JP2008160582A - Image reading apparatus and facsimile apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an arrangement for striking a balance between an increase in read speed and improvement in cooling efficiency in flat bead type image reader reading an original by allowing a carriage to travel. <P>SOLUTION: The carriage 30 has a housing 41. In the housing 41, a light source support frame 61 made of a sheet metal is provided so that the frame 61 is exposed outside. In the light source support frame 61, an LED light source 22 is installed. The LED light source 22 has a substrate 62 and a plurality of LEDs 63 arranged on the substrate 62. The substrate 62 is installed in the light source support frame 61. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a configuration of an image reading apparatus that reads a document by running a carriage.

In Patent Document 1, in an exposure apparatus for a copying camera, an exposure unit (carriage) that moves from a standby position under a transparent glass document table exposes a document placed on the document table in a slit shape to scan the document surface. A configuration for returning to the standby position again is disclosed. In the configuration of this Patent Document 1, a metal heat radiating plate is disposed above the standby position, so that the heat of the exposure unit that has returned to the standby position after scanning is once radiated and diffused to the heat radiating plate. It has become.
Utility Model Registration No. 2558861

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the exposure unit can hardly be cooled during the scanning of the document, if the scanning is repeated, the temperature inside the exposure unit increases, adversely affecting the internal devices, and the read image quality. May decrease. Further, in recent years when there is an increasing need to read a large amount of documents at high speed, it is difficult to keep the exposure unit stationary at a standby position for a long time for cooling.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a configuration capable of achieving both high-speed reading and improved cooling efficiency in a flatbed image reading apparatus.

Means and effects for solving the problems

  The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, means for solving the problems and the effects thereof will be described.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, the following configuration is provided in a flatbed image reading apparatus that reads a document by running a carriage. That is, the carriage includes a housing, and the housing is provided so that a sheet metal member is exposed to the outside, and a light source is installed on the sheet metal member.

  With this configuration, the heat generated by the light source can be radiated naturally through the sheet metal member. In addition, since the carriage travels with the sheet metal member during document scanning, natural heat radiation from the sheet metal member can be favorably performed. Further, since the cooling air is not introduced into the housing for cooling, dust can be prevented from entering the carriage, and the reading image quality can be prevented from deteriorating.

  The image reading apparatus preferably has the following configuration. That is, the light source includes a substrate and a plurality of LEDs arranged on the substrate. The substrate is installed on the sheet metal member.

  With this configuration, the heat of the substrate of the LED light source can be satisfactorily transmitted to the sheet metal member and cooled. Accordingly, it is possible to stably operate an LED light source whose characteristics such as the light amount are likely to change due to a temperature rise, and to maintain a good image quality of the read image.

  In the image reading apparatus, it is preferable that the sheet metal member also serves as an outer cover of the housing.

  With this configuration, the carriage configuration can be simplified, the weight can be reduced, and the scanning speed can be improved and the driving energy can be reduced.

  In the image reading apparatus, an air blowing portion is formed on the externally exposed portion of the sheet metal member, and the air blowing portion is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage. preferable.

  With this configuration, wind is applied to the air blowing portion as the carriage travels during document scanning, so that the light source can be effectively cooled via the sheet metal member.

  In the image reading apparatus, it is preferable that the air blowing portion is formed by bending the sheet metal member.

  With this configuration, the light source can be effectively cooled with a simple configuration.

  In the image reading apparatus, it is preferable that the carriage includes a CCD, and the sheet metal member extends to a position in contact with the CCD or a position in the vicinity of the CCD.

  With this configuration, not only the light source but also the CCD can be effectively cooled, and the influence of the temperature rise of the CCD can be satisfactorily suppressed.

  In the image reading apparatus, it is preferable to provide a cooling fan capable of applying cooling air to the exposed portion of the sheet metal member.

  With this configuration, the light source can be cooled more satisfactorily by applying cooling air to the sheet metal member. In addition, since the cooling air is applied to the externally exposed portion of the carriage, dust can be prevented from entering the carriage, and the read image quality can be maintained well.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a facsimile apparatus as the image reading apparatus is provided.

  Next, embodiments of the invention will be described. 1 is a front sectional view showing an overall configuration of a copy facsimile multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carriage of a scanner unit, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the carriage of the scanner unit. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a copy facsimile multifunction peripheral 101 serving as an image reading apparatus and a facsimile apparatus includes an original table 103 on which a platen glass 102 on which a read original is placed is disposed, and the read original on the platen glass. An original platen cover 104 for holding the pressed state and an operation panel (not shown) for instructing reading start of the original are provided.

  An apparatus main body 105 is disposed below the document table 103. The apparatus main body 105 is configured to record image data on an unillustrated image recording unit for recording an image on a sheet as a recording medium, or image data via a communication line. A transmission / reception unit (not shown) for transmitting the signal is incorporated.

  The document table cover 104 is provided with an auto document feeder (automatic document feeder) 107. The auto document feeder 107 includes a document tray 111 provided above the document table cover 104 and a paper discharge tray 112 provided below the document tray 111.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a curved document transport path 113 that connects the document tray 111 and the discharge tray 112 is formed inside the document table cover 104. In this document transport path 113, a pickup roller 51 for feeding a scanned document on the document tray 111, a separation roller 52 and a separation pad 53 for separating the scanned document one by one, and a scanned document at a document reading position. A transport roller 55 for transporting toward P and a paper discharge roller 58 for discharging the read original document to the paper discharge tray 112 are provided.

  With the above-described configuration, the read originals set on the original tray 111 are separated one by one and conveyed along the curved original conveyance path 113, passing through the original reading position P, and a scanner unit described later. After being read by the printer 21, it is discharged to the paper discharge tray 112.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a scanner unit 21 is provided inside the document table 103. The scanner unit 21 includes a carriage 30. The carriage 30 includes an LED light source 22 that irradiates light to the read original, and a plurality of reflection mirrors 23, 23,... That reflect light reflected from the read original. And a condensing lens 27 for converging the reflected light, and a charge coupled device (CCD) 28 for converting the converged light into an electric signal and outputting the electric signal.

  A guide rod 46 is installed in the document table 103 along the moving direction of the carriage 30. A driving pulley 47 is rotatably supported near one end of the guide rod 46, and a driven pulley 48 is rotatably supported near the other end. An endless drive belt 49 is stretched between the drive pulley 47 and the driven pulley 48.

  A perspective view of the carriage 30 as viewed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 30 has a housing 41 configured to be elongated in the document width direction (main scanning direction). It has. A guide boss 42 is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the housing 41, and the guide rod 46 is inserted through a through hole 43 provided in the guide boss 42. Thereby, the moving direction of the carriage 30 can be guided in a direction parallel to the guide rod 46. The other end side in the longitudinal direction of the housing 41 is guided in the moving direction by a guide rail (not shown).

  Further, a belt clamp portion (not shown) is provided at an appropriate position of the housing 41, and the housing 41 of the carriage 30 is fixed to an appropriate portion of the drive belt 49 via the belt clamp portion. Therefore, the carriage 30 can be moved horizontally along the sub-scanning direction (the direction of the arrows A and B) by driving the drive pulley 47 (FIG. 1) forward and backward with an electric motor (not shown).

  3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the inside of the carriage 30. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 2, a reading opening 45 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 41. As shown in FIG. The reading opening 45 is elongated in the width direction of the document, and the LED light source 22 is installed along the reading opening 45.

  With this configuration, the auto document feeder 107 is driven in a state where the carriage 30 has been moved in advance to a position corresponding to the document reading position P. Then, the read original conveyed on the original conveyance path 113 is scanned at the original reading position P, and the reflected light irradiated from the LED light source 22 and reflected by the read original is introduced into the carriage 30 through the reading opening 45 and reflected. The light is guided to the CCD 28 by the mirrors 23, 23. As a result, the CCD 28 can output an electrical signal corresponding to the read content.

  Further, when used as a flatbed scanner, the carriage 30 is moved along the platen glass 102 at a constant speed, while scanning the read original placed on the platen glass 102, and the reflected light is as described above. Similarly, it is guided to the CCD 28 in the carriage 30 to form an image.

  The signal obtained from the CCD 28 is sent to the image recording unit after appropriate conversion processing and printed, or transmitted to another facsimile apparatus via the communication line by the transmission / reception unit.

  As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, a light source support frame 61 as a sheet metal member is attached to the upper surface of the housing 41 of the carriage 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the light source support frame 61 has a width substantially equal to the width of the reading opening 45. The light source support frame 61 has a base fixed to the housing 41 and extends to the reading opening 45.

  As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the end portion on the extending side of the light source support frame 61 is bent obliquely, and the LED light source 22 is attached to this portion. Specifically, a substrate 62 of the LED light source 22 is installed at the end of the light source support frame 61, and a plurality of LEDs 63 are linearly arranged on the substrate 62.

  In addition, two bent portions 65 and 66 that are bent at an angle of approximately 90 ° are formed in the middle of the light source support frame 61. An air blowing portion 67 that rises vertically is formed between the two bent portions 65 and 66.

  Thereby, the heat generated by the LED light source 22 can be efficiently transmitted to the light source support frame 61 made of sheet metal, and the LED light source 22 can be cooled well by natural heat radiation from the light source support frame 61 having a wide external exposed area. Further, when the carriage 30 reciprocates when using the flat bed scanner, air hits the air blowing portion 67, so that heat can be efficiently removed from the light source support frame 61 and the cooling efficiency of the LED light source 22 can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, a cooling fan 71 is provided outside the carriage 30, and the cooling effect is further improved by applying cooling air from the cooling fan 71 to the light source support frame 61. As described above, the present embodiment is not configured to introduce cooling air into the inside of the carriage 30 for cooling, so that dust can be prevented from entering the inside of the carriage 30 and deterioration in reading image quality can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the cooling fan 71 is disposed at a position where the cooling air strikes the carriage 30 in a stationary state at the document reading position P. Thus, the LED light source 22 can be cooled particularly well by the cooling fan 71 when using an auto document feed scanner that often reads a document continuously over a long period of time.

  As described above, the copy facsimile multifunction peripheral 101 according to the present embodiment includes the flat bed type image reading unit that travels the carriage 30 and reads a document. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the carriage 30 includes a housing 41. The housing 41 is provided with a light source support frame 61 made of sheet metal so as to be exposed to the outside. Is installed.

  Thereby, the heat generated by the LED light source 22 can be naturally radiated favorably by the light source support frame 61 made of sheet metal. In addition, since the carriage 30 travels with the light source support frame 61 during document scanning, natural heat radiation from the light source support frame 61 can be favorably performed. Further, since the cooling air is not introduced into the housing 41 for cooling, it is possible to prevent dust from entering the carriage 30 and to prevent the reading image quality from deteriorating.

  In this embodiment, the LED light source 22 includes a substrate 62 and a plurality of LEDs 63 arranged on the substrate 62, and the substrate 62 is installed on the light source support frame 61.

  Thereby, the heat | fever of the board | substrate 62 of LED light source 22 can be favorably transmitted to the light source support frame 61, and can be cooled. Therefore, it is possible to stably operate the LED light source 22 whose characteristics such as the light amount are likely to change due to a temperature rise, and to maintain a good image quality of the read image.

  In the present embodiment, the light source support frame 61 is also configured as an external cover that covers a part of the upper surface of the housing 41.

  As a result, the configuration of the carriage 30 can be simplified and the weight can be reduced, so that the scanning speed can be improved and the driving energy can be reduced.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an air blowing portion 67 is formed on the externally exposed portion of the light source support frame 61, and this air blowing portion 67 is the traveling direction of the carriage 30 (arrows A and B). The direction is substantially perpendicular to the direction of

  As a result, wind is applied to the air blowing portion 67 as the carriage 30 travels during document scanning, so that the LED light source 22 can be effectively cooled via the light source support frame 61.

  The air blowing part 67 is formed by appropriately bending the light source support frame 61 at the bent parts 65 and 66.

  Thereby, the LED light source 22 can be effectively cooled with a simple configuration.

  Further, in the copy facsimile multifunction peripheral 101 of this embodiment, a cooling fan 71 is provided inside the document table 103, and this cooling fan 71 can apply cooling air to the exposed portion (upper surface) of the light source support frame 61. It is configured.

  Thereby, the LED light source 22 can be cooled more favorably by applying cooling air to the light source support frame 61. Further, since the cooling air is applied to the externally exposed portion of the light source support frame 61, dust can be prevented from entering the carriage 30, and the read image quality can be maintained well.

  The light source support frame 61 may be configured to extend the base portion as appropriate to extend to a position in contact with the CCD 28 or a position in the vicinity of the CCD 28.

  In this case, not only the LED light source 22 but also the CCD 28 can be effectively cooled, and the influence due to the temperature rise of the CCD 28 can be well suppressed.

  The preferred embodiments and modifications of the present invention have been described above, but the above configuration can be further modified as follows.

  The position and shape of the light source support frame 61 can be arbitrarily changed. For example, the light source support frame 61 can be changed to a shape that covers not only the upper surface of the housing 41 but also the side surfaces. In addition, the LED light source 22 can be disposed on the opposite side with the reading opening 45 interposed therebetween instead of the position of FIG. 3. In this case, the light source support frame 61 is also disposed on the opposite side with the reading opening 45 interposed therebetween. Can be arranged.

  Further, the position, number and shape of the air blowing portion 67 are also arbitrary. For example, instead of forming the air blowing portion in a step shape as shown in FIG. 3, a convex shape having air blowing surfaces on both front and back surfaces. It can be formed as a rib. In this case, even if the traveling direction of the carriage 30 is either the arrow A direction or the B direction, the air hits the rib-shaped air blowing portion well, and the LED light source 22 can be effectively cooled.

  The position and number of the cooling fans 71 and the direction of the cooling air are arbitrary. For example, the arrangement of the cooling fans 71 can be changed so that the cooling air is directly applied to the air blowing part 67. .

  The arrangement of the reflection mirrors 23, 23..., The condenser lens 27, the CCD 28, etc. in the carriage 30 can be changed as appropriate.

  The configuration of the present embodiment can be applied not only to an image reading unit serving both as a flat bed and an ADF but also to an image reading unit dedicated to a flat bed. Further, the configuration of the present embodiment is not limited to the copy facsimile multifunction peripheral 101, and can be applied to, for example, an image scanner, a copy apparatus or a facsimile apparatus having only a copy function or only a facsimile function.

1 is a front sectional view showing an overall configuration of a copy facsimile multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the carriage and cooling fan of a scanner unit. The cross-sectional enlarged view of the carriage of a scanner unit.

Explanation of symbols

21 Scanner unit 22 LED light source 28 CCD
30 Carriage 41 Housing 61 Light source support frame (sheet metal member)
62 Substrate 63 LED
71 Cooling fan 101 Copy facsimile multifunction peripheral (facsimile device, image reading device)

Claims (8)

In a flat bed type image reading apparatus that reads a document by running a carriage,
The carriage includes a housing, and a metal plate member is provided in the housing so as to be exposed to the outside, and a light source is installed on the metal plate member. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1,
The light source includes a substrate and a plurality of LEDs arranged on the substrate,
An image reading apparatus, wherein the substrate is installed on the sheet metal member. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The image reading apparatus, wherein the sheet metal member also serves as an outer cover of the housing. The image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image reading apparatus characterized in that an air blowing portion is formed in an externally exposed portion of the sheet metal member, and the air blowing portion is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air blowing portion is formed by bending the sheet metal member. An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage includes a CCD, and the sheet metal member extends to a position in contact with the CCD or a position in the vicinity of the CCD. The image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
An image reading apparatus comprising a cooling fan capable of applying cooling air to an exposed portion of the sheet metal member.   A facsimile apparatus as an image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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