Patent Grant
11691834
The present disclosure relates to an image reading apparatus configured to read an image on a sheet, and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus.
Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, and a digital multifunction imaging apparatus is known to include an image reading apparatus configured to optically read an image on a sheet. There is an image reading apparatus of this type configured to convey documents stacked on a document tray one by one, read an image on the conveyed documents with a reading unit, and discharge the documents from which the image has been read to a discharge portion provided below the document tray. In such an image reading apparatus, since the discharge portion is provided below the document tray, the document on the discharge portion is hidden by the document tray. For this reason, particularly when a small-sized document is discharged, the visibility of the document on the discharge portion is poor, and the operability when the user takes out the document from the discharge portion is deteriorated.
In view of the above-described issue, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-210611 proposes an image reading apparatus with improved visibility of a document on a discharge portion. In the image reading apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-210611, a document tray has a first support surface and a second support surface that support a document, and the second support surface is provided to be movable in a widthwise direction with respect to the first support surface. When the second support surface is moved in the widthwise direction and retracted from a predetermined section above the discharge portion, the user can visually recognize the document on the discharge portion through the predetermined section from which the second support surface has been retracted.
The documents stacked on the document tray are set with both ends in the widthwise direction in contact with a pair of regulating units provided to be movable in the widthwise direction, so that the oblique passing of documents to be generated is suppressed. However, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-210611, the regulating unit provided on the second support surface is disposed only on the second support surface. For this reason, the ends of the document are not regulated in the area downstream of the second support surface of the document tray, and the oblique passing may occur at the time of feeding the document, leading to reading failure.
The present disclosure is directed to suppressing oblique passing to be generated at the time of feeding a document in an image reading apparatus in which a second support surface is provided to be movable in a widthwise direction with respect to a first support surface of a document tray.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an image reading apparatus includes a stacking portion on which a sheet is to be stacked, a feeding unit configured to feed the sheet stacked on the stacking portion in a feeding direction, a reading unit configured to read an image on the sheet fed by the feeding unit, and a discharge portion provided below the stacking portion and configured to discharge the sheet having the image read by the reading unit, wherein the stacking portion includes: a first support surface configured to support the sheet, a second support surface configured to support the sheet together with the first support surface and to be provided to be movable in a widthwise direction perpendicular to the feeding direction with respect to the first support surface, wherein the second support surface is retractable from a predetermined section above the discharge portion by moving in the widthwise direction with respect to the first support surface, a first regulating unit provided on the first support surface to be movable in the widthwise direction, having a first regulating surface with which one end of the sheet in the widthwise direction comes into contact, and configured to regulate a position of the sheet stacked on the stacking portion in the widthwise direction, and a second regulating unit provided on the second support surface to be movable in the widthwise direction together with the second support surface, having a second regulating surface with which an other end of the sheet opposite to the one end in the widthwise direction comes into contact, and configured to regulate a position of the sheet in the widthwise direction, wherein the first support surface includes a downstream support portion configured to support the sheet on a downstream side of the predetermined section in the feeding direction, and wherein a part of the second regulating surface is positioned on the downstream support portion.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The exemplary embodiment described below is an example of embodying the present disclosure, and does not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. Identical reference numerals denote identical or corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
<Schematic Configuration of the Image Forming Apparatus>
A schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The image forming apparatus main body 101A includes an image forming unit 133, which is an image forming portion that forms an image on a sheet P, which is a recording medium, and a sheet feeding unit 134 that feeds the sheet P to the image forming unit 133. The sheet feeding unit 134 includes sheet storage portions 137a, 137b, 137c, and 137d capable of storing sheets P having different sizes. The sheets P stored in the respective sheet storage portions are fed out by a pickup roller 112, separated one by one by a feed roller 113a and a retard roller 113b, and delivered to the corresponding pair of conveying rollers 131. The sheets P are sequentially delivered to a plurality of pairs of conveying rollers 131 arranged along the sheet conveying path to be conveyed to a pair of registration rollers 136.
The sheet P placed on a manual sheet feeding tray 137e by the user is fed to the inside of the image forming apparatus main body 101A by a feeding roller 138, and is conveyed to the pair of registration rollers 136. The pair of registration rollers 136 stops the leading end of the sheet P to correct oblique passing. Further, the pair of registration rollers 136 resumes the conveyance of the sheet P in accordance with the progress of the image forming operation, which is a toner image forming process by the image forming unit 133.
The image forming unit 133 that forms an image on the sheet P is an electrophotographic image forming unit including a photosensitive drum 121 that is a photosensitive member. The photosensitive drum 121 is rotatable along the conveying direction of the sheet P, and a charger 118, an exposure apparatus 123, a development device 124, a transfer charger 125, a separation charger 126, and a cleaner 127 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 121. The charger 118 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 121. The exposure apparatus 123 exposes the photosensitive drum 121 on the basis of image information input from the image reading apparatus 1, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 121. The development device 124 stores a development material containing toner, and supplies charged toner to the photosensitive drum 121 to develop the electrostatic latent image into the toner image. The toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 121 is transferred to the sheet P conveyed from the pair of registration rollers 136 by a bias electric field formed by the transfer charger 125. The sheet P to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 121 by the bias electric field formed by the separation charger 126, and is conveyed toward a fixing portion 129 by a pre-fixing conveyance portion 128. Adhering substances such as transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 121 without being transferred to the sheet P are removed by the cleaner 127, and the photosensitive drum 121 prepares for the next image forming operation.
The sheet P conveyed to the fixing portion 129 is subjected to a fixing process including pressing and heating of the toner image while being nipped and conveyed by the pair of rollers. As a result, the toner is melted and then fixed, whereby the image is fixed on the sheet P. When the image output has been completed, the sheet P on which the fixed image has been obtained is discharged to a discharge tray 130 protruding outward from the image forming apparatus main body 101A via a pair of discharge rollers 116. In a case where an image is to be formed on the back surface of the sheet P in double-sided printing, the front surface and the back surface of the sheet P having passed through the fixing portion 129 are turned over by a reverse portion 139, and the sheet P is conveyed to the pair of registration rollers 136 by a double-sided conveyance portion 140. The sheet P on which an image is formed again by the image forming unit 133 is discharged to the discharge tray 130.
<Schematic Configuration of the Image Reading Apparatus>
A schematic configuration of the image reading apparatus 1 will be described with reference to
The reader 3 includes a first reading unit 312 that reads an image on the front surface of the document D. On the upper surface of the reader 3, a first flow reading glass plate 314 and a document platen glass 315, which are transparent members that transmit visible light, are provided. The document platen glass 315 is arranged next to the first flow reading glass plate 314 in a sub-scanning direction (the direction of an arrow 316 in
The ADF 2 includes a second reading unit 313 that reads an image on the back surface of the document D. The second reading unit 313 reads an image on the back surface of the document D conveyed by the ADF 2 at a second reading position F2 downstream of the first reading position F1 in the conveying direction of the document D. The ADF 2 is turnably supported with respect to the reader 3 by a hinge portion, which is not illustrated, disposed on the back side of the apparatus in
The ADF 2 includes the document tray 4 on which the documents D are stacked and the discharge tray 5 from which the documents D are discharged. The ADF 2 includes a feeding roller 301, which is a feeding unit that feeds the documents D stacked on the document tray 4, a pair of separation rollers 302 that separates the documents D one by one, and a first pair of conveying rollers 303 that extracts the separated document D. The feeding roller 301 feeds the document in a feeding direction (the direction indicated by the arrow 318). The document D separated from the other documents by the pair of separation rollers 302 is sequentially conveyed by the first pair of conveying rollers 303, a second pair of conveying rollers 304, a third pair of conveying rollers 305, a fourth pair of conveying rollers 306, a fifth pair of conveying rollers 308, and a sixth pair of conveying rollers 310. A pair of discharge rollers 311 that discharges the document D from which the image has been read to the discharge tray 5 is arranged downstream of the sixth pair of conveying rollers 310 in the conveying direction.
The ADF 2 includes a first platen roller 307 at a position facing the first flow reading glass plate 314 between the fourth pair of conveying rollers 306 and the fifth pair of conveying rollers 308. The first platen roller 307 is a roller member that can suppress floating of the document D from the first flow reading glass plate 314 by coming into contact with the back surface of the document D and rotating. The ADF 2 includes a second platen roller 309 at a position facing a second flow reading glass plate 317 between the fifth pair of conveying rollers 308 and the sixth pair of conveying rollers 310. The second platen roller 309 is a roller member that can suppress floating of the document D from the second flow reading glass plate 317 by coming into contact with the front surface of the document D and rotating.
An image reading operation by the image reading apparatus 1 will be described. The image reading apparatus 1 can execute the image reading operation in either the flowing document reading mode or the fixed-document reading mode on the basis of an explicit operation or the like by the user. The flowing document reading mode is a mode in which an image on a document is read while the ADF 2 is conveying the document D to pass document D through the reading positions F1 and F2 of the first reading unit 312 and the second reading unit 313, respectively. The fixed-document reading mode is a mode in which an image on a document placed on the document platen glass 315 by the user is read while the first reading unit 312 is moving in the sub-scanning direction.
In the case of the flowing document reading mode, the first reading unit 312 reads the image on the document while being fixed at a position P1 in accordance with the first reading position F1. The documents D placed on the document tray 4 are fed by the feeding roller 301 and separated one by one by a separation nip portion of the pair of separation rollers 302. The separated document D is pulled out by the first pair of conveying rollers 303, and then reaches the first reading position F1 via the second pair of conveying rollers 304, the third pair of conveying rollers 305, and the fourth pair of conveying rollers 306. At the first reading position F1, the front surface of the document D is optically scanned by the first reading unit 312 so that the image is read.
The document D having passed through the first reading position F1 reaches the second reading position F2 via the fifth pair of conveying rollers 308. At the second reading position F2, the back surface of the document D is optically scanned by the second reading unit 313 so that the image is read. The document D having passed through the second reading position F2 is discharged to the discharge tray 5 by the pair of discharge rollers 311 via the sixth pair of conveying rollers 310. Such a reading operation is repeatedly executed until a sensor, which is not illustrated, provided in the document tray 4 confirms that all the documents have been fed. In the present exemplary embodiment, the ADF 2 includes the second reading unit 313, and the back surface of the document D can be read by the second reading unit. However, the ADF 2 may not include the second reading unit 313. In a case where the ADF 2 does not include the second reading unit, the ADF 2 reads the image on the back surface of the document D by reversing the document D whose image on the front surface has been read at the first reading position F1 and conveying the document D back to the first reading position F1.
On the other hand, in the case of the fixed-document reading mode, the first reading unit 312 scans the document placed on the document platen glass 315 while reciprocating between the position P1 and a position P2 in the sub-scanning direction so that the document image is read. The control unit 132 of the image forming apparatus main body 101A grasps the position of the first reading unit 312 from a position sensor, which is not illustrated, and the number of rotation pulses of the motor. In the fixed-document reading mode and the flowing document reading mode, the image information acquired by the first reading unit 312 and the second reading unit 313 is sequentially transferred to the control unit 132 of the image forming apparatus main body 101A.
<Configuration of the Document Tray>
A configuration of the document tray 4 will be described with reference to
The document tray 4 includes a first regulating unit 41 and a second regulating unit 42 that regulate the position of the stacked documents D in the widthwise direction. The first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 are provided to be movable in the widthwise direction with respect to the support surface 4a, and are moved in conjunction with each other in opposite directions in the widthwise direction by an interlocking mechanism described below. The second regulating unit 42 is fixed to the retraction support surface 4b, and the second regulating unit 42 is moved in the widthwise direction together with the retraction support surface 4b.
The first regulating unit 41 includes a support surface 41a, which is a third support surface that supports the document together with the support surface 4a and the retraction support surface 4b, and a regulating surface 41b, which is a first regulating surface with which one end on the back side of the document in the widthwise direction comes into contact. The support surface 41a is a surface along the support surface 4a, and the regulating surface 41b is a surface perpendicular to the support surface 41a. The second regulating unit 42 includes a support surface 42a, which is a fourth support surface that supports the document together with the support surface 4a and the retraction support surface 4b, and a regulating surface 42b, which is a second regulating surface with which one end on the front side of the document in the widthwise direction comes into contact. In other words, one end of the document in the widthwise direction comes into contact with the regulating surface 41b of the first regulating unit 41, and on the opposite side, the other end of the document in the widthwise direction comes into contact with the regulating surface 42b of the second regulating unit 42. The support surface 42a is a surface along the support surface 4a, and the regulating surface 42b is a surface perpendicular to the support surface 42a. The support surface 41a and the support surface 42a are arranged so as to be overlaid on the support surface 4a, and the support surface 41a and the support surface 42a have the same height. In other words, the support surface 41a and the support surface 42a are positioned on the same plane.
The end of the support surface 41a on the front side is inclined so as to be lower toward the center of the conveying path. Similarly, the end of the support surface 42a on the back side is inclined so as to be lower toward the center of the conveying path. Since the ends of the support surface 41a and the support surface 42a are inclined, the support surface 41a and the support surface 42a can scoop up both ends of the document when the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 are moved inward after the user places the document on the document tray 4. As a result, it is possible to suppress the document from being caught by the ends of the support surface 41a and the support surface 42a and suppress occurrence of creases in the document.
The second regulating unit 42 is provided such that the regulating surface 42b is positioned from the upstream end of the retraction support surface 4b to the downstream end of the downstream support portion 4c of the support surface 4a. For this reason, when the second regulating unit 42 is moved in the widthwise direction, a part of the regulating surface 42b is moved on the downstream support portion 4c. The regulating surface 41b of the first regulating unit 41 is positioned so as to be overlaid on the regulating surface 42b when viewed from the front side of the apparatus.
When the user sets the document on the document tray 4, the user moves the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 based on the width of the document, and brings both ends of the document in the widthwise direction into contact with the regulating surface 41b and the regulating surface 42b. As a result, the position of the documents stacked on the document tray 4 in the widthwise direction is regulated, and oblique passing that occurs when the documents are fed is suppressed.
As illustrated in
When the user gives an instruction to start reading to the image reading apparatus 1 in a state where the small-sized document D2 is set on the document tray 4, the document D2 set on the document tray 4 is fed by the feeding roller 301, and is discharged to the discharge tray 5 after the image is read. As illustrated in
<Configuration of the Regulating Units>
Configurations of the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 will be described with reference to
A hook portion 413 for preventing the first regulating unit from floating from the support surface 4a is formed at a downstream end of the support surface 41a of the first regulating unit 41 in the feeding direction. The hook portion 413 has a hook shape protruding downward from a downstream end of the support surface 41a in the feeding direction and having a leading end bent upstream. As illustrated in
A hook portion 423 for preventing the second regulating unit 42 from floating from the support surface 4a is formed at a downstream end of the support surface 42a of the second regulating unit 42 in the feeding direction. The hook portion 423 has the same hook shape as the hook portion 413 that protrudes downward from a downstream end of the support surface 42a in the feeding direction and having a leading end bent upstream. As illustrated in
The document tray 4 is provided with a gear 7 so as to mesh with both the rack portion 411a and the rack portion 421a. When the first regulating unit 41 is moved so as to approach the second regulating unit 42, the first interlocking member 411 attached to the first regulating unit 41 is also moved in the same direction. At this time, the gear 7 meshing with the rack portion 411a of the first interlocking member 411 rotates. Since the rack portion 421a of the second interlocking member 421 meshes with the gear 7, the second interlocking member 421 and the second regulating unit 42 are moved in the direction opposite to the direction in which the first regulating unit 41 is moved, as a result of the rotation of the gear 7. Even when the second regulating unit 42 is moved so as to approach the first regulating unit 41, the first regulating unit 41 is moved in the direction opposite to the direction in which the second regulating unit 42 is moved. As described above, when one of the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 is moved in the widthwise direction, the other is moved in conjunction in the opposite direction. As a result, the user can move both the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 based on the document width only by holding and moving one of the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42.
The gear 7 and the first interlocking member 411 are arranged below the downstream support portion 4c. In other words, the downstream support portion 4c covers the gear 7 and the first interlocking member 411 from above when viewed from above in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the gear 7 and the first interlocking member 411 block the view of the document tray 4 from above regardless of the positions of the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42.
An image reading apparatus 1B according to a comparative example will be described with reference to
On the other hand, as described in the present exemplary embodiment, the second regulating unit 42 of the image reading apparatus 1 is provided such that the regulating surface 42b is positioned on the downstream support portion 4c of the support surface 4a. For this reason, unlike the image reading apparatus 1B, which is a comparative example, the second regulating unit 42 of the image reading apparatus 1 can regulate the position of the document also on the downstream side of the document tray 4 in the feeding direction. In this way, oblique passing occurring at the time of feeding the document is suppressed, and the occurrence of reading failure can be reduced.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the second regulating unit 42 is provided such that the regulating surface 42b is positioned from the upstream end of the retraction support surface 4b to the downstream end of the downstream support portion 4c in the feeding direction. The second regulating unit 42 may be provided such that at least a part of the regulating surface 42b is positioned on the downstream support portion 4c of the support surface 4a.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 are interlocked by one gear 7, but the first regulating unit 41 and the second regulating unit 42 may be interlocked by a plurality of gears.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the document tray 4 is provided so as to be turnable upward, but the document tray 4 may be fixed to the ADF 2.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-200044, filed Dec. 2, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2020-200044 | Dec 2020 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5433427 | Ishikawa | Jul 1995 | A |
| 6916020 | Hasegawa | Jul 2005 | B2 |
| 7984903 | Coret | Jul 2011 | B2 |
| 8550459 | Sekiguchi | Oct 2013 | B2 |
| 8764008 | Otsuki | Jul 2014 | B2 |
| 9284137 | Sato | Mar 2016 | B2 |
| 20020017754 | Kang | Feb 2002 | A1 |
| 20150084274 | Kotaka | Mar 2015 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2015035691 | Feb 2015 | JP |
| 2016210611 | Dec 2016 | JP |
| Entry |
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| Espacenet machine translation of JP2016210611A; http://translationportal.epo.org/emtp/translate/?ACTION=description-retrieval&COUNTRY=JP&ENGINE=google&FORMAT=docdb&KIND=A&LOCALE=en_EP&NUMBER=2016210611&OPS=ops.epo.org/3.2&SRCLANG=ja&TRGLANG=en (Year: 2016). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220169466 A1 | Jun 2022 | US |
