JPH0315804A - Read scanning unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the read scanning unit with high resolution by cutting an optical waveguide array which has a light absorber or scattering body in its clad and an optical waveguide array which has a transparent clad at 45 deg. to the optical axes, and joining them together after forming a half-mirror on one of the cut surfaces. CONSTITUTION:The high polymer optical waveguide array 4 which has the light scattering body 6 or absorber in its clad and the optical waveguide array 8 which has a transparent clad are cut at 45 deg. to the optical axes. A half-mirror 11 is formed on one cut surface and both the cut surfaces are joined together having the optical axes aligned with each other to constitute a high polymer optical waveguide array unit; and a light source 15 irradiates the half-mirror 11 with light from at right angles to the optical axes. Therefore, the light from the light source 15 is reflected by the half-mirror 11 to light a document from right above and the light absorber 6 reduces crosstalk. Consequently, the read scanning unit with high resolution is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reading scanning unit used for reading information in copying machines, facsimile machines, electronic blackboards, image scanners, and the like.

As an example of applying a polymer optical waveguide to a conventional technical information reading scanning unit, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-88143, there is a polymer optical waveguide whose cladding layer contains a scatterer. A method has been proposed that uses .

An example of the above-mentioned conventional scanning unit for reading information will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a polymer optical waveguide used in a conventional information reading scanning unit. In Figure 4,
1 is a core, 2 is a cladding, and 3 is a scatterer. When this polymer optical waveguide is used as an optical system for a scanning unit for information reading, any light that leaks for some reason from a given core will be scattered by the scatterer in the cladding layer, so it will There is no interference with the core, and images with excellent resolution, contrast, etc. can be input.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, when light is irradiated from the side of the polymeric guiding waveguide to illuminate the document surface, the light that directly enters the polymeric guiding waveguide from the side is Therefore, a decrease in image resolution, contrast, etc. can be seen. Furthermore, if the side surfaces of the polymer optical waveguide are shielded to prevent light from entering from sources other than the original surface, it becomes difficult to illuminate the original surface, resulting in an insufficient amount of light. When increasing the distance between the document surface and the end face of the polymer guiding waveguide in order to increase the amount of illumination light, there have been problems such as a decrease in resolution.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a low-cost, high-resolution reading and scanning unit.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the reading scanning unit of the present invention includes a polymer guided waveguide array having a light scatterer or an absorber in the cladding, and a guided waveguide array with a transparent cladding. A polymer guided waveguide array unit that is cut at 45 degrees to the optical axis, a half mirror is formed on one of the cut surfaces, and the two cut surfaces are joined with the optical axes aligned, and a The half mirror is equipped with a light source that emits light from the mirror toward the half mirror.

Effect of the present invention With the above-described configuration, it is possible to bring the end of the polymer optical waveguide array as close as possible to the document, and it is also possible to illuminate the document surface well from the individual surface, thereby reducing the absorption of light within the cladding. When scanning is performed with the end of a polymer optical waveguide array with a transparent cladding facing toward the photoelectric conversion element and the end of a polymeric optical waveguide array with a transparent cladding toward the original, leakage into adjacent cores occurs. Since the absorbed light can be absorbed or scattered by an absorber or a scatterer, crosstalk is small and good resolution can be obtained.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a reading scanning unit in a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, numeral 4 is a polymer optical waveguide array containing a scatterer 6 in a cladding 5, 7 is a cladding portion thereof, and 8 is a transparent cladding 9.
10 is a core portion thereof,
11 is a joint where a half mirror is formed, 12 is a light shielding film, 13 is a photoelectric conversion sensor, 14 is a document surface, and 15 is an LED
Array 16 is light irradiated from LED array 15, 1
7.18 is a glass for holding a polymer optical waveguide array.

The operation will be explained below. The light 16 emitted from the LED array l5 is reduced by 50% by the half mirror 1l.
The amount of light is irradiated toward the original.

Next, the reflected light from the original passes through the half mirror l1 again, and about 50% of the reflected light reaches the photoelectric conversion sensor 13, which transmits image information of the original l4. At this time, since there is a light shielding film 12 on the side surface of the polymer optical waveguide array holding glass 17, 18, the light l6 from the LED array 15 is not directly irradiated onto the photoelectric conversion sensor 13. Furthermore, the light 16 from the LED array 15 is transmitted through a transparent cladding 9.
Since the light is incident through the light, it is transmitted well. However, when the reflected light from the document surface passes through the polymer optical waveguide array 8 having the transparent cladding 9, if it is incident at an angle larger than the aperture angle, it will leak into the adjacent core, resulting in cross-linking. It is known that the talk increases and the resolution decreases, but since the cladding 5 of the polymer optical waveguide array of the photoelectric conversion sensor 13 {III contains a scatterer 6, The incident light is absorbed by the scatterer 6, so there is no increase in crosstalk, and good resolution can be obtained.

The crosstalk will be explained with reference to FIG. In Fig. 2, 19 and 20 both indicate the trajectory of light reflected from an arbitrary point 21 on the original, 19 indicates light reflected at an angle smaller than the aperture angle of the polymer optical waveguide array, and 2
0 indicates light reflected at an angle larger than the aperture angle of the polymer optical waveguide array. The light reflected at an angle larger than the aperture angle in this way leaks out to the adjacent core 10 one after another, but since there is a polymer optical waveguide array 4 having a scatterer 6 in the cladding 5 above it, Most of the leaked light is scattered by the scatterer 6, and only information transmitted by the light 19 reflected at an angle smaller than the aperture angle of the polymer optical waveguide array 8 reaches the photoelectric conversion sensor 13. Therefore, good resolution without crosstalk can be obtained.

FIG. 3 shows a reading scanning unit in a second embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 3, the structure is such that the LED array 22 is brought into close contact with the holding glass 18 of the polymer optical waveguide array, and the size of the reading scanning unit can be reduced.

According to the above embodiment, a polymer guided waveguide array having a light absorber or scatterer in the cladding and a polymer guided waveguide array with a transparent cladding are each cut at an angle of 45 degrees to the optical axis. A polymer optical waveguide array unit with a half mirror formed on one of its surfaces and both cut surfaces joined together with their optical axes aligned, and configured to irradiate light toward the half mirror from a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. By doing so, it is possible to produce a high-resolution reading and scanning unit.

Note that the 45° surface to be formed into the array can be easily obtained by cutting, but it is also possible to use a mold or the like to pre-tighten the surface when molding each array.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention has a polymer guiding waveguide array having a light absorber or scatterer in the cladding, and a polymeric optical waveguide array having a transparent cladding, each of which is cut at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis. Then, a half mirror is formed on one of the cut surfaces, and light is irradiated toward the half mirror from a direction perpendicular to the optical axis and a polymer optical waveguide array unit in which both cut surfaces are joined with their optical axes aligned. Since the scanner is equipped with a light source, the light from the light source can be reflected by a half mirror to illuminate the original from directly above, and the absorber can reduce crosstalk, making it possible to obtain a high-resolution reading and scanning unit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a reading scanning unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a reading scanning unit showing the optical path of the same, and FIG. Main part sectional view of the reading scanning unit in the embodiment, No. 4
The figure is a perspective view of a polymer guiding waveguide used in a conventional reading and scanning unit. 4...Polymer optical waveguide array having a scatterer in the cladding, 5...Clad, 6...Scatterer, 7...Core, 8... ...Polymer optical waveguide array with transparent cladding, 9...Clad, 10...Core, 1l... Junction where half mirror is formed, l2.・・・・・・Light shielding film, l3
...Photoelectric conversion sensor, 15...LED
array.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A polymer optical waveguide array with a light absorber or scatterer in the cladding and a polymeric optical waveguide array with a transparent cladding are each cut at 45 degrees to the optical axis, and a half mirror is formed on one side of the cut surface. A reading scanning unit includes a polymer optical waveguide array unit in which both cut surfaces are joined with their optical axes aligned, and a light source that irradiates light toward a half mirror from a direction perpendicular to the optical axis.