JP2015070400A - Image reader and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reader capable of suitably executing shading correction even when a carriage is in an inclined state and capable of acquiring a suitable document image, and to provide an image forming apparatus including the image reader.SOLUTION: A shading plate 105 includes a white reference section 201 and black sections 202 arranged on both sides of the white reference section 201 in a carriage moving direction. The shading plate 105 is arranged within a movable range of a carriage 122. A shading correction section 401 creates shading correcting data on the basis of a reading result of the shading plate 105. When reading results corresponding to the black sections 202 of the shading plate 105 are included in the reading result of the shading plate 105, a position adjustment section 402 adjusts a reading position for the shading plate 105 on the basis of the reading result of the shading plate 105.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a configuration in which a movable carriage is provided below a document table is known as an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a scanner, or a multifunction machine. A light source for reading a document for illuminating the document is mounted on the carriage. In an image reading apparatus that employs a contact optical system, an image sensor for reading a document image is mounted on the carriage. Further, in an image reading apparatus that employs a reduction optical system, a mirror for guiding light reflected from a document to an image sensor disposed outside the carriage is mounted on the carriage.

  The carriage is provided so as to be able to reciprocate along a guide installed in parallel with the moving direction (so-called sub-scanning direction), and the document placed on the document table is moved in one direction along the guide. It is read by moving to. Further, the documents conveyed one by one from the document tray by the document conveying device are read in a state where the carriage is temporarily stopped at a specific image reading position on the guide.

  In an image reading apparatus, shading correction is generally performed. The shading correction is a process for correcting unevenness in reading a document image caused by unevenness in the light amount distribution of the light source, variation in sensitivity of each pixel constituting the image sensor, and the like. This shading correction is performed by reading a white shading plate having a uniform surface and acquiring data for shading correction based on the reading result.

  On the other hand, some image reading apparatuses have a function of performing skew correction on acquired image data.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a background body composed of a frame-shaped body having a U-shaped cross section including a normal white background surface, a white background surface for shading correction, and a black background surface for skew correction. An image reading apparatus provided with the above is disclosed. In this image reading apparatus, a background body is rotated by a drive structure, and each background surface is arranged in a state of facing the image reading unit.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an image processing apparatus capable of selecting a first mode for correcting skew of an input image and a second mode for correcting skew of an input image. In this image processing apparatus, the background color of the document image is set to black in the first mode, and the background color is switched to white in the second mode.

JP 2009-290800 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-088657

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many image reading apparatuses that employ one guide rail at the center in the carriage width direction (so-called main scanning direction) are commercially available as the above-described guide. In an image reading apparatus that employs such a structure, for example, due to an external impact, the carriage may rotate in a plane parallel to the document table around the connection point with the guide rail, and the carriage may be inclined. There is.

  When the carriage is in an oblique state, it is assumed that a part of the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor does not face the shading plate, and the shading correction data cannot be acquired normally. When the shading correction is performed based on the shading correction data acquired in such a state, naturally, the normal shading correction is not performed. In this case, streaks extending in the sub-scanning direction may occur in the acquired image data.

  Further, when the carriage is in an oblique state, the acquired image data is also in an oblique state in the first place.

  It is considered that such a problem can be solved by applying the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to dispose a background body composed of a frame-shaped body having a U-shaped cross section and a motor for driving the background body. For this reason, the apparatus becomes larger, and it is necessary to acquire image data while rotating the background, so that it takes a longer time to acquire correction data.

  The technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 can perform skew correction of a document placed on a document table, but it is difficult to perform skew correction of image data acquired by a skewed carriage. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and can appropriately perform shading correction even when the carriage is in an oblique state, and can acquire an appropriate document image. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following technical means. That is, the image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a carriage, an image sensor, a shading plate, a shading correction unit, and a position adjustment unit. The carriage is provided so as to be movable with respect to the document table. The image sensor reads an image of the document placed on the document table as the carriage moves. The shading plate includes a white reference portion and black portions arranged on both sides of the white reference portion in the moving direction of the carriage. The shading plate is disposed within a movable range of the carriage. The shading correction unit creates shading correction data based on the reading result of the shading plate. When the reading result of the shading plate includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate, the position adjusting unit adjusts the reading position with respect to the shading plate based on the reading result of the shading plate.

  In this image reading apparatus, since the shading plate is configured to include the white reference portion and the black portions arranged on both sides thereof, does the reading result of the shading plate include the reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate? Whether or not the carriage is in an oblique state can be easily determined based on whether or not it is. If the reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate is included in the reading result of the shading plate, the carriage is inclined to adjust the reading position with respect to the shading plate based on the reading result of the shading plate. Even when it is, the shading correction can be appropriately performed. Since the rotation angle of the carriage can be specified by specifying the area of the image sensor that has read the black portion of the shading plate, for example, the position adjustment unit reads the shading plate based on the rotation angle of the carriage. The position may be adjusted.

  In the image reading apparatus, even if the reading position with respect to the shading plate is adjusted by the position adjustment unit, if the reading result of the shading plate includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate, the shading correction unit Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which shading correction data is generated by extracting the reading result corresponding to the white reference portion from the reading result of the shading plate including the black portion acquired during a series of adjustment operations by the position adjusting portion. . Thus, even when the carriage is tilted beyond the width of the white reference portion of the shading plate, the shading correction can be appropriately performed.

  The image reading apparatus may further include an inclination amount calculation unit and an inclination correction unit. The tilt amount calculation unit calculates the tilt amount of the carriage from the reading result of the shading plate. The tilt correction unit corrects the tilt of the document image read by the image sensor based on the carriage tilt amount calculated by the tilt amount calculation unit. Thereby, even if the carriage is inclined, appropriate image data can be acquired.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus, as a result of adjusting the reading position with respect to the shading plate by the position adjustment unit, when the reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate is not included in the reading result of the shading plate, the shading correction unit is A configuration in which the reading position is held as a subsequent reading position may be employed. As a result, the shading correction can be started promptly at the next execution of the shading correction.

  On the other hand, in another aspect, the present invention can also provide an image forming apparatus including the above-described image reading apparatus and an image forming unit that prints a document image read by the image reading apparatus on a sheet.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately perform shading correction even when the carriage is in an inclined state, and it is possible to acquire an appropriate document image.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a shading correction procedure of the multifunction machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram showing shading correction operation of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the present invention is embodied as a digital multi-function peripheral having an image reading unit (image reading device).

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction peripheral 100 includes a main body 101 including an image reading unit 120 (image reading device) and an image forming unit 140, and a platen cover 102 attached above the main body 101. An original table 103 made of a transparent plate such as contact glass is provided on the upper surface of the main body 101, and the original table 103 is opened and closed by a platen cover 102. Further, the platen cover 102 includes a document conveying device 110. An operation panel 171 is provided on the front surface of the multi-function device 100 so that the user can give a copy start or other instruction to the multi-function device 100, and can check the status and settings of the multi-function device 100.

  An image reading unit 120 is provided below the document table 103. The image reading unit 120 reads an image of a document with the scanning optical system 121 and generates digital data (image data) of the image. Here, the scanning optical system 121 is configured as a contact optical system (a so-called CIS (Contact Image Sensor) system). The document to be read can be placed on the document table 103 or the document conveying device 110.

  The scanning optical system 121 includes a carriage 122 and a guide 123. The carriage 122 includes a linear light source 131, an image sensor 132, and a 1 × optical system lens 133. Here, an LED array, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) line image sensor, and a gradient index lens are used as the light source 131, the image sensor 132, and the equal-magnification optical system lens 133, respectively. The light source 131 illuminates the document. The equal magnification optical system lens 133 forms an image of reflected light (light image) from the original on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 132.

  The guide 123 is disposed in the center of the main body 101 in parallel with the document table 103. The carriage 122 is provided so as to reciprocate along the guide 123. The movement of the carriage 122 is realized by driving by a driving unit (not shown). In the present embodiment, a stepping motor that is a driving unit drives the carriage 122.

  The guide 123 is provided so that the image sensor 132 mounted on the carriage 122 can be moved from one end to the other end of at least the document placement possible area (document readable area) of the document table 103. That is, in the scanning optical system 121, the image of the document placed on the document table 103 can be read by the image sensor 132 by moving the carriage 122 along the guide 123. When reading an image of a document set on the document conveying device 110, the image reading unit 120 corresponds to the slit glass 104 disposed adjacent to the carriage 122 in the direction along the guide 123 (sub-scanning direction) of the document table 103. The image is temporarily stopped in accordance with the image reading position to be read, and the image of the document passing through the image reading position is read by the image sensor 132. The image sensor 132 generates document image data from the light image incident on the light receiving surface. In the present embodiment, a shading plate 105 to be described later is disposed adjacent to the slit glass 104 in the sub-scanning direction.

  The generated image data can be printed on paper in the image forming unit 140. The generated image data can also be transmitted to another device (not shown) through the network 162 via the network interface 161 or the like.

  The image forming unit 140 prints image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 or image data received from another device connected to the network 162 on a sheet. The image forming unit 140 includes a photosensitive drum 141. The photosensitive drum 141 rotates in one direction at a constant speed. Around the photosensitive drum 141, a charger 142, an exposure unit 143, a developing unit 144, and a cleaning unit 145 are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the rotation direction. The charger 142 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 141. The exposure device 143 irradiates the uniformly charged surface of the photosensitive drum 141 with a light beam according to the image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 141. The developing device 144 attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 141. The cleaning unit 145 cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 141 by removing waste toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 141 after the transfer from the photosensitive drum 141. These processes are performed in series by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 141.

  The image forming unit 140 feeds paper from the manual feed tray 151, the paper feed cassettes 152 and 153, and the like to the transfer unit between the photosensitive drum 141 and the transfer roller 146. Various sizes of paper can be placed or stored in the manual feed tray 151 and the paper feed cassettes 152 and 153. The image forming unit 140 selects a sheet specified by the user or a sheet corresponding to the automatically detected document size, and feeds the selected sheet from the manual feed tray 151 and the cassettes 152 and 153 by the feeding roller 155. The fed paper is conveyed to the transfer unit at a predetermined timing by the conveyance roller 155 and the registration roller 156. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 148 by the conveyance belt 147. The fixing device 148 has a fixing roller 157 and a pressure roller 158 with a built-in heater, and fixes the toner image on the sheet by heat and pressing force. The image forming unit 140 discharges the sheet that has passed through the fixing device 148 to the discharge tray 149.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the configuration of the image reading unit 120 of the present embodiment. 2A is a schematic configuration diagram (plan view) viewed from a direction perpendicular to the document table 103, and FIG. 2B is a schematic configuration diagram (side view) viewed from a direction along the moving direction of the carriage 122. It is. In FIG. 2A, the platen cover 102 is not shown, and the document table 103, the slit glass 104, and the shading plate 105 are indicated by dotted lines. In FIG. 2B, only the carriage 122 and the guide 123 are shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the guide 123 is disposed in parallel with the document table 103 from one end to the other end of the side surfaces of the image reading unit 120 facing each other. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the guide 123 is constituted by a rail having a U-shaped cross section, and the width direction of the carriage 122 (direction perpendicular to the moving direction: so-called main scanning direction). ), And a support portion 211 fitted in the guide 123 is supported. The movement of the carriage 122 is realized by driving by a driving unit (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2A, in the image reading unit 120, the document table 103 is arranged offset in plan view, and the image reading unit 120 facing one end of the document table 103 and the one end. The slit glass 104 and the shading plate 105 are arranged between the side surfaces of the two.

  The shading plate 105 includes a white reference portion 201 having a uniform white surface and a black portion 202 having a uniform black surface. As shown in FIG. 2A, the black portions 202 are disposed on both sides of the white reference portion 201 in the sub-scanning direction. Although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the width of the white reference portion 201 in the sub-scanning direction is about three times the width of the image sensor 132 in the sub-scanning direction. Further, the width of the black portion 202 in the sub-scanning direction is approximately the same as the width of the image sensor 132 in the sub-scanning direction. The shading plate 105 is provided over the entire main scanning direction of the image sensor 132 as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control system in the multifunction machine. The MFP 100 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 302, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 303, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 304, an original transport device 110, and an image reading unit 120. A driver 305 corresponding to each drive unit in the image forming unit 140 is connected via an internal bus 306. The ROM 303, the HDD 304, and the like store programs, and the CPU 301 controls the multifunction peripheral 100 in accordance with the instructions of the control program. For example, the CPU 301 uses the RAM 302 as a work area, and controls the operation of each driving unit by exchanging data and commands with the driver 305. The HDD 304 is also used to store image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 and image data received from other devices through the network interface 161.

  An operation panel 171, a network interface 161, and various sensors 307 are also connected to the internal bus 306. The operation panel 171 receives a user operation and supplies a signal based on the operation to the CPU 301. The operation panel 171 displays an operation screen on a display (touch panel) included in the operation panel 171 according to a control signal from the CPU 301. The sensor 307 includes various sensors such as an open / close detection sensor for the platen cover 102, a document detection sensor on the document table 103, a temperature sensor for the fixing device 148, and a detection sensor for the conveyed paper or document.

  The CPU 301 executes, for example, a program stored in the ROM 303 to realize each of the following means (functional blocks) and controls the operation of each means according to signals from these sensors.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the MFP according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment includes a shading correction unit 401 and a position adjustment unit 402.

  The shading correction unit 401 creates shading correction data based on the reading result of the shading plate 105. When reading the shading plate 105, the carriage 122 is moved to a position where the image sensor 132 faces the white reference portion 201 of the shading plate 105. Such a position is registered as a shading correction position at the time of factory shipment, for example.

  When the movement of the carriage 122 is completed, the light source 131 illuminates the shading plate 105 and the image sensor 132 reads the reflected light. When the image sensor 132 is opposed to the white reference portion 201 of the shading plate 105, the white reflected light of the white reference portion 201 is incident on all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132. In this case, the shading correction unit 401 creates shading correction data corresponding to each light receiving element so that the output value of each light receiving element matches the value indicating white specified in advance.

  However, in the configuration in which one guide 123 is employed in the center portion in the main scanning direction as described above, when an external impact or the like is applied, the carriage 122 rotates around a connection point with the guide 123, A situation may occur in which the carriage 122 is tilted. In this case, in the shading plate 105 of this embodiment, depending on the degree of the oblique state, the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105 is included in the reading result of the shading plate 105. For example, it is assumed that the image sensor 132 having a width in the main scanning direction of 320 mm and a width in the sub scanning direction of about 3 mm is disposed at the center in the sub scanning direction of the white reference portion 201 having a width in the sub scanning direction of 9 mm. . In this case, when the image sensor 132 is rotated by 1.5 ° around the center in the main scanning direction, the end of the image sensor 132 moves in the sub-scanning direction of 160 mm × COS (88.5 °) = 4.19 mm. Therefore, the end portion of the image sensor 132 may face the black portion 202.

  When the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105, the position adjustment unit 402 adjusts the reading position with respect to the shading plate 105 based on the reading result of the shading plate 105. . For example, the position adjustment unit 402 can adjust the reading position with respect to the shading plate 105 based on the rotation angle of the carriage 122. When some of the light receiving elements of the image sensor 132 read the reflected light from the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105, the region (length) of the image sensor 132 that has read the black portion 202 is specified, thereby determining the geometric shape. It is possible to calculate the rotation angle of the carriage 122 by scientific calculation. In addition, the reflected light from the white reference portion 201 and the reflected light from the black portion 202 have remarkably different light intensities, so that identification is easy.

  When the above-described shading correction position is the central portion in the sub-scanning direction of the white reference portion 201 and one guide 123 is disposed in the central portion in the main scanning direction, the image is obtained when the carriage 122 rotates as described above. Both end portions of the sensor 132 read the reflected light from the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105. In this case, the position adjustment unit 402 moves the carriage 122 so that all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 receive the reflected light of the white reference unit 201 by repeating reading of the shading plate 105 a plurality of times.

  For example, the position adjustment unit 402 first moves the carriage 122 to a position where one end of the image sensor 132 faces the white reference unit 201. At this time, the other end of the image sensor 132 faces the black portion 202. In this state, when the reading of the shading plate 105 by the image sensor 132 is completed, the position adjustment unit 402 moves the carriage 122 to a position where the other end of the image sensor 132 faces the white reference unit 201, and the image sensor 132 performs shading. The plate 105 is read. At this time, one end of the image sensor 132 faces the black portion 202. Then, the shading correction unit 401 reads the reading result of the shading plate 105 including the black portion 202 acquired during a series of adjustment operations by the position adjustment unit 402 (that is, the data of the shading plate 105 read at the two carriage positions described above). Then, the reading result corresponding to the white reference portion 201 is extracted from the shading plate 105 data read at the above-described shading correction position, and shading correction data is created.

  Further, for example, when the above-described shading correction position is biased to one side in the sub-scanning direction in the white reference portion 201, when the carriage 122 rotates as described above, one end of the image sensor 132 is black on the shading plate 105. Reading reflected light from the unit 202 can be considered. In this case, as a result of adjusting the reading position with respect to the shading plate 105 by the position adjusting unit 402, a situation may occur in which the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105 is not included in the reading result of the shading plate 105. In this embodiment, in this case, the shading correction unit 401 is configured to hold the reading position as a subsequent shading correction position. As a result, the shading correction can be started promptly at the next execution of the shading correction.

  The multifunction device 100 also includes an inclination amount calculation unit 403 and an inclination correction unit 404. The tilt amount calculation unit 403 calculates the tilt amount of the carriage 122 from the reading result of the shading plate 105. For the tilt amount, for example, any parameter that quantifies the degree of the oblique state of the carriage 122 such as the rotation angle described above can be used. Although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the tilt amount calculation unit 403 is provided in the shading correction unit 401.

  The tilt correction unit 404 corrects the tilt of the document image read by the image sensor 132 based on the tilt amount of the carriage 122 calculated by the tilt amount calculation unit 403. For such correction, any known method can be used. In the present embodiment, the image data holding unit 411 holds the image data to which the correction by the shading correction data generated by the shading correction unit 401 and the inclination correction by the inclination correction unit 404 are applied. If necessary, the image forming unit 140 can print on the paper. Note that the image data holding unit 411 can be configured by, for example, the HDD 304.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a shading correction procedure executed by the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, for example, this procedure starts with the main power supply of the multifunction peripheral 100 being turned on as a trigger.

  When this procedure is started, the shading correction unit 401 waits until the carriage 122 moves to the above-described shading correction position designated in advance, that is, the position where the image sensor 132 faces the white reference unit 201 (No in step S501). For example, the acquisition position of the shading correction position can be set as a state where the image sensor 132 is located at the center of the white reference unit 201 in the sub-scanning direction, as shown in FIG.

  When the movement of the carriage 122 is completed, the shading correction unit 401 causes the image sensor 132 to read the shading plate 105 (steps S501 Yes, S502). The shading correction unit 401 determines whether the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 (step S503). When the reading result of the shading plate 105 does not include the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 but includes only the reading result corresponding to the white reference portion 201, the shading correction unit 401 is based on the reading result. To create shading correction data (No in steps S503 and S510).

  On the other hand, when the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202, the shading correction unit 401 instructs the position adjustment unit 402 to change the carriage position (Yes in step S503). At this time, the tilt amount calculation unit 403 of the shading correction unit 401 calculates the tilt amount of the carriage 122 based on the reading result of the shading plate 105 and inputs the calculated tilt amount to the position adjustment unit 402. Further, the shading correction unit 401 inputs the position information of the light receiving element of the image sensor 132 that has received the reflected light from the black portion 202 to the position adjustment unit 402.

  The position adjustment unit 402 calculates the movement amount of the carriage 122 based on the input information, and moves the carriage 122 based on the movement amount. At this time, the shading correction unit 401 stands by until the movement of the carriage 122 is completed (No in step S504).

  For example, when the carriage 122 is moved to the shading correction position, as shown in FIG. 6B, the one end (the upper end in the figure) of the image sensor 132 is the black portion 202 due to the rotation of the carriage 122. Is in a state of facing. In this case, the tilt amount calculation unit 403 specifies the light receiving element of the image sensor 132 that has received the reflected light from the black portion 202. Then, the inclination amount of the carriage 122 (image sensor 132) is calculated by a geometric calculation based on the identification result and input to the position adjustment unit 402. Based on the input information (the amount of tilt and the position information of the light receiving element of the image sensor 132 that has received the reflected light), the position adjusting unit 402 receives light that faces the black portion 202 as shown in FIG. The amount of movement of the carriage 122 in which the element faces the white reference portion 201 is calculated by geometric calculation.

  Further, when the carriage 122 is moved to the shading correction position, it is assumed that both ends of the image sensor 132 are opposed to the black portion 202 as shown in FIG. In this case, the tilt amount calculation unit 403 specifies the light receiving element of the image sensor 132 that has received the reflected light from the black portion 202. Then, the inclination amount of the carriage 122 (image sensor 132) is calculated by a geometric calculation based on the identification result and input to the position adjustment unit 402. In this case, as described above, the position adjustment unit 402 repeats reading of the shading plate 105 a plurality of times, so that all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 receive the reflected light of the white reference unit 201. Move. That is, the position adjustment unit 402, based on the input information (the amount of tilt and the position information of the light receiving element of the image sensor 132 that has received the reflected light), as shown in FIG. The amount of movement of the carriage 122 at which the light receiving element facing the black portion 202 at the end (upper end in the drawing) faces the white reference portion 201 is calculated by geometric calculation. In addition, the position adjustment unit 402, based on the input information, receives a light-receiving element that faces the black portion 202 at the other end (the lower end in the drawing) of the image sensor 132, as shown in FIG. The amount of movement of the carriage 122 that is in a state of facing the white reference portion 201 is calculated by geometric calculation.

  When the movement of the carriage 122 is completed, the shading correction unit 401 causes the image sensor 132 to read the shading plate 105 (steps S504 Yes, S505). The shading correction unit 401 determines whether or not the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 (step S506). When the reading result of the shading plate 105 does not include the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 but includes only the reading result corresponding to the white reference portion 201 (for example, FIG. 6B and FIG. In the case of c), the shading correction unit 401 inputs the inclination amount of the carriage 122 calculated by the inclination amount calculation unit 403 to the inclination correction unit 404 (No in steps S506 and S509). In this case, the tilt correction unit 404 corrects the tilt of the document image read by the image sensor 132 based on the input tilt amount. Further, the shading correction unit 401 creates shading correction data based on the reading result (step S510).

  When the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 is included in the reading result of the shading plate 105 in step S <b> 506 in which it is determined whether or not the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 is included in the reading result of the shading plate 105. The shading correction unit 401 determines whether or not all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 have received the reflected light from the white reference unit 201 in the reading result of the shading plate 105 acquired during a series of adjustment operations. Determination is made (steps S506 Yes, S507). For example, when the carriage 122 is moved sequentially to the state shown in FIG. 6D and the state shown in FIG. 6E, the shading correction unit 401 has all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 as the white reference unit 201. It is determined that the reflected light from is not received.

  When all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 do not receive the reflected light from the white reference unit 201, the shading correction unit 401 inputs the fact to the position adjustment unit 402. At this time, the position adjustment unit 402 moves the carriage 122 in response to the notification (No in steps S507 and S504). At this time, the shading correction unit 401 stands by until the movement of the carriage 122 is completed (No in step S504).

  As described above, in the case shown in FIG. 6D, the position adjustment unit 402 moves the carriage 122 in the state shown in FIG. 6E and the carriage 122 in the state shown in FIG. Has already been calculated. Therefore, the position adjustment unit 402 moves the carriage 122 to a position that has not yet been moved (the state shown in FIG. 6F) in the already calculated movement destination in response to the notification from the shading correction unit 401.

  When the movement of the carriage 122 is completed, the shading correction unit 401 causes the image sensor 132 to read the shading plate 105 (steps S504 Yes, S505). The shading correction unit 401 determines whether or not the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 (step S506). In the state shown in FIG. 6F, the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 is included in the reading result of the shading plate 105. In this case, the shading correction unit 401 determines whether or not all light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 have received the reflected light from the white reference unit 201 in the reading result of the shading plate 105 acquired during a series of adjustment operations. (Step S506 Yes, S507). When the carriage 122 moves in the order shown in FIG. 6D, the state shown in FIG. 6E, and the state shown in FIG. 6F, the shading correction unit 401 makes all the image sensors 132 included in the image sensor 132. It is determined that the light receiving element is receiving reflected light from the white reference portion 201. In FIG. 6D, FIG. 6E, and FIG. 6F, the range of the light receiving element that receives the reflected light from the white reference portion 201 is indicated by a bold line.

  When all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 receive the reflected light from the white reference unit 201, the shading correction unit 401 determines the white reference from the reading result of the shading plate 105 acquired during a series of adjustment operations. The reading result corresponding to the unit 201 is extracted for all the light receiving elements (steps S507 Yes, S508). Then, the shading correction unit 401 inputs the inclination amount of the carriage 122 calculated by the inclination amount calculation unit 403 to the inclination correction unit 404 (step S509). In this case, the tilt correction unit 404 corrects the tilt of the document image read by the image sensor 132 based on the input tilt amount. Further, the shading correction unit 401 creates shading correction data based on the reading result (step S510).

  In the above embodiment, the shading plate 105 only needs to be arranged within the movable range of the carriage 122, and the arrangement position is not particularly limited. Further, the black portion 202 does not need to be completely black, and the density thereof is not limited as long as the reflected light from the white reference portion 201 and the reflected light from the black portion 202 can be reliably distinguished.

  As described above, in the multi-function device 100, whether the carriage 122 is in an oblique state depends on whether the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes the reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105. It can be easily distinguished. When the reading result of the shading plate 105 includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion 202 of the shading plate 105, the carriage 122 is used to adjust the reading position with respect to the shading plate 105 based on the reading result of the shading plate 105. Even when is in an oblique state, the shading correction can be appropriately performed. In addition, since the multifunction peripheral 100 includes the tilt correction unit 404, it is possible to acquire appropriate image data even when the carriage 122 is tilted.

  The above-described embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and various modifications and applications other than those already described are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration including the inclination correction unit 404 has been described, but the element is not an essential element in the present invention. For example, even in a configuration that does not include the element, shading correction can be appropriately performed on the carriage 122 in an oblique state.

  Further, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the order of the steps can be changed as appropriate within a range where an equivalent operation is achieved. For example, in FIG. 5, the tilt amount calculation unit 403 calculates the tilt amount when the light receiving element that configures the image sensor 132 is in a state of facing the black portion 202. However, even when all the light receiving elements constituting the image sensor 132 are in a state facing the white reference portion 201, the carriage 122 is moved in the sub-scanning direction so that the light receiving elements face the black portion 202, and this state The tilt amount calculation unit 403 may calculate the tilt amount based on the reading result of the image sensor 132 at.

  In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is embodied as a digital multi-function peripheral. However, the present invention is not limited to these apparatuses, and is mounted on a document table as the carriage of a printer, facsimile, copier, multi-function peripheral, or the like moves. The present invention can also be applied to any image reading apparatus or image forming apparatus that reads an image of a placed document.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately perform shading correction even when the carriage is in an oblique state, and to acquire an appropriate document image, which is useful as an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

100 MFP (image forming device)
103 Document Plate 105 Shading Plate 120 Image Reading Unit (Image Reading Device)
122 Carriage 132 Image Sensor 140 Image Forming Unit 201 White Reference Unit 202 Black Part 401 Shading Correction Unit 402 Position Adjustment Unit 403 Inclination Amount Calculation Unit 404 Inclination Correction Unit

Claims (5)

A carriage that is movable relative to the document table;
An image sensor that reads an image of a document placed on the document table with the movement of the carriage;
A shading plate provided with a white reference portion disposed within a movable range of the carriage, and black portions disposed on both sides of the white reference portion in the carriage movement direction;
A shading correction unit that creates shading correction data based on the reading result of the shading plate;
If the reading result of the shading plate includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate, a position adjusting unit that adjusts a reading position with respect to the shading plate based on the reading result of the shading plate;
An image reading apparatus comprising:   Even if the reading position with respect to the shading plate is adjusted by the position adjustment unit, if the reading result of the shading plate includes a reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate, the shading correction unit The image according to claim 1, wherein shading correction data is generated by extracting a reading result corresponding to the white reference portion from a reading result of the shading plate including the black portion acquired during a series of adjustment operations by the position adjusting portion. Reader. An inclination amount calculation unit for calculating an inclination amount of the carriage from a reading result of the shading plate;
An inclination correction unit that corrects an inclination of a document image read by the image sensor based on the amount of inclination of the carriage calculated by the inclination amount calculation unit;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   As a result of adjusting the reading position with respect to the shading plate by the position adjustment unit, when the reading result of the shading plate does not include a reading result corresponding to the black portion of the shading plate, the shading correction unit The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position is held as a subsequent reading position. An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An image forming unit that prints a document image read by the image reading device on paper;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images