Patent Application
20120081756
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-223623, filed on Oct. 1, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The present invention relates to a mirror support device and an image reader.
An image reader has optical components such as a mirror and a lens for applying light to an original placed on a contact glass and leading reflected light from the original toward a predetermined direction. Such optical components are supported by an optical unit that travels in the main scanning directions. On this occasion, a vibration, a positional displacement and the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as a vibration) may occur in the optical components due to a vibration of the optical unit. A vibration of the optical components will be a cause of degradation of the image reading accuracy. Accordingly, such vibration needs to be regulated, and thus various holding structures have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 11-052494 (hereinafter, referred to as a first related technology) discloses a mirror holding structure as shown in
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-199218 (hereinafter, referred to as a second related technology) discloses a mirror holding structure as shown in
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-078104 (hereinafter, referred to as a third related technology) discloses a mirror holding mechanism as shown in
However, in the mirror holding mechanisms according to the first and second related technologies, there are following problems. That is, when the mirror 102 and 112 are inserted into the mirror holding members 103 and 113, respectively, worker's posture position is a position in front of the mirror. However, when the clips 101, 111 are installed, a worker needs to change the work posture toward a side of the mirrors 102, 112. Accordingly, because installation work of the mirrors 102, 112 and the clips 101, 111 cannot be performed as a series of work, there is a problem that the work efficiency declines.
Also, in order to install the clips 101, 111 smoothly, a worker sometimes opens the clip 101, 111 widely to install them. When the clips 101, 111 are opened more than necessary, the clips 101, 111 cause plastic deformation and cannot hold the mirrors 102, 112 with enough power any more. Accordingly, the mirrors 102, 112 vibrate easily.
Further, the clips 101, 111 need to be removed in maintenance or the like. On this occasion, there is a case where the clips 101, 111 are widely opened, causing plastic deformation. In this case, reuse of the clips 101, 111 becomes impossible.
On the other hand, in the mirror holding mechanism according to the third related technology, there is a risk that, if the clamp 124 is compressed too much, the mirror 123 is tilted when the clamp 124 is restored by an elastic force. The clamp 124 expressed in a solid line in
The excessively compressed state is a state that the one end 124a and the suppressor segment 124c of the clamp 124 are exhibiting large elastic deformation. For this reason, when a worker releases his hand from the clamp 124, there is a case where the mirror 123 is tilted by restoring force of the one end 124a and the suppressor segment 124c of the clamp 124. That is, restoring force of such as the one end 124a of the clamp 124 has a force component F applied to the mirror 123 in parallel with a mirror surface 123a. Due to this force component F, the mirror 123 comes to rotate about a corner 122c of the back surface 122b of the attaching member 121, taking the corner as the rotation axis.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a mirror support device and an image reader in which mirror support work can be performed efficiently and a mirror can be supported stably.
A mirror support device arranged in both ends of a stick-like mirror for holding the mirror including an inner side plate, comprising a mirror insertion opening formed in the inner side plate, the mirror insertion opening for inserting an end of a mirror; an outer side plate connected to the inner side plate, comprising: a mirror stopper plate for regulating positions of a right and a left end face of the mirror inserted into the mirror insertion opening; and a clip hole, the mirror stopper plate and the clip hole being formed in the outer side plate; and a clip for fixing the mirror, the clip being inserted into the clip hole from a same direction as inserting direction of the mirror.
Exemplary features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the accompanying drawings in which:
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.
By the optical unit 8 being moved along the surface of the contact glass 6, light from the light source 10 is applied to an original placed on the contact glass 6. Reflected light from the original is led to the light receiving device 16 including a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and the like via the mirror 14 and the lens 12. By this, an electric signal corresponding to the image of the original is outputted from the light receiving device 16 and image reading is performed.
The leg part 41 includes a back plate 45 and sleeve plates 46 formed by bending the both ends of the back plate 45. The mirror suppressor plate 42 is formed by bending the upper end of the back plate 45. In this mirror suppressor plate 42, a hemispheric mirror suppressing projection 42a is formed by press processing. The cover plates 44 are formed by bending the upper ends of the sleeve plates 46 such that the mirror suppressor plate 42 is wrapped around. Further, by cutting and raising the central part of the back plate 45, the locking plate 43 is formed.
On the other hand, in the outer side plate 32, there are formed a clip hole 36 to which the leg part 41 of the clip 40 is inserted, a guide plate 37, a clip supporting plate 39 and a mirror stopper plate 38.
Next, the detailed composition and behavior of such mirror support device will be described along with an assembly work procedure. It is supposed that the mirror 14 exists in front of the worker on this occasion.
First, by moving the mirror 14 downward, each of the left and right ends of this mirror 14 is inserted into the mirror insertion opening 33 of the inner side plate 31. On this occasion, a lengthwise position of the mirror 14 is regulated by the position where an end faces 14a of the mirror 14 in the left and right sides hit the mirror stopper plate 38. That is, a left-right position of the mirror 14 is set automatically by a worker inserting the mirror 14 between the mirror stopper plate 38 in the left and that in the right.
When the mirror 14 is inserted into the mirror insertion opening 33, the mirror 14 comes into contact with the bottom wall projections 34a in the bottom wall 34 of the mirror insertion opening 33. The two bottom wall projections 34a are provided in the bottom wall 34, and the side wall projection 35a is provided in each of the side walls 35. The two bottom wall projections 34a are provided in positions distant from each other as far as possible. When the mirror 14 is in contact with the bottom wall projections 34a, a two-point support state is achieved. Because the mirror 14 is supported in this two-point support state, a turn in which an axis in the lengthwise direction of the mirror 14 is the rotating shaft (in
Next, the clip 40 is inserted. On this occasion, a worker inserts the clip 40 into the clip hole 36 without changing his/her posture. Accordingly, the mirror support work can be performed efficiently. When inserting the clip 40, it is pushed in while putting a thumb on the cover plates 44, for example. Because the cover plates 44 are provided in a manner to wrap the mirror suppressor plate 42, the thumb does not touch the mirror suppressor plate 42. Accordingly, there are no cases that the mirror suppressor plate 42 has a plastic deformation by the force when inserting the clip 40.
When inserting the clip 40, it is inserted in a manner that the guide plate 37 is wrapped by the leg part 41 consisting of the back plate 45 and the sleeve plates 46, and further inserted along the rear side (the surface in the side opposite to the mirror 14 side) of this guide plate 37 and fitted. That is, because the guide plate 37 functions as a guide during insertion of the clip 40, insertion work can be performed easily.
When insertion of the clip 40 is begun, the locking plate 43 of this clip 40 is in contact with the clip supporting plate 39 of the outer side plate 32, and as shown in
When insertion of the clip 40 is continued further, the mirror suppressing projection 42a of the mirror suppressor plate 42 comes into contact with the mirror 14 as shown in
Then, as shown in
When the clip 40 stands up, the back plate 45 is in contact an edge 39a of the clip supporting plate 39, and a stand operation of the clip 40 is regulated. At that time, the mirror suppressor plate 42 is in a state that it is not restored completely. Accordingly, the mirror 14 keeps being pushed towards the bottom wall projections 34a side. The locking plate 43 and the clip supporting plate 39 are engaged by face contact. That is, the upper end 43a of the locking plate 43 touches an under surface of the clip supporting plate 39. Thus, because the engagement is made by face contact, there are no cases that a clip tilts to a direction vertical to the sheet of
There might be a case where a worker continues insertion of the clip 40 without noticing that the locking plate 43 is locked by the clip supporting plate 39, reaching a state of
When a worker releases his hand from the clip 40, the clip 40 returns to the state of
Meanwhile, although there may be concern that the mirror 14 moves when the clip 40 returns to the state of
Meanwhile, when removing the clip 40 that has been thus inserted, the locking plate 43 is pressed to the mirror 14 side. As a result, by the force which the mirror suppressor plate 42 is pushing the mirror 14, the clip 40 is extracted. Accordingly, it is possible to remove the clip 40 easily without damaging the mirror 14 and the clip 40. Because the clip 40 and the mirror 14 are not damaged, their reuse becomes possible.
The previous description of embodiments is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Moreover, various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles and specific examples defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of inventive faculty. Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope as defined by the limitations of the claims and equivalents.
Further, it is noted that the inventor's intent is to retain all equivalents of the claimed invention even if the claims are amended during prosecution.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-223623 | Oct 2010 | JP | national |
