IMAGE READING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

Abstract

An image reading apparatus includes: a document placement glass; an illumination system configured to illuminate the document; an image forming optical system configured to image reflected light of the document; a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document; and a controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan and read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type, and configured to change an object distance from a document placement surface of the document placement glass to an image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when a document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with the pressure plate type.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when the document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with the sheet-through type.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when the document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4 with the pressure plate type.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when the document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 6 with the pressure plate type.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when the document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 11 with the pressure plate type.

FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of operation when the document is read by the image reading apparatus illustrated in FIG. 13 with the pressure plate type.

FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image reading apparatus according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. An image reading apparatus, comprising: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type, and configured to change an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type.

2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to move the document in the second document reading type by utilizing an automatic document feeder.

3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming element structuring the image forming optical system includes an image forming lens configured to perform reduction-image formation of the image of the document.

4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first moving carriage having at least one reflection mirror and the illumination system; anda second moving carriage having at least two reflection mirrors,wherein the controller is configured to move the first moving carriage and the second moving carriage to scan the document surface of the document at a speed ratio of 2:1 in the first document reading type.

5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an integrated optical system having at least one reflection mirror, the image forming element and the sensor, and wherein the controller is configured to move the integrated optical system and the illumination system in the first document reading type.

6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming element of the image forming optical system includes an unit-magnification image forming element.

7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first moving carriage having at least one reflection mirror and the illumination system; anda second moving carriage having at least two reflection mirrors,wherein the controller is configured to vary a distance between the first moving carriage and the second moving carriage to change the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system in the first document reading type and the second document reading type.

8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming element structuring the image forming optical system includes an image forming lens configured to perform reduction-image formation of the image of the document, and wherein the controller is configured to vary a position of the image forming lens and the sensor integrally to change the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system in the first document reading type and the second document reading type.

9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming element structuring the image forming optical system includes an image forming lens configured to perform reduction-image formation of the image of the document, and wherein the image forming lens includes a glass lens having a glass material excluding a harmful substance selected from a group comprising lead, arsenic, and a combination thereof.

10. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a color separation element disposed in an optical path of the image forming optical system, such that information of the document is read in color.

11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect whether the document is to be read by the first document reading type or the second document reading type, and configured to determine the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system based on a result of the detection.

12. An image forming apparatus, comprising an image reading apparatus including: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type, and configured to change an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type.

13. An image reading apparatus, comprising: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, and configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type,wherein the document placement glass includes a first document placement glass used in the first document reading type and having a first thickness, and a second document placement glass used in the second document reading type and having a second thickness different from the first thickness of the first document placement glass to vary an optical distance, such that an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.

14. An image reading apparatus, comprising: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, and configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type,wherein the document placement glass includes a first document placement glass used in the first document reading type and having a first refractive index, and a second document placement glass used in the second document reading type and having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index of the first document placement glass to vary an optical distance, such that an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.

15. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the second document placement glass further includes a refractive index different from a refractive index of the first document placement glass to change the optical distance, such that the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.

16. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image forming element structuring the image forming optical system includes an image forming lens configured to perform reduction-image formation of the image of the document, and wherein the image forming lens includes a glass lens having a glass material excluding a harmful substance selected from a group comprising lead, arsenic, and a combination thereof.

17. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the image forming element structuring the image forming optical system includes an image forming lens configured to perform reduction-image formation of the image of the document, and wherein the image forming lens includes a glass lens having a glass material excluding a harmful substance selected from a group comprising lead, arsenic, and a combination thereof.

18. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a color separation element disposed in an optical path of the image forming optical system, such that information of the document is read in color.

19. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a color separation element disposed in an optical path of the image forming optical system, such that information of the document is read in color.

20. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to detect whether the document is to be read by the first document reading type or the second document reading type, and configured to determine the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system based on a result of the detection.

21. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to detect whether the document is to be read by the first document reading type or the second document reading type, and configured to determine the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system based on a result of the detection.

22. An image forming apparatus, comprising an image reading apparatus including: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, and configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type,wherein the document placement glass includes a first document placement glass used in the first document reading type and having a first thickness, and a second document placement glass used in the second document reading type and having a second thickness different from the first thickness of the first document placement glass to vary an optical distance, such that an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.

23. An image forming apparatus, comprising an image reading apparatus including: a document placement glass having a document placement surface and on which a document is placed;an illumination system configured to illuminate the document;an image forming optical system including an image forming element and configured to image reflected light of the document illuminated by the illumination system;a sensor configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an image of the document imaged by the image forming optical system; anda controller configured to move the illumination system and the image forming optical system to scan a document surface of the document to read the document with a state in which the document is fixed onto the document placement glass as a first document reading type, and configured to read the document while moving the document with a state in which the illumination system and the image forming optical system are fixed as a second document reading type,wherein the document placement glass includes a first document placement glass used in the first document reading type and having a first refractive index, and a second document placement glass used in the second document reading type and having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index of the first document placement glass to vary an optical distance, such that an object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.

24. The image forming apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the second document placement glass further includes a refractive index different from a refractive index of the first document placement glass to vary the optical distance, such that the object distance from the document placement surface of the document placement glass to the image forming element of the image forming optical system when the document is to be read by the first document reading type and when the document is to be read by the second document reading type is changed.