JPH11249492A - Cleaning sheet and document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make easily cleanable a contact glass. SOLUTION: A cleaning sheet 1 having a napped part 3 on the surface is packed together with a facsimile equipment main body in an identical box and moved so that the contact glass is rubbed by the napped part 3 of the sheet 1 when the sheet 1 is passed through the facsimile equipment main body by a user. As the result, dust on the contact glass is attracted to the napped part 3 and moved outside together with the napped part 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning sheet for cleaning a contact glass of an image reading unit such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a scanner, and the like, and a document conveying apparatus for conveying a document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image reading apparatus, there are a type in which an original is placed on a contact glass and the scanner is moved by moving a scanner below the contact glass;
Scanning can be broadly classified into two types, in which the scanner is fixed below the contact glass and the original is moved above the contact glass to read the original.

In the former case, when an original is placed on the contact glass, dust attached to the original is often transferred to the contact glass and soils the contact glass. Work such as wiping is required. However, even if dust is attached to the contact glass, it is stored as a dot in the read image, so that the readability of the restored image is not so large.

In the latter case, even if dust attached to the original is transferred to the contact glass when the original is placed on the contact glass, the dust on the contact glass is transported as the original moves. Dust is less likely to remain on the contact glass. However, if dust remains on the contact glass and remains as it is, it is stored in the form of a streak in the read image, making it difficult to read the restored image.

[0005]

Therefore, it is still necessary to occasionally clean the contact glass in both the former case and the latter case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning sheet and a document conveying apparatus which solve the above problems and realizes easy cleaning of a contact glass.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention conveys a document onto a contact glass disposed at an image reading position of an image reading sensor, and further transfers the document passing through the image reading sensor to an external device. A cleaning sheet that is set on a document conveying device having a conveying unit that discharges the paper, and wipes the surface of the contact glass by driving the conveying unit. The cleaning sheet includes a raised portion on at least one surface, and includes a raised portion. Is set so that the thickness of the document when the document is pressed is equal to or less than the maximum thickness of the document that can be transported by the document transport device. With such a configuration, the cleaning sheet can be passed through the document feeder, and by passing the sheet, foreign substances on the contact glass can be reliably removed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document feeder having a feeding means for feeding a document onto a contact glass disposed at an image reading position of an image reading sensor and discharging the document passing through the image reading sensor to the outside. When a sheet member having a cleaning function is set in place of a document, the conveying unit is driven to deactivate the image reading sensor so that the sheet member is conveyed onto the contact glass and discharged. It is characterized by comprising control means for controlling. With such a configuration,
When the cleaning sheet is passed, the conveyance unit can be driven without operating the image reading device to pass the cleaning sheet and wipe the surface of the contact glass.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a cleaning sheet according to the present invention, wherein 1 indicates a cleaning sheet, 2 indicates a sheet portion, and 3 indicates a raised portion. The cleaning sheet 1 is provided with a raised portion 3 on one entire surface of a sheet portion 2 made of A4 size cloth or synthetic leather, and is packed together with the facsimile apparatus main body in the same box.

The thickness of the cleaning sheet 1 when the cleaning sheet 1 is pressed from both sides is set so as to be equal to or less than the maximum feedable original thickness of the enclosed facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a structural view showing a main part of the apparatus in an embodiment of the document conveying apparatus according to the present invention, wherein 4 is a first roller, 5 is a first roller which abuts on and is driven by the first roller 4,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a flexible guide member made of a PET material, reference numeral 7 denotes a contact glass, and reference numeral 8 denotes a contact sensor housing in which optical members such as a light source and an image reading element are housed. A contact glass 7 is mounted on the contact sensor housing 8,
A guide member 6 is attached to one end of the contact glass 7 in a cantilever manner. Further, 9 is a second roller, 10
Is a second roller which abuts on and is driven by the second roller 9, 11 is a flexible urging plate made of a conductive member, and 12 is a flexible member and has a white surface for white level discrimination. A white pressure plate, 13 is a square pipe installed to be vertically movable, 14 is a lower housing of the facsimile apparatus main body, 15 is a lower housing 14
1 shows an upper housing of a facsimile apparatus main body which can be opened and closed with respect to FIG.

A first roller 4, a contact sensor housing 8, and a second roller 9 are mounted on the lower housing 14 in this order, with the free end of the guide member 6 facing the first roller 4 side. ing. A first roller 5, an urging plate 11, a white pressure plate 12, a square pipe 13, and a second roller 10 are mounted on the upper housing 15 in this order. One end of the white pressure plate 12 is the first roller 5 and the square pipe 1
3 and the other end is fixed to the square pipe 13. Further, one end of the biasing plate 11 is fixed to the upper housing 15 between the first roller 5 and the square pipe 13, and the other end faces the second roller 10 as a free end. When the lower housing 14 and the upper housing 15 are combined, the first roller 4 and the first roller 5
The second roller 9 and the second roller 10 are in contact with each other, and the urging plate 11 and the white pressure plate 12 are positioned above the close contact sensor housing 8 in a state of close contact. At this time, the length of the urging plate 11 is set so that the lower part of the square pipe 13 is an image reading line and the other end of the urging plate 11 is not related to the image reading line. Further, the biasing plate 11 is inclined,
The original conveyed by the roller 4 is transferred to the contact glass 7.
Press to the side.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a part of the control system of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2. Reference numeral 20 denotes a CPU, 21 denotes various operation keys which can be input by the user, and a display for transmitting various information to the user. An operation panel having a panel, a driving means 22 for the first roller 4 and the second roller 9, a ROM storing various programs 23, and a contact sensor 24 in the contact sensor housing 8. When there is an input from the operation panel 21, a program corresponding to the input is read from the ROM 23, and various operations or processes are performed according to the program.

Next, the operation of reading a document will be described.

The original set on the main body of the facsimile apparatus is conveyed by the first roller 4, sent to the contact glass 7 by the guide of the guide member 6, and the image of the original is read by the contact sensor 24 in the contact sensor housing 8. And is discharged by the second roller 9. At this time, the document is pressed downward by the urging of the urging plate 11, and as a result, the original moves so as to rub the contact glass 7. for that reason,
The dust on the contact glass 7 moves with the document. At the same time, the urging plate 11 rubs against the original, but since the urging plate 11 has conductivity, no static electricity is collected.
Dust adhering to the document is less likely to be attracted to the urging plate 11. Further, since the urging plate 11 and the white pressure plate 12 are in contact with each other, even if static electricity is generated in the white pressure plate 12, the static electricity is reduced by the urging plate 11.

Next, cleaning of the contact glass will be described.

First, an agent for facilitating electrification is applied to the raised portion 3 of the cleaning sheet 1, and then the cleaning sheet 1 is set on the facsimile apparatus main body. Next, the operation panel 21 is operated to set the cleaning mode, and then the conveyance of the cleaning sheet 1 is started. At this time, control is performed such that only the first roller 4 and the second roller 9 rotate. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the raised portion 3 of the cleaning sheet 1 moves so as to rub the contact glass 7. Therefore, when the surface of the contact glass 7 is wiped off by the raised portion 3, dust on the contact glass 7 is absorbed by the raised portion 3, and the dust moves to the outside together with the raised portion 3. Moreover, the cleaning sheet 1 is discharged to a document tray (not shown) after the raised portion 3 wipes off dust accumulated on the edge of the contact glass 7.

According to the cleaning sheet of this embodiment configured as described above, the dust on the contact glass 7 is cleaned by passing the cleaning sheet 1 through the facsimile apparatus main body at an appropriate cycle. The dust on the surface is reliably removed, and the occurrence of black streaks can be prevented. In the above-described embodiment, the conveyance of the cleaning sheet 1 is started after the cleaning mode is set. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The image is directly set without setting the cleaning sheet 1 and then setting the cleaning mode. Even if the reading start key is pressed, the contact glass 7 can be cleaned. In this case, if the raised portion 3 is white, it is possible to confirm whether or not a black streak has occurred by recording the read image on a sheet.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the structure of the cleaning sheet is not particularly limited to the above. For example, the raised portion 3 is replaced with the sheet portion 2
May be provided on both sides. In this case, for example, a chemical is first applied to the surface of the cleaning sheet 1 and used for cleaning. If the cleaning effect on the front surface eventually decreases, the number of times that the contact glass 7 can be cleaned can be increased by coating the cleaning sheet 1 on the back surface and using the back surface for cleaning.

The raised portion 3 does not need to be provided on the entire surface of the sheet portion 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, they may be provided in a single line in the sub-scanning direction, or may be provided in an inverted V-shape as shown in FIG. In particular, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the contact glass 1 is cleaned from the center to the both ends of the contact glass 1, so that the raised portion 3 on the contact glass 1 can pass smoothly. In addition, since the raised portion 3 does not pass through the first roller 4 and the second roller 9 at the same time, a slip occurs between the first roller 4 or the second roller 9 and the raised portion 3 at the same time. Can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 6, a black-and-white pattern is formed at the leading end of the sheet portion 2 and this pattern is read by a contact sensor to determine whether or not the sheet conveyed below is the cleaning sheet 1. May be controlled to automatically switch to the cleaning mode.

In the above-described embodiment, the image is read by the contact sensor, but a reading device using a CCD and a reduction optical system may be applied. Further, even if the cleaning sheet 1 is passed by an automatic document feeder in an image reading apparatus of a type in which an original is placed on the contact glass and the scanner is moved below the contact glass, the contact glass is cleaned. can do.

[0024]

According to the present invention constructed as described above, the foreign matter on the contact glass can be reliably removed by a simple operation of passing the cleaning sheet through the document conveying device, and the reading operation can be performed. Image quality can be stabilized.

Further, when the cleaning sheet is passed, the conveying means is driven without operating the image reading device, so that unnecessary image reading operation can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a cleaning sheet of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main part of the apparatus in an embodiment of the document conveying apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a part of a control system of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another configuration of the cleaning sheet.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another configuration of the cleaning sheet.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another configuration of the cleaning sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning sheet 2 Sheet part 3 Brushed part 4 1st roller 5 1st roller 6 Guide member 7 Contact glass 8 Adhesion sensor housing 9 2nd roller 10 2nd roller 11 Energizing plate 12 White pressure plate 13 Square pipe 14 Lower housing 15 Upper Case 20 CPU 21 Operation Panel 22 Drive Means 23 ROM 24 Contact Sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] An original reading device that conveys an original onto a contact glass disposed at an image reading position of an image reading sensor, and that is set in an original conveying device provided with a conveying unit that discharges the original that has passed through the image reading sensor to the outside; A cleaning sheet for wiping the surface of the contact glass by driving the transport means, including a raised portion on at least one surface, the thickness when pressing the raised portion,
A cleaning sheet, wherein the thickness is set to be equal to or less than a maximum thickness of a document that can be transported by the document transport device. 2. A document feeder comprising: transport means for transporting a document onto a contact glass disposed at an image reading position of an image reading sensor and discharging the document passing through the image reading sensor to the outside. Alternatively, when a sheet member having a cleaning function is set, the control is performed such that the conveyance unit is driven, the image reading sensor is inactivated, and the sheet member is conveyed onto the contact glass and discharged. A document conveying device comprising: