JP4990744B2 - Image forming apparatus and image reading apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus including a contact glass on which a document is placed or a document surface is moved in order to read image information of the document , and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus .

  An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile apparatus is usually provided with a document reading unit that reads an image of a document on the top of the apparatus body. The document image information read by the document reading unit is subjected to a predetermined image forming process in an image forming unit connected to the lower part of the document reading unit. The toner image obtained as a result of the image forming process is subjected to a printing process for paper fed from the paper feed unit. The paper after the printing process is subjected to a toner image fixing process and then discharged to the outside.

  The document reading unit is a contact glass on which a document mounted on a top plate of a reading unit body having a flat box shape is placed or passed (a contact glass on which a document is placed is referred to as a document placement glass). The contact glass through which the original passes is called automatic reading glass), the original pressing member that holds the original on the contact glass, and the original on the contact glass by irradiating the original surface on the contact glass with the reflected light. And an optical system device for reading an image.

  If the document is a document for placement, the document pressing member is opened to expose the contact glass, the document is placed on the document glass for placement, and then the document pressing member is closed and pressed. Press the button. Thus, the optical system device is driven, and the original image on the original surface is read by the optical system device.

In order to optically read an original image, light from a light source is applied to the original surface through a contact glass, and the reflected light is input to an image sensor equipped with a CCD (charge coupled device). The image sensor converts analog image information into a digital electrical signal. In this case, since it is necessary for the reflected light to be properly input to the CCD without being confused by disturbance, for example, in Patent Document 1, a black paint is applied to the surface of the substrate around the CCD, and the reflected light is reflected here. The light is not generated.
Microfilm of Japanese Utility Model No. 1-7363 (Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2-98554)

  By the way, the top plate of the document reading unit main body is generally colored in a light color such as white or light gray. Accordingly, when a document is placed on the contact glass, it is difficult to distinguish between the white color of the document and the coloring of the top plate, and thereby the document is placed quickly and accurately at a predetermined position on the contact glass. It had the problem that it was difficult.

  Also, if the top plate is light, the light from the light source that is emitted when the document holding member is closed is reflected by the back surface of the document holding member, and the reflected light illuminates the top plate so that the top plate is abnormally bright. There is also the inconvenience of shining and dazzling.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and makes it easy to visually recognize a document placed on the contact glass, thereby placing the document on the contact glass quickly and appropriately. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and an image reading apparatus that can prevent the occurrence of inconveniences that cause glare during work.

An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes an image reading unit that reads image information of a document, and a predetermined image forming unit that is connected to a lower portion of the image reading unit, based on the image information read by the image reading unit. An image forming unit that performs processing, and the image reading unit is mounted on the contact glass and an image reading unit main body including a contact glass on which an original is placed with a document surface facing down. An openable and closable document pressing member that presses the document, and an optical system member that optically scans the document surface of the document placed on the contact glass and reads it as a document image. has a top plate having an opening for fitting the contact glass, the interior may be viewed through the contact glass is colored in a dark color, the top plate has a feature that the surface is colored in the dark Is shall.

  According to such a configuration, since the top plate around the contact glass is colored in a dark color, the color between the dark top plate and the light-colored document is set with the document placed on the contact glass. Therefore, it is possible to quickly determine whether or not the original is placed properly.

  Further, when closing the document pressing member with the document placed on the contact glass, the light source provided in the image reading unit usually emits light, and this light is reflected on the back side of the document pressing member to illuminate the top plate. Although the irradiation light is absorbed by the dark color of the top plate and light reflection does not occur on the top plate, there is an inconvenience that the reflected light becomes dazzling when the document pressing member is closed. Is prevented.

Further, since the inside of the image reading unit main body that can be visually recognized through the contact glass is colored in a dark color, the reflected light from various places of the light emitted from the light source is applied to the contact glass inside the image reading unit main body. Therefore, the reflected light is prevented from entering the user's eyes through the contact glass and causing the user to feel dazzling.

The said structure WHEREIN: It is desirable for the upper surface of the said top plate to have a satin finish.

  According to such a configuration, the reflected light of the light from the light source that has reached the top plate is irregularly reflected on the top plate that has been subjected to the satin finish, the direction is not determined, and the intensity is also weakened. Is reduced.

In the above configuration , the document pressing member feeds the document tray one by one from the document tray on which the document bundle is placed and the document stack on the document tray to the automatic paper feeding glass. And an automatic document feeder for placing a document, and a glass for automatically feeding a document automatically fed from the document feeder. It is desirable to provide.

  According to such a configuration, particularly when automatically reading an image of each original in a bundle of documents in which a plurality of documents are stacked, by placing the sheet bundle on the document tray and driving the automatic document feeder, The originals are automatically fed out one by one from the original stack on the original tray, and the original image is read when passing through the automatic paper feeding glass of the contact glass. Compared with the case where the original images are read one by one on the glass, the original images of a plurality of originals can be read extremely efficiently.

An image reading apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes an image reading unit main body provided with a contact glass on which an original is placed on an upper surface, and an openable / closable original presser for pressing the original placed on the contact glass. And an optical system member that optically scans a document surface of a document placed on the contact glass and reads it as a document image, and the image reading unit body includes an opening into which the contact glass is fitted. The inside which can be visually recognized through the said contact glass is colored in a deep color, and the surface of the said top plate is colored in the deep color.

According to the image forming apparatus or the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, the top plate around the contact glass on the upper surface of the image reading unit main body is colored in a dark color, so that a document is placed on the contact glass As a result, color shading is formed between the dark top and the light original on the contact glass, which makes it possible to quickly determine whether or not the original is properly placed. As a result, it is possible to improve the workability of the copying operation, and it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that the toner image on the discharged paper is inclined.

  In addition, when closing the document holding member with the document placed on the contact glass, it is also effective to generate inconvenience that the reflected light from various places of the light from the light source is further reflected on the top plate and becomes dazzling. Can be prevented.

  In addition, when dust is attached to the contact glass, the dust is noticeable in contrast with the surrounding dark color, so that the dust is immediately removed and image defects due to the presence of dust are eliminated. be able to.

  In addition, the generation of so-called flare light, in which reflected light of the light from the light source is input to the CCD (charge coupled device) of the image sensor, is effectively suppressed by the surrounding dark color, and thus is caused by the flare light. Thus, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that erroneous image information is captured.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a state in which a document pressing member 13 is closed, and FIG. 1B shows a document pressing member. 13 shows the opened state. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIA-IIA in FIG. 1A, and a line IIB-IIB in FIG. It is sectional drawing. 1 and 2, the XX direction is referred to as the width direction, and the YY direction is referred to as the front-rear direction. In particular, the -X direction is leftward, the + X direction is rightward, the -Y direction is forward, and the + Y direction is forward. It is called the back.

  As shown in these drawings, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a document reading unit 20 that reads an image formed on a document, an image forming unit 30 provided below the document reading unit 20, and the document reading unit 20. An operation unit 40 provided at a portion projecting forward from the front position of the paper, and a paper discharge unit 50 from which the printed paper P is discharged by the image forming unit 30 performing image forming processing. It has the basic composition provided with.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is formed by interior of the respective parts in a predetermined housing 11. The casing 11 is an image reading section casing (image reading section main body) 12 having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape for housing an optical system unit (optical system member) 23 described later, which is a component of the document reading section 20. And an original document feeder 13 which is stacked on the upper part of the image reading unit housing 12 so as to be openable and closable, and an automatic document feeder unit which will be described later and is formed on the document holder 13. 14 and an image forming unit housing (image forming unit main body) 15 formed below the image reading unit housing 12 so as to house the image forming unit 30 therein. The automatic document feeder housing 14 is provided at a substantially left half position of the document pressing member 13.

  Between the image reading unit housing 12 and the image forming unit housing 15, there is provided a connecting unit 16 having a U shape in a plan view in a state where three sides are surrounded except for the front. In the present embodiment, the connecting portion 16 is formed by extending three sides excluding the front of the image forming unit casing 15 upward. The paper discharge unit 50 is formed between the automatic document supply unit housing 14 and the image forming unit housing 15 via the connecting unit 16. Accordingly, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is referred to as an in-body discharge type.

  In this embodiment, the conveyance direction of the original P1 in the original reading unit 20 and the conveyance direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 are set so as to be orthogonal to each other. Specifically, as indicated by a two-dot chain line arrow in FIG. 1A, the document P1 is conveyed in the left-right direction, while the paper P is conveyed in the front-rear direction.

  This is done for the following reason. That is, when the user places the document P1 on the document tray 22 at the top of the casing 11, the placement state (particularly whether or not the leading end of the document bundle is surely positioned at the mounting position) is visually recognized. Is more convenient when the document P1 is oriented sideways as viewed from the user. On the other hand, in the case of the in-body discharge type paper discharge unit 50, it is convenient for the paper P to be discharged toward the user to pull out the bundle of the paper P from the paper discharge unit 50. In order to satisfy both of these conditions, in the present embodiment, the transport direction of the paper P and the transport direction of the paper P are orthogonal.

  The document reading unit 20 is an automatic document supply unit on which an automatic document supply unit 21 that automatically supplies a document to a predetermined image reading position and a bundle of documents P1 to be supplied to the automatic document supply unit 21 are placed. A document tray 22 extending obliquely upward from the right side opening of the unit 21 to the right, and an optical system unit 23 for optically reading a document image from each document supplied by the automatic document supply unit 21. It has.

  The image reading unit housing 12 is fitted with a contact glass 24 for bringing the image forming surface of the document into contact with a rectangular upper opening. As shown in FIG. 1B, the contact glass 24 is arranged on the left side of the placed original glass 241 that substantially covers the center of the upper surface of the image reading unit housing 12 and the placed original glass 241. And an automatically fed document glass 242 elongated in the front-rear direction.

  On the other hand, the document pressing member 13 is connected at its rear edge to the upper surface of the rear edge of the image reading unit housing 12 via a pair of left and right hinge members 131 and rotates forward and backward about each hinge shaft 132. Thus, the posture can be changed between a closed posture (see FIG. 1A) where the contact glass 24 is closed and an open posture (see FIG. 1B) where the contact glass 24 is opened.

  For example, when reading a document image of a thick document P1 such as a book document, the document P1 is placed on the document glass 241 so that the document surface is in close contact with the document pressing member 13 open. Thereafter, an original image is read by the optical system unit 23 in a state where the original pressing member 13 is closed.

  On the other hand, when reading the original image of each original P1 from the bundle of originals P1 made of sheet paper, the original bundle is in the state where the original pressing member 13 is set to the closed posture (FIG. 1A). It is placed on the tray 22 and the start button 43 is pushed in this state. As a result, the original P1 is fed out from the original bundle on the original tray 22 one by one toward the automatic paper supply original glass 242 by a predetermined operation of the automatic original supply unit 21, and the original surface is on the automatic paper supply original glass 242. The original image is read by the optical system unit 23 when passing through.

  Hereinafter, the optical system unit 23 will be described with reference to FIG. The optical system unit 23 is a so-called CCD (charge coupled device) moving type, and includes a moving frame 230 that moves in the left-right direction, an irradiation lamp 231 that is built in the moving frame 230, and the irradiation lamp. From a plurality of reflection mirrors 232 that further reflect the reflected light from the document surface of the light emitted from 231, the lens unit 234 that adjusts the focal length by collecting the reflected light from these reflection mirrors 232, and the lens unit 234 And a CCD image sensor 235 for converting image information from the incident light into an electrical signal. The irradiation lamp 231 is provided in an upper part of the moving frame 230 at a position slightly to the right of the center position in the left-right direction.

  The reflection mirror 232 is provided at the right half position in the movable frame 230, and the first mirror 232a that receives and reflects the reflected light from the original P1 of the light irradiated by the irradiation lamp 231 first, and the first mirror 232a. Three mirrors are used: a second mirror 232b that receives and reflects the reflected light from the mirror 232a, and a third mirror 232c that further reflects the reflected light from the second mirror 232b and enters the lens unit 234. . The third mirror 232c is formed by a concave mirror in particular, and the lens unit 234 is positioned at the focal position.

  The lens unit 234 is provided at a substantially central position of the image reading unit housing 12, and the CCD image sensor 235 is provided at a substantially central position in the front-rear direction and immediately to the left of the lens unit 234. The light condensed by the lens unit 234 is output to the CCD image sensor 235 as it is. Then, the CCD image sensor 235 receiving the light from the lens unit 234 converts the light into an electric signal corresponding to the intensity and digitizes it, and then exposes the image forming unit 30 via a predetermined storage device. Output to the device 315.

  In the optical system unit 23, a moving mechanism 25 for moving the moving frame 230 is provided. The moving mechanism 25 includes a drive motor 251 installed on the bottom plate 121 at the right end in the image reading unit housing 12, a gear mechanism 252 that transmits the driving force of the drive motor 251 in a decelerated state, and the gear A driving pulley 253 to which the driving force of the driving motor 251 is transmitted via the mechanism 252, a driven pulley 254 disposed opposite to the driving pulley 253 at the left end position of the bottom plate 121, and between the driven pulley 254 and the driving pulley 253. And a scanner belt 255 stretched around. A part of the scanner belt 255 is fixed at an appropriate position of the moving frame 230 of the optical system unit 23.

  According to the moving mechanism 25, by driving the drive motor 251 in the forward / reverse direction, this drive is transmitted to the drive pulley 253 in a decelerated state via the gear mechanism 252, and thereby the drive pulley 253 and the driven pulley of the scanner belt 255. The optical system unit 23 fixed to the scanner belt 255 is moved forward and backward by the circulation between the 254.

  Accordingly, when reading the document surface of the document P1 placed on the placed document glass 241, the moving frame 230 is rotated around the scanner belt 255 by the drive motor 251 so that the moving frame 230 is positioned at the left end in the image reading unit housing 12. The image of the document P1 on the placed document glass 241 is scanned with the light from the irradiation lamp 231 while being moved rightward from the unit (home position), and the CCD image sensor 235 is reflected via reflected light by the scanning. Is input to read the original image.

  On the other hand, when the original P1 is automatically fed out one by one from the bundle of originals P1 placed on the original tray 22 and the image of each original P1 is read, first, the moving frame 230 stops at the home position. Will be left. In this state, the automatic document feeder 21 is driven to feed the originals P1 one by one from the original bundle, and the irradiation lamp 231 is set at the timing when the original surface of the original P1 faces the automatic paper supply original glass 242. Illuminated. Then, when the document surface sequentially passes through the automatic paper feeding document glass 242, the document image is read by the CCD image sensor 235 with the reflected light of the light from the irradiation lamp 231.

  Next, the outline of the image forming unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming unit 30 includes a transfer unit 31 that transfers a document image read by the document reading unit 20 to a sheet as a toner image, a fixing unit 32 that fixes a toner image of the sheet transferred by the transfer unit 31, and A sheet storage section 33 that stores sheets fed toward the transfer section 31 is formed in the image forming section casing 15 having a box shape.

  The transfer unit 31 includes a photosensitive drum 311 in which an electrostatic image and a toner image are sequentially formed on the peripheral surface, a registration roller pair 312 that feeds paper to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 at a timing, and a photosensitive member. A developing unit 313 for supplying toner to the peripheral surface of the drum 311;

  Then, on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 that is uniformly charged by the charger 314 while rotating around the axis, an image of the original that is read by scanning with the optical system unit 23 and stored in the storage device Laser light based on information is emitted from the exposure device 315, whereby electrostatic images are sequentially formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311, and the electrostatic image is developed from the developing device 313 on the downstream side of the scanning light irradiation position. Is supplied, a toner image is formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311. The toner image on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 311 is transferred to the paper P fed through the registration roller pair 312.

  The fixing unit 32 performs a fixing process on the transfer image of the paper P on which the toner image is transferred by the photosensitive drum 311 in the transfer unit 31. The fixing unit 32 includes a fixing roller 321 in which an energizing heating element such as a halogen lamp is internally provided, and a pressure roller 322 arranged to face the fixing roller 321 at a lower portion.

  Then, the sheet P conveyed from the transfer unit 31 by the driving rotation of the photosensitive drum 311 is fed between the fixing roller 321 and the pressure roller 322, and is heated by the fixing roller 321 so that a toner image is formed. It is fixed on the paper P. The paper P that has passed through the fixing unit 32 passes through a carry-out path 34 provided at the most downstream end, and is discharged from the paper discharge port 35 toward the paper discharge unit 50.

  The paper storage unit 33 includes a paper cassette 331 that is detachably attached to the image forming unit housing 15, and one end of the paper cassette 331 (the front end in the example shown in FIG. 2B). And a pickup roller 332 provided corresponding to the above. By the rotation of the pickup roller 332, the uppermost one of the bundles of sheets P loaded in the sheet cassette 331 is sequentially fed out and fed toward the transfer unit 31.

  Then, the paper P led out from the paper cassette 331 via the pickup roller 332 is conveyed via the registration roller pair 312, and the toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 311 is transferred to the paper P. Subsequently, the fixing unit 32 fixes the toner image. After the heat fixing process by the roller 321, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge port 35 to the paper discharge tray 51 of the paper discharge unit 50 through the carry-out path 34.

  In addition, a paper manual feed unit 60 is provided at a front position of the image forming unit housing 15. The manual paper feed unit 60 includes an openable and closable manual feed tray 61 and a pickup roller 62 that takes in the paper P placed on the open manual feed tray 61 and feeds the paper P toward the transfer unit 31.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 40 includes an operation unit case 41 formed by projecting the front edge portion of the image reading unit case 12 toward the front, and the operation unit case. An operation panel 42 formed on the upper surface of the body 41 is provided. The operation panel 42 is provided with operation members such as a start button 43, various operation buttons 44, and a display 45 including a (Liquid crystal display) LCD for displaying various information for image formation on the screen. A specific image forming process is executed by operating or visually recognizing these operation members.

  In the image forming apparatus 10 configured as described above, in the present embodiment, the top plate 122 of the image reading unit housing 12 is colored in a dark color that is darker than the color of other portions. In the present embodiment, the outer surfaces of the document pressing member 13, the automatic document feeder housing 14, and the image forming unit housing 15 are all colored in a light cream color or a bright color such as gray, while The plate 122 is set to a dark color which is a dark color. The color of the dark color is not limited. For example, red may be dark red, and blue may be dark blue. The most preferable dark color is black.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper surface of the image reading unit housing 12 for explaining the deeply colored top plate 122. FIG. 3A shows the original P1 on the placed original glass 241. FIG. 3B shows a state in which the document P1 is placed on the placed document glass 241 at an angle. The direction display by X and Y in FIG. 3 is the same as in FIG. 1 (X is the left-right direction (−X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-rear direction (−Y: forward, + Y: rearward). )).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the top plate 122 has a large opening 123 formed by opening a central portion of the top plate 122 in a substantially rectangular shape that is substantially similar to the shape of the image reading unit housing 12 in plan view. An elongated small opening 124 is provided in the front-rear direction and is opened to the left of the large opening 123. At the edge of the large opening 123, an annular support edge 123a formed with a step which is lowered by one step is formed, and at the edge of the small opening 124, a step which is lowered by one step is formed. An annular support edge 124a formed is provided.

  The document glass 241 described above is fitted in the large opening 123 while being supported by the annular support edge 123a on the large opening 123 side, and the automatic document feeding glass 242 is disposed on the small opening 124 side. Is fitted into the small opening 124 in a state of being supported by the annular support edge 124a.

  A scale 125 is attached to the rear edge of the placed original glass 241 over the entire length in the left-right direction. The scale 125 is provided with a scale indicating the paper size of the original P1, such as A4 and B5, starting from the upper left corner, and the user refers to these scales and places the original P1 on the original. It is placed on the glass 241 for use.

  In addition, an elongated portion between the automatic document feeder 21 and the automatically fed document glass 242 has an automatic feed document glass from the document tray 22 (FIGS. 1 and 2) via the automatic document feeder 21. A long guide strip 126 is pasted in the front-rear direction for guiding the document P1 supplied on 242 to the upper surface of the document pressing member 13.

  In the present embodiment, the density of the entire upper surface of the top plate 122 is set to a dark color (in this embodiment, a slightly lighter gray than black), and the scale 125 and the guide strip 126 are also the same dark color. It is colored.

  Therefore, when the original P1 is turned upside down and placed on the placed original glass 241 so that the original surface faces downward, the white color on the back side of the original P1 and the dark color of the top plate 122 are distinct. Because the contrast is formed, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the original P1 is placed obliquely as shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, so-called satin treatment is performed in which fine irregularities are formed on the top surface of the top plate 122. Accordingly, since the reflected light from the back surface of the document pressing member 13 irradiated toward the surface of the top plate 122 is irregularly reflected, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that the user feels dazzled by the reflected light.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, a portion (specifically, the inner wall surface of the image reading unit casing 12, which is inside the image reading unit casing 12 and can be visually recognized through the contact glass 24). The inner surface side of the bottom plate 121 and the surface side of the moving frame 230 of the optical system unit 23) are also colored deeply. By doing so, the reflected light at various places of the light emitted from the irradiation lamp 231 is absorbed by dark colors such as the inner wall surface of the image reading unit housing 12, thereby allowing the user to inside the image reading unit housing 12. It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of inconvenience that makes the user feel dazzled by the reflected light from.

  As described above in detail, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention is connected to the document reading unit 20 that reads the image information of the document P1 and the lower part of the document reading unit 20, and the document reading unit 20 reads the image information. And an image forming section 30 that performs a predetermined image forming process based on the image information.

  The document reading unit 20 includes an image reading unit housing 12 having a contact glass 24 on which the document P1 is placed with the document surface facing down, and an open / close for pressing the document P1 placed on the contact glass 24. The image reading unit main body includes a possible document pressing member 13 and an optical system unit 23 that optically scans the document surface of the document P1 placed on the contact glass 24 and reads the document image as a document image. A top plate 122 having an opening into which the contact glass is fitted is provided. The top plate 122 is colored with a dark surface.

  According to such a configuration, in the state where the document P1 is placed on the contact glass 24, color shading is formed between the dark top plate 122 and the light document P1 on the contact glass 24, thereby the document. It is possible to quickly determine whether or not the placement state of P1 is appropriate. As a result, the workability of the copying operation can be improved, and the toner image on the discharged paper is slanted. Such inconvenience can be effectively prevented.

  Further, when closing the document pressing member 13 with the document P1 placed on the contact glass 24, the light source provided in the document reading unit 20 usually emits light, and this light is reflected on the back side of the document pressing member 13. Although the top plate 122 is irradiated, the irradiation light is absorbed by the dark color of the top plate 122 and no reflection of light on the top plate 122 occurs. Therefore, the reflected light is reflected when the document pressing member 13 is closed. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of inconvenience such as dazzling.

  Further, since the top surface of the top plate 122 is subjected to a satin finish, the reflection of light from the light source that has reached the top plate 122 is weakly reflected and weakened on the top plate 122 subjected to the finish. The dazzle can be effectively reduced.

  Further, since the inside of the image reading unit main body that can be visually recognized through the contact glass 24 is colored in dark color, the reflected light from various places of the light emitted from the irradiation lamp 231 is contacted inside the image reading unit housing 12. It is absorbed in the dark color of the part which can be visually recognized through the glass 24, and this can effectively prevent the reflected light from entering the user's eyes through the contact glass 24 and making the user feel dazzling.

  Further, the document pressing member 13 is provided with an automatic document feeder 21 for feeding the originals P1 one by one from the bundle of originals P1 on the original tray 22 on which the bundle of originals P1 is placed. The contact glass 24 includes a placed original glass 241 for placing the original P1 and an automatic paper feeding glass 242 for the original P1 automatically fed from the automatic original feeder 21.

  Therefore, particularly when automatically reading an image of each document P1 of a document bundle in which a plurality of documents P1 are stacked, by placing the sheet bundle on the document tray 22 and driving the automatic document feeder 21, Since the original P1 is automatically fed out one by one from the original bundle on the original tray 22 and the image of the original P1 is read when passing through the automatic paper feeding glass 242 of the contact glass 24, one original P1 is read. Compared to the case where the original images are read one by one on the original document glass 241 one by one, the original images of a plurality of originals P1 can be read very efficiently.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes the following contents.

  (1) In the above embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus 10. However, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus 10 being a copying machine, and may be a printer. There may be a facsimile machine. The image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to monochrome printing, and may be capable of color printing. Further, the image forming apparatus may be a so-called multi-function peripheral (MFP) having functions of a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the transport direction of the document P1 in the document reading unit 20 and the transport direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 are set so as to be orthogonal to each other. The direction of the original P1 in the original reading unit 20 may be set so that the conveyance direction of the paper P in the image forming unit 30 is the same direction.

  (3) In the above embodiment, not only the protruding edge portion 122 of the image reading unit housing 12 but also the document pressing member 13 and the automatic document feeder housing 14 have the same color as the top plate 122 of the image reading unit housing 12. The color may be darker.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the width dimension of the image reading unit casing 12 is set to be larger than the width dimension of the image forming unit casing 15, but the width dimension of the image reading unit casing 12 is set to the image forming unit. The horizontal width dimension of the housing 15 may be the same, or conversely, the horizontal width dimension of the image reading unit housing 12 may be larger than the horizontal width dimension of the image forming unit housing 15.

  (5) In the embodiment described above, the automatic document feeder 21 provided in the automatic document feeder housing 14 is provided on the document pressing member 13. The image forming apparatus 10 may be of a type in which the automatic document feeder 21 is not provided. In this case, the top plate 122 of the image reading unit housing 12 is not provided with the automatic paper feeding glass 242 as the contact glass 24 but is provided with only the placed original glass 241.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A illustrates a state where a document pressing member is closed, and FIG. 1B illustrates a state where a document pressing member is opened. Each is shown. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIA-IIA in FIG. 1A, and a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIB-IIB in FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the top surface of the image reading unit housing for explaining the top plate colored in a dark color, in which (A) is a state in which a document is properly placed on a placed document glass; ) Shows a state in which the document is placed obliquely on the placed document glass.

P sheet P1 document S bridging plane V margin space 10 image forming apparatus 11 casing 12 image reading section casing (image reading section main body)
121 bottom plate 122 protruding edge 123 large opening 123a annular support edge 124 small opening 124a annular support edge 125 scale 126 guide strip 13 document pressing member 131 hinge member 14 automatic document feeder housing 15 image forming unit housing (image forming unit body) )
151 Lower edge portion 152 Left frame plate 153 Vent 154 Front frame frame 16 Connecting portion 20 Document reading portion 21 Automatic document feeding portion 22 Document tray 23 Optical system unit 230 Moving frame body 231 Irradiation lamp 232 Reflecting mirror 232a First mirror 232b First mirror 2 mirror 232c 3rd mirror 234 lens unit 24 contact glass 241 placed original glass 242 automatic paper feeding original glass 25 moving mechanism 251 driving motor 252 gear mechanism 253 driving pulley 254 driven pulley 255 scanner belt 30 image forming unit 31 transfer unit 311 Photosensitive drum 312 Registration roller pair 313 Developing unit 314 Charger 315 Exposure device 32 Fixing unit 321 Fixing roller 322 Pressing roller 33 Paper storage unit 331 Paper cassette 332 Pickup roller 34 Unloading path 35 Paper discharge port 40 Operation unit 41 Operation unit housing 42 Operation panel 43 Start button 44 Operation button 45 Display 50 Paper discharge unit 51 Paper discharge tray 60 Paper manual feed unit 61 Manual tray 62 Pickup roller

Claims (4)

An image reading unit for reading image information of a document;
An image forming unit that is provided below the image reading unit and that performs a predetermined image forming process based on image information read by the image reading unit;
The image reading unit includes an image reading unit main body including a contact glass on which an original is placed with an original surface facing down;
An openable / closable document pressing member for pressing a document placed on the contact glass;
An optical system member that optically scans a document surface of a document placed on the contact glass and reads it as a document image;
The image reading unit main body has a top plate with an opening into which the contact glass is fitted, and the inside which can be visually recognized through the contact glass is colored in a dark color,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the top plate is colored in a deep color.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a satin finish is applied to an upper surface of the top plate. The document pressing member has a document tray on which a bundle of documents is placed,
An automatic document feeder that feeds the originals one by one from the bundle of originals on the original tray and supplies them to the automatic paper feeding glass;
The contact glass includes a placed document glass for placing a document, and an automatic sheet feeding glass for a document automatically fed from the document automatic supply unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to 1 or 2. An image reading unit main body provided with a contact glass on which an original is placed;
  An openable / closable document pressing member for pressing a document placed on the contact glass;
  An optical system member that optically scans a document surface of a document placed on the contact glass and reads it as a document image;
  The image reading unit main body has a top plate with an opening into which the contact glass is fitted, and the inside which can be visually recognized through the contact glass is colored in a dark color,
  The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the top plate is colored in a deep color.

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