JP2782790B2 - Image reading device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus used for a copying machine or the like, and more particularly, to a type which has a platen and reads image information of a document placed on the platen. And an image reading apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art As an image reading apparatus of this type for reading image information of an original set on a platen, a scanning is performed while illuminating the original set on the platen in a slit shape using a light source arranged below the platen. After obtaining reflected light corresponding to image information, the reflected light is input to a recording medium such as a photoreceptor or a light receiving element by an optical system including a mirror and a lens. Is frequently used for reading originals.

By the way, in this type of image reading apparatus, since it is necessary to accurately associate image information with a recording medium, it is required to place a document at an appropriate position on a platen according to the size of the document when using the image reading apparatus.

For this reason, in an image reading apparatus equipped with a platen, a method is widely adopted in which a mark indicating a document setting position is provided around the platen, and an operator selects a mark according to the document size and aligns the document. Have been.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, due to differences in the design of the optical system and the like, the position where the document is set is a corner resist system using one corner of the platen as a reference position, and a center resist system using the center of one side of the platen as a reference position. And so on, which tend to cause confusion for the operator who sets the document.

Another way to indicate the original set position is to use the LED
Is placed around the platen, and the
There has also been proposed a method of displaying the document setting position to an operator by emitting an LED. According to this method, there is no need for the operator to select an alignment mark, so that there is an advantage that the document can be set easily compared to the above method. However, it is the same as the above-mentioned method in that the position of the original document to be aligned is specified along the periphery of the platen, and the correspondence between the original document and the area on the platen where the original should be placed is not clear. It was hard to say that it worked well for prevention.

Also, when performing an enlarged copy or reduced copy operation of an original image in a copier, even if the original is the same size, the original reading area on the platen corresponding to the copy is changed by selecting the recording sheet size and magnification. Therefore, it is almost impossible to specify the document set position on the platen using the above two methods, and it is difficult to accurately position the document.

Further, in recent years, a copying machine having a so-called partial color function for obtaining a copied image in which a part of an original image is colored, and a so-called editing function for erasing a part of the original image or adding an image such as a character to the original image. Has also appeared. In such a high-performance copier, it is necessary to accurately set a document. Therefore, an image reading device capable of displaying a document setting position on a platen more clearly and specifically is desired. It is rare.

Further, in the above-mentioned high-function copier, in order to fully exhibit its functions, it is necessary to communicate the complicated operation procedures and the like to the operator in a manner that is easy to understand, in correspondence with the original, and this can be realized. The appearance of the device is strongly desired.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of transmitting various information on a document setting position and device operation or operation in an easy-to-understand manner to an operator. Is to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for reading image information of a document placed on a platen and inputting the information to a recording medium. An information generating means for displaying various information relating to the operation or operation of the device as visual information while changing the information according to the operation or operation; and a light source disposed below the platen and reflecting or refracting light rays emitted by the information generating means. And an image projection plate that allows the operator to visually recognize the information displayed by the information generating means through the platen, while transmitting reflected light from the scanned original toward a recording medium. .

In such technical means, as the information generating means, if the information relating to the device operation can be displayed as an image (visual information) having a luminance that can be visually recognized by the operator, the configuration of the information generating means is appropriately changed. For example, a CRT, an LED display board, or the like can be used.

The image projection plate may be any position or arrangement as long as it can reflect or refract light rays emitted by the information generating means and display an image of visual information superimposed on the platen to an operator. The setting angle and the like may be appropriately selected.

Further, since the image projection plate is disposed in a position where the operator can visually recognize the image projection plate, that is, below the platen, the reflected light after scanning the original image is located on the optical path toward the photosensitive member or the light receiving element. . Therefore, it is required that the image projection plate reflects or refracts light rays emitted by visual information while transmitting reflected light of the original image.
For this reason, as the image projection plate, it is possible to use a member that transmits and reflects light rays at a fixed ratio, such as a semi-transparent mirror. However, from the viewpoint of transmitting reflected light toward a photoreceptor or the like without greatly attenuating, and reflecting or refracting light rays emitted by visual information without greatly attenuating, a light source having a certain narrow-band wavelength can be used. It is preferable to use a holographic optical element (HOE) showing excellent diffraction efficiency.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable to form an image of visual information at a desired position such as a platen. According to this, since the visual information is visually recognized by the operator as if it were displayed at the image forming position, the setting position of the document is specifically displayed on the platen, for example, by forming an image on the platen. be able to. As a means for forming an image of visual information at a desired position, for example, a lens may be provided in an optical path through which the visual information is transmitted.

[Operation] The information generating means displays information necessary for operating the device, such as a document setting position and an operation procedure, as visual information having a luminance sufficient to be visually recognized. On the other hand, the image projection plate reflects or bends the light beam emitted by the visual information, and causes the light beam to enter the eyes of an operator watching the platen.

Thus, an operator who captures the platen in the visual field sees the image of the visual information overlapping the platen. Therefore, the operator can compare information regarding the operation of the device with the original on the platen, and the correspondence between the operation of the device and the original becomes clear.

Hereinafter, an image reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a main part of an electrophotographic copying machine to which the image reading apparatus of the present invention is applied.

The image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a platen 3
An optical system 5 composed of a document illumination lamp 51 and a plurality of mirrors 52 moves below to read the image information of the document 4, and the document illumination lamp 51 illuminates the document 4 in a slit shape. Along with the movement, reflected light corresponding to image information is generated, and the reflected light is input to the photosensitive drum 6 by a mirror 52 disposed along a predetermined path.

In this embodiment, an information generating means 1 for displaying visual information inside the apparatus and an image projection plate 2 for allowing the operator to visually recognize the visual information are provided.

First, the information generating means 1 is provided on the side of the apparatus, and displays a CRT screen or an LRT for displaying various images according to the brightness of the screen.
An ED display plate or the like, which displays information corresponding to the operation of the copying operation as visual information such as characters and pictures by opening and closing a platen cover (not shown) and inputting various switches.

On the other hand, the image projection plate 2 is provided with a half mirror provided at a predetermined angle and disposed substantially over the entire lower surface of the platen 3 so that the operator performing the copying operation can visually recognize the visual information displayed by the information generating means 1. The incident light is reflected and transmitted at a predetermined ratio.
When the image projection plate 2 is provided in this manner, the optical path of the optical system 5 for inputting image information of the document 4 to the photosensitive drum 6 is blocked by the image projection plate 2 as described above. Since a half mirror is used as the image projection plate 2, a part of the reflected light of the original image is transmitted through the image projection plate 2 and input to the photosensitive drum 6. Information generation means 1
The light beam emitted by the visual information indicated by the above is partially reflected and input to the operator's eyes, contrary to the reflected light of the document image. At this time, the ratio of the reflection and transmission of the half mirror can be arbitrarily selected according to various conditions such as the luminance of the visual information emitted by the information generating means 1 and the illuminance required for exposing the photosensitive drum 6. .

With such a configuration, the visual information generated by the information generating means 1 is visually recognized by the operator as shown in FIG. That is, after the light beam L emitted by the visual information D is reflected by the image projection plate 2, it enters the operator's eyes E through the platen 3, and the virtual image D 'of the visual information D appears to the operator as being superimposed on the platen. is there.

Therefore, the operator can visually recognize the document 4 placed on the platen 3 and the visual information by comparing them in the same field of view, and make the contents of various information displayed by the information generating means 1 correspond to the document 4. By embodiing together, information on the operation of the copying machine is clearly transmitted to the operator.

In the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the above configuration, an information generating means 1 and an image projection plate 2
A lens 7 for imaging visual information on the platen 3 is disposed between the lens 7 and the lens 7. According to this, as shown in FIG. 5, the light beam L emitted by the information generating means 1 is once formed on the platen 3, so that the operator of the light beam L enters the real image D 'of the visual information D. Appears directly on the platen 3.

Therefore, the correspondence between the visual information and the document 4 is clarified as compared with the case where the lens 7 is not provided.
When the document set position is displayed, the operator can visually recognize the set position as a specific area drawn on the platen 3.

In the above embodiment, the lens 7 is used as a means for forming the visual information displayed by the information generating means 1 on the platen 3.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, by making the image projection plate 2 a curved surface plate, the image projection plate 2 itself has an image forming function,
Some or all of the functions of the lens 7 can be substituted. When visual information is formed only by the image projection plate 2, since the lens 7 is omitted, the configuration is simpler than that of the above embodiment.

Second Embodiment This embodiment has the same configuration as the above-described first embodiment except that a holographic optical element (HOE) having a substantially flat plate shape is used as the image projection plate 2.

HOE is a transparent or translucent member in which a phase diffraction grating (transparent unevenness or the like) is provided on a transparent substrate such as ordinary glass. As shown in FIG. 6, this HEO exhibits diffraction efficiency several times higher than that of a half mirror (indicated by a broken line) for light having a specific narrow-band wavelength,
It shows high transmission efficiency (indicated by a solid line) for light other than the narrow band. Therefore, by displaying the visual information in monochromatic light and designing the HOE to diffract only the wavelength of the monochromatic light, most of the light rays emitted by the visual information are reflected and enter the operator's eyes. The reflected light obtained by scanning the image information of the original 4 passes through the image projection plate 2 except for the light rays belonging to the narrow band, and is input to the photosensitive drum 6.

Therefore, according to the image reading apparatus of the present embodiment, the light incident on the image projection plate 2 can be selectively reflected or transmitted to improve the light use efficiency. Even if the luminance of the visual information displayed by the information generating means 1 is low, the visual information can be visually recognized by the operator.

Further, by selecting a wavelength having little effect on the exposure of the photosensitive drum 6 as the display light of the visual information, the image information of the document 4 is input to the photosensitive drum 6 with light of other wavelengths. The exposure of the photosensitive drum 6 can be performed in almost the same manner as in the case where no shield exists in the optical path of the optical system 5.

It is needless to say that also in the second embodiment, the image projection plate 2, that is, the HOE is used as a curved plate to provide a function of forming visual information and the lens 7 can be omitted.

However, the HOE allows one element to have a light converging function, that is, an image forming function, in addition to the light separating function described above. Therefore, if the HOE used as the image projection plate 2 has both functions, the lens 7 can be omitted while the image projection plate 2 is in a flat plate shape, and the entire apparatus has a simpler configuration.

◎ Third Embodiment As shown in the second embodiment, the HOE can have a function of selectively reflecting light of a specific wavelength. A function of selectively refracting light at the time of transmission can be provided.

In this embodiment, the latter function is used. By using HOE for the platen 3, the platen 3 has the function of the image projection plate 2 as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the information generating means 1 is arranged so that the display screen of the visual information faces the platen 3.

That is, as in the second embodiment, the display light of the visual information is made monochromatic and matched with the wavelength selectivity of the HOE, so that the light beam emitted by the visual information is refracted when diffusing out of the copying machine through the platen 3 to the outside. Become like For this reason,
The operator sets the phase of the HOE according to the arrangement position of the information generating means 1 and refracts the light beam emitted by the visual information so that the light beam enters the operator's eyes after passing through the platen 3 so that the operator can generate a virtual image of the visual information. It will be visually recognized overlapping with the platen 3.

Therefore, also in this embodiment, information on the operation of the copying machine can be given to the operator more clearly in association with the document 4 as in the first and second embodiments.

At this time, since the document 4 is in close contact with the upper surface of the platen 3, the reflected light after scanning the image information of the document 4 is not affected by refraction or the like from the HOE, and the photosensitive drum 6
Is input in the same manner as when a normal platen is used.

In this embodiment, the visual information is formed on the platen 7 by using the lens 7. However, it is not always necessary to form the image and the lens 7 can be omitted.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the image reading apparatus of the present invention, since various information related to device operation and the like is superimposed on the platen and visually recognized by the operator, the various information is located on the platen. In addition to being able to communicate to the operator in a way that is easy to understand, the operator can receive information such as operating procedures without moving the field of view from one area. Excellent operability can be achieved.

Further, by using a holographic optical element as the image projection plate and selectively reflecting, refracting, or transmitting the light beam incident on the image projection plate, the information generation means is not affected without affecting the image information reading of the document. Can be superimposed on the platen and displayed to the operator.

Furthermore, by forming visual information on the platen,
Since the operator can visually recognize the visual information as if it were directly displayed on the platen, the operator can more specifically compare the original placed on the platen with the information on the device operation and perform the device operation. It becomes possible.

Furthermore, by forming an image of visual information using the characteristics of the holographic optical element, it is possible to simplify the configuration by omitting other imaging means such as a lens.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing a first embodiment of the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic operation of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation when the displayed visual information is imaged on a platen,
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the spectral characteristics of the holographic optical element. [Explanation of Signs] 1: Information generation means 2: Image projection plate 3: Platen 4: Document 7: Lens

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image reading apparatus for reading image information of an original placed on a platen and inputting the information to a recording medium, wherein the image reading apparatus is provided inside the apparatus and stores various kinds of information relating to the operation or operation of the apparatus and peripheral devices. An information generating means for displaying the visual information while changing it in accordance with the operation or operation; and a light source disposed below the platen and reflecting or refracting a light beam emitted by the information generating means. An image reading apparatus, comprising: an image projection plate that allows an operator to visually recognize information through the platen, and transmits reflected light obtained by scanning the document toward a recording medium. 2. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image projection plate comprises a holographic optical element. 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image projection plate is provided integrally with the platen. 4. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein visual information displayed by said information generating means is formed on a platen.