JPH11150635A - Image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a mechanism for setting up the moving range of a sub- scanning carriage in a flat bed scanner. SOLUTION: In the flat bed scanner for moving a reader along the lower surface of a platen, a sensor S is arranged on a full rate carriage 4 to be a sub-scanning carriage and marks 25, 26 are arranged to regulate the start and end points of the carriage 4. Each of the marks 25, 26 is constituted of sticking a white tape to a prescribed position so as to be easily detected by the sensor S arranged on the carriage 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a simplified detection mechanism for setting a starting point and an ending point of an operation of a moving member in an image reading apparatus such as a flatbed type scanner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a flatbed scanner,
In order to read the image of the original set on the platen,
As a reading member that reciprocates along the lower surface of the platen, a full-rate carriage combining a ramp and a mirror and a half-rate carriage that moves in conjunction with the full-rate carriage are provided in combination. Then, light applied to the image surface of the document is reflected by a plurality of mirrors to form an image on a CCD through a lens, and is output as an electrical signal from the CCD to an image forming apparatus to which image information is connected. For example, when the apparatus to which the scanner is connected is a facsimile apparatus, the image information is transmitted through a telephone line. In a copying machine or the like, recording paper is created based on a signal output from the scanner.

In the scanner, it is necessary to accurately position a carriage reciprocating along a lower surface of a platen at a start point and an end point of a reading operation and to move the carriage between two end positions thereof. When the carriage is driven using a stepping motor, the number of motor steps required for the carriage to move between two points is detected, and the length of the read document is determined based on the detection result. A method of determining a scanning step according to the method and adjusting expansion and contraction of an image upon reading is used. In order to cope with the above-mentioned purpose, in the conventional apparatus, FIG.
As shown in (1), sensors S1 and S2 for detecting the full rate carriage 4 as a sub-scanning carriage are arranged at the start point and the end point of the movement path, and a specific position of the full rate carriage is detected by the sensor. ,
The number of steps to be applied to the drive motor has been set.

[0004]

However, as shown in FIG. 5, in order to set the starting point and the ending point of the movement of the carriage, it is necessary to dispose two sensors between the sensor and the control device. In this case, it is necessary to arrange the electric wires and process the signals from the two sensors also in the control device.
Further, mounting two sensors inside the main body frame of the scanner not only increases the number of constituent members, but also has a drawback in that the sensors need to be considered during maintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image reading apparatus in which only a mark member is arranged in place of a sensor in an apparatus main body and one sensor is arranged in a carriage, so that the structure of the apparatus can be simplified. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus provided with means for designating a starting point and an ending point of a moving section for a moving member of a reading apparatus which moves along the lower surface of a platen on which a document is set. . In the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, one sensor is arranged on the moving member, and marks are provided at predetermined positions on a moving path of the moving member at a start point and an end point at which the moving member moves. It is characterized by. Claim 2
The moving member provided with the sensor includes a light source and a first member.
It is a carriage provided with a mirror.
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the mark provided at a predetermined position on the moving path of the moving member is a seal member.

[0007] With the above-described configuration, in the apparatus of the present invention, the mark member can be arranged at the start point and the end point of the range in which the carriage as the moving member moves, and only one sensor is mounted on the carriage. By arranging, the configuration of the detection device can be simplified. Further, when the mark member is formed of a seal member such as a white tape, the setting of the mark is easy, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The image reading device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a device that can be used as a document reading portion of a facsimile device, a reading portion of a copying machine, or a scanner for a personal computer. Thus, image information as a digital signal can be transmitted from the CCD. In the image reading apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the platen 3 is disposed on the upper part of the main body frame, and is set so that the original faces the image side. With respect to the original set on the platen 3, the elastic body 9a of the platen cover 9 located on the upper surface thereof is pressed so that the image surface of the original can be read in close contact with the platen.

A lamp 5 and a mirror m1, a full-rate carriage 4 as a sub-scanning carriage, and two mirrors m2 and m3 are disposed inside a frame on which the platen is disposed on the upper surface, similarly to a general image reading apparatus. And the half-rate carriage 6 on which is disposed.
The two carriages 4 and 6 are driven via wires 12 and 13 wound around pulleys 10 and 11 provided on a single shaft. The diameter of the two pulleys 10 and 11 is 2: 1. In this case, the speed of the half-rate carriage 6 is set to half the speed of the full-rate carriage 4. In the reading device 2, the full-rate carriage 4 that moves at a constant speed in the length direction of the document and the half-rate carriage 6 that moves at half the speed of the full-rate carriage 4 are reciprocally moved in conjunction with each other, and The image of the original set in the printer is illuminated by a lamp. Then, the reflected light is reflected via mirrors m1, m2, and m3 provided on the two carriages respectively, the reflected light from the mirror m3 is imaged on the CCD 8 by the lens 7, and the optical information is converted into an electric signal. , And output as a digital signal to the connected device.

A driving device for driving the two carriages 4 and 6 includes a coaxial pulley 1 as shown in FIG.
The drive is transmitted to the motors 0 and 11 from the drive pulley 16 of the motor 15 via the transmission belt 17. The motor 15
A signal from the control device 20 is input to the motor driver 21 and a pulse corresponding to the number of revolutions of the motor is applied from the motor driver 21 to the motor 15. Then, the full-rate carriage is moved by a distance corresponding to the length of the document, and the reading speed of the full-rate carriage can be set arbitrarily. The half-rate carriage 6 is moved by half the distance at half the speed of the full-rate carriage 4. Let it. After the full-rate carriage has moved by a distance corresponding to the length of the document, the motor is driven in the reverse direction by the number of pulses applied at the time of reading, and the
Return two carriages to their original positions.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, a command for operating a reading device to read an image of a document is output from a start button provided on a control panel or an input device 22 provided on an image forming apparatus to be connected. At the same time as the command, the size of the document, the density of the read image, and other information are input to the control device via the input device 22. In response to the reading command, the control device 20 outputs a control signal to a motor that drives the carriage of the reading device 2 and starts outputting a driving pulse to the motor 15 via the motor driver 21. And the motor driver 21
The motor 15 rotates according to the number of pulses applied from
The image of the document set on the platen is read while moving the two carriages at a predetermined speed, and the read image is moved while moving the carriage by a distance set according to information such as the length of the document. The information is output from the CCD as a digital signal. The control device 20 detects the number of pulses output from the motor driver,
The number of pulses required to read an image of the entire document is compared with the number of pulses applied from the motor driver, and the signal is output to the display unit 22.

In the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a start point mark 25 and an end point mark 26 are arranged at predetermined positions on a main body frame in order to set a start point and an end point of the movement of the carriage. The carriage 4 is provided with one sensor S. Mark 2 for setting the start and end points
Reference numerals 5 and 26 denote a structure in which a white tape is attached to a position corresponding to the sensor of the frame, and the sensor S uses a reflection type optical sensor. In the detection device, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the moving range of the carriage 4 is set by two marks, and when the reading device is moved, the number of pulses applied to the motor between the two marks is set. Control the operation. As described above, when a white tape is attached and used as a detection member of a start point and an end point, setting and replacement can be easily performed by attaching the tape using an adhesive,
Since only one sensor S is provided on the carriage, the configuration of the detection device can be simplified.

The example shown in FIG. 4 shows the case of an image reading apparatus 1a constructed by combining a document transport section 30 as an automatic document transport apparatus in addition to the function of the flatbed scanner shown in FIG. . The image reading device 1
a, a substantially U-shaped conveyance path 33
A document tray 38 and a discharge tray 39 are arranged at both ends of the document tray, and a pickup roller 31 and a sheet separating device 32 are arranged at positions corresponding to the document tray 38. In the transport path 33, a transport roller device 34 in which a large-diameter drive roller member and a plurality of pressing rollers are combined is provided in order to transport a document along a curved portion. A discharge roller device 35 is provided to discharge a document toward a discharge tray 39. In the document transport section 30, an open / close frame 36 integrally provided with a paper guide outside the U-shaped transport path 33 is provided so as to be openable and closable via a support shaft 37, and a pickup roller 31 is provided on the open / close frame.
And a paper feed roller of the sheet separating device 32 and a pressing roller of the transport roller device. Then, by opening the opening / closing frame 36, the U-shaped conveyance path 33 is opened so that the jammed paper can be processed.

When the original set on the original tray 38 is read by using the original transport section 30, when the original passes through the platen 3a in the transport path 33, the platen 3a The image is read by the reading device positioned at the lower part. When reading the moving document, the two carriages are stopped at a fixed position on the left side of the figure. In order to set the position where the carriage is fixed, a fixing portion mark 27 is arranged, and the mark 2
The stop position is set by detecting the sensor 7 on the carriage. As the fixed portion mark 27, a white tape can be used like the two marks arranged corresponding to the flatbed scanner, so that the mark setting can be easily performed.

[0015]

Since the image reading apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, mark members are arranged at the start and end points of the range in which the sub-scanning carriage moves, and only one sensor is arranged on the carriage. By doing so, the configuration of the detection device can be simplified. Further, when the mark member is made of a white tape, the mark can be easily set, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. When the mark is used as a start / end point detecting member by attaching a seal member such as a white tape, the tape can be attached using an adhesive, so that setting and replacement can be easily performed. Since only one sensor S is provided on the carriage, the configuration of the detection device can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a driving device of the image reading device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a member for setting a movement range of a carriage.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of another embodiment of the image reading apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a member for setting a movement range of a conventional carriage.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 image reading device, 2 reading device, 3 platen, 4 full rate carriage, 5 lamp,
6 Half rate carriage, 7 Lens, 8
CCD, 9 platen cover, 10.11
Pulley, 12.13 wire, 15 motor,
16 drive pulley, 17 conductive belt, 20
Control device, 21 motor driver, 22 input device, 25 to 27 mark, 30 document feeder,
34 transport roller device, 35 discharge roller device,
38 document tray, 39 output tray.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus provided with means for designating a starting point and an ending point of a moving section for a moving member of a reading device that moves along the lower surface of a platen on which a document is set. An image reading apparatus, wherein a mark is provided at a predetermined position on a moving path of the moving member at a start point and an end point at which the moving member moves. 2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving member provided with the sensor is a carriage provided with a light source and a first mirror. 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mark provided at a predetermined position on the moving path of the moving member is a seal member.