JPH09205519A - Scanner unit and its adjustment method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily conduct fine-adjustment so as to allow pixel arrays to be arranged in parallel to the optical axis face in existence in parallel with a reference mount face. SOLUTION: A boss 3A formed to an optical system holder is inserted to insert holes 2b, 2a made in communication with an image sensor 2 and a board 4 to turn the image sensor 2 and the board 4 around the boss 2a. At the same time,the outer diameter of a machine screw 5 is made smaller than the inner diameter of a machine screw hole 4c so as to allow the turning at a very small angle by a diametrical play. A pin 6 is inserted into pin holes 2c, 4b made to the image sensor 2 and the board 4 before the machine screw 5 is tightened and the very small angle turning as above is conducted and a microscope is user to check whether or not pixel arrays of the image sensor 2 are in parallel with a reference mount face through magnification and the parallelism is adjusted. Then the machine screw 5 is tightened to make the mount complete.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanner unit for reading an image of a document, and more particularly to a structure and an adjusting method for adjusting a mounting position of an image sensor mounted inside the scanner unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a scanner unit for reading an image written on an original, for example, an image sensor in which a pixel array is mounted is used. The image sensor is mounted on a board by soldering, and the board is attached to an optical system holder. A reference mounting surface is formed on the optical system holder, and the optical system holder is mounted on the scanner unit housing by this reference mounting surface. In this way,
The optical system holder is
The reference mounting surface is positioned and fixed for mounting.

The reference mounting surface is abutted and positioned by the reference mounting surface, but in other conventional examples, a reference mounting hole is provided instead of the reference mounting surface. . That is, the reference mounting boss is inserted into the reference mounting hole for positioning.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the pixel array of the image sensor attached to the optical system holder is not always initially formed with respect to the reference attachment surface or the reference attachment hole formed in the optical system holder. Therefore, they are not always in the correct positional relationship. That is, the pixel row is not always parallel to the optical axis plane, and there are some that have an inclination. The reason is that the pixel array may be tilted from the beginning with respect to the image sensor and the substrate. Alternatively, a standard mounting surface or standard mounting boss may be formed on the circuit board in order to perform positioning when mounting the circuit board on the optical system holder. Because there is.

Therefore, even if the image sensor and the substrate are accurately positioned and attached to the optical system holder by the reference attachment surface or the reference attachment boss formed on the substrate or the like, there is a tilt between the pixel array and the optical axis plane. May occur.

If there is this inclination, even if the image of the original is read by the scanner unit, the entire image will be inclined.
In particular, when the image includes a ruled line, there is a drawback that the ruled line is not directly connected and is inclined.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a scanner unit and a method for adjusting the scanner unit, which can perform fine adjustment for correcting the inclination with respect to the optical axis plane. .

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is such that an image sensor is attached to an optical system holder, and the optical system holder is formed by a reference attachment surface formed on the optical system holder. A scanner unit that is positioned and mounted in a scanner unit housing, having a structure capable of finely adjusting a mounting position of an image sensor with respect to an optical system holder with reference to the reference mounting surface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scanner unit having a structure capable of finely adjusting a mounting position of the image sensor by rotating the image sensor with respect to the optical system holder by a slight angle. Is.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a screw having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole is passed through a screw hole formed on the image sensor side, and the screw hole is screwed into a female screw hole formed in the optical system holder. The scanner unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate is attached by this screwing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an image sensor on which a pixel array is mounted, a substrate on which the image sensor is mounted by soldering, a screw hole formed in the substrate, and an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole. Formed on the optical system holder, a female screw hole formed on the optical system holder into which the screw passing through the screw hole from the back side of the substrate is screwed, an optical system holder to which the substrate is attached by the screwing The scanner unit housing in which the optical system holder is positioned and mounted by the reference mounting surface, the boss formed in the optical system holder, and the boss formed in communication with the image sensor or / and the substrate. Centered around the insertion hole and the inserted boss.
And, by rotating the substrate by a slight angle, and inserting a pin for performing fine adjustment for correcting the inclination between the pixel row and the optical axis plane so that the pixel row and the reference mounting surface are parallel, an image sensor or / And a pin hole formed so as to communicate with the substrate, and a scanner unit.

The invention of claim 5 is the scanner unit according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is a flexible substrate.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, whether or not the pixel row and the reference mounting surface are parallel is checked by enlarging the pixel row with a microscope and adjusting the scanner unit using the scanner unit according to the fourth aspect. Is the way.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

Attached to a scanner unit housing (not shown) is an optical system holder 3 to which a substrate 4 on which the image sensor 2 having the pixel rows 2a is mounted is attached.

That is, the pixel array 2a for receiving the light reflected from the image of the original is mounted on the image sensor 2. The image sensor 2 is mounted on the substrate 4 by soldering. Screw holes 4c are formed at both ends of the substrate 4. The outer diameter of the screw 5 used is smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole 4c. This makes screw hole 4
There is a radial play between c and the screw 5. As will be described later, the mounting position of the substrate 4 can be finely adjusted by the amount of the play.

The male screw formed on the outer periphery of the tip of the screw 5 is
The optical system holder 3 is screwed into a female screw hole 3b formed in the optical system holder 3.

The optical system holder 3 has a cylindrical portion 3d at the center of the flat plate portion 3e to which the light reflected from the image is guided, and two mounting portions 3f on both outer sides of the cylindrical portion 3d.
Is integrally formed, and the reference mounting surface 3c is present on one surface of the mounting portion 3f, and the mounting is performed after the reference mounting surface 3c is abutted against the scanner unit housing (not shown) for positioning. It is composed. The optical axis plane of the light reflected from the image exists in a state parallel to the reference mounting surface 3c.

Further, in order to finely adjust the mounting position of the substrate 4 and the pixel row 2a of the image sensor 2 mounted on the substrate 4, the following structure is further provided.

That is, the optical system holder 3 is provided with a boss 3a so as to face the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4. On the other hand, insertion holes 2b and 4a for inserting the boss 3a are formed in communication with the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4.
Of the insertion holes 2b and 4a, the insertion hole 2b formed in the image sensor 2 has a smaller inner diameter and directly contacts the boss 3a. The image sensor 2 and the substrate 4 can be rotated around the boss 3a that is in contact with the insertion hole 2b of the image sensor 2. The insertion holes 2b and 4a are formed at one end of the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4.

Pin holes 2c and 4b are formed in the other grip of the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4. This pin hole 2c,
4b is actually composed of a long hole 4b formed in the substrate 4 and a U-shaped groove 2c formed in the image sensor 2. A pin 6 to be inserted for fine adjustment is prepared in the pin holes 2c and 4b thus configured.

Next, the fine adjustment process in this embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the image sensor 2 on which the pixel array 2a is mounted is prepared in a state of being mounted on the substrate 4 by soldering. Then, the screw 5 is passed through the screw hole 4c and screwed into the female screw hole 3b of the optical system holder 3.
This screwing is loosely performed so that the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4 can be moved horizontally by the radial play of the screw hole 4c and the screw 5. This play is provided at least for the screw holes 4c and the screws 5 on the left side in the drawing.

At this time, the boss 3a of the optical system holder 3 has the insertion holes 2b and 4a formed in the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4, respectively.
Has been inserted. Therefore, the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4
The pin 6 is inserted into the pin holes 2c, 4b formed in the image sensor 2 and the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4 are centered around the boss 3a.
Slight rotation in the E or F direction of (C).

The minute rotation is performed so that the pixel array 2a of the image sensor 2 and the reference mounting surface 3c for positioning when the optical system holder 3 is mounted on the scanner unit housing are parallel to each other. Whether or not the pixel array 2a and the reference mounting surface 3c are parallel is determined by the cylindrical portion 3 of the optical system holder 3.
This can be performed precisely by enlarging and examining the pixel row 2a with a microscope through d.

After making such fine adjustments, a lens barrel (not shown) is incorporated in the cylindrical portion 3d of the optical system holder 3, and the optical system holder is positioned in the scanner unit housing by the reference mounting surface 3c. Then, the screws 5 are sufficiently tightened, and the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4 are completely fixed and attached to the optical system holder 3.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4 are rotated by a small angle about the boss 3a of the optical system holder 3 and the pixel array 2a of the image sensor 2 and the optical system are microscopically rotated. If the reference mounting surface 3c of the holder 3 is adjusted to be parallel to each other, fine adjustment can be easily performed so that the pixel row 2a and the optical axis surface are completely parallel to each other without any inclination. Then, the image of the original read by the scanner unit thus finely adjusted can be obtained as a clear image without inclination even when displayed on the screen of the monitor of the personal computer. Further, even if the read image is printed out by the printer, a clear image without inclination can be obtained.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiments, the substrate 4 is rigid because it is directly attached to the optical system holder 3 with the screws 5, but in other embodiments, the flexible substrate is used. It is also possible to adopt. That is, a base material to be attached to the optical system holder 3 with the screws 5 is separately prepared, and the flexible substrate is positioned on the base material. Screw holes, insertion holes, and pin holes are formed in the flexible substrate and the base material as in the above embodiments.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the operator who performs the fine adjustment is explained as performing the adjustment while looking through the microscope. However, in other embodiments, a camera is attached to the microscope and is taken in from the camera. Fine adjustment can be performed while displaying the displayed image on the monitor. By making fine adjustments while looking at the monitor in this way, the operator does not need to look into the microscope and can work in a comfortable posture.

Further, in the above embodiment, the insertion holes 2b, 4a and the pin holes 2c, 4b are formed in both the image sensor 2 and the substrate 4, but in other embodiments. It is possible to form the insertion hole and the pin hole only in the substrate 4. That is, the image sensor 2
Board 4 is completely mounted on board 4,
By adjusting the attachment position of, the position of the image sensor 2 and further the position of the pixel row 2a mounted on the image sensor 2 can be finely adjusted.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the fine adjustment is possible by playing the screw holes 4c and the screws 5 in the radial direction. However, in other embodiments, the image sensor 2 or / and As means for attaching the substrate 4 to the optical system holder 3, attachment means other than screws can be used. That is, any mounting means having a play that enables fine adjustment of the image sensor 2 and / or the substrate 4 before the mounting in earnest is sufficient.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, by finely adjusting the mounting position of the image sensor in the scanner unit, the fine adjustment for correcting the inclination between the image sensor and the optical axis plane. It can be performed. Therefore, the image of the original read by the scanner unit does not tilt, and even if the read image is displayed on the screen of the monitor of the personal computer or the read image is printed out by the printer, there is no tilt. A clear image can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the fine adjustment of the mounting position of the image sensor can be easily performed by rotating the fine angle.

According to the invention of claim 3, fine adjustment can be made possible with a simple structure in which the screw has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole so as to have the radial play.

According to the invention of claim 4 or 5, further,
By screwing the screw from the back side of the board through the screw hole formed in the board into the female screw hole of the optical system holder, the board on which the image sensor is mounted is attached to the optical system holder. Prior to the above, by a pin inserted in a pin hole formed in communication with the image sensor or / and the substrate, centering around a boss inserted in the insertion hole formed in communication with the image sensor or / and the substrate. By rotating the image sensor or / and the substrate by a small angle, the pixel array of the image sensor and the reference mounting surface of the optical system holder can be made parallel, and the inclination between the pixel array and the optical axis plane can be corrected. It is possible to make fine adjustments.

According to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to easily know whether or not the pixel row and the reference mounting surface are parallel by enlarging and inspecting the pixel row with a microscope at the time of fine adjustment. The fine adjustment can be done easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an optical system holder attached to a scanner unit housing according to an embodiment of the present invention, (A) is a side view, (B) is a plan view, (C) is a bottom view, and (D). 8A is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.

2A and 2B show the image sensor and the substrate of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A is a side view, FIG. 2B is a plan view, and FIG.

3 shows the optical system holder of FIG. 1, (A)
Is a side view, (B) is a plan view, (C) is a bottom view, and (D) is a D-D sectional view of (A).

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Image Sensor 2a Pixel Row 2b, 4a Insertion Hole 3 Optical System Holder 3a Boss 3b Female Screw Hole 3c Reference Mounting Surface 4 Board 4b Pin Hole 4c Screw Hole 5 Screw 6 Pin

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A scanner unit in which an image sensor is attached to an optical system holder, and an optical system holder is positioned and attached to a scanner unit housing by a reference attachment surface formed on the optical system holder, with the reference attachment surface as a reference. A scanner unit having a structure capable of finely adjusting a mounting position of an image sensor with respect to an optical system holder. 2. A structure having a structure in which the mounting position of the image sensor can be finely adjusted by rotating the image sensor with respect to the optical system holder by a small angle.
The described scanner unit. 3. A screw having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole is passed through a screw hole formed on the image sensor side,
3. The scanner unit according to claim 1, wherein the scanner unit is screwed into a female screw hole formed in the optical system holder, and the substrate is attached by this screwing. 4. An image sensor on which a pixel array is mounted, a substrate on which the image sensor is mounted by soldering, a screw hole formed in the substrate, and a screw having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the screw hole. A female screw hole formed in an optical system holder into which a screw that has passed through the screw hole is screwed from the back side of the substrate, an optical system holder to which the substrate is attached by the screwing, and a reference mounting surface formed in the optical system holder A scanner unit housing in which the optical system holder is positioned and attached by the optical system holder, a boss formed on the optical system holder, and an image sensor or /
And the insertion hole formed in communication with the substrate and the inserted boss, the image sensor or / and the substrate is rotated by a slight angle so that the pixel column and the reference mounting surface are parallel to each other. And a pin hole formed in communication with the image sensor or / and the substrate for inserting a pin for finely adjusting the inclination between the optical axis plane and the scanner unit. 5. The scanner unit according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is a flexible substrate. 6. A method for adjusting a scanner unit using a scanner unit according to claim 4, wherein the pixel array is examined by enlarging it with a microscope to determine whether or not the pixel array and the reference mounting surface are parallel to each other.