Scanning apparatus, driving method therefor, and image forming apparatus having the same

Abstract

A scanning apparatus includes a stage glass on which a document is loaded, a scanning head which reciprocates between a home position of the stage glass and a finish position opposite to the home position to read the document and generate image data, a position detection part disposed in or on the stage glass along a moving direction of the scanning head, a head position sensing part disposed in the scanning head which senses the position detection part to sense the position of the scanning head when a scanning signal is inputted, and a controlling part to control the scanning head so that the scanning head moves to the home position at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is distanced farther from the home position than a predetermined distance. Thus, the scanning apparatus, a driving method therefor and an image forming apparatus having the same control a speed with which a scanning head moves to a home position according to the position of the scanning head.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a plane view schematically illustrating a conventional scanning apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a scanning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plane view schematically illustrating a stage glass of the scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D illustrate examples of position detection labels of the scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 2.

Claims

1. A scanning apparatus comprising: a stage glass on which a document is loaded;a scanning head which reciprocates between a home position of the stage glass and a finish position opposite to the home position to scan the document and generate image data;a position detection part disposed in or on the stage glass along a moving direction of the scanning head;a head position sensing part which senses the position detection part to sense a position of the scanning head when a scanning signal is inputted; anda controlling part to control the scanning head so that the scanning head moves to the home position at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is distanced farther from the home position than a predetermined distance.

2. The scanning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position detection part comprises a position detection label including at least one of a letter and a number.

3. The scanning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stage glass comprises: an actual reading area on which the document is loaded and through which an image of the document is scanned; anda valid reading area, located at a perimeter of the actual reading area, which corresponds to opposite sides of the scanning head.

4. The scanning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the position detection part is located in the valid reading area.

5. The scanning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position detection label comprises a plurality of labels located in the valid reading area and spaced at uniform intervals from each other.

6. The scanning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the position detection label comprises a plurality of labels located in the valid reading area and spaced at uniform intervals from each other.

7. The scanning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the head position sensing part moves a predetermined distance toward the finish position when the scanning signal is inputted, and senses the position of the scanning head by sensing the position detection label positioned to correspond to the moved scanning head.

8. The scanning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the head position sensing part is located at the opposite sides of the scanning head.

9. The scanning apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the head position sensing part comprises a distance calculating part to compare a sensed position of the position detection label with the home position to calculate a distance therebetween.

10. The scanning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a driving part to move the scanning head between the home position and the finish position, wherein the controlling part controls the driving part to control a moving speed of the scanning head.

11. The scanning apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controlling part comprises a distance determining part to determine whether the scanning head is distanced farther from the home position than the predetermined distance, and controls the moving speed of the scanning head to be proportional to a distance between the scanning head and the home position.

12. The scanning apparatus according to claim 10, wherein: the driving part comprises a motor; andthe controlling part controls a driving speed of the motor to control the moving speed of the scanning head.

13. The scanning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: the driving part comprises a motor; andthe controlling part controls a driving speed of the motor to control the moving speed of the scanning head.

14. The scanning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the head position sensing part senses the position detection part by using an image scanning process.

15. A driving method for a scanning apparatus comprising: moving a scanning head, which reciprocates between a home position and a finish position opposite to the home position to scan a document and generate image data, toward the finish position by a predetermined distance when a scanning signal is inputted;sensing a position of the scanning head by sensing a position detection part located in or on a stage glass on which the document is loaded; andmoving the scanning head to the home position at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is distanced farther from the home position than a predetermined distance.

16. The driving method for a scanning apparatus according to claim 15, comprising moving the scanning head to the home position at the predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is distanced within the predetermined distance from the home position.

17. The driving method for a scanning apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the sensing of the position detection part comprises using an image scanning process.

18. An image forming apparatus comprising: a stage glass on which a document is loaded;a scanning head which reciprocates between a home position of the stage glass and a finish position opposite to the home position to scan the document and generate image data;a position detection part disposed in or on the stage glass along a moving direction of the scanning head;a head position sensing part which senses the position detection part to sense a position of the scanning head when a scanning signal is inputted; anda controlling part to control the scanning head so that the scanning head moves to the home position at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is distanced farther from the home position than a predetermined distance.

19. The image forming apparatus of claim 18, wherein the head position sensing part senses the position detection part using an image scanning process.

20. An image forming apparatus comprising: a stage glass on which a document is loaded; anda scanning head which moves between a home position of the stage glass and a finish position opposite to the home position to scan the document and generate image data, wherein the scanning head moves to the home position according to a position of the scanning head relative to the home position.

21. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein a moving speed is adjusted to move the scanning head back to the home position at a faster speed than a reference speed as a distance between the scanning head and the home position increases.

22. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein a moving speed is adjusted to move the scanning head back to the home position at a faster speed than a reference speed if the scanning head is located farther from the home position than a predetermined distance.

23. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein a moving speed is adjusted to move the scanning head back to the home position at one of a series of gradually increasing speeds which are faster than a reference speed if the scanning head is located farther from the home position than one of a series of gradually larger predetermined distances corresponding to the series of gradually increasing speeds.

24. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein a moving speed is adjusted to move the scanning head back to the home position at a first speed and then decelerate the first speed as the scanning head approaches the home position.

25. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: an actual reading area on which the document is loaded and through which an image of the document is read; anda valid reading area located at a perimeter of the actual reading area.

26. The image forming apparatus of claim 25, further comprising: a position detection part located on the valid reading area, comprising: a position detection label including at least one of a letter and a number.

27. The image forming apparatus of claim 26, wherein the position detection label comprises a plurality of letters and/or numbers arranged spaced at uniform intervals from each other.

28. The image forming apparatus of claim 26, wherein the scanning head further comprises: a head position sensing part which senses the position detection label to sense the distance between the scanning head and the home position; anda controlling part to control the moving speed based on the sensed distance.

29. The image forming apparatus of claim 28, wherein the head position sensing part senses the position detection label using an image scanning process.

30. A driving method for an image forming apparatus comprising: moving a scanning head, which reciprocates between a home position and a finish position opposite to the home position to scan a document and generate image data, toward the finish position by a predetermined distance when a scanning signal is inputted;sensing a position of the scanning head by sensing a position detection part located in or on a stage glass on which a document is loaded; andmoving the scanning head back to the home position at a speed according to the sensed position of the scanning head relative to the home position.

31. The driving method of claim 30, wherein the moving of the scanning head back to the home position comprises moving the scanning head at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed as a distance between the scanning head and the home position increases.

32. The driving method of claim 30, wherein the moving of the scanning head back to the home position comprises moving the scanning head at a faster speed than a predetermined reference speed if the scanning head is located farther from the home position than a predetermined distance.

33. The image forming apparatus of claim 30, wherein the moving of the scanning head back to the home position comprises moving the scanning head at one of a series of gradually increasing speeds which are faster than a reference speed if the scanning head is located farther from the home position than one of a series of gradually larger predetermined distances corresponding to the series of gradually increasing speeds.

34. The image forming apparatus of claim 30, wherein the moving of the scanning head back to the home position comprises moving the scanning head at a first speed and then decelerating the first speed as the scanning head approaches the home position.