JP4921328B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that reads an image by illuminating a document with a light source, for example, an illumination lamp, and forms an image on a recording medium based on the read image, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that considers energy saving.

  In an image forming apparatus, electric power is supplied to various loads such as a paper conveyance system, a motor for driving a photosensitive member and the like, various chargers, a heater of a fixing device, and a control board. Among these, as an image forming apparatus, there is a demand to reduce the power required for energy saving as much as possible and to make it zero if possible.

  In order to reduce the power consumption during energy saving to zero, it is necessary to cover the power consumption with batteries. On the other hand, energy is required to charge the battery, and providing from an AC power source does not provide total energy saving. Therefore, it is necessary to charge by means other than the commercial power source. As means other than the commercial power source, for example, an image forming apparatus using a solar cell is known. However, the image forming apparatus is mostly installed indoors and there is almost no opportunity to receive sunlight, and the energy saving effect by using solar cells is only small.

  Some use the lamp light of a scanner. In the scanner operation, since the utilization rate of the lamp light amount is low, most of the light that illuminates the document is wasted. By using this energy and storing it in the battery, it is possible to save energy in a total sense.

As such an image forming apparatus, for example, the invention described in Patent Document 1 or 2 is known. Among these, in Patent Document 1, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image by illuminating a document with an illumination lamp, a solar for charging a power source for at least one element of the image forming apparatus at a position that receives light from the illumination lamp. An invention with a battery is described. Further, in Patent Document 2, in an image forming apparatus including an original reading unit that reads an original image by illuminating an original with a scanner lamp, an energy conversion unit that receives light from the scanner lamp and converts the light energy into electric power. And an electricity storage means for storing the electric power converted by the energy conversion means. In either case, the lamp light of the scanner is used to generate power by placing a solar cell on the bottom plate portion of the scanner, and charge the power storage device to cover the power for energy saving.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-87760 JP 2004-88649 A

  However, in the above-described prior art, since the solar cell is installed and fixed on the bottom plate portion of the scanner, the amount of light varies depending on the scanning position during the scanner operation, and thus it cannot be efficiently stored. Further, in order to suppress the fluctuation of the light amount and efficiently store the electric power, it is necessary to increase the area of the solar cell, resulting in an increase in cost.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of efficiently storing power without variation in the amount of light depending on the scan position during scanner operation.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention, houses a carriage light source for document reading is installed in the housing, those light source while the carriage is moved in the predetermined direction in the housing in the image forming apparatus by irradiating light to have a image reading means for reading an original image on the document surface to form an image on a recording medium based on the original image read by the image reading means to the original from, Energy conversion means for receiving the emitted light from the light source and converting the energy of the emitted light into electric power, and storage means for storing the electric power converted by the energy conversion means, the light source and the energy conversion means, be within the carriage moving at the housing when the reading operation of the image reading means is arranged to maintain the mutual positional relationship, before The light source is a xenon lamp having two exit ports for emitting the emitted light in two opposite directions, and the energy conversion means is on the irradiation side of the original at the two exit ports of the xenon lamp. The xenon lamp is provided so as to cover the other one disposed on the side opposite to the one .

According to a second means of the present invention, in the first means, the energy conversion means is a solar cell, and the power storage means is a battery .

In the embodiment described later, the light source is the xenon lamp 5, the carriage is the first carriage 7, the casing is the casing 2 , the image reading means is the image reading apparatus 1, and the energy conversion means is solar cells 17, 18. , 20, 21, 22, 23, 51, the storage means is the capacitor 25, the reflector is the reflector 16, the first mirror is the first mirror 6, the second mirror is the second mirror 8, the third The second mirror is the third mirror 9, the second carriage 10 is the separate carriage, the CCD 13 is the photoelectric conversion element, the lens unit 11 and the CCD 13 are the optical system components (non-movable parts), and the xenon lamp 5 is the two. The exit port corresponds to the reference numerals 5a1 and 5a2, and the imaging lens corresponds to the lens unit 11, respectively.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there during a read operation of the image reading means in the carriage moving within the housing, mutual positional relation between the light source and the energy conversion means is maintained, for a light source, opposite the light emitted The xenon lamp has two exit ports that emit in two directions, and the energy conversion means is the other disposed on the opposite side of the two exit ports of the xenon lamp that is the irradiation side of the original. Since the xenon lamp is provided so as to cover the light source, it is possible to store a constant amount of light into electric power and store it or store it close to it regardless of the scanning position where the light source moves. .

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  The image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of an image reading apparatus in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image reading apparatus 1 in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment has a contact glass 3 and a white reference plate 4 on the upper surface portion of a housing 2, and is positioned below the contact glass 3. Inside the housing 2, a first carriage 7 on which a xenon lamp 5 as a light source and a first mirror 6 are mounted, a second carriage 10 on which a second mirror 8 and a third mirror 9 are mounted, a lens unit 11, It has a sensor board unit 12, a signal processing unit 15, and a home position sensor (not shown). A CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is mounted on the sensor board unit 12, and the sensor board unit 12 and the signal processing unit 15 are connected by a signal cable 14. The signal processing unit 15 includes not only processing of signals input from the CC D1 3, but also lighting control of the xenon lamp 5 that is a light source of the image reading device 1, movement control of the first and second carriages 7 and 10, and others. A CPU 27 (which will be described later with reference to FIG. 9) that controls the entire control of the image reading apparatus 1 is mounted. The first and second carriages 7 and 10 is driven by a scanner motor (not shown), C PU 27 by performing the drive control of the scanner motor, and controls the movement of the first and second carriages 7 and 10. Incidentally, the first mirror 6 installed in the first carriage 7 is parallel to the moving direction of the first carriage 7 by reflecting the light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 toward the original G and being reflected by the original G. And reflected on the opposite side of the moving direction. The second mirror 8 installed in the second carriage 10 reflects the reflected light from the first mirror 6 in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the first carriage 7, and is similarly installed in the second carriage 10. The third mirror 9 reflects the reflected light from the second mirror 8 in the moving direction of the first carriage 7. Each reflection mirror is provided in the image reading apparatus 1 together with optical system parts (including the lens unit 11 and the CCD 13 itself) that guides reflected light from the third mirror 9 to the CCD 13 as reading light.

  The second carriage 10 is always located on the left side in the sub-scanning direction (left and right direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1) in FIG. 1 with respect to the first carriage 7 shown in FIG. Then, the image of the document G set on the contact glass 3 is read while moving in the sub-scanning direction so that the distance (optical path length) from the document surface at the reading position to the imaging surface of the CCD 13 does not change.

  A pressure plate (not shown) that closes the top surface of the contact glass 3 so as to be openable and closable is provided on the top of the contact glass 3. The operator opens the pressure plate, sets the document G on the contact glass 3, and then closes the document G to be pressed against the contact glass 3.

  In the image reading apparatus 1, the original G on the contact glass 3 is irradiated with light from the xenon lamp 5 mounted on the first carriage 7 while moving the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10 in the sub-scanning direction. Read the light reflected by. At that time, the light irradiated on the document G includes direct light from the xenon lamp 5 and indirect light from the reflector 16 provided behind the xenon lamp 5. In this case, if only the direct light from the xenon lamp 5 is used, the ratio of the irradiation light to the original G with respect to the total emission light from the xenon lamp 5 is low and the efficiency is low. The reflector 16 is provided to improve the efficiency.

  In reading, the first mirror 6 on the first carriage 7, the second mirror 8 on the second carriage 10, and the third mirror 9 are sequentially reflected in this order, and the lens unit 11 reduces and forms an image on the imaging surface of the CCD 13. This is performed by photoelectric conversion of incident light by the CCD 13. At this time, the image reading apparatus 1 drives the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10 by the scanner motor as described above. At this time, the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10 have a speed ratio of 2: 1. Thus, scanning can be performed without changing the optical path length.

  For example, a transmissive optical sensor such as a photocoupler is used as the home position sensor, and is used to detect the home position of the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10, particularly the first carriage 7.

In the image reading apparatus 1, the CPU 27 moves the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10 to the reading position of the white reference plate 4 before reading the document G, and emits light from the xenon lamp 5 to the white reference plate 4. The reflected light from the white reference plate 4 is read in the same manner as in the original reading, and shading correction data is acquired based on the output of the CCD 13. Thereafter, the CPU 27 moves the first carriage 7 and the second carriage 10 to the home position, and irradiates light from the xenon lamp 5 to the document G placed on the contact glass 3 from the home position. The original G is optically scanned as described above, and an image on the original G is read. Therefore , the xenon lamp 5 as the light source here is also referred to as a scanner lamp.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment , a solar cell 17 as an energy conversion unit is provided in the image reading apparatus 1 and in the first carriage 7 to generate electric power from light received from a xenon lamp 5 as a light source ( Light energy is converted into electrical energy), and the generated electric power is stored to use electric power from other than the commercial power source. Hereinafter, each example will be described individually. In addition, the following examples show variations of the installation position of the solar cell, and are commonly provided with the above-described mechanical configuration shown in the present embodiment and a control configuration described later.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of the first carriage 7 of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. In the image reading apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reflection of the reflector 16 provided on the side opposite to the emission direction D1 of the first carriage 7 to the original G of the xenon lamp 5 is performed. The light-incident surface of the solar cell 17 is attached to the surface, that is, the surface facing the xenon lamp 5 and mounted on the first carriage 7. Since the xenon lamp 5 is installed along the main scanning direction, the solar cell 17 is also provided along the main scanning direction of the reflector 16.

  When the solar cell 17 is provided in this manner, the relative positional relationship between the xenon lamp 5 and the solar cell 17 does not change during the document reading operation, and the xenon lamp 5 is lit in the sub scanning direction. In the meantime, a constant amount of light including the reflected light from the original G is incident on the solar cell 17 and a constant power can be obtained. The obtained electric power is stored in a capacitor described later, and is appropriately used when the image forming apparatus is started up. Thereby, the energy saving effect can be acquired.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, since the solar cell 17 is mounted on the reflector 16, the relative positional relationship between the xenon lamp 5 and the solar cell 17 does not change during the document reading operation, Since direct light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 on the side opposite to the original irradiation side can be used effectively, it is possible to efficiently store a constant amount of light and a small area.

  In this embodiment, the xenon lamp 5 is used as the light source, but it goes without saying that other light sources used in this type of image reading apparatus such as a halogen lamp may be used.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of the first carriage of the image reading apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the image reading apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a portion of the irradiation light (outgoing direction D <b> 1) from the xenon lamp 5 of the first carriage 7 that does not affect reading, that is, the original A solar cell 18 is attached to a portion that irradiates a region where the reflected light does not enter the CCD 13 even when G is irradiated, and is mounted on the first carriage 7. Specifically, only the areas in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction corresponding to the reading line of the original G are opened in a slit shape, and the solar cell 18 is disposed in the vicinity thereof.

  When the solar cell 18 is arranged in this manner, direct light from the xenon lamp 5 that has conventionally been wasted as illumination light can be converted into electric power by the solar cell 18. At that time, the emitted light emitted to the side opposite to the original is also reflected by the reflector 16 and is incident as indirect light at a predetermined ratio, so that an increase in power can be expected.

  Further, when combined with the first embodiment, it becomes possible to make the light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 other than that used for reading the document G incident on the solar cells 17 and 18. The utilization efficiency of the emitted light can be increased.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, since the solar cell 18 that receives light that does not contribute to document illumination is provided on the document irradiation side of the xenon lamp 5, the relative relationship between the xenon lamp 5 and the solar cell 18 during the document reading operation is provided. The positional relationship does not change, and it is possible to efficiently store electricity with a constant light amount and a small area.

  In this embodiment, the xenon lamp 5 is used as the light source, but it goes without saying that other light sources such as a fluorescent lamp may be used.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the xenon lamp 5 of the image reading apparatus according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the first carriage 7 in the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the xenon lamp 5 generally has two light emission directions. That is, a light shielding portion 19 indicated by oblique lines is provided along the circumferential direction, and illumination light is emitted from the two openings 5a1 and 5a2. Since opening 5a1,5a2 is provided in a direction of 180 Dogyaku, illumination light is emitted from the opening portion 5 a 1,5 a 2 in the opposite direction of D1, D2.

  When the xenon lamp 5 having such a configuration is used, only the light emitted from the opening 5a1 facing the original G side contributes as illumination light. Therefore, in this embodiment, the incident surface side of the solar cell 20 is attached to the opening 5a2 that emits to the opposite side to the original G side, and the light leakage from the opening 5a2 is prevented. Thereby, all the light emitted from the opening 5a2 is incident on the solar cell 20, and the indirect light reflected by the light shielding portion 19 is also incident, and power corresponding to the total light energy can be obtained. Moreover, since the reflector 16 becomes unnecessary, the cost can be reduced accordingly.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the relative positional relationship between the xenon lamp 5 and the solar battery 20 moves integrally in the sub-scanning direction during the document reading operation, and during that time, it can be stored with a constant light amount. In addition, the battery can be charged efficiently with a small area. Furthermore, since it is possible to convert light emitted to the opposite side of the xenon lamp 5 into electric power without waste, it is possible to efficiently store electricity accordingly.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of the first carriage of the image reading apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. In this embodiment, the solar cell 21 is provided at a position where it can receive light deviating from the light receiving range of the reflected light reaching the first mirror 6. Irradiation light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 and reflected by the document surface is diffused and reaches the position of the first mirror 6. Therefore, the diffused reflected light from the original reaches the position deviating from the first mirror 6 in the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, the solar cell 21 is pasted and fixed at a position where the reflected light arrives and at a position away from the first mirror 6. This makes it possible to convert useless reflected light that is not used for document reading into electric power.

  The position where the solar cell 21 is installed is a reflection path from the original of the light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 in the scanner operation, and is a position that does not hinder reading of the original.

  In the figure, the reflector 16 is not shown, but it goes without saying that the reflector 16 may be provided as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the reflected light from the document can be used effectively without any change in the relative positional relationship between the xenon lamp 5 and the solar cell 21 during the document reading operation. Can be stored in a small area, and can be stored efficiently in a small area. In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the xenon lamp 5 and the solar cells 17, 18, 20, and 21 are in the first carriage 7 that moves in the housing 2 during the reading operation of the image reading device 1, respectively. In the example, the solar cells 17, 18, 20, and 21 are arranged in the first mirror 6 in the first carriage 7 in such a manner that the positional relationship is maintained in different forms (patterns). It is provided at a position separated from the transmission path of the reflected light. By the way, the image reading apparatus 1 according to each of the above-described embodiments includes the CCD 13 itself and the lens unit 11 as non-movable portions of optical system parts that guide reflected light from the third mirror 9 to the CCD 13 as reading light. . In each of the following embodiments, energy conversion means separate from the solar cells 17, 18, 20, and 21 is located at a position that is a non-movable part of such an optical system component and does not hinder the incidence of reading light on the CCD 13. When the solar cells 22 and 23 are installed (the configuration in which the latter solar cells 22 and 23 are selectively combined with the former solar cells 17, 18, 20, and 21 is preferable) is described. To do.

  FIG. 7 is an example in which a solar cell is disposed in a portion that does not contribute to reading of the lens unit in the reduced imaging system of the image reading apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. That is, in the present embodiment, the reflected light from the document G is incident on the lens unit 11 from the first mirror 6 through the second and third mirrors 7 and 9. A solar cell 22 is attached to a portion where the reflected light enters and does not affect the reading of the original, and the light is received to obtain power. For this reason, the solar cell 22 is affixed in an annular shape around the optical axis of the lens unit 11 and is not incident on the imaging surface of the CCD 13, and the reading light is introduced from the annular vacant portion 22a around the central optical axis D3. Then, it is guided to the CCD 13.

With the arrangement of the solar cell 22 is a position that does not inhibit the incidence of the read light to CCD13 due to the reflected light passing through the reflective transmission path obtained by reflected by the reflection mirror 6, 8, 9 from the originals G, This position is not affected by the movement of the first and second carriages 7 and 10 .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the solar cell 22 is arranged in a peripheral portion that is not related to the reading operation of the optical axis D3 of the lens unit 11 that does not interfere with image formation at the non-movable portion during the document reading operation. Therefore, it is possible to store the electric power in a degree close to that in the case where the electric power is stored with a constant light amount, and to efficiently store the electric power in a small area.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which a solar cell is arranged in a portion that does not contribute to CCD reading in the reduction optical system of the image reading apparatus according to the sixth embodiment. In other words, in this embodiment, the reflected light from the original G enters the lens unit 11 from the first mirror 6 via the second and third mirrors 7 and 9 and forms an image on the imaging surface of the CCD 13. In FIG. 2, the solar cell 22 is attached to a portion where the reflected light from the original G enters the CCD 13 and does not affect the reading of the original, and the light is received to obtain power. For this reason, the solar cell 23 is affixed in an annular shape in a range not entering the imaging surface of the CCD 13 around the optical axis D3 of the lens unit 11, and read from the annular vacant portion 23a around the central optical axis D3 to the CCD 13. Introduce light.

With the arrangement of the solar cell 23, a position that does not inhibit the incidence of the read light to CCD13 due to the reflected light passing through the reflective transmission path obtained by reflected by the reflection mirror 6, 8, 9 from the originals G The position is not affected by the movement of the first and second carriages 7 and 10 .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the solar cell 23 is arranged around the optical axis of the CCD 13 that does not interfere with the image formation by the non-movable portion during the document reading operation, and the light irradiated to other than the reading pixels of the CCD 13 is irradiated. Since it can be used effectively, it can be charged to a degree close to the case of storing with a certain amount of light, and can be stored efficiently with a small area. Further, the inside of the image reading apparatus 1 has a sealed structure so that light does not leak, and the reflected light from the document G that has not entered the lens unit 11 is incident on the solar cell 23. An increase in efficiency can also be expected.

  In the first to sixth embodiments, the reflecting surface of the reflector 16, the surface of the first carriage 7 facing the xenon lamp 5, the opening 5a2 on the opposite side of the xenon lamp 5 from the original G side, the first carriage 7 illustrates an example in which solar cells 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, and 23 are disposed on the rear surface of the first mirror 6, the incident surface of the lens unit 11, and the irradiation surface other than the reading pixels of the CCD 13, respectively. However, by arbitrarily combining the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth embodiments, or by arbitrarily combining the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth embodiments, the light energy can be more efficiently taken into electric power. It is possible to convert.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a power supply circuit using a solar cell and a capacitor of the image forming apparatus in the present embodiment. The power supply circuit is connected to the solar battery 24 that converts the light energy of the light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 into electric power, the electric storage 25 that stores electric power output from the solar battery 24, and the electric storage 25. A voltage detection unit 26 that detects the storage voltage stored in the battery, a power supply unit 28 that converts the electric power output from the solar cell 24 into the internal power supply of the device, and a PSU ( (Power supply unit) 30, a CPU 27 that performs power supply control, and a current switching circuit 29 that switches a supply current to a load 31 in the apparatus. The CPU 27 is connected to the voltage detection unit 26 and the current switching circuit 29, and the current switching circuit 29 is connected to the power supply unit 28, the PSU 30 and the load 31.

  The solar cells 24 (17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23) arranged in the image reading device 1 generate power by receiving light emitted from the xenon lamp 5 that emits light every time an image is read. The inside of the image reading apparatus 1 has a sealed structure so that light does not leak in order to better illuminate the original and read the original image. As shown in the first to sixth embodiments, the solar cell 24 is disposed at a position where it can efficiently receive light from the light source (xenon lamp 5) and does not interfere with the reading of the document. Thereby, the strong light of the xenon lamp 5 can be effectively stored in the capacitor 25 with a small area.

  As described above, the electric power generated by the solar battery 24 is stored in the battery 25. The power generation of the solar battery 24 depends on the number of readings (the number of times the lamp is turned on). Since the light source is not derived from sunlight and the solar cell 24 is of a scale that can be placed inside the apparatus, the supply of light energy is unstable (small). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the power stored in the capacitor 25 is sufficiently supplied to the operating voltage of the control board on which the control circuit for driving and controlling the device is mounted, and Power is supplied from the capacitor 25 to the load during the energy saving mode.

  The stored voltage level is detected by detecting the divided value of the power storage level with an A / D converter built in the CPU 27 by a control signal from the CPU 27. When the CPU 27 determines that the voltage generated by the solar cell 24 can be supplied to the internal control circuit, the CPU 27 appropriately switches between the power generated by the PSU 27 and the power supply generated by the solar cell 24 by commercial power input. .

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure at this time. That is, in this processing procedure, the power source ( electric power ) generated by the solar cell 24 is stored in the battery 25 (step S101), and whether or not the power source power stored in the battery 25 has reached a necessary level that can be supplied to the load. When the determination result is reached (step S102-Y), the current switching circuit 29 supplies power from the PSU 30 to the load 31 and supplies power from the power supply unit 28 to the load 31. And the process of supplying power from the solar cell 24 (step S103) is performed by supplying the power stored in the battery 25 from the power supply unit 28 to the load 31. In addition, regarding the supply at this time, it is determined whether or not the stored power supply is sufficient to supply the load 31 by determining whether or not the stored power supply is sufficient (step S104). If the determination result is sufficient (step S104-Y), return to the previous current switching circuit 29 before supplying power from the solar cell 24 instead of the PSU 30 (step S103) to maintain the required level. to have the Magyo Migihitsuji and falls from the required level not sufficient (step S104-N), after switching to the power supply so as to supply power from PSU30 (step S105), the storage battery 25 returns to step S101 It allowed to continue power storage to, so that the processes in and after step S102 are repeated. Note that even if the power source power stored in the previous battery 25 does not reach the required level that can be supplied to the load 31 (step S102), if not (step S102-N), the step It returns to S101 and the electrical storage to the electrical storage device 25 is continued, and the process after step S102 is repeated.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the CPU 27 monitors the power storage level of the power storage unit 25 of the power generated by the solar battery 24, and shifts to each power saving mode when the power storage level becomes a level that can be supplied to the load. Further, when the level is lowered to a state where supply is impossible, the supply from the PSU 30 is restored. As a result, when the level is above the level that can be supplied, the power consumption from the external power source consumed by the apparatus in the energy saving mode can be reduced to zero.

  The embodiments described so far are only examples for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and is intended to embody the technical ideas described in the claims. The various configurations and modifications are all included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a reading device in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a first carriage according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a first carriage according to a second embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a general configuration of a xenon lamp in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a first carriage according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a first carriage according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image reading apparatus according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image reading apparatus according to a sixth embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a power supply circuit of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure in the power supply circuit of FIG. 9.

Explanation of symbols

1 image reading device 2 housing 3 contact glass 4 white reference plate 5 xenon lamp 6 first mirror 7 first carriage 8 second mirror 9 third mirror 10 second carriage 11 lens unit 12 sensor board unit 13 CCD
14 Signal cable 15 signal processor 16 reflector 17,18,20,21,22,23,24 solar cell 25 蓄 collector <br/> 26 voltage detection unit 27 CPU
28 Power supply unit 29 Current switching circuit 30 PSU
31 Load

Claims (2)

Accommodating a carriage light source for document reading is placed within the housing to read the document image on the document surface the carriage by irradiating light to the document from those light source while moving in a predetermined direction in the housing have a image reading unit, an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium based on the original image read by the image reading means,
Energy conversion means for receiving the emitted light from the light source and converting the energy of the emitted light into electric power, and storage means for storing the electric power converted by the energy conversion means,
The light source and the energy conversion unit are disposed in the carriage that moves in the housing during a reading operation of the image reading unit, and is maintained in a positional relationship with each other .
The light source is a xenon lamp having two exit ports for emitting the emitted light in two opposite directions, and the energy conversion means includes an irradiation side of the original at the two exit ports of the xenon lamp; An image forming apparatus, wherein the xenon lamp is provided so as to cover the other one arranged on the opposite side to the other . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energy conversion unit is a solar cell, and the power storage unit is a capacitor .

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