IMAGE READING APPARATUS, IMAGE READING METHOD, AND SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS

• US 20090208065A1
• Filed: 09/04/2008
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: MIURA, Junji, Ikari, Seiji
• Granted Patent: US 8,159,728 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/993 Evaluation of the quality of the acquired pattern
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00681 Detecting the presence, position or size of a sheet or correcting its position before scanning H04N1/047 takes precedence; mode signalling H04N1/333; skew detection or correction in image signals H04N1/3878
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00718 Skew
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00721 Orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00724 Type of sheet, e.g. colour of paper or transparency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00737 using the scanning elements as detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00745 Detecting the leading or trailing ends of a moving sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00753 of a sheet relative to a particular backgroud

Abstract

An image reading apparatus, in which sheets being transported are illuminated by an illuminating unit, one after another, and a sensor having an imaging elements arranged in a line photographs the sheets, one after another. A white-reference part is provided in a part of the photographing region of the sensor. A black-reference part guides the light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when a sheet lies in the photographing region of the sensor, and to restrict application of the light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when no sheets lie in the photographing region of the sensor.

Claims

1. An image reading apparatus comprising:

an illuminating unit configured to illuminate sheets being transported, one after another;

a sensor having an imaging elements arranged in a line and configured to photograph the sheets one after another;

a background member having a white-reference part provided in a part of a photographing region of the sensor and a black-reference part configured to guide light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when a sheet lies in the photographing region of the sensor, and to restrict application of the light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when no sheets lie in the photographing region of the sensor.

2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the black-reference part of the background member is a directional reflecting member that reflects incident light in a specific direction, thereby to inhibit the light reflected by the illuminating unit and applied to the black-reference part from being applied to the sensor.

3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the directional reflecting member is a mirror-surface member.

4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the directional reflecting member is a reflexive reflection member.

5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the black-reference member of the background plate is a low-reflective member provided in a part of the photographing region of the sensor and having a specific width as measured in a direction at right angles to a scanning direction of the sensor.

6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the black-reference member of the background plate is a low-reflective member provided in a part of the photographing region of the sensor and having a specific width less than three times the width of the photographing region, as measured in a direction at right angles to a scanning direction of the sensor.

7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the black-reference member of the background plate is provided, overlapping a lateral edge of a sheet being transported in the photographing region of the sensor.

8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detecting unit configured to detect a skew of a sheet being transported, from an image of the sheet photographed by the sensor.

9. An image reading method comprising:

Illuminating sheets being transported, one after another;

photographing the sheets one after another, by a sensor having an imaging elements arranged in a line;

providing a white-reference part provided in a part of a photographing region; and

providing a black-reference part configured to guide light reflected by an illuminating unit to the sensor when a sheet lies in the photographing region of the sensor, and to restrict application of the light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when no sheets lie in the photographing region of the sensor.

10. A sheet processing apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive sheets;

a feeding unit configured to feed the sheets, one by one, from the receiving unit;

a transporting unit configured to transport the sheets from the feeding unit;

an illuminating unit configured to illuminate the sheets being transported by the transporting unit;

a sensor having an imaging elements arranged in a line and configured to photograph the sheets being transported by the transporting unit, one after another;

a background member having a white-reference part provided in a part of a photographing region of the sensor and a black-reference part configured to guide light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when a sheet lies in the photographing region of the sensor, and to restrict application of the light reflected by the illuminating unit to the sensor when no sheets lie in the photographing region of the sensor;

a discriminating unit configured to determine the type of each sheet from the image of the sheet, which the sensor has read; and

a control unit configured to perform a control, thereby to collect the sheets in collecting bins, in accordance with the types of the sheets, which discriminating unit has determined.