JP5533605B2 - Image reading device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a form called a flat bed type is known as one form of an image scanner device (hereinafter, the flat bed is abbreviated as FB). In this type of FB type image scanner, an original document placement portion formed of a transparent material is provided on the upper surface side of the casing, and an image sensor that moves below the original placement portion along the original placement portion. Thus, the image of the document placed on the document placement unit is read.

  As an image sensor, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a CIS (Contact Image Sensor), etc. are used. An image optically read by these image sensors is converted into an electrical signal, and the electrical signal is controlled via a signal line. Is transmitted to the department. In general, a flat-band flat cable is often used as the signal line, and in particular, a so-called flexible flat cable (hereinafter abbreviated as FFC) is often used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .)

JP 2004-104392 A

  By the way, in the FB type image scanner as described above, as shown in FIG. 4A, by providing a U-turn portion 91a in a part of the flat cable 91, the image sensor 93 is deformed while the flat cable 91 is deformed. In many cases, it is possible to follow the reciprocating movements.

  Specifically, when the image sensor 93 moves on the forward path, the position of the U-turn portion 91a gradually moves away from the image sensor 93 on the flat cable 91 (see FIG. 4B). For example, it fluctuates from position P1 to position P2. On the other hand, when the image sensor 93 moves on the return path, as shown in FIG. 4C, the position of the U-turn portion 91a gradually approaches the image sensor 93 on the flat cable 91 (for example, the position P2). To position P1). As the flat cable 91 is deformed in this way, the flat cable 91 follows the movement of the image sensor 93.

  However, when the U-turn portion 91a as described above is provided, for example, when the apparatus is temporarily placed in a high temperature environment, the flat cable 91 is expected to remain in the form illustrated in FIG. There was a case where no bending wrinkles were attached. Then, when such a bending wrinkle is attached, when the image sensor 93 moves in the outward path, the portion with the bending wrinkle is lifted upward as illustrated in FIG. In some cases, the flat cable 91 and the document placing portion 95 are brought into contact with each other.

  In addition, if such contact often occurs, the resin portion on the surface of the flat cable 91 may be worn, and the original placement portion 95 may be soiled, which may cause image reading failure. there were.

  Further, because the flat cable 91 has a bending ridge, the portion with the bending ridge is bitten between the image sensor 93 and the housing bottom portion 97 as illustrated in FIG. In some cases, the flat cable 91 is bent in the opposite direction, and the flat cable 91 may be jammed.

  Such a problem is more likely to occur when the apparatus is thinned by shortening the distance between the document placing portion 95 and the housing bottom portion 97 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 (g) to 4 (h). This has been a factor that hinders thinning of the apparatus.

  With respect to such a problem, in Patent Document 1, a concave portion or a groove portion is provided on the bottom of the housing, and the flat cable is allowed to escape into the concave portion or the groove portion, whereby the U-turn portion of the flat cable forms the document placement portion. A technique for avoiding contact with a glass plate or the like has been proposed.

  However, providing such a recess or groove requires the bottom of the housing to bulge downward by an amount corresponding to the recess or groove, so it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the image scanner housing itself. There is another problem that it is.

  With regard to this problem, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, even if the housing of the image scanner unit bulges downward, the bulged portion is fitted into the housing of the printer unit, so that the height of the entire apparatus is increased. Is said not to increase.

  However, the portion into which the bulging portion of the image scanner unit is fitted is not necessarily a wasteful space in the printer unit housing, and there is a case where such a space must be reserved. In that case, there is a possibility that the casing of the printer unit will be enlarged by the amount of such space, and in this case, it is not guaranteed that the height of the entire apparatus will not increase.

  In addition to the components that make up the printer unit, up to the bulging part of the image scanner unit will enter the housing of the printer unit, so when trying to place each unit at a position where mutual interference can be avoided, The degree of freedom in design is also reduced by the increase in the bulging portion of the image scanner section.

  In other words, with the above-described technology, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the image scanner unit itself, and even when the printer unit is disposed below the image scanner unit, it is not always possible to achieve the expected reduction in thickness. Rather, there is a problem that the degree of freedom in design tends to be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose thereof is to avoid unexpected bending wrinkles on the flat cable, and it is possible to reduce the thickness relatively easily. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of suppressing contact between a flat cable and a document placing portion even when the thickness is reduced.

Hereinafter, the configuration employed in the present invention will be described.
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a document placement unit on which a document can be placed is provided on an upper surface, and the document placement unit is disposed below the document placement unit inside the housing. A reading unit that reads an image of the document placed on the document placing unit while moving in a predetermined direction along the line, a control unit that controls the operation of the reading unit, and the reading unit and the control unit The flat cable is connected to the reading means at one end, and a portion on the other end side than the one end is held by the holding portion on the housing side, thereby The range up to the held portion is a movable range that follows the movement of the reading means, and the movable range extends in a direction that intersects the moving direction of the reading means, and at least a part thereof. Stretch When the reading means moves to a position closest to the held portion, the reading means is in a contracted state, while the reading means is a position farthest from the held portion. In addition, an extension member configured to extend in the moving direction of the reading means is provided below the reading means inside the casing. The movable range is passed below the extending member.

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, when the reading unit moves, the movable range of the flat cable expands and contracts following the reading unit. In addition, since the movable range of the flat cable is passed through the lower side of the extending member, the upward displacement of the extending member is suppressed.

  For this reason, a part of the flat cable is provided with a part that makes a U-turn in the vertical direction, and the conventional image reading apparatus is configured to change the position of the U-turn part on the flat cable as the reading means moves. In contrast, the flat cable does not have a bend as a U-turn portion.

  Accordingly, the place where such a bend is attached is lifted upward to come into contact with the document placement portion, and the document placement portion is damaged or flat cable is caused by such contact. There will be no damage. In addition, since the contact between the document placement portion and the flat cable is suppressed in this manner, the distance between the two can be made closer than before, and the casing can be made thinner. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image reading device according to the first aspect, the extending member is a guide member that guides in the predetermined direction when the reading unit moves. And

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, the guide member that guides the reading unit in a predetermined direction is also used as the above-described extending member. Therefore, in addition to the guide member, a dedicated extending member is provided. There is no need to provide them separately, and the number of parts can be reduced and the apparatus configuration can be made compact.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image reading device according to the first or second aspect, the flat cable has portions that are bent in a stretchable manner at both ends of the movable range. And

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, when the movable range extends along with the movement of the reading unit, the bent portions at both ends of the movable range extend, so that the connection part with the reading unit, An excessive load is not applied to the holding portion by the holding portion on the housing side. In addition, when the movable range contracts as the reading unit moves, the folded portions at both ends of the movable range contract so that they return to the original state according to the folds, so that a part of the movable range moves upward. The flat cable is not greatly bent, and the flat cable does not come into contact with the document placing portion.

  The image reading device according to claim 4 is the image reading device according to claim 3, wherein in the flat cable, a portion other than the bent portion between both ends of the movable range has no bent portion. It is characterized by being made.

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, since there is a portion formed without a bent portion between both ends of the movable range, the height direction dimension of the flat cable can be suppressed in the portion. This contributes to the thinning of the device.

  An image reading apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the image reading apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein a portion of the flat cable having no bent portion is passed below the extending member. Thus, the movable range is suppressed from being displaced upward from the extending member.

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, since the portion having no bent portion is passed through the lower side of the extending member, the space to be secured below the extending member is reduced. The height dimension can be reduced, and the device can be made thinner accordingly.

  The image reading device according to claim 6 is the image reading device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the flat cable is bent in such a manner that the flat cable can extend and contract even when the reading unit moves. The reading means is wired at a position where the reading means does not arrive above the portion.

  According to the image reading apparatus configured as described above, even if the reading unit moves, the reading unit does not arrive above the portion that is bent in a telescopic manner. It is not necessary to secure a space larger than the size below the reading means. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the apparatus as compared with a structure in which the reading means is arranged above the portion that is bent to be stretchable.

2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a multifunction machine including an image reading device, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view of the multifunction machine, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the multifunction machine. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating an image reading apparatus, in which FIG. 1A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the image reading apparatus viewed from the front side, and FIG. 2B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the FB main body included in the image reading apparatus viewed from the left side. It is the figure which planarly viewed the FB main-body part, (a) is explanatory drawing which shows the state in which an image sensor exists in a standby position, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the state which the image sensor moved to the furthest position from a standby position. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the problem regarding the U-turn part of a flat cable.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with an example.
[Machine structure]
The multifunction device 1 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B has other functions (for example, a print function, a copy function, a facsimile transmission / reception function, etc.) in addition to a function (scan function) as an image reading apparatus. It is a thing. In the following description, in order to easily understand the relative positional relationship between the units included in the multi-function device 1, the vertical, horizontal, and front-rear directions shown in the drawing are used.

  The multifunction machine 1 includes a main unit 2 and a scanner unit 3 mounted on the upper part of the main unit 2. The scanner unit 3 is configured to be rotatable in a direction in which the front end side is displaced up and down with the rear end side as a rotation center, whereby the upper opening of the main unit 2 is closed or the upper opening is opened. The structure is displaceable.

  The scanner unit 3 has a structure in which an ADF is added to the FB type image scanner. As shown in FIG. 2A, the FB main body 5 and the upper surface side of the FB main body 5 are arranged. And an ADF section 7 for covering.

  The ADF unit 7 is configured to be rotatable in a direction in which the front end side is displaced up and down with the rear end side as a rotation center, and thereby, a position covering the document placement surface on the upper surface of the FB main body unit 5 or the same document placement. The structure can be displaced to a position where the placement surface is exposed.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, an operation panel 8 operated by a user is provided on the upper front side of the main unit 2.
[Details of the scanner unit]
Next, the scanner unit 3 will be described in more detail.

  In the scanner unit 3, an FB glass 11, an ADF glass 12, and the like are disposed on the upper surface side of the FB main body 5 as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Further, on the lower surface side of the ADF unit 7, a pressing member 13 configured by laminating a sponge and a plastic film is disposed at a position facing the FB glass 11 when the ADF unit 7 is closed.

  An image sensor 14 is provided in the FB main body 5. In the present embodiment, a contact image sensor is used as the image sensor 14. The image sensor 14 is mounted on a carriage 15 provided in the FB main body 5.

  The carriage 15 is provided with a bearing 16, and a metal shaft 17 extending in the left-right direction is passed through the bearing 16. A timing belt 18 extending in a direction parallel to the metal shaft 17 is stretched in the vicinity of the metal shaft 17, and the timing belt 18 and the carriage 15 are connected.

  When the scanner unit 3 is used as an FB scanner, the timing belt 18 is driven by power from a power source (not shown). As a result, the image sensor 14 reciprocates in the left-right direction together with the carriage 15 at a position directly below the FB glass 11 and the ADF glass 12 described above.

  An FFC 19 is wired on the housing bottom 5 a of the FB main body 5. The FFC 19 is a communication cable that connects the image sensor 14 and the control unit 20 built in the main unit 2. One end 19 a is connected to the image sensor 14 and the other end 19 b is connected to the control unit 20.

  In the FFC 19, a portion 19 c that is closer to the other end 19 b than the one end 19 a is held by the holding portion 5 b on the housing side of the FB main body 5, so that the range from the one end 19 a of the FFC 19 to the portion 19 c held is reduced. The movable range follows the movement of the image sensor 14.

  Further, the movable range of the FFC 19 has a structure that can be expanded and contracted by folding both end portions 19d and 19e of the movable range into a bellows shape. On the other hand, a portion 19f between both end portions 19d and 19e is not folded, and the flat portion 19f is passed below the metal shaft 17 and the timing belt 18.

  Furthermore, the ADF unit 7 includes a supply roller 21, a separation roller 22, a main conveyance roller 23, and a discharge roller 24 as rollers driven by power transmitted from a power source. Further, a first pinch roller 26, a second pinch roller 27, and a third pinch roller 28 are provided as rollers that are driven in cooperation with these rollers 21 to 24 while sandwiching the document.

  These roller groups constitute a conveyance path (path indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2A) for conveying the document placed on the document table 31 to the discharge unit 32. A document holder 33 is disposed above the ADF glass 12, and a document conveyed on the above-described conveyance path is pressed against the ADF glass 12 side by the document holder 33.

  When the scanner unit 3 configured as described above is used as an FB scanner, first, the ADF unit 7 is opened and a document is placed on the FB glass 11. The ADF unit 7 can be rotated with respect to the FB main body 5 and can be displaced in the vertical direction with respect to the FB main body 5. Therefore, if the ADF unit 7 is lifted upward, a document having a relatively large thickness (for example, a book) can be sandwiched between the FB main unit 5 and the ADF unit 7.

  After the original is set, reading of an image is started when an operation for instructing FB scanning (for example, operation on the operation panel 8 or remote operation from a PC) is performed. When image reading is started, the image sensor 14 moves in the main scanning direction while moving the lower side of the FB glass 11 in the sub-scanning direction with the front-rear direction of the multifunction machine 1 as the main scanning direction and the left-right direction as the sub-scanning direction. A plurality of aligned pixels are repeatedly read.

  The image sensor 14 is at the standby position as shown in FIG. 3A before starting to move in the sub-scanning direction. In this state, the FFC 19 is in a state extending in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the image sensor 14, and both end portions 19d and 19e of the movable range are in a most contracted state.

  On the other hand, when the image sensor 14 moves in the sub-scanning direction, as shown in FIG. 3B, the movable range of the FFC 19 expands following the image sensor 14 while both end portions 19d and 19e are deformed. Then, after reaching the position shown in FIG. 3B, when returning to the position shown in FIG. 3A, the movable range of the FFC 19 is such that both end portions 19d and 19e return to the original shape. Then, it contracts following the image sensor 14 and finally returns to the state shown in FIG.

  The scanner unit 3 can also be used as an ADF scanner. When the scanner unit 3 is used as an ADF scanner, a document is placed on the document table 31, and thereafter, an operation for instructing ADF scanning (for example, an operation on the operation panel 8 or a remote operation from a PC). When this is done, image reading starts.

  More specifically, when an operation for instructing an ADF scan is performed, the image sensor 14 moves to a position below the ADF glass 12 (a position directly below the document holder 33) and stops at that position. In addition, the above-described roller group is driven, and the document placed on the document table 31 is conveyed along a conveyance path indicated by a broken line in FIG.

  Specifically, the document placed on the document table 31 is sent out downstream in the transport direction by the supply roller 21, and the document is separated one by one by the separation roller 22. Further, the originals separated one by one by the separation roller 22 are sent out to the main conveyance roller 23, and the original is U-turned along the outer periphery of the main conveyance roller 23. Then, the document sent out by the main transport roller 23 is further sent to the downstream side in the transport direction by the discharge roller 24, and the document is discharged to the discharge unit 32.

  The document transported in this way passes between the ADF glass 12 and the document holder 33 until it reaches the discharge roller 24 after being sent out by the main transport roller 23. At this time, the image sensor 14 repeatedly reads a plurality of pixels arranged in the main scanning direction from a document moving in the sub scanning direction, with the front-rear direction of the multifunction device 1 being the main scanning direction and the transport direction being the sub scanning direction. .

[effect]
According to the multifunction device 1 described above, when the image sensor 14 moves, the movable range of the FFC 19 follows the image sensor 14 and expands and contracts. In addition, since the movable range of the FFC 19 passes through the lower side of the metal shaft 17, the upward displacement of the metal shaft 17 is suppressed.

  Therefore, unlike the image reading apparatus in which a part that makes a U-turn in the vertical direction is provided in a part of the FFC, and the position of the U-turn part is changed on the FFC in accordance with the movement of the image sensor, the FFC 19 Will not bend as a U-turn part.

  Therefore, it does not lead to a situation in which the portion with such a bending heel is lifted upward and comes into contact with the FB glass 11, and the FB glass 11 is damaged or the FFC 19 is damaged due to such contact. There is no such thing as an invitation. In addition, since the contact between the FB glass 11 and the FFC 19 is suppressed in this way, the distance between the two can be made closer than before, and the casing of the FB main body 5 can be thinned. It becomes possible.

  Further, in the multifunction machine 1, the metal shaft 17 provided for guiding the image sensor 14 in the sub-scanning direction is used as an extending member for suppressing upward displacement of the FFC 19. In addition to the metal shaft 17, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated extension member separately, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the apparatus configuration can be made compact.

  Further, in the above-described multifunction device 1, when the movable range of the FFC 19 is extended, the bent portions 19d and 19e at both ends of the movable range are extended, so that the connection portion with the image sensor 14 and the housing-side holding portion 5b. An excessive load is not applied to the holding portion.

  Further, when the movable range contracts with the movement of the image sensor 14, the folded portions 19d and 19e at both ends of the movable range contract, so that a part of the movable range is not greatly curved upward. The FFC 19 does not come into contact with the FB glass 11.

  In addition, according to the above-described multifunction device 1, there is a portion 19 f that is not formed with a bent portion between both ends of the movable range of the FFC 19, and thus the height dimension of the FFC 19 can be suppressed in this portion 19 f. . In particular, since the portion 19f that has no bent portion is passed through the lower side of the metal shaft 17, the height dimension of the space to be secured under the metal shaft 17 can be reduced. Therefore, the apparatus can be thinned.

  Further, according to the multifunction device 1, even if the image sensor 14 moves, the image sensor 14 does not arrive above the portions 19d and 19e that are bent in a stretchable manner. That is, in the above-described embodiment, when viewed in plan, the portions 19d and 19e bent so as to be stretchable are always on the left side of the image sensor 14 even if the position of the image sensor 14 in the sub-scanning direction changes. , It does not come to the right of the image sensor 14.

  Therefore, there is no problem even if the height-direction dimensions of the portions 19d and 19e bent so as to extend and contract reach the position overlapping the carriage 15 when viewed from the left side as shown in FIG. That is, even in such a state, since the carriage 15 does not arrive above the portions 19d and 19e that are bent so as to be stretchable, the carriage 15 collides with the FFC 19 at the portions 19d and 19e that are bent so as to be stretchable. Does not happen.

  Therefore, the height-direction dimensions of the portions 19d and 19e bent so as to be stretchable can be freely set in consideration of only the stretch amount without considering the collision with the carriage 15. Moreover, as a result, the carriage 15 can be disposed at a low position even if the height dimension of the portions 19d and 19e bent in such a manner as to be stretchable is somewhat large, thereby reducing the thickness of the apparatus. Can be achieved.

[Modifications, etc.]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said specific one Embodiment, In addition, it can implement with a various form.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the metal shaft 17 is illustrated as an example of the extending member in the present invention, but other members may be used as the extending member. More specifically, in the above embodiment, the timing belt 18 is also in a state of functioning as an extending member in the present invention. Therefore, one of the metal shaft 17 and the timing belt 18 is extended. It may only function as a member. For example, as long as the timing belt 18 as described above plays a role as an extending member, the metal shaft 17 may be provided at another position. In this case, the FFC 19 is placed under the metal shaft 17. There is no problem even if is not.

  In the above embodiment, the FFC 19 is contracted when the image sensor 14 is in the standby position, and the FFC 19 is extended when the image sensor 14 is operated. However, this is the reverse relationship. May be. That is, even if the state shown in FIG. 3B is the state where the image sensor 14 is in the standby position and the image sensor 14 operates, the position shown in FIG. 3A is reached. Good.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... MFP, 2 ... Main unit, 3 ... Scanner unit, 5 ... FB main body part, 5a ... Case bottom part, 5b ... Holding part, 7 ... ADF part 8 ... Operation panel 11 ... FB glass 12 ... ADF glass 13 ... Pressing member 14 ... Image sensor 15 ... Carriage 16 ... Bearing 17 ..Metal shaft 18 ... Timing belt 19 ... FFC 20 ... Control unit 21 ... Supply roller 22 ... Separation roller 23 ... Main transport roller 24 ... -Discharge roller, 26 ... 1st pinch roller, 27 ... 2nd pinch roller, 28 ... 3rd pinch roller, 31 ... Document table, 32 ... Discharge unit, 33 ... Document holder.

Claims (6)

A housing provided with a document placement section on which an original can be placed;
Reading means for reading an image of the document placed on the document placement portion while moving in a predetermined direction along the document placement portion below the document placement portion inside the housing;
Control means for controlling the operation of the reading means;
A flat cable connecting the reading means and the control means,
One end of the flat cable is connected to the reading means, and a portion on the other end side than the one end is held in a holding portion on the housing side, whereby the one end to the held portion is held. The range is a movable range that follows the movement of the reading means, and the movable range extends in a direction that intersects the moving direction of the reading means, and at least a part of the movable range can be expanded and contracted. Thus, when the reading unit moves to a position closest to the held portion, the reading unit is contracted, whereas when the reading unit moves to a position farthest from the held portion. Is a stretched structure,
Further, an extension member configured to extend in the moving direction of the reading unit is provided below the reading unit, and the movable range is provided below the extending member. An image reading apparatus characterized by being passed. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extending member is a guide member that guides in the predetermined direction when the reading unit moves. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flat cable has portions that are bent so as to be extendable at both ends of the movable range. 4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, wherein in the flat cable, a portion other than the bent portion located between both ends of the movable range is configured to have no bent portion. 5. The flat cable suppresses the movable range from being displaced upward than the extending member by passing a portion formed without the bent portion through the lower side of the extending member. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: The flat cable is wired at a position where the reading means does not arrive above the portion that is bent so as to expand and contract even when the reading means moves. The image reading apparatus according to any one of the above.