JP5146798B2 - Illumination device, image reading device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an illuminating device, an image reading device, and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, an illuminating device including a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a line and a light emitting element array that illuminates a linear illumination area, and an image including the same. The present invention relates to a reading device and an image forming apparatus.

  As a reduction optical system image reading apparatus, there is an apparatus that irradiates a document with light and reads reflected light of the document with a line image sensor that is an image pickup device including a CCD element and a CMOS element. Such an image reading apparatus includes an illuminating device, and some of the illuminating devices have a cylindrical xenon lamp as a light source.

  In such an image reading apparatus, the irradiation light of the xenon lamp is applied to the original on the contact glass that allows the light from the light emitting element to pass, and the diffuse reflection light of the original is guided to the imaging element via an optical element such as a lens. Then, the image signal is converted into an electric signal by the image sensor.

  Further, in such an image reading apparatus, a first traveling body in which a first mirror for deflecting reflected light from the original is disposed, a second mirror for further deflecting light from the second mirror, and a third mirror are disposed. The first traveling body and the second traveling body travel on a rail provided in the image reading apparatus, thereby scanning the document. In the image reading apparatus, the first traveling body is provided with a reflecting plate for reflecting light from the xenon lamp to optimize the illuminance distribution and for eliminating shadows when reading a cut and pasted document. FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a conventional lighting device. The first traveling body 103 of the illumination device is disposed below the contact glass 102, and includes a light source 104 made of a xenon lamp, a reflector 301 for improving the illuminance distribution on the document surface, and reflected light on the document surface. Is provided with a first mirror (not shown) for guiding the light to the CCD.

  In Patent Document 1, in order to improve the image quality of a read image, a light emitting mechanism and transmitted light or reflected light obtained by irradiating light from the light emitting mechanism onto a document on which predetermined image information is recorded are detected. In an image reading apparatus having reading means for reading predetermined image information, the light emitting mechanism is a light that mixes a plurality of light sources and light emitted from the plurality of light sources to form light emitted in substantially the same direction. There is a description that includes a mixing unit and a light focusing unit that focuses the light mixed by the light mixing unit toward the original.

Further, in Patent Document 2, one end surface of the light guide is disposed close to the side of the light source that irradiates light on the image surface of the document that does not face the image surface of the document, and the other end surface of the light guide is Light directed toward the image plane of the light source is incident from one end face of the light guide toward the position directly illuminated by the light source on the image plane. This light propagates through the light guide and exits from the other end face. However, it is described that the image surface can be illuminated, thereby increasing the amount of light that illuminates the image surface and illuminating the image surface from two directions.
JP 2003-248274 A JP 11-317842 A

  In recent years, there has been a demand for shortening the rise time, saving energy, and prolonging the life of the light source in the image reading apparatus, and a light source that employs a light emitting diode (LED) as an alternative light source for the xenon lamp has been put into practical use. . When the LED is used in the reduction optical system, the distance from the document surface to the image pickup device is longer than that in the equal magnification optical system, so that the attenuation of light between them is increased. Therefore, a higher document surface illuminance is required. Therefore, an attempt has been made to increase the illuminance on the document surface by arranging a plurality of LEDs in an array in the main scanning direction.

  An illumination device using such an LED will be described. FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing a configuration of an illumination device using an LED light source, in which (a) is a side view and (b) is a perspective view. As shown in FIG. 12B, the illuminating device uses an LED array 402 in which a plurality of LED light emitting elements 401 are arranged as a light source. Here, when the LED array 402 is used, in order to obtain a good illuminance distribution in the sub-scanning direction on the document surface, the light-emitting surface is inclined with respect to the document surface like the xenon lamp.

  By the way, in an image reading apparatus that irradiates light on a document and forms an image of part of the diffuse reflected light to read an image, when the light is irradiated to a place other than the image reading position on the document surface, the light is After reflecting off the document surface, it reaches the image sensor surface, and the document cannot be read faithfully. For this reason, in order to obtain the best possible illuminance distribution on the document surface, the light-emitting surface of the light source is inclined with respect to the document surface, or a reflector is provided on the surface facing the optical axis of the light source.

  Further, for example, when the document is lifted off the contact glass, a phenomenon that unintentional regular reflection light enters the image sensor due to the floating angle of the document and the angle of incident light from the light source occurs. This phenomenon occurs when the light source is a surface emission like a xenon lamp and can emit substantially uniform diffused light in the main scanning direction. In the case of a light source in which a plurality of point light sources are arranged in the main scanning direction as described above, the same number of bright areas as the arranged LEDs appear as dots, and particularly in the case of LEDs, a light source with high directivity is used. Therefore, the influence on the image becomes large.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background. Even in the case of a light source in which point light sources are arranged in an array in the main scanning direction, a good illuminance distribution can be obtained on the document surface, and specular reflection light can be obtained. An object of the present invention is to obtain a good image by reducing deterioration of the image when the image sensor enters the image sensor.

The invention of claim 1, comprising a plurality of light emitting elements which are arrayed, the light-emitting element array which illuminates a linear illumination region, so that the light irradiation optical axis intersect at a point on said illumination region place two across an illumination area, wherein the light emitting element is an edge-emitting LED, the light irradiation direction of the light emitting element array is inclined with respect to a document surface is a light irradiation target, a light emitting surface of the light emitting element A light shielding member that shields at least a part of the light flux from the light emitting element is disposed symmetrically between the illumination area and the illumination area, and the light shielding member is in contact with the light emitting element. The light-shielding member is fixed and is inclined and arranged along the light irradiation direction of the light-emitting element array.

The invention of claim 2 is the illumination apparatus according to claim 1, the light shielding member, characterized in that arranged is projected on the light exit side of the light emitting surface.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the illumination device according to the second aspect, the shape of the light blocking member is changed between the light emitting elements arranged in a row and the pitch of the light emitting elements.

A fourth aspect of the present invention, in the illumination apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said light blocking member, characterized in aluminum or aluminum alloy der Rukoto.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the lighting device according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein a surface of the light shielding member on a light emitting element side is a complementary color of a color emitted from the light emitting element.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the illuminating device according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the surface on the illumination area side of the light shielding member is a complementary color of the color emitted from the light emitting element.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the illumination device according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, the light shielding member is in contact with the light emitting element.

  An eighth aspect of the present invention is an image reading apparatus comprising the illumination device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects.

According to the present invention, even in the case of a light source in which point light sources are arranged in an array in the main scanning direction, a good illuminance distribution is obtained on the original surface, and an image is deteriorated when specular reflection light enters the image sensor. By reducing this, there is an effect that a good image can be obtained. In addition, since the light reflected from the upper surface of the light shielding member does not return to the document surface, re-reflection to the document surface can be prevented, and the possibility that unintended light can reach the image sensor can be reduced. There is.

  Embodiments as the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading apparatus 101 that reads a document, an image forming unit 12 that forms an image, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 13, a document discharge tray 14 that stacks documents sent from the ADF 13, and a paper feed cassette 15. Are provided with a paper feed unit 19 provided with thru 18 and a paper discharge tray 20 for stacking recording paper.

  When the document D is set on the document table 21 of the ADF 13 and a print key is pressed by an operation unit (not shown), the uppermost document D is sent in the direction of the arrow B1 by the rotation of the pickup roller 22, and the document is conveyed. By the rotation of the belt 23, the belt 23 is fed onto the contact glass 102 fixed to the image reading apparatus 101, and stops there. The image of the document D placed on the contact glass 102 is read by the image reading device 101 positioned between the image forming unit 12 and the contact glass 102. The image reading apparatus 101 includes an illumination device including an LED array 402 that illuminates a document D on a contact glass 102, a first traveling body 103 having a single mirror, and two mirrors for turning a document image. The 2nd traveling body 106 provided with is provided. In addition, the image reading apparatus 101 includes a lens 109 and a line image sensor 110 including a CCD that forms an image of a document. After the image reading is completed, the document D is transported in the direction of the arrow B2 by the rotation of the document transport belt 23 and discharged onto the document discharge tray 14. In this way, the document D is fed one by one onto the contact glass 102 and the document image is read by the image reading device 101.

  On the other hand, inside the image forming unit 12, a photoconductor 30 as an image carrier is disposed. The photosensitive member 30 is driven to rotate clockwise in the drawing, and the surface is charged to a predetermined potential by the charging device 31. Further, the writing unit 32 emits a laser beam L that is light-modulated in accordance with image information read by the image reading apparatus 101, and the surface of the charged photoconductor 30 is exposed with the laser beam L, whereby the photosensitive unit 30 is exposed to light. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the body 30. When the electrostatic latent image passes through the developing device 33, the electrostatic latent image is transferred to the recording medium P fed between the photosensitive member 30 and the transfer device 34 by the opposing transfer device 34. The surface of the photoconductor 30 after the toner image is transferred is cleaned by a cleaning device 35.

  The plurality of paper feed cassettes 15 to 18 arranged at the lower part of the image forming unit 12 contain recording media P such as paper, and the recording media P is fed from any of the paper feed cassettes 15 to 18 in the direction of arrow B3. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 30 as described above is transferred onto the surface of the recording medium P. Next, the recording medium P is passed through the fixing device 36 in the image forming unit 12 as indicated by an arrow B4, and the toner image transferred to the surface of the recording medium P by the action of heat and pressure is fixed. The recording medium P that has passed through the fixing device 36 is conveyed by the discharge roller pair 37, discharged to the discharge tray 20 as indicated by an arrow B5, and stacked.

  Next, an image reading apparatus according to the embodiment will be described. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. The image reading apparatus 101 includes a light source 104 having an LED array 402 and a first traveling body 103 having a first mirror 105 supported at both ends, and a second mirror 107 and a third mirror 108 similarly supported at both ends. The second traveling body 106, a line image sensor 110 that is an image sensor such as a CCD, and a lens 109 that forms an image on the line image sensor 110 are provided. Then, the image reading apparatus 101 moves the first traveling body 103 and the second traveling body 106 along the document at a speed of 2: 1 in accordance with the image reading request signal for each line sent from the host computer. It is configured to move and sequentially read images.

  Thereby, the document D on the contact glass 102 is optically scanned. That is, the document D on the contact glass 102 is illuminated by the LED array 402 of the light source 104, and the reflected light image is guided to the lens 109 through the first mirror 105, the second mirror 107, and the third mirror 108. As a result, an image is formed on the line image sensor 110.

  The line image sensor 110 photoelectrically converts the formed reflected light image of the document D into an analog image signal, and reads the document. Then, after the reading of the document D is completed, the first traveling body 103 and the second traveling body 106 return to the home position. The analog image signal output from the image sensor is converted into a digital image signal by an analog / digital converter, and each image processing (binarization, multi-value conversion, floor conversion) is performed on a circuit board on which an image processing circuit is mounted. Key adjustment processing, scaling processing, editing processing, etc.).

  The lighting device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this example, LED arrays 702a and 702b in which a plurality of LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b are arranged are used as light sources. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining the malfunction of the lighting device, in which FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lighting device, and FIG. 4B is a graph showing the illuminance distribution of the lighting device. Here, in the case where one LED array 402 and the reflector 301 are used in the illumination device, as shown in FIG. 4A, a good illuminance distribution I in the sub-scanning direction is obtained on the document surface. The light emitting surface is disposed in an inclined state with respect to the document surface. In such a case, the illuminance distribution in the sub-scanning direction on the document surface cannot secure the illuminance even when the reflector 301 is used. A graph of illuminance by 402 is shown, and the illuminance I on the original surface is a combination of Ia caused by direct light from the LED array 402 and Ib caused by reflected light from the reflector 301.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the lighting device according to the first embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lighting device, and FIG. 5B is a graph illustrating an illuminance distribution by the lighting device. In this example, two LED arrays 702a and 702b are arranged. Two LED arrays 702a and 702b are arranged across the illumination area, and the light emitting optical axes Oa and Ob cross each light emitting element array at a point C above the illumination area. That is, the LED arrays 702a and 702b are arranged symmetrically with the reading axis x extending in the main scanning direction of the line image sensor 110 interposed therebetween. According to this example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the illuminance I obtained by synthesizing the illuminance Ia of the two LED arrays 702a with the good illuminance distribution and the illuminance Ib of the LED array 702b can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image reading apparatus with good reproducibility even when a document is lifted.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. As for the illuminance distribution in the sub-scanning direction on the document surface, ideally, it is desirable that light is applied only to the image reading position on the document surface, as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a case where one LED array 402 is used as a lighting device. However, in practice, in order to obtain a sufficient amount of light, even when two LED arrays 702a and 702b are arranged facing the reading axis x in the main scanning direction of the manuscript surface operation area, the sub scanning direction on the manuscript surface is also provided. This illuminance distribution also extends to an area other than the image reading position.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating an illuminating device according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 7A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the illuminating device, and FIG. 7B is a graph illustrating an illuminance distribution by the illuminating device. In this example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the illumination device arranges light shielding members 601a and 601b above the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b at a predetermined interval below the illumination area, and in the sub-scanning direction. The lighting area was limited in According to this example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the irradiation light from the LED arrays 702a and 702b is shielded by the light shielding members 601a and 601b, and only the necessary area in the sub-scanning direction of the document surface is covered. Can be illuminated.

  In this embodiment, the light shielding member 601 can be disposed at an angle inclined with respect to the surface of the contact glass 102 on which the document is disposed. FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing an illumination device according to a modification of the second embodiment, in which FIG. 8A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a light beam emission state when the light shielding member is not inclined, and FIG. 8B is an inclination of the light shielding member. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the case made to do. As shown in FIG. 8A, when the contact glass 102 and the light shielding members 601a and 601b are arranged in parallel, the reflected light 901 on the document surface is reflected on the upper surfaces of the light shielding members 601a and 601b. Since the reflected light is further re-reflected toward the document surface, unnecessary light increases, and there is a high possibility that unintended light reaches the image sensor.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the light shielding members 601a and 601b are arranged at an angle with respect to the contact glass 102 on which the original is arranged, the light reflected on the upper surfaces of the light shielding members 601a and 601b is original. Since it does not return to the surface, re-reflection to the document surface can be prevented, and the possibility that unintended light reaches the image sensor can be reduced.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an illuminance distribution in the main scanning direction of the illumination device, where (a) shows an illumination device using a xenon lamp, and (b) shows an illumination device using an LED array. As shown in FIG. 9A, the illumination device using the xenon lamp 104 can emit substantially uniform diffused light in the main scanning direction by surface emission, whereas FIG. 9B and FIG. ), When an LED array 402 in which LEDs that emit point light are arranged in the main scanning direction is used, ripple-shaped illuminance unevenness corresponding to the pitch of the LED light emitting elements 401 appears in the main scanning direction.

  In such a state, for example, when an image having a small black solid portion sandwiched between white is read, the light reflected by the white original other than the image reading position enters the CCD, and the output value of the black solid portion Will go up. Therefore, the black solid cannot be reproduced faithfully.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a light shielding member 601 that protrudes toward the light emission side of the LED and blocks a part of the light flux of the LED is disposed between the LED and the document surface. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an illumination apparatus according to the third embodiment, in which FIG. 10A is a perspective view showing an emission state of a light beam when no light shielding member is arranged, and FIG. 10B is a light beam when a light shielding member is arranged. It is a perspective view which shows the injection | emission state. In this example, two LED arrays are symmetrically arranged in the first traveling body 103 as in the above example, but the two LED arrays 702a and 702b have the same configuration, so the LED array 702b. Only show.

  The light shielding member 601 protrudes between the LED light emitting element 701b and the contact glass 102 on which the document is arranged, and projects the laser light L emission side of the LED light emitting element 401 and blocks a part of the laser light L. In addition, the light shielding member 601 has a shape that changes the amount of protrusion in the light emission direction corresponding to the arrangement position of the light emitting elements. That is, the edge portions of the light shielding members 601a and 601b have a protruding dimension d1 at a position corresponding to the light emitting surface of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b arranged in a row. It is formed larger than d2. For this reason, the convex part 602 and the recessed part 603 are formed in the edge part of light shielding member 601a, 601b, and the laser beam L is interrupted | blocked by the upper part of the light emission surface of LED light emitting element 701a, 701b.

  According to this example, as shown in FIG. 10A, the illuminance unevenness by the LED arrays 702a and 702b (the distribution of illuminance in the figure is shown by a curve), the convex portions 602 and the concave portions of the light shielding members 601a and 601b. The amount of light shielded by 603 cancels out, and the illuminance unevenness can be reduced as shown by the curve showing the illuminance distribution in FIG. The shapes of the convex portions 602 and the concave portions 603 of the light shielding members 601a and 601b are determined by the illuminance distribution of the LED array.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. 11A and 11B are views showing a lighting device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11A is a schematic sectional view of the lighting device, and FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the lighting device. In this embodiment, the colors of the surfaces 1001a and 1001b on the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b side of the light shielding members 601a and 601b are complementary colors of the light emitting colors of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b. For example, when the light emission color of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b is red, the color of the surfaces 1001a and 1001b is green. According to the present embodiment, when the laser light L is shielded by the light shielding member 601, the laser light L from the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b can be efficiently absorbed, so that the reflected light from the light shielding members 601a and 601b is incident on the image sensor. The possibility of reaching can be reduced. Thus, the configuration in which the color of the LED light emitting element side surface of the light shielding member 601 is a complementary color of the light emitting color of the LED light emitting element can be applied to the first to third embodiments.

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 12A and 12B are views showing a lighting device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 12A is a schematic sectional view of the lighting device, and FIG. 12B is a perspective view of the lighting device. In this embodiment, the illuminating device is such that the colors of the surfaces 1101a and 1101b on the document surface side of the light shielding members 601a and 601b are complementary colors of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b. For example, when the light emission color of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b is red, the color of the surfaces 1101a and 1101b is green. According to the present embodiment, the light reflected from the document surface can be absorbed by the light shielding member, so that the possibility that the light reflected by the light shielding member reaches the CCD surface can be further reduced. Thus, the configuration in which the color of the surface of the light shielding member opposite to the LED light emitting element side is the complementary color of the light emitting color of the LED light emitting element can be applied to the first to fourth embodiments.

  Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view showing an illumination apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the lighting device is configured such that the light shielding members 601a and 601b are made of metal such as aluminum or aluminum alloy and are in contact with the upper surfaces of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b. According to the present embodiment, since the heat generated by the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b can be radiated by the light shielding members 601a and 601b, the chromaticity change of the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b due to temperature change can be suppressed at the same time. A good image can be obtained. As described above, the configuration in which the light shielding members 601a and 601b are made of metal and are in close contact with and fixed to the LED light emitting elements 701a and 701b can be applied to the first to fifth embodiments.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the structure of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining the malfunction of the lighting device, in which FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lighting device, and FIG. 4B is a graph showing the illuminance distribution of the lighting device. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 1st Example, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing of an illuminating device, (b) is a graph which shows the illumination intensity distribution by an illuminating device. It is a figure which shows ideal illumination intensity distribution. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 2nd Example, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing of an illuminating device, (b) is a graph which shows the illumination intensity distribution by an illuminating device. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on the modification of a 2nd Example, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the injection | emission state of the light beam when not shielding a light shielding member, (b) is the case where a light shielding member is inclined. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows. It is a figure which shows the illumination intensity distribution of the main scanning direction of an illuminating device, (a) is an illuminating device using a xenon lamp, (b) is a figure which shows the illuminating device using an LED array. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 3rd Example, (a) is a perspective view which shows the emission state of the light beam when not arrange | positioning a light-shielding member, (b) is the emission state of the light beam when a light-shielding member is arrange | positioned FIG. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 4th Example, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing of an illuminating device, (b) is a perspective view of an illuminating device. It is a figure which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 5th Example, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing of an illuminating device, (b) is a perspective view of an illuminating device. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the illuminating device which concerns on a 6th Example. FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a conventional lighting device. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the illuminating device using an LED light source, (a) is a side view, (b) is a perspective view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Image forming part 13 Automatic document feeder (ADF)
14 Document discharge trays 15 to 18 Paper feed cassette 19 Paper feed unit 20 Paper discharge tray 21 Document tray 22 Pickup roller 23 Document transport belt 30 Photoconductor 31 Charging device 32 Writing unit 33 Developing device 34 Transfer device 35 Cleaning device 36 Fixing device 37 discharge roller pair 101 image reading device 102 contact glass 103 first traveling body 104 light source 105 first mirror 106 second traveling body 107 second mirror 108 third mirror 109 lens 110 line image sensor 301 reflecting plate 401 LED light emitting element 402 LED Array 601 Light shielding member 601a, 601b Light shielding member 602 Convex part 603 Concave part 701a, 701b LED light emitting element 702a, 702b LED array 901 Reflected light 1001a, 1001b Surface 1101a, 1101b Surface

Claims (9)

Two light emitting element arrays, each having a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a row, for illuminating a linear illumination area, with the light irradiation optical axis intersecting at a point above the illumination area, Place and
The light-emitting element is an edge-emitting LED, and the light irradiation direction of the light-emitting element array is inclined with respect to a document surface that is a light irradiation target,
Between the light emitting surface of the light emitting element and the illumination area, a light shielding member that shields at least a part of the light flux from the light emitting element is disposed symmetrically across the illumination area ,
The light-shielding member is fixed in contact with the light-emitting element, and the light-shielding member is also inclined and disposed along the light irradiation direction of the light-emitting element array.
A lighting device characterized by that.
The light blocking member, an illumination device according to claim 1, characterized in that arranged by projecting light emitting side of the light emitting surface.   The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein the shape of the light shielding member is changed between the light emitting elements arranged in a row and the pitch of the light emitting elements. The light blocking member, an illumination apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the aluminum or aluminum alloy der Rukoto.   5. The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein a surface of the light shielding member on a light emitting element side is a complementary color of a light emission color from the light emitting element.   5. The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein a surface of the light shielding member on an illumination area side is a complementary color of a color emitted from the light emitting element.   The lighting device according to claim 4, wherein the light shielding member is in contact with the light emitting element. An image reading apparatus comprising the illumination device according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus comprising the image reading apparatus according to claim 8.