JP2009111808A - Image reader and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce burden of cleaning and maintenance of a contact glass (a document support member) and a shading member, and to reduce the size with a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: A document contacting member 211g6 projecting inward a document conveying path is provided by folding an end edge part of the shading member 211g3, which structures a white background plate to a sensor 211g2 for image reading as an image reading means of a document. The document contacting member 211g6 is arranged so as to be elastically in contact with a surface of the document in the document conveying path. Accordingly, the surface of the document moving in the document conveying path is made in contact with the document contacting member 211g6 of the shading member 211g3, and stains attached on the document is removed by scraping by sliding action of the document contacting member 211g6 of the shading member 211g3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus configured to convey an original through an original conveying path and read an image with an image reading unit.

  In general, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, or other various apparatuses, widely uses an original reading apparatus for enabling reading of an image described on an original. For example, in the so-called flow-reading type image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 6, a document not shown is transported in a predetermined direction (in the direction of arrow a) by a transport roller 2 provided in the document transport path 1. The image is read by the image reading means 4 including a sensor or the like disposed immediately below the contact glass 3 in a state where the document is being conveyed along the upper surface of the contact glass (document supporting member) 3. ing.

  At this time, a sheet-like shading member 5 constituting a white background plate is disposed above the image reading unit 4 including the sensor or the like so as to face the image reading unit 4 with an appropriate interval. ing. The shading member 5 is composed of a uniform white reflector configured to perform shading correction to prevent image density unevenness and the like. The shading member 5 is shaded by being read immediately before starting an actual reading operation on a document. This is used as a white reference for the correction signal.

  However, the shading member 5 having such a configuration is arranged so that the lower surface of the figure constituting the white reference surface is exposed toward the inner side (downward side) of the document conveyance path 1. Moreover, they are arranged close to each other so as to form a slight gap with the contact glass (original support member) 3. Therefore, when the document is conveyed along the upper surface of the contact glass 4 as described above, the surface of the document is always moved in contact with the white reference surface (the lower surface in the drawing) of the shading member 5. . As a result, a dirt portion such as dust or dirt adhering to the surface of the document is transferred to the white reference surface of the shading member 5 and the white reference surface is contaminated, and shading correction may not be performed satisfactorily. There is. In addition, when dirt adheres to the surface of the contact glass 4 particularly on the reading line, the dirt adhering portion may appear linearly on the read image.

  Conventionally, it has been difficult to prevent adhesion of dust and the like by applying antistatic treatment to the contact glass and the shading member in order to solve the problem of adhesion of the shading member and the contact glass in such an image reading apparatus. In addition, the layout of the document transport structure is devised. However, none of them is expected to have a permanent effect. In practice, service personnel and users should perform appropriate maintenance and cleaning regularly or when they notice shading errors or image defects. It is the best policy.

  On the other hand, the following Patent Document 1 proposes an apparatus in which dust or dirt attached to a document is prevented from adhering to the shading member by retreating the shading member outside the document transport path area during document transport. Has been. When shading correction is performed, the shading correction signal is read by moving the shading member so as to extend into the area of the document conveyance path. However, the apparatus according to this proposal has a problem that the entire structure becomes large because the configuration is complicated, which is disadvantageous for downsizing and cost reduction.

JP 2002-152474 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can reduce the burden of cleaning and maintenance on a shading member and contact glass with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an image reading apparatus provided with an image reading means provided at an intermediate position of a document transport path for transporting a document, the document transported in the document transport path A configuration is adopted in which the document contact member that is elastically contacted is disposed on the upstream side in the document transport direction of the image reading unit and is opposed to the image reading unit from above.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the document contact member elastically contacts the surface of the document conveyed in the document conveyance path toward the image reading unit, and the document contact member contacts the document. Due to the rubbing action applied to the surface or the like, dirt such as dust or foreign matter adhering to the surface or the like of the document is scraped off and removed.

  In the present invention, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the original contact member is integrally bent with a shading member constituting the background plate of the image reading means.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the document contact member can be easily obtained by bending the shading member.

  In the present invention, it is possible to employ a configuration in which the document contact member is provided so as to protrude toward the inner side of the document transport path.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the rubbing action on the document by the document contact member is more reliably performed.

  In the present invention, the document contact member is provided at an upstream edge portion in the document transport direction, and has a configuration in which a cross-sectional shape along the document transport direction forms a substantially chevron shape. Is possible. Further, in the present invention, the document contact member employs a configuration in which a portion projecting inward of the document transport path is disposed so as to be inclined and extend in a direction along the document transport direction. It is possible. Still further, in the present invention, the document contact member is formed with a slit that divides the edge region of the document contact portion into a plurality of regions along the main scanning direction perpendicular to the document transport direction. Can be adopted.

  According to the present invention having each configuration as described above, the document contact member is more flexibly brought into contact with the surface of the document transported toward the image reading unit in the document transport path. Therefore, the action of removing dirt and foreign matters from the original contact member is more smoothly continued.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, a configuration is adopted in which the edge portion of the document contact member extends so as to incline at an appropriate angle with respect to the main scanning direction perpendicular to the document transport direction. Is possible.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the contact point of the document contact member with respect to the surface of the document conveyed in the document conveyance path toward the image reading unit is continuously along the width direction of the document. As it moves, dirt such as dust and foreign matter scraped off from the surface of the original is brought to the edge of one side of the original and can be easily collected.

  As described above, in the document conveying device and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the document contact member is arranged above the document image reading means, and the document contact member is elastically brought into contact with the document, thereby Simple configuration because it employs a configuration that removes dirt such as dust and foreign matter adhering to the surface of the document that is moving in the conveyance path so that it is scraped off by the rubbing action of the document contact member. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden of cleaning and maintenance on the shading member and the contact glass, and it is possible to greatly improve the reliability of the read image while reducing the size of the image reading apparatus and the image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a document conveying device according to the present invention is applied to a multifunction printer device as an image forming apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, a document conveying device 21 according to the present invention is mounted on the uppermost part of an electrophotographic image recording main body 11 and at the lowermost part of the image recording main body 11. Are arranged with a universal cassette device 12 and a manual paper feeding device 13 which constitute a paper feeding device that accommodates a sheet-like recording medium such as cut paper and feeds the sheet-like recording medium. Further, an image forming unit 14 for transferring and forming an image on a sheet-like recording medium fed from the paper feeding devices 12 and 13 is disposed above the paper feeding devices 12 and 13. Further, a fixing unit 15 for fixing the toner image formed on the sheet-like recording medium by the image forming unit 14 is disposed above the image forming unit 14, and above the fixing unit 15. At the position, a sheet recording medium discharge unit 16 on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit 15 is disposed.

  Each of the units 12 to 16 involved in such image formation generally executes the following image forming process according to a command from an operation control unit (not shown). That is, first, when the surface photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 14a constituting the image forming unit 14 is uniformly charged by the charging roller 14b, the image information read by the document conveying device 21 or an external computer is described. The laser light modulated based on the image information input through the laser beam is emitted from the laser optical unit 14c and irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 14a, and the electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information is applied to the surface photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 14a. An image is formed. Next, the developing sleeve provided in the developing device 14d supplies toner having the same polarity as the charged surface of the photosensitive drum 14a to the photosensitive drum 14a, and is irradiated with laser light as described above. The developed portion is developed (reversed development) to form a toner image as a visible image. The visible toner image is sent to a transfer position formed at a position where the photosensitive drum 14a and the transfer roller 14e face each other, and the universal cassette device 12 serving as the above-described paper feeding device and the manual feed in accordance with the timing. A sheet-like recording medium is supplied from one of the paper devices 13, and a toner image is transferred onto the sheet-like recording medium. The sheet-like recording medium to which the toner image has been transferred is sent to the fixing unit 15 to be fixed.

  Here, the universal cassette device 12 as the above-described paper feeding device has a cassette tray 121 constituting a box-shaped paper feeding housing, and a medium stacking plate (medium plate) 122 is provided inside the cassette tray 121. Is arranged. The medium stacking plate 122 is configured such that an appropriate sheet-like recording medium such as a cut sheet is stacked on the upper surface portion of the medium stacking plate 122, and the front end side of the cassette tray 121 ( A separation claw 125 is arranged on the left end side in the drawing, and a sheet feeding operation of a sheet-like recording medium placed in a stacked manner on the medium stacking plate 122 is performed above the separation claw 125. A paper feed roller 126 is disposed. The paper feed roller 126 is constituted by a rotating body having a part of a cylindrical shape having a substantially half-moon cross section. When the paper feed roller 126 is driven to rotate, the sheet-like recording medium P is moved to the front side. At the same time as being urged to move toward the left side in the drawing, the sheet feeding operation is performed while the sheet-like recording media are separated one by one by applying the above-described separating action of the separation claw 125. Is called.

  The fixing unit 15 includes a fixing film unit 15a having a built-in heater, and a pressure roller 15b pressed against the fixing film unit 15a. The fixing film unit 15a, the pressure roller 15b, The sheet-like recording medium to which the toner image is transferred is fed into the fixing nip portion where the toner image is pressed, and the toner image is fixed by heating and pressurizing processing. In the case of single-sided image formation in which image formation is performed on only one side of the sheet-like recording medium, the sheet-like recording medium on which the toner image has been fixed as described above is conveyed in the transport path of the discharge unit 16. The recording medium is disposed at the uppermost position of the image recording main body 11 by the nipping and conveying force between the sheet discharge roller 16a and the sheet discharge roller 16b disposed at the exit portion. The fixed sheet-shaped recording medium is discharged toward the tray 16c and stacked in a stacked manner.

  On the other hand, residue such as residual toner adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 14a after the transfer is completed, and these residues are removed by the cleaning unit 14f constituting the image forming unit 14. Thereafter, the process proceeds to the charging process again, and the same image forming process is repeated. The above process is the outline of the image forming process for one side (front side) of the sheet-like recording medium.

  On the other hand, in the case of double-sided image formation in which image formation is performed on both sides of the sheet-like recording medium, the paper discharge roller 16a provided in the discharge unit 16 transports the sheet-like recording medium to the rear end. Thereafter, the sheet-like recording medium after the image is formed on one side is sent to the reverse conveying mechanism 17 connected to the discharge unit 16 by a switchback operation that is temporarily stopped and then rotated in the reverse direction. It is conveyed to the apparatus lower side through the reverse conveying mechanism 17. Thus, the sheet-like recording medium whose front and back sides are reversed is sent again to the image forming unit 14 described above, and in the image forming unit 14 the first side described above with respect to the second surface (back side surface) of the sheet-like recording medium. The toner image is transferred in the same manner as the image forming operation on the front side (front side).

  The sheet-like recording medium having the toner image transferred to the second surface (back side surface) in this way is sent to the fixing unit 15 and the toner image is fixed, and then the discharge roller of the discharge unit 16 described above. 16a and the discharge roller 16b are transported to the recording medium discharge tray 16c.

  On the other hand, the document conveying device 21 described above performs document conveyance control so as to convey the document to the image reading unit and read the image described on the document based on a command from a document conveyance control unit (not shown). It has been made into a configuration. As shown in FIG. 2, the document conveying device 21 includes an automatic document conveying unit 211 that extends in an elongated shape along the document width direction (reading main scanning direction) perpendicular to the paper surface. A document feed tray (document placement table) on which documents to be read are placed in a stacked manner at an upper position on one end surface side (right end surface side in FIG. 2) in the document transport direction by the automatic document transport section 211. ) 212 is attached in a cantilevered manner so as to protrude substantially horizontally.

  A pair of document guides 212 a and 212 a are erected on the document placement surface constituting the upper surface of the document feed tray 212 so as to face each other in the document width direction (reading main scanning direction). As is well known, the pair of document guides 212a and 212a is attached so as to be able to reciprocate so as to maintain a symmetrical position with respect to the center position in the document width direction. The document bundle on the document feed tray 212 is moved so as to come into contact with both sides of the stack of document stacks placed on the document feed tray 212 on the stack. Are aligned in the correct position and direction with respect to the center position in the document width direction.

  A document discharge tray 213 for receiving a document whose image has been read by an image reading unit 211g described later is disposed below the document feed tray 212. The document discharge tray 213 has a cantilever shape similar to that of the document feed tray 212 from a position below one end surface side (right end surface side in FIG. 2) of the automatic document transport unit 211 in the document transport direction. It is attached so as to protrude horizontally, and the discharged originals are placed in a stacked manner on the upper surface side of the original paper discharge tray 213.

  The document feed tray 212 and the document discharge tray 213 are arranged so as to face up and down at an appropriate interval in the up and down direction, and have a superposed arrangement relationship substantially overlapping in plan view. The document feed tray 212 and the document discharge tray 213 are disposed above the recording medium discharge tray 16c of the image recording main body 11, and are disposed below the document feed tray 212. The original document discharge tray 213 is disposed at an appropriate interval with respect to the recording medium discharge tray 16c.

  A plurality of document bundles placed in a stacked manner on the document feed tray 212 are first transferred to the entrance-side transport path 211a that constitutes one of the plurality of document transport paths in the automatic document transport section 211. The document is conveyed by the rotational driving force of the paper feed roller 211b that is fed inward and lowered into the entrance-side conveyance path 211a at a predetermined timing. The originals conveyed to the separation roller 211c are separated one by one so that double feeding is prevented by the frictional force between the separation member 211d and the separation member 211d spring-biased below the separation roller 211c. A document conveyed toward the conveyance roller pair 211m and conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 211m is configured to be conveyed in a curved shape toward the lower side in the drawing in the entrance-side conveyance path 211a.

  An end on the outlet side of the inlet-side conveyance path 211a is disposed so as to open toward the lower side in the figure, and faces the nip portion of the registration roller pair 211e, 211e constituting the skew feeding correcting means from above. Are arranged to be. As is well known, the registration roller pair 211e, 211e as the skew feeding correction unit is configured to stop or start the rotation drive at an appropriate timing by a conveyance control unit (not shown). The leading edge of the document transported in the entrance-side transport path 211a is brought into contact with the nip portion of the pair of registration rollers 211e and 211e, and the registration sensor disposed close to the pair of registration rollers 211e and 211e. The subsequent transport operation is performed at an appropriate timing starting from the time when the leading edge of the document is detected (not shown).

  On the exit side (lower side in the figure) of the nip portion of the registration roller pair 211e, 211e, the inlet side end of the reading introduction conveyance path 211f is arranged so as to face from the lower side. The reading introduction conveyance path 211f is provided so as to extend obliquely downward toward the image reading unit 211g of the original, and as described above, the original conveyed by the rotational driving of the registration roller pair 211e, 211e. The image reading unit 211g is carried at a constant speed through the reading introduction conveyance path 211f.

  At this time, as particularly shown in FIG. 3, the image reading unit 211g is provided with a contact glass (original support member) 211g1 for supporting a document carried into the image reading unit 211g and the contact thereof. An image reading sensor 211g2 including a reduction optical system using a CIS or a CCD as an image reading unit is provided immediately below the glass 211g1. The image reading unit 211g in the present embodiment is configured by a “flow-reading method” in which an image is read while conveying a document. The detailed configuration of the image reading unit 211g will be described in detail later. .

  The original after the image is read by the image reading unit 211g is sent out from the image reading unit 211g into a reading discharge conveyance path A211h extending obliquely upward, and the discharge constituting the discharge unit. The read originals are discharged in a stacked manner on the placement surface of the original discharge tray 213 by the transfer operation performed by the rotational drive of the side transfer roller pair 211i, 211i and the discharge roller pair 211j, 211j. It is configured.

  On the other hand, when performing double-sided reading of a document printed on both the front and back sides, the document after reading the image on the first side (front side) as described above is reversed in the reading and discharging conveyance path B211n. A reverse conveying path provided to form a part of the original conveying path by temporarily stopping at a position (switchback point) and then switching the paper discharge roller pair 211j and 211j to rotate in reverse. 211k is conveyed in the reverse direction. In this way, the reverse conveyance path 211k used when reading the second side (back side) of the original that has been turned upside down after reading the first side (front side) of the original is curved and extended in a substantially arc shape on the side. The end of the extending side (the left side in FIG. 2) is joined to the midway position of the inlet side conveying path 211a between the separation roller 211c and the conveying roller pair 211m. .

  As described above, the leading edge of the reverse document sent from the reverse conveyance path 211k is again sequentially held by the nip portion of the conveyance roller pair 211m and the registration roller pair 211e, 211e and sent to the reading introduction conveyance path 211f. The image is read on the second side (back side) of the document by being sent to the image reading unit 211g through the reading introduction conveyance path 211f.

  Here, as described above, the image reading sensor 211g2 that constitutes the image reading unit of the image reading unit 211g is provided in the middle of the document transport path for transporting the document, but the position directly above the image reading sensor 211g2 is provided. The sheet-shaped shading member 211g3 constituting the white background plate is arranged so as to face the plane from above. The shading member 211g3 is formed of a thin plate-like, for example, resin sheet-like member configured to perform shading correction to prevent image density unevenness and the like, and is compressed by a compression spring 211g5 via a mounting plate 211g4. It is made into the structure pressurized by appropriate pressure.

  A white reference surface composed of a uniform white reflecting surface is provided on the lower surface side of the shading member 211g3. The white reference surface of the shading member 211g3 is read by the above-described image reading sensor 211g2 so as to obtain a shading correction signal serving as a reference for reading immediately before reading the document image. ing.

  At this time, the white reference surface (the lower surface in the figure) provided on the shading member 211g3 is close to and substantially parallel to the above-described upper surface of the contact glass 211g1 with a gap (gap) t of about 0.5 mm. Are arranged to be. With such an arrangement structure of the shading member 211g3, a document conveyance path having a narrow gap is formed between the contact glass 211g1 and the document is conveyed and moved to the document conveyance path on the contact glass 211g1. The shading member 211g3 is configured to give a guide action to the document.

  Here, the shading member 211g3 has an inner edge of the document conveyance path at an edge portion located upstream (left side in FIG. 3) in the document conveyance direction with respect to the image reading sensor 211g2. An original contact member 211g6 that protrudes toward (downward in FIG. 3) is integrally provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the document contact member 211g6 provided on the shading member 211g3 is provided over the entire width of the shading member 211g3 in the document width direction (reading main scanning direction). . The document contact member 211g6 is configured to elastically contact the document transported in the document transport path described above, and to the image reading sensor 211g2 as the image reading unit. It arrange | positions so that it may oppose the upper side.

  The document contact member 211g6 provided on the shading member 211g3 is bent so that the cross-sectional shape along the document transport direction (left direction in FIG. 3) forms a substantially chevron. The document contact member 211g6 can be elastically brought into contact with the surface of the document (the back surface at the time of reading) by the flexibility given by the shape.

  The document contact member 211g6 has a substantially chevron-shaped cross-sectional shape in which the upstream edge portion of the document contact member 211g6 is bent upward, and the folded portion 211g7 is bent downward. And the folded portion 211g8. The free tip portion constituting the lower end edge portion of the folded portion 211g8 extends so as to protrude by a predetermined amount toward the inner side (downward side) of the document conveyance path on the contact glass 211g1 described above. The lower end edge portion of the folded portion 211g8 is arranged so as to be elastically contactable with the front surface (the back surface at the time of reading) of the document conveyed in the document conveyance path. Yes.

  In this way, the folded-down portion 211g8 constituting the upstream edge portion of the document contact member 211g6 is a portion protruding toward the inside (downward) of the document transport path on the contact glass 211. However, when the folding portion 211g8 is protruded downward as described above, a configuration is adopted in which it is inclined and extended in a direction along the document conveyance direction. That is, the inclination direction of the folding part 211g8 is such that the lower end side is positioned on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 3) in the document conveying direction with respect to the upper end side of the folding part 211g8. The angle θ with respect to the surface of the contact glass 211 is in the range of 90 ° to 45 °. By setting the inclination angle in this way, the lower end edge portion (free front end edge portion) of the folding portion 211g8 is on the front surface (the back surface at the time of reading) of the document conveyed in the document conveyance path. It comes to be able to contact flexibly.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as particularly shown in FIG. 4, the lower end edge E1 of the folding portion 211g8 constituting the original contact member 211g6 is represented by the two-dot chain line in the drawing. It extends so as to incline at an appropriate angle with respect to the main scanning direction (document width direction) perpendicular to the conveying direction. More specifically, when the distance from the root side folding curve E2 in the folded portion 211g7 of the document contact member 211g6 to the lower end edge E1 of the folded portion 211g8 is a folding interval L, the document The folding interval L1 on one end side in the main scanning direction (document width direction) perpendicular to the conveyance direction is set to be different from the folding interval L2 on the other end side (L1 ≠ L2).

  In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the folding interval L1 on one end side in the main scanning direction (document width direction) orthogonal to the document transport direction is larger than the folding interval L2 on the other end side. (L1> L2) so that the lower edge E1 of the folded portion 211g8 is brought into contact with the front surface of the document (back surface at the time of reading) while being inclined in the document width direction. It is made the composition which becomes.

  According to this embodiment having such a configuration, when the document is conveyed toward the image reading unit 211g in the entrance-side conveyance path 211a as the document conveyance path, the edge portion of the shading member 211g3 The document contact member 211g6 provided with a simple folding configuration is elastically brought into contact with the front surface of the document in the moving state (the back surface at the time of reading). The shading member 211g3 has a rubbing action applied to the surface of the document when the document contact member 211g6 comes into contact with the surface of the document so that dirt such as dust and foreign matter adhered to the surface of the document is scraped off. Removed. It should be noted that the scraping action of the shading member 211g3 against the document stain by the document contact member 211g6 is the same even when the magnitude relationship between the bending intervals L1 and L2 is reversed (L1 <L2). Obtainable.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the document contact member 211g6 of the shading member 211g3 is bent so as to have a substantially chevron-shaped cross section, and the edge portion of the document contact member 211g6 protrudes inward of the document transport path. However, it extends so as to incline toward the upstream side in the document conveying direction, so that the surface of the document (reading of the document) conveyed in the entrance-side conveyance path 211a toward the image reading unit 211g is read. The document contact member 211g6 of the shading member 211g3 is more flexibly brought into contact with the back surface), thereby removing dirt such as dust and foreign matter by the document contact member 211g6 provided on the shading member 211g3. The operation is continued more smoothly.

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of folding portions 211g8 projecting inward of the edge region of the document contact member 211g6, that is, inward of the document transport path. The slits 211g9 are formed at an appropriate interval. Each of these slits 211g9 is formed so as to cut the folded portion 211g8 into a linear shape over a predetermined length from the lower end edge side.

  As described above, since the plurality of slits 211g9 are formed in the folded portion 211g8 which is the edge region of the document contact member 211g6, the entire folded portion 211g8 is orthogonal to the document transport direction. It is divided into a plurality of regions along the width direction (reading main scanning direction), and each region divided by the slit 211g9 is configured to bend independently of each other.

  According to the second embodiment having such a configuration, the shading member with respect to the front surface (the back surface at the time of reading) of the document conveyed in the entrance-side conveyance path 211a toward the image reading unit 211g. The 211g3 original contact member 211g6 is more flexibly brought into contact, so that the action of removing dirt and foreign matter from the original is further smoothed.

  Although the embodiments of the invention made by the present inventor have been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Nor.

  For example, although the above-described embodiment is an application of the present invention to a facsimile machine, the present invention can be similarly applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be widely applied to a wide variety of image forming apparatuses such as facsimiles and copying machines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional explanatory view schematically showing the overall structure of a facsimile machine as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional explanatory view schematically showing a schematic structure of a document reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention used in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing an enlarged image reading unit of the document reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is an external perspective explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a shading member used in the image reading unit according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3. It is an external appearance perspective explanatory view showing typically the structure of the member for shading concerning other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing an enlarged configuration of an image reading unit in a conventional document reading apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Image recording main-body part 12,13 Paper feeder 14 Image forming part 16 Ejection part 16c Recording medium discharge tray 21 Document conveyance apparatus 211 Automatic document conveyance part 211a Inlet side conveyance path 211b Paper feed roller 211c Separation roller 211d Separation member 211e Resist Roller (skew correction means)
211f Reading introduction conveyance path 211g Image reading unit 211g1 Contact glass (original support member)
211g2 Image reading sensor (image reading means)
211g3 Shading member 211g4 Mounting plate 211g5 Compression spring 211g6 Document contact member 211g7 Folding part 211g8 Folding part E1 Lower edge E2 Root side folding curve L1, L2 Bending interval 211g9 Slit 211h Reading discharge conveyance path A
211i discharge side conveyance roller pair 211j discharge roller pair 211k reverse conveyance path 211m conveyance roller pair 211n discharge conveyance path B
212 Document feed tray 212a Document guide 213 Document discharge tray

Claims (8)

In an image reading apparatus provided with an image reading means provided at an intermediate position in a document transport path for transporting a document,
A document contact member that elastically contacts a document transported in the document transport path is upstream of the image reading unit in the document transport direction and faces the image reading unit from above. The image reading apparatus is arranged in   2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document contact member is integrally bent with a shading member constituting a background plate of the image reading means.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document contact member is provided so as to protrude toward an inner side of the document transport path.   2. The document contact member is provided at an upstream edge portion in the document transport direction, and is formed so that a cross-sectional shape along the document transport direction forms a substantially mountain shape. The image reading apparatus described.   2. The document contact member is disposed such that a portion protruding inward of the document transport path extends in an inclined direction in a direction along the document transport direction. The image reading apparatus described.   The edge portion of the original contact member extends so as to incline at an appropriate angle with respect to a reading main scanning direction orthogonal to the original conveying direction. Image reading device.   The document contact member is formed with a slit that divides an edge region of the document contact portion into a plurality of regions along a main scanning direction perpendicular to the document transport direction. The image reading apparatus according to 1.   An image forming apparatus configured to form an image on an appropriate recording medium using image information read by using the image reading apparatus according to claim 1.

Images