JP4484734B2 - Support device, illumination device, scanning illumination device, document reading device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a support device that supports a lamp and a reflector, an illumination device that uses the support device, a scanning illumination device, a document reading device, and an image forming apparatus.

  In general, as shown in FIG. 14, an image reading apparatus having a scanning illumination device 100 that moves in the sub-scanning direction and illuminates a document is mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer (for example, a patent). Reference 1). Such a scanning illumination device 100 has an illumination device 101 for illuminating a document. The illumination device 101 includes a xenon lamp 103 which is a rod-shaped light source, a long reflector 105 and a mirror 106. There is known a system in which illumination is performed from both sides by direct light from the xenon lamp 103 and indirect light via the reflection surface of the reflector 105. The illumination device 101 is mounted on a frame 109 of a traveling body 107 called a carriage that can reciprocate in the sub-scanning direction.

  That is, a lamp holder 111 as a support device for supporting the xenon lamp 103 is provided at both ends of the xenon lamp 103 of the lighting device 100 (see FIG. 15), and the lamp holder 111 is a frame 109 of the traveling body 107. Are fixed with screws 113. The reflector 105 is disposed at a position facing a light emission window (opening) called an aperture of the xenon lamp 103, and is fixed to the frame 109 of the traveling body 107 with screws 115. The mirror 106 is inserted into a notch window formed in the frame 109 of the traveling body 107, and is attached by being elastically pressed by a leaf spring or the like.

  By the way, in recent years, a larger amount of light has been required as the speed of the image reading apparatus increases. In order to increase the amount of light with the xenon lamp 103, there are improvements in phosphors, an increase in input current, and the like.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the cross-sectional shape of the reflecting surface of the reflector 117 is configured by a curved surface such as an ellipse, and the light beam emitted from the lamp 119 is passed through the reflecting surface of the reflector 117 so that only the condensed light is obtained. By guiding the contact glass 121 to the original surface of the original, illumination with a high luminous flux density with a reduced irradiation area is possible. The purpose of using the reflector 117 having an elliptical reflecting surface is to reflect the elliptical reflecting surface of the reflector 117 by superimposing the light emitting point of the lamp 119 on the elliptical focal point and taking the other focal point as the original irradiation position. This is because the characteristic of an ellipse in which the emitted light beam is focused on the target document position is used.

JP 2004-30958 A

  However, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 14, the xenon lamp 103 and the reflector 105 are separately fixed to the traveling body 107 by screws 113 and 115, respectively. Therefore, the positional relationship between the xenon lamp 103 and the reflector 105 is changed. It was difficult to ensure high accuracy. The same applies to the lamp 119 and the reflector 117 shown in FIG. In this way, if the positional relationship between the lamp and the reflector cannot be secured with high accuracy, the light flux from the lamp and the reflector will not be collected, or the condensing position will shift and it will not be possible to obtain a high amount of light, There is a problem that the light flux density decreases.

  An object of the present invention is to obtain a support device, an illuminating device, a scanning illuminating device, an image reading device, and an image forming device that can prevent a decrease in the light flux density of light from a lamp source and a reflector.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes: a lamp; a reflector having a curved cross-sectional shape that reflects light from the lamp; and the lamp and the reflector . a in which the support device and a support member for supporting the support member comprises a reflector insert portion which the end of the reflector is inserted, and a lamp insertion portion which the end of the lamp is inserted, of the reflector The reflecting surface is formed in a curved line that forms a part of an ellipse, and the reflector insertion part and the lamp insertion part are positioned on a line where the center of the lamp inserted into the lamp insertion part connects the focal points of the ellipse. It is provided so that it may become such a positional relationship, It is a support apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the support device according to the first aspect, wherein the reflector insertion portion is provided with a reflection surface contact portion that contacts the reflection surface of the reflector. is there.

  According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the support device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the reflector insertion portion is provided with a back surface abutting portion that abuts on the back surface of the reflector. It is.

  The invention described in claim 4 is the invention described in claim 2 or 3, wherein a plurality of reflecting surface abutting portions are formed, and these abutting portions correspond to the reflecting surfaces of these abutting portions. The support device is characterized in that the curve connecting the contact points is provided so as to match the curved shape of the reflecting surface of the reflector.

The invention described in claim 5 is the invention described in claim 3 or 4 , wherein a plurality of back surface contact portions are formed, and these contact portions are defined as contact portions with respect to the back surface of these contact portions. The support device is characterized in that the connecting curve is provided so as to match the curved shape of the back surface of the reflector.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the support member is provided in a pair to support both end portions of the lamp and the reflector. The at least one reflector housing part of the member is a support device characterized in that a space of a predetermined interval is formed between the reflector housing part and the end face of the reflector inserted into the reflector housing part .

The invention described in claim 7 is the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a pair of support members are provided to support both ends of the lamp and the reflector, respectively. At least one lamp housing portion of the member is a support device characterized in that it is larger than the insertion portion of the lamp inserted into the reflector housing portion .

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the support device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the reflector is formed of a steel plate formed in a thin plate shape.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an illuminating device including the support device according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, wherein illumination is performed by light reflected from a reflector of the support device.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scanning illuminating device provided with the illuminating device according to the eleventh aspect, further comprising a carriage that can reciprocate in the sub-scanning direction.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the scanning illumination device according to the twelfth aspect, a document placement portion on which a document illuminated by illumination light from the scanning illumination device is placed, and reflected light from the document are coupled. An original reading device comprising an optical system for imaging.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the original reading device according to the thirteenth aspect.

  According to the present invention, the support member that supports the lamp and the reflector is provided with the reflector insertion portion into which the end portion of the reflector is inserted and the lamp insertion portion into which the end portion of the lamp is inserted. And the reflector can be defined almost uniquely. For this reason, the positional relationship between the lamp and the reflector can be ensured with high accuracy, and the light flux from the lamp and the reflector does not collect or the condensing position shifts and a high amount of light cannot be obtained. Can be prevented. As a result, it is possible to prevent the light flux density from being lowered.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a copying machine according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a copying machine (image forming apparatus) 40 includes an image reading apparatus 1 that reads an image of a document, and a printer device 41 that forms an image of the document read by the image reading apparatus 1 on a sheet. Have.

  The image reading apparatus 1 includes a scanner-shaped scanner housing 3 having a contact glass 2 on which an original is placed. Inside the scanner housing 3, a xenon lamp (hereinafter simply referred to as “lamp”) 4 formed in a columnar shape, a long arcuate plate shape, and the light from the lamp 4 is directed toward the original of the contact glass 2. The first carriage 6 on which the reflector 55 reflecting the light, the support device 56 (see FIG. 8) for supporting the lamps 4 and the reflector 55, and the illumination device 20 having the first mirror 5 inclined at approximately 45 ° are mounted. There is provided a second carriage 9 mounted with a second mirror 7 and a third mirror 8 which are inclined at an angle of 60 ° and in which the angles formed by the reflecting surfaces are orthogonal to each other and the reading optical axis is inverted by 180 °.

  The first carriage 6 and the second carriage 9 are arranged with the main scanning direction (perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1) as the longitudinal direction. Sliders 30 (see FIG. 8) are provided at the four corners of the lower surface of the first carriage 6. By bringing these four sliders 30 into contact with a rail (not shown), the first carriage 6 is moved in the sub-scanning direction (in FIG. 1). (Movable in the left-right direction). Although not particularly shown, the second carriage 9 is also provided so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction by bringing sliders provided at the four corners of the lower surface into contact with the rails.

  The first carriage 6 and the second carriage 9 in a state of waiting for the reading of the document image are positioned at the home position at the left end portion in FIG. 1, from which the first carriage 6 and the second carriage 9 are located. The reciprocating motion is performed at a speed ratio of 2: 1 along the sub-scanning direction. The lamp 4 has a light reflecting film that covers a side away from the contact glass 2 with the light reflecting surface in the axial direction so that a slit (aperture) is formed at a position facing the contact glass 2 although not shown. Is provided. This makes it possible to effectively use the light emitted from the lamp 4 and improve the utilization efficiency of the light irradiated toward the contact glass 2.

  Further, in the scanner housing 3, a sensor board on which a drive motor 10 by a stepping motor for reciprocating the first carriage 6 and the second carriage 9 in the sub-scanning direction and a line-shaped CCD 11 as a reading element are mounted. A unit 12, a lens block stay 14 on which the lens block 13 is mounted, a width sensor 15 and a length sensor 16 that are provided on the bottom surface 3 a of the scanner housing 3 and detect the size of the document placed on the contact glass 2 are provided. It has been.

The sensor board unit 12 and the lens block 13 are optical systems for forming an image of reflected light from the original. Also, the first carriage 6 on which the illumination device 20 is mounted, the second carriage 9 on which the second mirror 7 and the third mirror 8 are mounted, the drive motor 10 for driving these carriages 6, 9, each carriage 6, The illumination device 20, the second mirror 7, and the third mirror 8 are placed on the original surface by a rail (not shown) that movably supports 9, a timing belt and a flat belt (not shown) driven by the drive motor 10, and the like. The scanning illumination device 25 is configured to scan along the lines.

  On the other hand, in the printer device 41, a sheet feed tray 42 that stacks and holds sheet-like sheets or a manual feed tray 43 that receives manually fed sheets reaches a sheet discharge stacker 46 via a printer engine 44 and a fixing unit 45. A paper transport path 47 is formed. In the present embodiment, an electrophotographic printer engine 44 having a photosensitive member 48 as an image carrier and a charging member (not shown), an exposure device 50, a developing device 51, and a transfer device 52 arranged around the photosensitive member 48 is used. ing. In the printer device 41, a paper reversing mechanism 53 for reversing the paper on which an image is formed on one side is provided.

  In such a configuration, a document image read by the image reading device 1 is formed on the photosensitive member 48 by the printer device 41, developed by the developing device 51, and fed from the paper feed tray 42 or the manual feed tray 43. The toner image transferred to the paper after being transferred to the paper by the transfer device 52 is fixed by the fixing unit 45.

  Here, the support device 56 of the illumination device 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 8. As shown in FIGS. 3, 6, and 8, the support device 56 of the lighting device 20 includes one end portion at both ends of the lamp 4 formed in a columnar shape and the reflector 55 formed in a long arcuate plate shape. And a second support member 59 that supports the other ends of the lamp 4 and the reflector 55. The first support member 57 and the second support member 59 are paired in a state where they are arranged in parallel with each other in a state where the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are supported, and these pairs are parallel to each other. Two are provided to become. In other words, in the present embodiment, the lighting device 20 includes the two lamps 4 and the two reflectors 55 that are supported by the pair of the first support member 57 and the second support member 59, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first support member 57 includes a side wall 60 positioned outside when the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are supported, and a lamp insertion portion 61 that is supported by inserting one end of the lamp 4. And a reflector insertion portion 62 that is inserted and supported by the other end portion of the reflector 55.

  The lamp insertion portion 61 is composed of an upper wall 60a located at the upper portion of the side wall 60 in FIG. 2, and a peripheral wall 63 that protrudes perpendicularly to the wall surface of the upper wall 60a and has a substantially C-shaped cross section. ing. The lamp insertion portion 61 is formed in a substantially bottomed cylindrical shape by the upper wall 60a of the side wall 60 and the peripheral wall 63, and one end portion of the lamp 4 is inserted inside the lamp insertion portion 61. Specifically, the lamp 4 and the first support member 57 are set in advance in a lamp mounting jig, and after accurately positioning the aperture angle and the axial center of the lamp 4 and the first support member 57, the lamp insertion portion The lamp 4 is attached to the first support member 57 by injecting an adhesive into the joint between 61 and one end of the lamp 4. The adhesive preferably uses a non-conductive material. In this case, the adhesive serves to insulate and protect the solder portion between the lamp harness and the electrode of the lamp 4.

  In addition, the inner diameter of the peripheral wall 63 of the lamp insertion portion 4 is a loose dimension (a dimension that ensures a sufficient clearance) with respect to the outer diameter of one end of the lamp 4. In other words, the inner diameter of the peripheral wall 63 is larger than the outer diameter of one end of the lamp 4. This prevents the lamp 4 and the peripheral wall 63 from interfering with each other when the lamp 4 is inserted by the jig, and allows fine adjustment of the position of the lamp 4 with respect to the lamp insertion portion 61. Yes. Moreover, the opening part of the surrounding wall 63 of the lamp | ramp insertion part 61 is formed in the left side in FIG. 2, and becomes the harness extraction outlet 63a used at the time of pulling out the electric power feeding harness of the lamp | ramp 4. FIG. Further, in the vicinity of the lamp insertion portion 61, a harness support portion 64 that sandwiches and supports the power supply harness drawn from the harness outlet 63a is provided.

The reflector 55 inserted into the reflector insertion portion 62 is made of a steel plate formed in a thin plate shape, and is formed in a long arcuate plate shape as described above. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the reflecting surface 55 a of the reflector 55 is formed in a curved shape such that the cross-sectional shape forms a part of an ellipse. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the reflecting surface 55a of the reflector 55 is represented by an elliptic formula X ² / A ² + Y ² / B ² = 1, and its major axis a is inclined at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal line. It is formed in a curved shape that constitutes a part of the ellipse D1. In the above equation, A is the distance from the center O of the ellipse D1 to the intersection of the major axis a of the ellipse D1 and the ellipse D1, and B is the minor axis b of the ellipse D1 from the center O of the ellipse D1 and the ellipse D1. Is the distance to the intersection of

On the other hand, the back surface (non-reflective surface) 55b of the reflector 55 is similar to the reflective surface 55a.
The elliptical formula X ² / (A + t) ² + Y ² / (B + t) ² = 1, and the long axis “a” is curved so as to form a part of the ellipse D 2 inclined at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal line. Is formed. In the above formula, t is the thickness of the reflector 55.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, one end portion of the both ends of the reflector 55 inserted into the reflector insertion portion 62 of the first support member 57 is fitted into a positioning portion 73 of the reflector insertion portion 62 described later. A rectangular plate-shaped notch 55c and a retaining hole 55d through which the retaining screw 67 (see FIG. 3) is inserted are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the reflector insertion portion 62 into which one end of the reflector 55 having the above-described configuration is inserted protrudes perpendicularly to the lower wall 60 b located in the lower portion of the side wall 60 in FIG. 2 and the wall surface of the lower wall 60 b. And a peripheral wall 65 having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape. The reflector insertion portion 62 is formed in a substantially bottomed cylindrical shape by the lower wall 60b and the peripheral wall 65 of the side wall 60, and one end portion of the reflector 55 is inserted inside the reflector insertion portion 62.

  On the lower surface of the upper wall 65a constituting the peripheral wall 65, four reflecting surface abutting portions 66, 67, 68, 69 that abut against the reflecting surface 55a on the one end side of the reflector 55 inserted into the reflector inserting portion 62 are mutually connected. It is formed at intervals. The contact surfaces (contact points) 66a, 67a, 68a, 69a of the reflection surface contact portions 66, 67, 68, 69 with respect to the reflection surface 55a respectively constitute a part of the ellipse D1 shown in FIG. It is formed in a simple shape. In other words, the contact surfaces 66a, 67a, 68a, and 69a are formed so that the curve connecting them matches the curved shape of the reflection surface 55a of the reflector 55.

  By supporting the reflecting surface 55a of the reflector 55 by the reflecting surface abutting portions 66, 67, 68, and 69 having such a configuration, it is possible to perform good assembly and positioning that can prevent the reflector 55 from being deformed. . In addition, since the plurality of reflecting surface abutting portions 66, 67, 68, 69 are provided at intervals, the reflector 55 can be stably supported.

  Further, on the upper surface of the lower wall 65b constituting the peripheral wall 65, three back contact portions 70, 71, 72 that contact the back surface 55b of the reflector 55 inserted into the reflector insertion portion 62 are formed with a space therebetween. ing. The contact surfaces (contact portions) 70a, 71a, 72a of the back surface contact portions 70, 71, 72 with respect to the back surface 55b of the reflector 55 are each formed in a shape that forms part of the ellipse D2 shown in FIG. Is formed. In other words, the contact surfaces 70 a, 71 a, 72 a are formed so that the curve connecting them matches the curved shape of the back surface 55 b of the reflector 55.

  By supporting the back surface 55b of the reflector 55 by the back surface contact portions 70, 71, and 72 having such a configuration, it is possible to perform good assembly and positioning that can prevent the reflector 55 from being deformed. Moreover, since the several back surface contact parts 70, 71, 72 are provided mutually spaced apart, the reflector 55 can be supported stably.

  In addition, since the reflector 55 is sandwiched and supported by the reflecting surface contact portions 66, 67, 68, 69 and the back surface contact portions 70, 71, 72, deformation of the reflector 55 is more effectively prevented. In addition, the reflector 55 can be supported more stably. For example, when a thin high-gloss aluminum steel sheet having a thickness of about 0.5 to 0.7 mm is used as the material of the reflector 55, a phenomenon called a springback occurs in the pressing process for processing a curved cross-sectional shape. Even in such a case, the reflecting surface contact portions 66, 67, 68, 69 and the back surface contact portions 70, 71, 72 By sandwiching the reflector 55, the cross-sectional shape of the reflector 55 can be corrected to a target shape and size.

  Further, when the end portion of the reflector 55 is inserted into the lower wall 65b, a retaining screw 67 (see FIG. 3) is provided at a position so as to overlap with a retaining hole 55d formed at the end portion of the reflector 55. A screw insertion hole 65c to be inserted is formed.

  Further, in the lower wall 60b of the side wall 60, a rotation direction positioning part 73 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape protruding perpendicularly from the side wall 60 is formed at a portion below the contact part 66. By fitting the unevenness with the notch 55c of the reflector 55, the reflector 55 is positioned, and the attachment angle of the reflector 55 is accurately determined.

  Next, the configuration of the second support member 58 will be described. In the description thereof, the same portions as those of the first support member 57 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is simplified. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the second support member 58 is supported by inserting the other end portion of the lamp 4 into the lamp insertion portion 74 and supporting the other end portion of the reflector 55. And a reflector insertion portion 76.

  The lamp insertion part 74 has a peripheral wall 77 similar to the peripheral wall 63 of the lamp insertion part 61 of the first support member 57, and the other end of the lamp 4 is inserted inside the peripheral wall 77. In the lamp insertion portion 74, an opening 74a (see FIG. 7) is formed instead of forming the upper wall 60a as in the lamp insertion portion 61. In other words, the lamp insertion portion 74 is formed in a cylindrical shape having no bottom (wall surface) so as to have a degree of freedom to allow for the thermal expansion in the longitudinal direction of the lamp 4. Thereby, even when the lamp 4 is heated and thermally expanded due to the lamp being turned on for a long time, it is possible to prevent warping and distortion from occurring in the longitudinal direction, and to prevent the light collecting ability from being lowered. be able to.

  In this embodiment, an example in which the wall surface is eliminated from the lamp insertion portion 74 has been described, but instead, an upper wall 60a like the lamp insertion portion 61 is formed also in the lamp insertion portion 74. Also good. In this case, a space allowing the above-described expansion may be formed between the other end of the lamp 4 inserted into the lamp insertion portion 74 and the upper wall 60a.

  Further, the inner diameter of the peripheral wall 77 of the lamp insertion portion 74 is formed to have a dimension substantially equal to the outer diameter of the other end of the lamp 4 so as to support the outer periphery of the other end of the lamp 4. Moreover, the opening part of the surrounding wall 77 is formed in the upper side in FIG. 6, and becomes the harness extraction outlet 77a used when the power supply harness of the lamp 4 is pulled out.

  The reflector insertion portion 76 has a peripheral wall 78 similar to the peripheral wall 65 of the reflector insertion portion 62 of the first support member 57, and the other end portion of the reflector 55 is inserted inside this. In the reflector insertion portion 76, an opening 76a is formed instead of the lower wall 60b as in the reflector insertion portion 62. In other words, the reflector insertion portion 76 is formed in a cylindrical shape having no bottom (wall surface) so as to have a degree of freedom that allows thermal expansion in the longitudinal direction of the reflector 55. Accordingly, even when the reflector 55 is heated and thermally expanded due to the lamp being lit for a long time, it is possible to prevent warping and distortion from occurring in the longitudinal direction and to prevent the light collecting ability from being lowered. be able to. The reflector insertion portion 76 is formed with reflection surface contact portions 66, 67, 68, 69 and back surface contact portions 70, 71, 72 similar to the reflector insertion portion 62.

  In this embodiment, an example in which the wall surface is eliminated from the reflector insertion portion 76 has been described, but instead, a lower wall 60b like the reflector insertion portion 62 is formed in the reflector insertion portion 76 as well. Also good. In this case, it is only necessary to form a space allowing the above expansion between the other end of the reflector 55 inserted into the reflector insertion portion 76 and the lower wall 60b.

As shown in FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the frame of the first carriage 6, pairs two pairs of the first support member 57 and the second support member 59 as described above, the main scanning direction as the longitudinal direction The base members 90 are attached in parallel to each other. Specifically, one pair of the first support member 57 and the second support member 59 to which the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are attached and the other pair of the first support member 57 and the second support member 59 are a base member. 90, each of the reflecting surfaces 55a of the reflectors 55 supported by the support members 57 and 59 is fixed by screws 80 so as to face each other. Then, the base member 90 is fixed by screws 80 to the frame of the first carriage 6. Therefore, at both ends of the lighting device 20, one pair of first support members 57 and the other pair of second support members 58 are arranged in parallel.

  In such a configuration, when the first carriage 6 is reciprocated in the sub-scanning direction, the first carriage 6 is mounted on the contact glass 2 by direct light from each lamp 4 of the illumination device 20 and indirect light via the reflecting surface of each reflector 55. The document surface of the placed document is illuminated.

  Here, FIG. 9 shows a test result of ray tracing by cross-sectional simulation of the illumination device 20 in which the cross-sectional shape of the reflector 55 and the mounting accuracy between the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are set high by the support device 56 of the present embodiment. As is apparent from FIG. 9, the result of the light flux emitted from the aperture of the lamp 4 being condensed at one condensing point A by the reflector 55 that is close to the ideal sectional shape (that is, not deformed). It can be seen that the light is efficiently collected on the document surface.

  FIG. 10 shows data actually measured on a trial basis. That is, FIG. 10 shows a state in which the illuminance meter is placed on the document placement surface of the contact glass 2 and the first carriage 5 on which the illumination device 20 of the present embodiment is mounted is reciprocated in the sub-scanning direction. The result of measuring the illuminance is shown. As can be seen from FIG. 10, a high amount of light can be obtained because the light flux is condensed at high density at the target position (sub-scanning 0 position in FIG. 10).

  On the other hand, when the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are separately fixed as in the prior art, the reflector 55 is deformed (springback) or the like as shown in FIG. It can be seen that the irradiation area (width) is large because it goes to the original surface without being well condensed.

  Further, as a result of measuring the illuminance in the sub-scanning direction using the first carriage 6 using the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 fixed by the conventional fixing method, as shown in FIG. Two condensing points B and C occurred at positions shifted from the sub-scanning 0 position in FIG. As a result, the irradiation range was wide and the light flux density was low, so the amount of light did not increase and a high amount of light could not be obtained. In this way, when the irradiation width becomes wide, not only a high amount of light cannot be obtained, but also the information other than the actually required reading width of the original is illuminated at the same time. The sensor will read. Problems that actually occur in such a state are, for example, poor image density and non-reproduction of low-contrast characters.

  On the other hand, when the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 are supported by the support device 56 of the present embodiment, the positional accuracy of the lamp 4 and the reflector 55 can be improved and the cross-sectional shape of the reflector 55 can be accurately maintained. In addition to improving the illumination efficiency, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the reproducibility of poor image density and low contrast characters.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  For example, instead of the support device 56 of the above embodiment, a support device 81 as shown in FIG. 13 may be used. That is, the support device 81 includes a pair of third support members 82 that support the two lamps 4 and the two reflectors 55. Among the pair of third support members 82, one third support member 82 has a lamp insertion portion 85 similar to the lamp insertion portion 61 of the first support member 57 such that the respective harness outlets 85 a face each other. The reflector insertion portions 86 similar to the reflector insertion portions 62 of the first support member 57 are respectively provided below the lamp insertion portions 85, and the reflecting surfaces of the reflectors 55 supported by the reflector insertion portions 62 are respectively provided below the lamp insertion portions 85. 55a are formed in parallel so as to face each other. Further, although not particularly shown in the other third support member 82, a lamp insertion portion similar to the lamp insertion portion 74 of the second support member 58 and a reflector insertion of the second support member 58 are inserted into the support member 82. A reflector insertion portion similar to the portion 76 is formed in the same positional relationship as that of the one support member 82.

  In the above-described embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the same effects can be obtained when applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a FAX.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image forming apparatus. It is a perspective view of the 1st supporting member concerning this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a lamp and a reflector are supported on a first support member of FIG. 2. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the one end part of a reflector. It is sectional drawing which shows the 1st supporting member of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state by which the lamp | ramp and the reflector were supported by the 2nd support member concerning this Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the 2nd supporting member of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state in which the 1st support member of FIG. 2 and the 2nd support member of FIG. 6 were attached to the 1st carriage. It is a figure which shows the result of the ray tracing by the cross-sectional simulation of the illuminating device concerning this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the result of having measured the illumination intensity of the subscanning direction when a 1st carriage is driven using the illuminating device concerning this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the result of the ray tracing by the cross-sectional simulation of the conventional illuminating device. It is a figure which shows the result of having measured the illumination intensity of the subscanning direction when a 1st carriage is driven using the conventional illuminating device. It is a perspective view which shows the supporting member concerning a modification. It is a figure which shows the conventional scanning illumination apparatus schematically. It is a figure which shows the lamp | ramp and lamp holder of FIG. It is a figure which shows the conventional illuminating device schematically.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reader 4 Xenon lamp 6 1st carriage 20 Illumination device 25 Scanning illumination device 40 Copying machine (image forming apparatus)
55 Reflector 56, 81 Support device 57 First support member 59 Second support member 61, 74, 85 Lamp insertion part 62, 76, 86 Reflector insertion part 66, 67, 68 Reflecting surface contact part 66a, 67a, 68a, 70a , 71a, 72a Contact surface (contact point)
70, 71, 72 Back contact portion 82 Third support member

Claims (12)

A support device comprising a lamp, a reflector having a curved cross-sectional shape and a reflecting surface that reflects light from the lamp, and a support member that supports the lamp and the reflector;
The support member includes a reflector insertion portion into which the end portion of the reflector is inserted, and a lamp insertion portion into which the end portion of the lamp is inserted,
The reflecting surface of the reflector is formed in a curved shape that forms a part of an ellipse, and the reflector insertion portion and the lamp insertion portion form a focal point of the ellipse at the center of the lamp inserted into the lamp insertion portion. A support device provided so as to have a positional relationship such that it is positioned on a line.   The support device according to claim 1, wherein the reflector insertion portion is provided with a reflection surface contact portion that contacts the reflection surface of the reflector.   The support device according to claim 1, wherein the reflector insertion portion is provided with a back surface contact portion that contacts the back surface of the reflector.   A plurality of reflecting surface abutting portions are formed, and these abutting portions are provided so that the curve connecting the abutting portions of these abutting portions with respect to the reflecting surface matches the curved shape of the reflecting surface of the reflector. The support device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein A plurality of back surface abutting portions are formed, and these abutting portions are provided so that the curve connecting the abutting portions of these abutting portions with respect to the back surface matches the curved shape of the back surface of the reflector. The support device according to claim 3 or 4 .   A pair of support members are provided to support both ends of the lamp and the reflector, and at least one of the reflector storage portions of these support members is between the end face of the reflector inserted into the reflector storage portion. The support device according to claim 1, wherein a space having a predetermined interval is formed.   A pair of support members are provided to support both end portions of the lamp and the reflector, and at least one of the lamp housing portions of these support members is larger than the insertion portion of the lamp inserted into the reflector housing portion. The support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the support device is formed. Reflector support device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is constituted by a steel sheet which is formed into a thin plate. An illumination device comprising the support device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein illumination is performed by light reflected from a reflector of the support device. A scanning illumination device comprising the carriage provided with the illumination device according to claim 9 and reciprocally movable in a sub-scanning direction. A scanning illumination device according to claim 10 , a document placement portion for placing a document illuminated by illumination light from the scanning illumination device, and an optical system for imaging reflected light from the document. An original reading apparatus characterized by comprising: An image forming apparatus comprising the document reading device according to claim 11 .

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