JPH01264469A - Optical sensor unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent occurrence of a shift in the relative position between plural lenses and plural optical sensors due to a temperature change so that rays of light can surely be transmitted to the sensors and the reliability of the title sensor unit can be improved by providing the lenses and optical sensors in one transparent substrate. CONSTITUTION:This optical sensor unit 19 is constituted of numerous semispheric minute lenses 12 assembled in a transparent substrate 10 for collecting rays of line to an original 8 placed beneath the unit 19 and plural optical sensors 16. The plural sensors 16 are fixed to the end face of the base plate 10 on the original side for reading the original 8 by receiving reflected rays of light from the original 8. The lenses 12 and sensors 16 are respectively arranged in one lines in the length direction of the substrate 10 and constitute a lens array and sensor array. The sensors 16 are fixed to the positions corresponding to individual lenses 12, namely, positions which are nearly below the lenses and where the rays of light condensed by the lenses 12 are not intercepted. Since the lens array and sensor arrays are fixed to one substrate in such way, this optical sensor unit can be manufactured at a low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an optical sensor unit used for reading a document.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, an optical sensor unit for reading a document has been disposed in a document reading portion of an image processing unit in a facsimile machine or the like.

FIG. 4 shows this optical sensor unit. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a lens array transparent substrate 1 made of glass or plastic, and inside the lens array transparent substrate 1 are a number of hemispheres for concentrating light onto a document 8 placed below. Microlenses 2 shaped like the above are installed in a row. A sensor array transparent substrate 5 is attached to the end surface of the so-called cell-hock lens array 3 on the document 8 side, which is made up of a lens 2 and a lens array transparent substrate 1 with many spherical surfaces facing away from the document (upward in the figure), on the document 8 side. 4, and the edge surface of the original 8 (I!I) of the transparent substrate 5 for sensor array receives reflected light from the original 8.
Cylindrical optical sensors 6 for reading the original 8 are fixed in a line.

Each of the optical sensors 6 is disposed at a position corresponding to the lenses 2 on the sides, that is, approximately directly below each lens 2, and at a position that does not block the light condensed by the lens 2. -6 and the sensor array transparent substrate 5 constitute a sensor array 7.

In this way, the optical sensor unit 9 is composed of the lens array 3, the adhesive layer 4, and the sensor array 7, so that the light emitted from the light source such as a fluorescent lamp or an LED toward the optical sensor unit 9 is transmitted through the lens. 2 on the original 8, reflected on the M original 8, and the reflected light is sent to the optical sensor 6.
The document 8 is read by receiving light at the . In other words, when the surface of the document 8 is black, there is little reflection, and when it is white, there is a lot of reflection, so that the document 8 is read based on the difference in the anti-seed rate.

However, in the optical sensor unit 9, the lens array 3 and the sensor array 7 are manufactured and then bonded to each other with adhesive 4. In addition, it is difficult to align the lens array substrate 1 and the sensor array substrate 5, and it is also necessary to take into account issues such as the warping of the lens array substrate 1 and the sensor array substrate 5, and the reflection of light on the bonding surface, that is, the adhesive layer 4. However, there are problems in that the farming is done very far apart and the cost is very high.

Furthermore, since the coefficients of thermal expansion of the lens array substrate 1 and the sensor array substrate 5 are different, if a temperature change occurs, the relative position of the lens 2 and the optical sensor 6 will shift, resulting in accurate character and graphic information. There is also the problem that the light is not transmitted to the optical sensor 6.

(Objective) An object of the present invention is to provide an optical sensor unit that can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and has improved reliability without causing accuracy defects due to temperature changes.

(Structure) In order to achieve the above object, the optical sensor unit of the present invention collects light from a light source onto a document using a plurality of lenses, and directs each reflected light from the document to the document through the plurality of lenses. An optical sensor unit that is arranged on the side and reads the document by receiving light with a plurality of optical sensors corresponding to each of the plurality of lenses, wherein the plurality of lenses and the plurality of optical sensors are connected to one sheet. It is characterized by being provided on a transparent substrate.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an optical sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from the front. A large number of hemispherical microlenses 12 are incorporated in a transparent substrate 10 to collect light on the yX document 8, and a transparent substrate 10 is incorporated in the transparent substrate 10 to receive reflected light from the yX document 8 and to read the document 8.
It is composed of a plurality of cylindrical optical sensors 16 fixed to the end surface of the original 8. Here, the lens 12
The optical sensors I6 and I6 are arranged in rows in the longitudinal direction (line direction) of the transparent substrate 10, respectively, and constitute a lens array and a sensor array, respectively, and the spherical surface of each lens 12 is It is arranged to face 8 sides. Each optical sensor 16 is disposed at a position corresponding to each lens 12, that is, approximately directly below each lens 12, and at a position that does not block the light condensed by the lens 12.

The optical sensor unit 19 of this embodiment is constructed in this way, that is, the lens array and the sensor array are not supported on separate substrates, but are supported together on one substrate 10, so that each Each warp of the board,
It is no longer necessary to manufacture the optical sensor unit by considering the reflectance of the adhesive layer, alignment, etc., and therefore the optical sensor unit can be manufactured extremely easily and at low cost.

Furthermore, as described above, the lens array and the sensor array are fixed to one transparent substrate 10.

Discrepancies in the relative positions of each lens 12 and each optical sensor 16 due to temperature changes are eliminated, and even more accurate character and graphic information can be transmitted to the sensor array than in the past.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of an optical sensor unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the optical sensor unit 29 of this embodiment and that of the first embodiment is that the light from the light source is not concentrated in the direction directly below the light source (downward in the figure), but in the direction in which each lens 29 is aligned in a line (downward in the figure). The lenses 22 are arranged so as to be inclined in the same direction and at the same angle so that they are concentrated in only one direction in the front-rear direction (the left-right direction in the figure) with a border (direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in the figure), and The point is that one disc-shaped optical sensor 26 is arranged in a row on a transparent substrate 20 on which the light condensed by each lens 22 is reflected.

With this configuration, each optical sensor 26 is made into a cylindrical shape so as not to block the light condensed by the lens array 22, and delicately aligned so that the condensed light beam enters the hollow part. Since this is completely unnecessary, the optical sensor unit can be manufactured more easily and at a lower cost.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an optical sensor unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between the optical sensor unit 39 of this embodiment and that of the first embodiment is that the optical sensor unit 19 has a so-called -dimensional structure in which each lens 12 and each optical sensor 16 are arranged in a line in the line direction. However, the optical sensor unit 39 of this embodiment has lenses 12 and optical sensors 16 arranged in a row in the line direction.
are further arranged on a transparent substrate 30 shown by an imaginary line so as to be continuous in the traveling direction of the original 8, thereby forming a so-called two-dimensional optical sensor unit 39 that can read a wide range at once.

Here, in a two-dimensional optical sensor unit, if the light source is not strong, each optical sensor 16 will generally
Although it is difficult to decipher information such as graphics, according to this embodiment, the distance from the light source to the document 8 is shortened by using one board instead of two, so the light from the light source can be made stronger. Therefore, each optical sensor 16 can accurately read the information on the document 8.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
It goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, although each optical sensor shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 has a cylindrical shape, the shape is not limited to a cylindrical shape. Instead, it may be in the shape of a rectangular prism having a hollow part with a substantially rectangular cross section.Also, although each optical sensor shown in FIG. good.

(Effects) As described above, according to the optical sensor unit of the present invention, a plurality of lenses and a plurality of optical sensors are provided on one transparent substrate. , it is no longer necessary to consider the reflectance of the adhesive layer, positioning, etc. when laminating them together, and therefore the optical sensor unit can be manufactured easily and inexpensively, and the lens and optical sensor can be easily and easily separated due to temperature changes. Accurate character and graphic information is always transmitted to the optical sensor without any deviation in relative position, resulting in an optical sensor unit with improved reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an optical sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from the front, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an optical sensor unit according to a second embodiment of the invention viewed from the side, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view of an optical sensor unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the optical sensor unit according to the prior art seen from the front. 1, 5.10, 20, 30...transparent substrate, 2, 12
, 22... Lens, 6, 16. 26... Optical sensor
, 8... Original, 9,19°29.39... Optical sensor unit. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] Light from a light source is collected onto a document by a plurality of lenses, and each reflected light from the document is received by a plurality of optical sensors arranged closer to the document than the plurality of lenses and corresponding to each of the plurality of lenses. An optical sensor unit for reading the document, characterized in that the plurality of lenses and the plurality of optical sensors are provided on one transparent substrate.