same as that of the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21. Even if it is larger than the length dimension, the card 31 can be smoothly moved toward the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 in a state where the card 31 is arranged over the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 and the bottom surface 21a of the insertion recess 21. it can. Therefore, the card 31 can be easily inserted between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7.
Further, since the insertion recess 21 is arranged in the vicinity of the left end side 5 c of the contact glass 5, when the card 31 is inserted between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 from the insertion recess 21. The card 31 can be arranged in the vicinity of the left end side 5c in the surface 5a of the contact glass 5. Therefore, the scanning distance of the image reading unit 9 waiting in the vicinity of the left end side 5c can be minimized, and the reading time of the image information of the card 31 can be shortened.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the width dimension between the pair of side surfaces 21b, 21c of the insertion recess 21 is equal to the width dimension of the card 31 is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 4, it may be larger than the width dimension of the card 31. In this case, the contact glass 5 is inserted by inserting the card 31 between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 with one side 21b of the insertion recess 21 in contact with one side 21b. The orientation of the card 31 with respect to the front surface 5a can be easily set. Further, as described above, by setting the width dimension between the side surfaces 21b and 21c of the concave portion 21 for insertion to be large, it becomes possible to insert cards 31 of various sizes.

  In the above embodiment, the gap S for inserting the card 31 is formed by arranging the other end 7c of the document pressing plate 7 so as to overlap the upper surface 3a of the housing 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a groove 25 that is recessed from the surface 7 b of the cushion portion 17 in the thickness direction is formed, and the groove 25 is opened toward the insertion recess 21. Good. Even in this configuration, the card 31 can be easily inserted from the insertion recess 21 toward the gap between the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5 and the bottom surface 25 a of the groove 25.

  Further, as described above, when the groove 25 is formed in the cushion portion 17, it is erected from the bottom surface 25 a of the groove 25 toward the surface 7 b of the cushion portion 17, and the side surfaces 21 b and 21 c of the insertion recess 21 are Side wall surfaces (side surfaces) 25b and 25c that form the same plane may be formed. In the case of this configuration, the card 31 can be inserted between the contact glass 5 and the document pressing plate 7 with one side of the card 31 in contact with the side surface 21b and the side wall surfaces 25b, 25c. Therefore, the orientation of the card 31 relative to the surface 5a of the contact glass 5 can be set more easily.

Further, the bottom surface 21a of the insertion recess 21 is smoothly connected to the surface 3a of the housing 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that it is smoothly connected to at least the surface 5a of the contact glass 5. . That is, the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 may be formed so as to form the same plane together with the surface 5 a of the contact glass 5, for example.
Further, the insertion recess 21 is formed so as to be recessed from the upper surface 3a of the housing 3. However, if there is no step between the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 and the surface 5a of the contact glass 5, it is not limited thereto. For example, a pair of ribs may be formed to protrude from the upper surface 3a of the housing 3, and the insertion recess 21 may be formed by the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 and the pair of ribs. In the case of this configuration, the bottom surface 21 a of the insertion recess 21 is constituted by a part of the upper surface 3 a of the housing 3.

  The insertion recess 21 is formed on the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 adjacent to the front end side 5e of the contact glass 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least the housing adjacent to the periphery of the contact glass 5. 3 may be formed on the upper surface 3a. That is, the insertion recess 21 may be formed on the upper surface 3a of the housing 3 adjacent to the left end side 5c or the right end side 5d of the contact glass 5, for example. However, considering that the standby position of the image reading unit 9 is in the vicinity of the left end side 5c of the contact glass 5, the insertion recess 21 is positioned adjacent to the left end side 5c of the contact glass 5 or the left end side 5c. Preferably, the contact glass 5 is formed at a position adjacent to the front end side 5e of the contact glass 5 located in the vicinity.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the copying machine 1 has been described, but any image reading device that acquires at least image information described in a document may be used. Therefore, the configuration of the present embodiment may be applied to, for example, a facsimile machine.
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the concrete structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a document pressing plate is closed with respect to contact glass in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is EE arrow sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a document pressing plate is closed with respect to contact glass in a copying machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is FF arrow sectional drawing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy machine (image reading device), 3 ... Housing, 3a ... Upper surface (front surface), 5 ... Contact glass, 5a ... Front surface, 5e ... Front end side (periphery) , 7... Document holding plate, 7 b... Surface, 7 c... The other end, 9... Image reading unit, 21... Recessed portion for insertion (insertion means), 21 a. , 21c ... side face, 23 ... notch, 25 ... groove, 25a ... bottom face, 25b, 25c ... side wall face (side face), 31 ... card, L1 ... reference axis

Claims (7)

A document is sandwiched between a plate-shaped contact glass disposed on the surface of the housing and a document pressing plate covering the contact glass, and placed on the surface of the contact glass by an image reading unit disposed inside the housing. An image reading apparatus for reading image information of a document,
An insertion means is provided on the surface of the casing adjacent to the periphery of the contact glass to insert a thin plate-like card from the surface of the casing toward the contact glass and the document pressing plate .
A groove recessed in the thickness direction of the document pressing plate from the surface of the document pressing plate facing the surface of the contact glass is formed at the end of the document pressing plate adjacent to the insertion means,
An image reading apparatus , wherein the groove opens toward the insertion means . The insertion means comprises a recess formed on the surface of the housing;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the recess is smoothly connected to a surface of the contact glass.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein at least one side surface of the concave portion erected vertically from the bottom surface is formed along an insertion direction of the card.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a bottom surface of the recess is smoothly connected to a surface of the housing.   The end of the document pressing plate adjacent to the insertion means is recessed in a direction along the surface of the document pressing plate facing the surface of the contact glass from the end, and in the thickness direction of the document pressing plate. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a notch that penetrates is formed. 6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the groove is formed in an elastically deformable cushion portion provided in the document pressing plate . 7. Any from the bottom of the groove flank of the groove vertically erected toward the surface of the document pressing plate, of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is formed along the insertion direction of the card whether the image reading device according to item 1.

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