Patent Application
20060044543
This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from the Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-250580 filed in Japan on Aug. 30, 2004, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus which conveys a sheet placed on a sheet feed tray to a predetermined position and an image reading apparatus which optically reads an image on a sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying apparatus and outputs read data.
2. Description of Relayted Art
Conventionally, in an original conveying apparatus mounted on an image reading apparatus such as a copying machine or printer, a sheet sometimes skews to cause a lateral shift when being conveyed. As the sheet causes a lateral sheet, an image formed on the sheet may tilt or shift. For this reason, in general, a lateral shift is detected by a sensor, and the shift of an image is corrected on the basis of the detection result.
In addition, when the lateral shift of a sheet is detected and the image reading position is corrected in accordance with the lateral shift amount, a light-receiving element having many pixels such as a line sensor or image sensor represented by a photodiode array, CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, or CIS sensor is generally used as a lateral shift amount detection sensor, and the lateral shift position of the sheet is detected in accordance with the ON/OFF state of each pixel (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-92512: patent reference 1, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-187449: patent reference 2, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-292960: patent reference 3). In this case, the light-emitting side requires a light-emitting area similar to the length of the light-receiving side, and hence parallel light is formed by using an LED array, diffusion plate, lens, or slit.
A general image reading apparatus handles sheets of various sizes. As schemes of conveying such sheets of different sizes, an one-side reference convey scheme and center reference convey scheme have already been known. In the former scheme, sheets of all sizes are conveyed while one end of each sheet in the widthwise direction is aligned with a reference position set on one side of a sheet feed tray. In the latter scheme, sheets of all sizes are conveyed while the center of each sheet in the widthwise direction is aligned with the center of a sheet feed tray.
According to the one-side reference convey scheme, sheets of all sizes can be detected by placing a lateral shift amount detection sensor within a relatively short range at a position on a convey path which corresponds to the reference position provided on one side on the sheet feed tray. In contrast, according to the center reference convey scheme, since the convey positions of end portions of sheets of the respective sizes differ from each other, at least the light-receiving element of a lateral shift amount detection sensor needs to have a length corresponding to the positions of the end portions of the respective sheets in the widthwise direction. For this reason, the light-receiving element becomes long. On the other hand, the resolution of an output voltage from a current-voltage conversion circuit is uniform. As a consequence, the detection precision of the lateral shift amount of a sheet in this case is lower than that in a case wherein the light-receiving element is short (in the case of the lateral shift amount detection sensor in the one-side reference convey scheme). In addition, if almost uniform light does not strike the light-receiving element, the detection precision deteriorates. For this reason, as described above, a light-emitting area (parallel light) almost equal in length to the light-receiving element must be formed on the light-emitting side by using an LED array, diffusion plate, lens, or the like. Furthermore, as the light-receiving element becomes longer, a lager space is required, and an increase in cost occurs.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and may provide an apparatus which can accurately detect the positional shift amounts of conveyed sheets in the widthwise direction without increasing the number of components or complicating a structure even if conveyed sheets have different sizes in the widthwise direction.
In order to achieve the above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is a sheet conveying apparatus including a sheet feed tray on which sheets of a plurality of sizes which differ in length in a sheet widthwise direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction, a conveying unit which conveys a sheet on the sheet feed tray to a predetermined processing position, a sheet position detector which has a plurality of light-emitting units respectively arranged at positions corresponding to different sheet widths and one light-receiving unit capable of moving to positions corresponding to the plurality of light-emitting units, a light reception position detector which detects a position of the light-receiving unit, and a control unit which selects one of the plurality of light-emitting units on the basis of a detection result from the light reception position detector, wherein the sheet position detector causes the selected light-emitting unit to emit light and detects a convey position of an end portion of a sheet in the widthwise direction which is conveyed by the conveying unit on the basis of an output signal from the light-receiving unit when the light-emitting unit is caused to emit light.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet conveying apparatus including a sheet feed tray on which a sheet is placed, a conveying unit which conveys a sheet on the sheet feed tray to a predetermined processing position, a sheet position detector which has a plurality of light-emitting units respectively arranged at positions corresponding to different sheet widths and one light-receiving unit capable of moving to positions corresponding to the plurality of light-emitting units, and detects a convey position of an end portion of a sheet in a widthwise direction which is conveyed by the conveying unit, and a light reception position detector which detects a position of the light-receiving unit on the basis of an output from the light-receiving unit when each of the plurality of light-emitting units is caused to emit light.
The above and many other features and advantages of the present invention will become manifest to those skilled in the art upon making reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments incorporating the principle of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative examples.
Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary, not limiting, and wherein like elements are numbered alike several Figures, in which:
The preferred embodiment of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The original feeder A includes the sheet feeder K having a sheet feed tray 10 for placing a plurality of originals on it, and first and second delivery trays 18 and 19 which store the originals read by the image reading apparatus main body H. The first delivery tray 18 mainly stores large-sized originals, and the second delivery tray 19 stores small-sized originals.
The original feeder A has a plurality of sheet convey paths extending from the sheet feeder K to the first and second delivery trays 18 and 19 via the image reading apparatus main body H. First, a sheet feed path 11 conveys the original picked up from the sheet feed tray 10. A convey path 12 extends from the sheet feed path 11 to a first glass platen 1 of the image reading apparatus main body H. A first delivery path 13 continues from the convey path 12 to the delivery port to the first delivery tray 18. Large-diameter convey rollers 27 and a plurality of driven rollers 28, 29, and 30 which are in tight contact with the outer surfaces of the convey rollers 27 are arranged between the convey path 12 and first delivery path 13. The convey rollers 27 are driven by a convey motor (not shown). An intermediate path 15 is formed between the convey rollers 27 and second delivery tray 19. A second delivery path 16 continues from the intermediate path 15 to the delivery port of the second delivery tray 19. A switchback path 17a branches from the second delivery path 16 to switch back the original set from the intermediate path 15. A reversal path 17b turns over the switch-backed original and guides it to the delivery port to the second delivery tray 19. A circulation path 14 returns the switch-backed original to the connecting portion of the sheet feed path 11 and convey path 12 via the intermediate path 15 and sends it to the convey path 12 again. These sheet convey paths form the original feed path.
The sheet feeder K includes the sheet feed tray 10 described above and a sheet feed device 9 for picking up the originals one by one from the sheet feed tray 10 and conveys them to the sheet feed path 11. The sheet feed tray 10 is provided with a side guide 20 which regulates the side ends of the originals placed on the sheet feed tray 10. A stopper member 21 is arranged in the vicinity of the distal end of the sheet feed tray 10 to regulate the leading edges of the originals placed on the sheet feed tray 10. The sheet feed tray 10 is attached to be pivotal about the leading edge side in the original convey direction.
The sheet feed device 9 includes a pickup roller 23, elevating plate 22, sheet feed roller 24, separation roller 25, and registration roller pair 26. The pickup roller 23 sends out the original. The elevating plate 22 lifts up the leading edges of the originals placed on the sheet feed tray 10 to bring them into contact with the pickup roller 23. The sheet feed roller 24 supplies an original picked up by the pickup roller 23. The separation roller 25 allows only the uppermost one of the originals placed on the sheet feed tray 10 to pass through, and inhibits conveyance of the second and following originals. The registration roller pair 26 aligns the supplied originals which are separated by the separation roller 25 by abutting against the leading edges of the originals, and sends them downstream.
In the image reading apparatus main body H, lamp light from a light source 2 irradiates the conveyed original through the first glass platen 1 set at the original reading position. Light reflected by the original is reflected by a plurality of mirrors 3 and photoelectrically converted by a reading device 5, e.g., a CCD, through a lens 4, to read the original image. More specifically, the upper surface of the first glass platen 1 and its vicinity form the reading portion of the image reading apparatus main body H. The image reading apparatus main body H also includes a second glass platen 6 with an area sufficiently wide to place the original on it. When the original feeder A is opened and closed to place a thick original such as a book on the second glass platen 6, a light source unit including the light source 2, mirrors 3, and the like is moved in the subscanning direction to read the original image through the second glass platen 6.
It should be noted in the present embodiment that a photodetector 40 serving as a sheet position detection unit for detecting the lateral shift amount of a conveyed sheet from the position of the end portion of the sheet is placed in a convey path 12 between driven rollers 28 and 29. As shown in
In this arrangement, as shown in
A light reception area X1 in a case wherein the end portion of the original passes through the convey reference O is ½ the entire light reception area X0 of the light-receiving element 44, and hence a light reception amount L1 in the light reception area X1 is ½ that in the entire light reception area X0. Therefore, the shift amount ΔX can be calculated from the value obtained by subtracting the light reception amount L2 obtained when the original is conveyed with its end portion being shifted outward by ΔX from the value ½ the light reception amount L0 when light is received in the entire light reception area X0 of the light-receiving element 44. The image data is then corrected by changing the reading position of the image data stored in a storage unit such as a RAM on the basis of the calculated shift amount. This corrected image data is transferred to an external device such as a printer or personal computer to form an image coinciding with the original image.
Note that the respective light reception amounts described above are output after being photoelectrically converted into voltages, and computation is actually executed on the basis of the output voltage values, thereby obtaining a shift amount. In the above embodiment, image data is corrected by reading image data stored in the storage unit upon changing the reading position. However, correction may be made to change the read start position in the main scanning direction of a reading unit 5.
In this case, a photodiode chip is used as the light-receiving element 44. However, a light-receiving element having many pixels, e.g., a line sensor or image sensor represented by a photodiode array, CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, or CSI sensor may be used to detect the position of the end portion of an original in accordance with the ON/OFF state of each pixel, thereby calculating the lateral shift amount of the sheet.
In this embodiment, as shown in
The pair of light-emitting elements 43a and 43b constituting the light-emitting unit 41 are arranged in a light-shielding case 45 and are surrounded in all directions by a vertical wall to prevent the entrance of disturbance light. The light-shielding case 45 is mounted on an LED board 46 and is attached to a bracket 47. The bracket 47 is mounted on a side plate 49 of an original conveying apparatus A through a support member 48.
The light-receiving unit 42 has a structure in which a case 51 is put on a PD board 50 on which the light-receiving element 44 is mounted. The case 51 is provided with an opening 52 for the reception of light. The light-receiving unit 42 having this structure is mounted on a bracket 53. The bracket 53 is mounted on a support member 54 fixed to the side plate 49 of the apparatus so as to be slidable in the sheet widthwise direction.
The arrangement for sliding movement of the bracket 53 will be described next with reference to
Referring to
According to this arrangement, when, for example, an original of B5 size short in the widthwise direction is to be conveyed, the operation tab 59 of the bracket 53 is manually operated to the middle side (the upper side in
An outside guide 12a and inside guide 12b constituting the convey path 12 are provided with opening portions 12c and 12d through which light emitted from the light-emitting elements 43a and 43b passes toward the light-receiving element 44. The light passing through the opening portions 12c and 12d is limited to light corresponding to a predetermined detection area by the case 51 and received by the light-receiving element 44. In the apparatus according to this embodiment, since the convey path 12 is formed in an almost U shape, it is not easy to manually move the light-emitting elements 43a and 43b arranged inside the convey path 12. For this reason, the two light-emitting elements 43a and 43b are fixed inside the convey path 12, and the single light-receiving element 44 is movably placed outside the convey path 12.
As described above, according to the photodetector 40 in this embodiment, when one of the light-emitting elements 43a and 43b is selected in accordance with an original size, the light-receiving unit 42 must be manually moved to a corresponding position. The user may forget to move the light-receiving unit 42 in spite of the fact that the original size has been changed. If a lateral shift amount is detected without noticing it, an erroneous lateral shift amount is detected. That is, since light emitted from a light-emitting element obliquely facing the light-receiving element 44 instead of a light-emitting element squarely facing the light-receiving element 44 strikes the light-receiving element 44, an accurate lateral shift amount cannot be detected. Even if the image data is corrected on the basis of this detection value, an insufficient result is obtained. In the present embodiment, therefore, the position of the light-receiving unit 42 before image reading is specified by a unit to be described below, thereby avoiding correction based on detection at an inappropriate position of the light-emitting element 43.
Lateral shift amount detecting operation of the photodetector 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart of
The above LED selection processing will be described with reference to
When position detection data is acquired upon emission of light from one light-emitting element 43a, the emission of light from one light-emitting element 43a is stopped, and a digital signal from the CPU 310 is converted into an analog signal by a D/A conversion circuit 303, thereby performing control to cause the other light-emitting element 43b to emit light (ST32). The light reception amount of the light-receiving element 44 upon emission of light from the other light-emitting element 43b is converted into electric energy as in the case wherein one light-emitting element 43a is caused to emit light. The comparison circuit 305 then compares the voltage Vb amplified by the AMP (amplifier) 307 with the reference level voltage Vs to store, in the RAM 301, H-level or L-level data as the second position detection data (ST33) In this embodiment, the reference level voltage is set to 2.7 V, which is a value slightly smaller than the amount of light received by the light-receiving element 44 when it is located at a position corresponding to one light-emitting element 43a or the other light-emitting element 43b while no original is present.
If the first position detection data obtained when one light-emitting element 43a is caused to emit light is at H level, and the second position detection data obtained when the other light-emitting element 43b is caused to emit light is at L level, it is determined that the light-receiving unit 42 is located at a position P1 corresponding to an original of B5 size short in the widthwise direction. One light-emitting element 43a placed at the position corresponding to the original of B5 size is then selected as a lateral shift amount detection sensor, and is caused to emit light (ST34 to ST36).
If the first position detection data obtained when one light-emitting element 43a is caused to emit light is at L level, and the second position detection data obtained when the other light-emitting element 43b is caused to emit light is at H level, it is determined that the light-receiving unit 42 is located at a position P2 corresponding to an original of A4 size long in the widthwise direction. The other light-emitting element 43b placed at the position corresponding to the original of A4 size is then selected (ST37 to ST39). In this case, if the light-receiving element is located near the light-emitting element, the light reception amount becomes large, and vice versa. Therefore, the light reception amount (voltage Va) of the light-receiving element 44 upon emission of light from one light-emitting element 43a and the light reception amount (voltage Vb) of the light-receiving element 44 upon emission of light from the other light-emitting element 43b are detected, and the detection results are compared with each other, thereby specifying the position of the light-receiving element 44.
In the above embodiment, considering that the light-receiving element 44 is located at the position corresponding to one light-emitting element 43a or the position corresponding to the other light-emitting element 43b, detection result comparison is performed such that the voltage Va corresponding to the light reception amount obtained when one light-emitting element 43a is caused to emit light and the voltage Vb corresponding to the light reception amount obtained when the other light-emitting element 43b is caused to emit light are each compared with the reference level voltage to be converted into data, and the position of the light-receiving element 44 is specified by a combination of the data. Obviously, however, in an arrangement in which the position of the light-receiving element 44 is switched between only two positions, i.e., the position corresponding to one light-emitting element 43a and the position corresponding to the other light-emitting element 43b, the voltage Va corresponding to the light reception amount obtained when one light-emitting element 43a is caused to emit light may be directly compared with the voltage Vb corresponding to the light reception amount obtained when the other light-emitting element 43b is caused to emit light.
If both the first position detection data and the second position detection data are at L level or H level or at H level and H level, since the position of the light-receiving unit 42 cannot be specified, the occurrence of abnormality is determined to perform abnormality display (ST40 and ST41). In this case, the abnormality may be caused when an original jams in the convey path 12 at the position of the photodetector 40 or caused by the lack of sensitivity adjustment or failure of the photodetector 40 or the like. If the cause is an original jam, the normal state can be restored by removing the jammed original. As abnormality display, therefore, for example, the display “original jam” is preferable.
The control unit 300 shown in
When the position of the light-receiving unit 42 is specified by the LED selection processing (ST11) in
Note that the above detection of the size of the original on the sheet feed tray 10 is performed such that the length of the original placed on the sheet feed tray 10 is detected by the ON/OFF states (the presence/absence detection states of an original) of a plurality of sensors S1 and S2 provided in the original feed direction of the sheet feed tray 10. In addition, the widthwise direction of the original placed on the sheet feed tray 10 is detected from a volume (not shown) whose output changes depending on the moving amount of a side guide 20, and an original size is determined on the basis of the detection result on the original width and the original length detected by the sensors S1 and S2.
As shown in
When the leading end of the original conveyed toward the first platen glass 1 is detected by a lead sensor S4, it is checked again, regardless of whether or not the photodetector 40 is used, whether the position of the light-receiving unit 42 is at the position corresponding to the detected original size (ST17 and ST18). If it is specified that the light-receiving unit 42 is located at the position corresponding to the detected original size, a selected one of the light-emitting elements 43a and 43b has been caused to emit light. Therefore, detection of a lateral shift amount is executed in the above manner. The above correction data is then obtained from the value obtained from the detection result and transmitted to the image reading apparatus body H (ST19 and ST20).
If it is recognized that the light-receiving unit 42 is not located at the position corresponding to the detected original size, since detection of a lateral shift amount cannot be performed, the correction data stored in the ROM in advance is transmitted to the image reading apparatus body H (ST21). The correction data stored in the ROM is, for example, the correction data obtained on the basis of the lateral shift amount of the original which is obtained for each size in advance by experiments.
When correction data for correcting image data is transmitted to the image reading apparatus body H, the presence/absence of an original on the sheet feed tray 10 is detected by an empty sensor S3 (ST2). If the next original is detected, sheet feed operation is started again, and detection of the lateral shift amount of the next original is executed. If no next original is detected, the operation is terminated.
In the above embodiment, if the position of the light-receiving unit 42 which is detected in LED selection processing does not coincide with the position corresponding to the size of the original on the sheet feed tray 10, the correction data stored in the ROM in advance is transmitted to the image reading apparatus body H. However, as shown in
Note that the processing in steps ST50 to ST53 in
The above embodiment has exemplified the case wherein the photodetector 40 is applied to the automatic original feeding apparatus provided in the image reading apparatus. Obviously, however, the photodetector 40 can be applied to various apparatuses designed to convey sheets.
According to the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, even if conveyed sheets differ in size in the widthwise direction, the positional shift amount of each conveyed sheet in the widthwise direction can be accurately detected.
In addition, according to the image reading apparatus of the present invention, even if sheets conveyed to a reading position differ in size, accurate positional shift amounts can be detected in accordance with the respective sheet sizes, thereby improving the correction precision of image data.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-250580 | Aug 2004 | JP | national |
