JPH0242868A - Reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the fears of the break and dirt of a film piece since the film piece is not directly mounted to a pressing member, etc., by holding a transmitted original such as the film piece by means of a holder, moving the holder and scanning an image. CONSTITUTION:A film holder 70 is made of a transparent material, and it holds the long-sclale film piece to be cut in lengths for several frames. For the holder 70, a pressing plate 70a and a mounting plate 70b in a thin plate shape are openably and closably hinge-mounted mutually at one side peripheral part. In both edge vicinities of the pressing plate 70a, a line shape pattern 74 for focusing is prepared. For a film scanning part 80, a flat longitudinal shape guide hole for inserting the holder 70 is provided, and plural free rollers 81 are provided mutually between the upper part and lower part in the vicinity of an opening in the guide hole. Between the rollers 81 at the lower side, a driving roller 82 rotated by a motor 83 is located, and when the holder 70 is inserted, it is press-contacted to the roller 82, the holder 70 is moved in an arrow direction by the rotation of the roller 82, and the scanning is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a reading device for reading original documents in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and more specifically to a reading device capable of reading photographic film.

[Prior art]

In recent years, digital copying machines that can store and process the image information of scanned originals as electrical signals have been put into practical use, making it easy to perform positive inversion from normal photographic film, that is, negative film. As a result, there is an increasing desire to obtain copies directly from photographic film. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a copying machine that obtains an enlarged copy from a small transparent original such as a photographic film, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 185842/1983.

This utilizes a mechanism for moving the document table; the film is mounted on the document table, an enlarged projection path is formed from the film to the exposure area using a projection device, and the projection is performed by moving the document table. It is configured to scan an image.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the conventional apparatus as described above, the film is mounted on the document table using a presser member, etc., but what is commonly used is a long film cut into multiple frames. Since it is a length of film piece, it is necessary to handle it carefully so as not to damage or stain it when directly attaching it to the holding member, and when selecting other frames of the same film piece. Similarly, caution is required, so it takes time to set the film.Furthermore, if the film piece is not held accurately during scanning after installation, it will not be possible to read the image accurately, so make sure to However, there is a problem in that the presser member and the moving mechanism become complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a reading device that can easily hold a long piece of film with high accuracy and easily select other frames without complicating the scanning mechanism. With the goal.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A reading device according to the present invention is a reading device that reads an image of a transparent original that is enlarged and projected onto a reading section, and includes a holder that holds the transparent original, and a holder that holds the transparent original; and a holder moving section that moves the document in a surface direction, and the reading section is configured to move the holder using the holder moving section and scan the image.

[Effect]

The transparent original is held in a holder, and as the holder is moved in the surface direction of the transparent original by a holder moving unit, the projection area onto the reading unit is shifted and the image is scanned.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on drawings showing embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of a reading device main body in a reading device according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the device of the present invention). The reading device main body 1 is provided with a document table glass 2 on its upper surface, and a pair of rails 5a and 5b are disposed on the inner bottom facing each other with their longitudinal direction being the width direction of the reading device main body 1. , 5b, a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped reading head 3 whose longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the extending direction thereof is placed in a straddling state. The reading head unit 3 has a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices (CCDs) inside thereof, with its entrance side facing upward, as shown in the longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.
) are arranged in a row, and are equipped with a reading lens 32 made of, for example, a converging Rondo lens, a light source 31, etc., which are arranged in a row with their longitudinal direction facing the reading head part 3, respectively. When reading a normal original, that is, an opaque original, the light source 31 is turned on, and the reflected light image of the opaque original placed on the original platen glass 2 is reflected by the reading lens 32. Read through sensor 3
3, the reading sensor 33 main-scans the document, and pulleys 4a and 4b provided on rails 5a and 5b to be rotationally driven by motors 4c, respectively.
The reading head section 3 is moved on the rails 5a, 5b in the width direction of the reading device main body 1, that is, in the left-right direction, by the wires 7a, 7b stretched over these, thereby performing sub-scanning of the document.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view from the front side showing how the reading device main body 1 is equipped with a projector, a mirror, etc. when enlarging and reading a small transparent original such as a photographic film according to the main part of the present invention. . First, the device of the present invention enlarges and projects the entire image of one frame of the film to be read onto the document table, and reads and scans the projected image by moving the reading section in the same way as in the case of opaque documents. The reading unit is kept stationary, and the entire image is read and scanned by changing the projection area for the reading unit by moving the film that is enlarged and projected. Naturally, a mechanism is provided so that the movement of the film and the signal processing of the reading section are performed in synchronization.

The projector 6 is arranged substantially horizontally at a position higher than the upper surface of the right side edge of the reading device main body 1, and its projected light is directed to a mirror 9, which will be described later, provided on the left side of the document platen glass 2. irradiated. The projector 6 is attached to the reading device main body l as shown in the right side view of FIG.
A guide member 55 that slides in the depth direction on a slide rail 54 mounted on the right side of the reader body 1 with its length direction facing the depth direction of the reader body 1 has an axis extending in the depth direction of the reader body 1 at the top of the guide member 55 . This is achieved by pivoting the center of gravity of the lower part of the projector 6 by the supported shaft 53, thereby making the projector 6 rotatable around the shaft 53. A stopper 52 is disposed between the rear end of the projector 6 and the lower part of the guide member 55, and is formed by connecting two members of approximately the same size so that they can be bent freely in the middle. As shown in FIG. 3, by extending each member of the stopper 52, the projector 6 is held in a state in which the light emitting part is directed horizontally and the film can be projected and moved. is rotated 90 degrees about the shaft 53 and held in a vertical state with the light projecting section facing directly upward, and in this state the slide rail 54 is rotated about the shaft 53 as shown in FIG.
The projector 6 can be retracted together with the guide member 55 to the rear side of the reading device main body l, and as a result, the operation of the operator is not hindered during normal reading when a document is placed on the document table 2. . In other words, the slide rail 54 is provided to evacuate the projector 6.
When projecting a film, the projector 6 is fixed at a predetermined position approximately in the middle of the reader main body 1 in the depth direction.

The projector 6 is equipped with a light source 40 on its rear side (right side in FIG. 2), and in order from the light source 40 side to the front are condenser lenses 42a and 42b, and a cylindrical lens 4.
3, 44, a film holder 70 for holding a film to be projected; A projection lens 46 and an image rotation prism 47 are arranged, and a reflecting mirror 41 and a cooling fan 50 are arranged behind the light source 40, respectively.

The film holder 70 is designed to hold long pieces of film that are usually cut into lengths of several frames for storage, and are both transparent as shown in the external perspective view of FIG. Thin plate-shaped holding plate 70a and mounting plate 70 made of material
b are hinged at one side edge to each other so that they can be opened and closed tightly, and a film is placed on the mounting plate 70b! ! A recess 71 and a plurality of dowels 72 which are approximately equal in thickness and width to the film for placement and positioning are formed, and a plurality of protrusions 73 to be fitted into the dowels 72 and an AF to be described later are formed on the holding plate 70a. Linear patterns 74, 74 for focusing (autofocus) are formed near both longitudinal ends of the presser plate 70a, with their longitudinal direction set as the width direction of the presser plate 70a. That is, the film piece is placed in the recess 71 of the placing plate 70b, and the holding plate 70a! 3!
It is held in a sandwiched state by being in close contact with the placing plate 70b. This suppresses warping of the film, provides uniform image quality when projected, and facilitates handling by the operator.

The film holder 70 is incorporated into the projector 6 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the plane of the paper in FIG. 6th
The figure shows a vertical cross-sectional view of the film scanning unit, which is the holder moving unit that drives the projector 6, as viewed from the front side of the projector 6, that is, from the projection lens 46 side. The film scanning unit 80 is provided with a flat, vertically elongated guide hole 85 through which the film holder 70 is inserted, with the width direction of the film surface being the vertical direction, and passing through the projector 6 in the left-right direction. There are four film holder guides 84 at the upper and lower parts near the section to guide the insertion of the film holder 70.
A plurality of free rollers 81 are provided between the upper and lower portions of the film holder 70 to sandwich and support the film holder 70 from above and below. A drive roller 82 rotated by a motor 83 is provided between the free rollers 81 on the lower side, and the drive roller 82 is retracted when the film holder 70 is inserted or removed. It is designed to be pressed into contact. With such a configuration, the film holder 70 is connected to the driving roller 8.
Rotation 2 moves the camera in the direction of the arrow to scan the film image and also allows selection of other frames in the same film. It is also possible to return the film holder 70 in the opposite direction by rotating the motor 83 in the opposite direction, thereby making it possible to cope with multiple scans of full-color images. Since the scanning is performed by moving the scanner 70, highly accurate and stable scanning can be performed without uneven scanning.

The projection lens 46 of the projector 6 is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the optical axis by a motor 45, thereby focusing the projected light image.

On the left side of the document platen glass 2 on the upper surface of the reading device main body 1, there is a long side having a depth approximately equal to the depth of the platen glass 2.
A rectangular film reading opening 8 whose short side in the width direction is slightly wider than the width of the reading lens 32 in the sub-scanning direction is formed parallel to the document table glass 2. A Fresnel lens 10 having a screen surface on the lower surface is attached to the lens to seal it. Further, a mirror lid 11 is attached to the opening 8, the negative side edge of which is pivotally supported in the depth direction of the reader main body 1, and can be opened to the left side of the opening 8. The mirror lid 11 has a mirror 9 of approximately the same shape and size as the Fresnel lens 10 attached to the lower surface thereof, and can be held in a state tilted at an angle of about 45 degrees to the upper right to prevent irradiation from the projector 6. The projection light image is reflected onto the Fresnel lens 10 vertically downward, and when the film degree is not read by this projection, the Fresnel lens 10 and the opening 8 are sealed. As with the projector 6, it does not interfere with the operator's movements during normal reading.
It is possible to avoid the trouble of placing and removing a reflecting mirror jig on the document table as in the conventional method (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-198439, etc.), and the longitudinal direction of the mirror lid 11 is the optical axis. Since it is mounted perpendicular to the optical axis, it will not shift with respect to the optical axis, and no distortion will occur in the projected image.

The reading head section 3 is moved below the opening 8, and the reading lens 32 is placed on the screen surface of the lower surface of the Fresnel lens 10.
It is fixed at a position facing the incident side of the film, and this position becomes the film reading position of the reading head section 3. This film reading position is not particularly limited to this position, but if it is located below the document table glass 2, it is necessary to place a reflecting mirror jig on the document table as in the conventional case. There is also the disadvantage that the amount of light for reading is lost due to the undesirable and unnecessary glass plate. Therefore, the above-mentioned problems can be solved by providing a dedicated opening and setting the reading position below the opening.

Now, the optical path of the projected light image by the projector 6, mirror 9, and Fresnel lens 10 configured as above will be explained.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a plan view and a side view showing the optical path. The illumination system by the projector 6 constitutes a Koehler illumination system, and by creating an image of the light source 40 in the pupil of the projection lens 46, a filament image of the light source 40 is not generated on the screen surface on the lower surface of the Fresnel lens 10. , all the light beams directed from the light source 40 to the projection lens 46 can be utilized.

First, the illumination light from the light source 40 is efficiently utilized by even the light rays traveling in the opposite direction to the film 75 being condensed by the reflecting mirror 41 and directed toward the light source 40, and guided to the condenser lenses 42a and 42b. The light beams condensed by the condenser lenses 42a and 42b are converged into a vertically long slit shape through cylindrical lenses 43 and 44 that change the aspect ratio, and are transmitted through the film 75 to the pupil of the projection lens 46. The image of the light source 40 is formed into a long and narrow image in the vertical direction. In other words, the cylindrical lenses 43 and 44 are provided so as to illuminate one frame image of the film 75 in the form of a vertically long slit over the entire length of the film 75 in the width direction in a part of the length direction. After this vertically long optical image is emitted from the projection lens 46, it is rotated by 90 degrees by the image rotation prism 47 to become a horizontally long image, magnified, reflected by the mirror 9, and reaches the Fresnel lens IO. do. Then, the diffused light beams are converged approximately parallel to each other by the Fresnel lens 10, and the light from a long and thin film whose longitudinal direction coincides with the longitudinal direction of the lower screen surface, that is, the depth direction of the reader main body 1, is transmitted. The image is enlarged and projected.

The reason why the film 75 is illuminated in a slit shape is as follows. In other words, in the device of the present invention that performs scanning by keeping the reading head section 3 stationary and moving the film 75, it is not necessary to illuminate the film so as to project the entire image of one frame (including the optical axis). Reading sensor 3
In this embodiment, it is sufficient to illuminate only the direction corresponding to the main scanning direction of No. 3, that is, the direction perpendicular to the set film surface (although almost no width in the horizontal direction is required).

Therefore, by converging the illumination light from the light source 40 into a slit shape, the illuminance of the image on the screen surface can be made higher than the illuminance when the entire image is conventionally projected. Since the conventional illuminance that does not hinder reading can be ensured even if it is lower than the luminous intensity of the light source, the power consumption of the light source 40, that is, the illumination system, can be suppressed. In addition, in a conventional overall projected image, there is a difference in illuminance between the center and the periphery due to unevenness in the light intensity of the light source, so the reading sensor performs correction reading of the illumination light in the main scanning and sub-scanning directions respectively before projection. However, in the present invention, by reading the reading sensor stationary, the film is moved in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis while the optical axis of the illumination light is always projected onto the reading sensor. Therefore, even if the film is moved and the projection area changes, the illuminance at the middle of the film's slit-shaped projected image always corresponds to the illuminance at the center of the conventional overall projected image. There is no need to perform correction in the movement direction, that is, in the sub-scanning direction, and it is sufficient to perform correction only in the main-scanning direction. Furthermore, since the projected image is in the form of a slit, there is no need to use a mirror Fresnel lens or a large screen surface to reflect and project the image.
Not only can it be made smaller, but its installation height on the document table can also be significantly lowered. In this embodiment, a cylindrical lens is used to converge the illumination light into a slit shape, but a linear Fresnel lens may be used instead.

Now, as mentioned above, the optical image of the film 75 is projected onto the screen surface on the lower surface of the Fresnel lens 10.
In order to read an image with high precision, the projected image must be accurately focused. This can also be done by the operator himself moving the projection lens 46 in the optical axis direction while looking at the projected image, but here, the above-mentioned motor 4
Focusing using 8F using 5 is explained.

In this focusing, the contrast is determined from the detection signal of the reading sensor 33 using the pattern 74 formed on the film holder 70, and the projection lens 46 is driven and focused based on the contrast. The pattern 74 has a coarse adjustment pattern 74a with a large pitch and a fine adjustment pattern 74b with a small pitch arranged side by side in the width direction of the film holder 70. Since the direction in which the patterns are arranged in parallel, that is, the longitudinal direction of the pattern 74 is made to match, substantially the entire pattern 74 is projected at the same time, and the projected image is read by the reading sensor 33.

This read signal is given to a CPU (not shown), and the CPU
U is MTF (Modulation Transf)
er Functton) value and issues a drive signal to the motor 45 to move the projection lens 46 to the position where the value is maximized. In this case, first, the projected image of the rough adjustment pattern 74a is read, the projection lens 46 is moved relatively largely to the position where the MTF value thereof is maximized, and then the fine adjustment pattern 74b is read,
While slightly moving the projection lens 46, it is similarly set at a position where its MTF value is maximized. In other words, the fact that the MTF value is maximized means that in the plurality of solid-state image sensors arranged in a row in the reading sensor 33, the difference in brightness between adjacent elements to recognize the white and black of the pattern, that is, the contrast is maximized. This means that the image is not blurred and is accurately focused, so you can judge that it is in focus.

Focusing using such a pattern 74 is performed before reading the film image, but focusing is performed in parallel with reading the film image using a pattern 76 as shown in the perspective view of the film holder in FIG. It is also possible to do so. This pattern 76 has a plurality of lines approximately equal to the length of the film holder arranged in parallel in the width direction of the film holder.
That is, it is provided at a position above or below the film piece when the film holder is set in the projector 6. In other words, since the pattern 76 is always projected at a position closer to the front or further back on the screen surface together with the image of the film being moved, the part of the reading sensor 33 corresponding to that position is used as described above. At the same time as the focusing is performed based on the contrast, other parts of the reading sensor 33 read the original film image.

Note that the above-mentioned AF focusing is performed using the reading sensor 33.
This is done using the detection signal of A.
It is also possible to provide a dedicated sensor for F and use its detection signal.The configuration thereof will be explained next. FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the front side of the reading device main body 1, showing an example of an AP sensor provided on the Fresnel lens 10, and the AP sensor 90 has a CCD of an appropriate length attached to its lower part. Sensors St, St using line sensors are provided at a position slightly above the upper surface of the Fresnel lens 10 with their longitudinal directions aligned with the longitudinal direction of the reading sensor 33 and separated from each other by an appropriate length. At the top, there is a projector 6
A beam splitter 91 is arranged to guide the projected light beams from the sensor St and Sz to the sensors St and Sz, respectively, with different optical path lengths. The beam splitter 91 determines the optical path length to the screen surface on the lower surface of the Fresnel lens IO, that is, the surface to be focused, and the optical path length to the sensor Sl is 4, and the optical path length to the sensor S2 is L2. < L < L
It is defined that + and -L=L-L2.

In other words, the sensors Sl and S2 are provided at equal distances from the screen surface, at positions corresponding to the rear and front sides, respectively, and as a result, the projected images of the film holder pattern, etc. The contrast output signal value of each sensor that reads is not focused on the screen surface, for example, in a so-called front focus (or back focus) state where the focus is in front (or behind) the screen surface. In this case, the output of sensor St (or s+') is higher than the output of S, (or S,), and when the focus is on the screen surface, a relationship is obtained in which the force values of both sides are equal, This relationship is used to perform AP.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control procedure, in which the output value of sensor S is set to S+, and the output value of sensor S2 is set to 8.
2. First, in step S1, it is determined whether s and +s2 are zero, and if they are zero, that is, if the front focus or the back focus is extremely high, the projection lens is enlarged so that an output value is generated. It is caused to reciprocate (step S2).

Once the output is obtained, compare it and if s, > s2, then
In other words, when in the rear pin state, move toward the front pin, and s
When l<s2, that is, when the front focus state is established, the projection lenses are each moved by a predetermined amount in the rear focus direction (steps 33 to S5). As a result, when s,=s2, it is detected that the screen is in focus, and the measurement ends.

The AP sensor 90 is removed from the Fresnel lens 10 when reading a film image after the AP is completed, but it may be configured to be automatically installed or evacuated in conjunction with the AF operation. In addition, by always providing the AF sensor at a position away from the Fresnel lens 10, such as between the opening 8 and the document table glass 2, and changing the inclination angle of the mirror lid 11 only during AF. A configuration may also be adopted in which a static operation is performed by forming an optical path to the sensor.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned series of focusing operations, a projection image of a pattern formed on a film holder made of a transparent material is used. There is no particular limitation, and it is also possible to judge the contrast from the projected image of the film. In that case, the 12th
As shown in the external perspective view of the figure, a film holder is used in which a plurality of openings 77, 77, etc. corresponding to the size of each frame of the film piece are arranged in parallel on both plates that hold the film piece. Of course, this film holder does not need to be transparent.

Next, an example of the film image reading operation performed by the apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above will be explained. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the mirror 111 is opened and set at a predetermined angle, and the reading head section 3 having the reading sensor 33, which has been corrected and read in the main scanning direction, is read below the opening 8. and set the projector 6 in a state where it can project. Then, the film holder 70 holding the film piece to be read is installed in the film scanning section 80 of the projector 6, the light source 40 is turned on, the pattern 74 of the film holder is projected onto the screen surface, and the AP operation is performed using this projected image. Focus by doing this. When the camera is in focus, the film holder 70 is moved to project the reading start position of a desired frame of the film piece, and read preparation is completed.

At this point, the vicinity of one end of the film piece in the longitudinal direction of one frame image is enlarged and projected in a slit shape, and after that, the reading signal of the reading sensor 33 is processed,
The entire enlarged image of one frame is read by synchronizing the movement of the film holder 70 by the motor 83 of the film scanning section 80, that is, the change of the projection area. Note that during this reading, the light source 31 of the reading head section 3
There is no need to turn on the light.

In this embodiment, the film holder is moved in the horizontal direction when reading, but it may be moved in the vertical direction instead. In that case, the longitudinal direction of the slit illumination area relative to the film is in the horizontal direction. Therefore, there is no need to rotate the projected light image by 90 degrees, and the image rotation prism can be omitted. Furthermore, in that case, the film holder is arranged in the projector with its longitudinal direction being the vertical direction, but if you do not want the film holder to protrude in the vertical direction of the projector due to space considerations, the external appearance perspective view shown in Fig. 13 may be used. A film scanning mechanism as shown in the figure may also be provided. This includes a film holder support member 80a that supports the film holder 70 so that the film image can be selected with the longitudinal direction of the film holder 70 in the horizontal direction, and a guide shaft 88a that supports the support member 80a in the vertical direction;
88b in the vertical direction. This movement is performed by, for example, the boot 1J87. which is rotationally driven by the motor 83a. This may be done using the IJ 86 and the wire 89 stretched therebetween. In other words, the film holder 70 is moved and scanned in the vertical direction with its longitudinal direction set in the horizontal direction.

[Effects] As described above, in the reading device according to the present invention, a transparent original such as a piece of film is held in a holder, and the holder is moved to scan an image. As a result, the operator can handle the film piece while holding it in the holder, and since the film piece is not attached directly to a holding member, etc. as in the past, there is no fear of damage or staining, making it easier to handle. The film piece can be accurately set at a predetermined projection position, and the image can be read and scanned with high precision.

Conventionally, the mechanism for moving the film piece used the movement mechanism of the document table, but this configuration, which moves the holder, not only simplifies the film scanning mechanism, but also enables the movement of other frames of the same film piece. The present invention has excellent effects such as easy selection without requiring much time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the main body of a reading device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front vertical sectional view when a transparent original is enlarged and projected, and FIG. 3 is a right side view thereof. Fig. 4 is a right side view showing the projector in a retracted state, Fig. 5 is an external perspective view of the film holder, Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the film scanning unit, and Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views showing the projection optical path. 9 is an external perspective view showing the second embodiment of the film holder, FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the installation state of the AP sensor, and FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the meter.
FIG. 12 is an external perspective view showing a third embodiment of the film holder, and FIG. 13 is an external perspective view showing another embodiment of the film scanning section. 1...Reading device body 3...Reading head section 6...
・Projector 9... Mirror 10... Fresnel lens 43.44... Cylindrical lens 45.
... Projection lens 47 ... Image rotation prism 70 ...
Film holder 80...Film scanning unit patent Applicant Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Noboru Kono

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reading device that reads an image of a transparent original that is enlarged and projected onto a reading unit, comprising: a holder that holds the transparent original; and a holder movement that moves the holder in the surface direction of the transparent original. A reading device comprising: a reading unit, wherein the reading unit is configured to scan an image by moving a holder using the holder moving unit.