Image Reading Apparatus

• US 20060250661A1
• Filed: 04/27/2006
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Susaki, Yoichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,453,055 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/461
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/401 Compensating positionally unequal response of the pick-up or reproducing head H04N1/403 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/4076 dependent on references outside the picture

Abstract

An image reading apparatus includes a document placing table having a transparent member, a document pressing member, an image reading unit, a scanning unit that is disposed on a side opposite to a document placing surface of the transparent member and reciprocates in a predetermined direction along the transparent member with the image reading unit mounted thereon, an open/closed state detecting unit that detects open and closed states of the document pressing member, a control unit that controls an image reading operation of the image reading unit and a reciprocation movement of the scanning unit, and a reference member that serves as a luminance reference of the image reading unit. When the open/closed state detecting unit detects the open state of the document pressing member, the control unit set a predetermined light intensity set value to a light intensity value of light irradiated from the light source at the time of image reading.

Claims

1. An image reading apparatus comprising:

a document placing table having a transparent member on which a document is placed;

a document pressing member that is openably provided on the document placing table and covers the transparent member;

an image reading unit that irradiates light from a light source onto the document and reads an image on the document based on reflected light;

a scanning unit that is disposed on a side opposite to a document placing surface of the transparent member and reciprocates in a predetermined direction along the transparent member with the image reading unit mounted thereon;

an open/closed state detecting unit that detects open and closed states of the document pressing member;

a control unit that controls an image reading operation of the image reading unit and a reciprocation movement of the scanning unit; and

a reference member that serves as a luminance reference of the image reading unit,

wherein, when the open/closed state detecting unit detects the open state of the document pressing member, the control unit set a predetermined light intensity set value to a light intensity value of light irradiated from the light source at the time of image reading.

2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses a light intensity value set in advance as the light intensity set value.

3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the open/closed state detecting unit detects the closed state of the document pressing member, the control unit stores a light intensity adjustment value obtained by performing a light intensity adjustment of the light source of the image reading unit about the reference member, and sets the light intensity adjustment value as the light intensity set value.

4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the open/closed state detecting unit detects external light entering into the document placing table so as to detect the open or closed state of the document placing member.

5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when the light intensity adjustment value obtained by causing the image reading unit to perform the light intensity adjustment about the reference member is out of a predetermined range, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.

6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when the image reading unit turns off the light source and reads the reference member and a read value is out of a predetermined range, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.

7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the reference member has white and black portions in a movement direction of the scanning unit, and

when a difference between read values when the image reading unit turns off the light source and reads the white and black portions of the reference member is a predetermined threshold value or more, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.

8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit irradiates light from the light source onto the reference member and acquires a luminance reference of the image reading unit on the basis of a light intensity adjustment value obtained by causing the image reading unit to perform the light intensity adjustment of the light source about the reference member.

9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is disposed in a vicinity of a region where the transparent member is exposed as an outer surface of the document placing table.

10. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the reference member is disposed between the transparent member and a dividing member that is disposed in the region where the transparent member is exposed as the outer surface of the document placing table and divides the region.

11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the dividing member divides the region where the transparent member is exposed as the outer surface of the document placing table into a conveyed document reading region where the image reading unit reads the image of the document being conveyed in a predetermined direction and a still document reading region where the image reading unit reads the image of the document placed on the transparent member.

12. The image reading apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the document pressing member is provided with an automatic document conveying mechanism that conveys the document loaded on a paper supply tray to the conveyed document reading region and discharges the document to a paper discharge tray, and

on a surface of the dividing member close to the document pressing member, a guide surface which guides the document before reading to the conveyed document reading region is formed.

13. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit comprises a contact image sensor.

14. An image reading apparatus comprising:

a document placing table having a transparent member on which a document is placed;

a document pressing member that is openably provided on the document placing table and covers the transparent member;

an image reading unit that irradiates light from a light source onto the document and reads an image on the document based on reflected light;

a scanning unit that is disposed on a side opposite to a document placing surface of the transparent member and reciprocates in a predetermined direction along the transparent member with the image reading unit mounted thereon;

an open/closed state detecting unit that detects open and closed states of the document pressing member;

a control unit that controls an image reading operation of the image reading unit and a reciprocation movement of the scanning unit;

a first reference member that is disposed in a region where the transparent member is exposed as an outer surface of the document placing table and serves as a luminance reference of the image reading unit; and

a second reference member that is disposed in a region other than the region where the transparent member is exposed as the outer surface of the document placing table and serves as a luminance reference of the image reading unit,

wherein, when the open/closed state detecting unit detects the closed state of the document pressing member, the control unit moves the scanning unit to a position facing the first reference member, and performs an output adjustment of the image reading unit about the first reference member, and

when the open/closed state detecting unit detects the open state of the document pressing member, the control unit moves the scanning unit to a position facing the second reference member, and performs an output adjustment of the image reading unit about the second reference member.

15. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the first reference member is disposed between the transparent member and a dividing member that is disposed in the region where the transparent member is exposed as the outer surface of the document placing table and divides the region.

16. The image reading apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the dividing member divides the region where the transparent member is exposed as the outer surface of the document placing table into a conveyed document reading region where the image reading unit reads the image of the document being conveyed in a predetermined direction and a still document reading region where the image reading unit reads the image of the document placed on the transparent member.

17. The image reading apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the document pressing member is provided with an automatic document conveying mechanism that conveys the document loaded on a paper supply tray to the conveyed document reading region and discharges the document to a paper discharge tray, and

on a surface of the dividing member close to the document pressing member, a guide surface which guides the document before reading to the conveyed document reading region is formed.

18. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the second reference member is disposed on an inner surface side of the document placing table.

19. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the second reference member is disposed in a vicinity of an end position of a movable range of the scanning unit.

20. The image reading apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the second reference member is disposed in the vicinity of the end position of the movable range close to the still document reading region.

21. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the image reading unit sets the periphery of the first reference member as a standby position.

22. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control unit performs at least one of a light intensity adjustment of the light source, acquisition of white level data, and acquisition of black level data so as to perform the output adjustment of the image reading unit about the first reference member or the second reference member.

23. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the image reading unit comprises a contact image sensor.

24. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the open/closed state detecting unit detects external light entering into the document placing table so as to detect the open/closed state of the document placing member.

25. The image reading apparatus according to claim 24, wherein, when a light intensity adjustment value obtained through the light intensity adjustment about the first reference member by the image reading unit is less than a predetermined threshold value, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.

26. The image reading apparatus according to claim 24, wherein, when the image reading unit turns off the light source and reads the first reference member and a read value is a predetermined threshold value or more, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.

27. The image reading apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the first reference member has white and black portions provided in a row in a movement direction of the scanning unit, and

when a difference between read values when the image reading unit turns off the light source and reads the white and black portions of the first reference member is a predetermined threshold value or more, the open/closed state detecting unit detects that the document pressing member is in the open state.