JP3135554B2 - Contact image sensor and information processing device using the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact-type image sensor having a transparent protective plate between a sensor unit and a document, and an information processing apparatus using the same. The present invention relates to a contact type image sensor with an improved mounting method and an information processing apparatus using the same.

[Prior art] When holding a transparent protective plate between a sensor unit of a contact type image sensor and a document, a protrusion is provided on a document passing surface (top surface of the transparent protective plate) so as not to hinder document feeding. It is important to keep them free. Conventionally, there are three methods for this purpose.

In a first method, as shown in FIG. 2, a short side end of a glass 1 as a transparent protective plate is processed into a gradient shape, and a glass holding plate 2 having a shape as shown from the top is used to form a housing. This is a method of fixing to the body 3. 2 (A) is a partial front view of the contact type image sensor, and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view thereof.

The second method is a method of fixing one side in the longitudinal direction of the glass 1 to the housing 3 with the glass holding plate 2 as shown in FIG. 3 (A) is a partial front view of the contact type image sensor, and FIG. 3 (B) is a side view thereof.

The third method is a method of bonding the transparent protective plate 1 and the housing pair 3 without using the holding plate 2.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the first method of the conventional example shown in FIG. 2, the force f for holding the glass as the transparent protective plate is f.
There is a problem to be solved that is difficult to design. This is because, when the force f is too large, the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the glass 1 floats. On the other hand, when the force f is too small, the inclined portion of the glass 1 is pressed by the edge E of the holding plate 2. This is because the holding power becomes unstable and causes chipping of the glass. In addition, since the glass is held by being pressed by the edge E, it is difficult to reliably hold the glass 1 unless the inclination angle, the entire length, and the length of the housing 3 are accurately processed. In addition, there is a problem to be solved that the cost is high in order to perform the processing with high accuracy.

In the second method, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), since one side of the longitudinal portion of the glass 1 is fixed by the holding plate 2, the glass holding force is required to stabilize the glass holding force. It is necessary to hold down the entire length. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the size of the holding plate 2, and there is a problem to be solved in that the cost increases.

Further, since the holding plate 2 is provided on the upper surface of the glass 1, there is a restriction that the passing direction S of the document is limited. This is because when the original is inserted from the opposite side, the leading end of the original is caught on the holding plate 2. In order to solve this, there is a method of newly providing a paper ejection guide. However, there is a problem to be solved in that the number of parts and processes is increased and the cost is increased.

In the third method, a cover glass 1 as a transparent protective plate is used.
Since a step of bonding the housing 3 and the housing 3 while paying attention to the alignment is required, manufacturing difficulties occur. Further, the adhesion makes it difficult to disassemble the sensor at the time of repair and maintenance of the sensor, which causes a difficulty in work, and also causes a problem to be solved in that it is difficult to regenerate parts.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides, as means for solving the aforementioned problems,
In a contact type image sensor having a transparent protective plate between a sensor unit and a document, an area outside an effective sensor reading range at an end of the transparent protective plate is formed into a gradient shape, and the gradient shape is lower than the surface of the transparent protective plate. By pressing the portion at a position lower than the height of the surface of the transparent protective plate with the inclined surface of the transparent protective plate holding plate, the holding plate is held without protruding from the transparent protective plate surface, t = 1 / 5T or more and R = 1 / 3L or less (however, T
Is the thickness of the transparent protective plate within the effective sensor reading range, t
Is the thickness of the outermost end of the transparent protective plate, L is the length of the area of the gradient shape outside the effective range of the sensor reading, and R is the length from the end of the holding plate to the start position of the gradient shape. And a contact type image sensor.

Further, the contact type image sensor is characterized in that the transparent protective plate is made of glass.

Further, the present invention is also an information processing apparatus having the above-mentioned contact image sensor.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the low-profile portion at the end of the transparent protective plate can be pressed and held flat by a holding plate having the same slope shape. As compared with the method in which the transparent protective plate is pressed, the transparent protective plate and the holding plate have a certain area and are in close contact with each other, so that the transparent protective plate and the holding plate can be stably held.

In addition, since the holding force is not concentrated on a part of the transparent protection plate, phenomena such as cracks can be prevented.

Further, since the document can be held without protruding from the surface of the transparent protective plate, there is an advantage that the insertion direction of the document is not limited.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a contact image sensor according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (A) is a top view of the contact image sensor of this embodiment, FIG. 1 (B) is a front view, and FIG. It is a side sectional view showing an internal structure.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cover glass as a transparent protective plate, 2 denotes a holding plate, 3 denotes a housing, 4 denotes a sensor module, 5 denotes an LED array light source, 6 denotes a lens array (hereinafter referred to as an SLA), and 7 denotes a manuscript. It is.

In FIG. 1 (A), reference numeral 1 denotes a glass plate (cover glass) as a transparent protective plate having a thickness T = 2.5 mm. Is cut in a gradient shape in the thickness direction, and t = 0.6 mm at the end.

Next, the lower surface L of the transparent protection plate 1 is pressed down from above by the flat portion 1 of the holding plate 2 by the holding plate 2 processed so as to have the same angle of the slope so as to be in close contact with the first slope. Hold.

When the holding plate 1 holds the transparent protective plate 1, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), a degree of freedom of processing is provided by giving a margin of about R = 0.5 mm to the sloped portion. . As shown in FIG. 1B, the contact type image sensor of the present invention has a structure in which the holding plate 2 does not protrude above the transparent protective plate 1.

Further, since the holding plate 2 applies a holding force to the transparent protective plate in a planar manner at the sloped portion L of the cover glass 1 which is a transparent protective plate, it can be fixed in a stable and reliable manner.

In this embodiment, the thickness of the glass is T = 2.5 mm, t = 0.6
mm, but it is preferable to set it to t = 1 / 5T or more from the viewpoint of the strength of the glass.
It is preferred to be 3L or less. However, the thickness of the glass,
The relationship with the holding plate (T, t, C, R, etc.) is not limited to the above values and the present embodiment, the strength of the glass is maintained without the holding plate protruding, and the glass is stably and securely fixed. Needless to say, any value can be used.

Further, in the present embodiment, the transparent protective plate is prevented from cracking by planar holding by the holding plate 2, but a cushioning material such as a rubber sheet is further sandwiched between the holding plate and the transparent protective plate. By assembling, a further crack prevention effect can be obtained.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a facsimile having a communication function as an image information processing device configured using the contact type image sensor (sensor unit) according to the present invention as described above.

Here, reference numeral 102 denotes a feeding roller as feeding means for feeding the document 7 toward the reading position, and reference numeral 104 denotes a separation piece for reliably separating and feeding the document 7 one by one. 106
Reference numeral denotes a platen roller which is provided at a reading position with respect to the sensor unit 100 and regulates the surface to be read of the document 7 and also serves as a transporting means for transporting the document 7.

In the illustrated example, P is a recording medium in the form of a roll paper, in which image information read by the sensor unit 100 or, in the case of a facsimile apparatus or the like, image information transmitted from the outside is reproduced here. Reference numeral 110 denotes a recording head as recording means for forming the image, and various types such as a thermal head and an ink jet recording head can be used. The recording head may be of a serial type or a line type. 112
Reference numeral denotes a platen roller that conveys the recording medium P to the recording position of the recording head 110 and regulates the recording surface thereof.

Reference numeral 120 denotes an operation panel provided with switches and messages for accepting operation inputs as input / output means, a display unit for notifying the status of the apparatus, and the like.

Reference numeral 130 denotes a system control board as control means, which is a control unit (controller) that controls each unit.
Also, a driving circuit (driver) for the photoelectric conversion element, a processing section (processor) for image information, a transmission / reception section, and the like are provided.
140 is a power supply of the apparatus.

As the recording means used in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to use a recording means whose typical configuration and principle are disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. According to this method, at least one of the electrothermal transducers corresponding to the recorded information and having a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling is applied to the electrothermal transducer disposed corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying a driving signal, the electric heat exchanger generates heat energy,
This is effective because the film can be boiled on the heat-acting surface of the recording head and, as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the drive signal one-to-one can be formed. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length can be reduced by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. Either a configuration that satisfies the condition or a configuration as a single recording head that is integrally formed may be used.

In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be electrically connected to the device main body or supplied with ink from the device main body by being attached to the device main body, or an ink tank integrated with the recording head itself The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided in a fixed manner is used.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since there is no projection on the transparent protective plate of the contact type image sensor, the flatness of the document reading surface is achieved, and the degree of freedom in the document passing direction can be obtained. This also has the effect of enabling paper to pass through the sensor reading surface even when the document size exceeds the sensor reading range, such as computer paper.

In addition, the transparent protective plate can be stably held by pressing and holding the inclined lower surface in a planar manner with the flat portion of the holding plate.

In addition, because of this holding structure, the transparent protective plate and the holding plate only need to be processed into the same gradient shape, so that the processing is simple, the degree of freedom is large, and the design and assembly are easy,
It can be implemented at low cost.

Further, since no adhesive is used, disassembly and reassembly at the time of repair and maintenance can be easily performed, and parts can be recycled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a top view (A), a front view (B), and a side sectional view (C) of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a close-contact type showing a conventional method for holding a transparent protective plate. FIG. 3 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) of the image sensor, FIG. 3 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) of a conventional contact type image sensor holding one long side of a transparent protective plate, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a facsimile apparatus having a communication function as an image information processing apparatus configured using a contact image sensor according to the present invention. 1 ... Transparent protective plate (glass plate, cover glass), 2 ...
Holding plate, 3 ... housing, 4 ... sensor module, 5 ...
… LED array (light source), 6… Lens array (SLA), 7
... Original, T... Thickness of transparent protective plate, L... Cut size of transparent protective plate, R... Margin size of slope holding portion, t... Glass holding dimensions,
f: glass holding force, E: edge of holding plate, S: document passing method, 100: sensor unit (contact type image sensor), 110: recording head, P: recording medium,

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A contact-type image sensor having a transparent protective plate between a sensor section and a document, wherein an area outside an effective sensor reading range at an end of the transparent protective plate has a slope shape, and a surface of the transparent protective plate is formed. By pressing the lower slope-shaped portion at a position lower than the height of the surface of the transparent protection plate with the surface of the slope shape of the transparent protection plate holding plate, the holding plate does not protrude from the surface of the transparent protection plate. Hold, t = 1 / 5T or more and R = 1 / 3L or less (where T is the thickness of the transparent protective plate within the sensor reading effective range, t is the thickness of the end of the transparent protective plate, L is the length of the region of the gradient shape portion outside the effective range of the sensor reading, and R is the length from the end of the holding plate to the start position of the gradient shape portion). sensor. 2. The contact type image sensor according to claim 1, wherein said transparent protective plate is made of glass. 3. An information processing apparatus comprising the contact image sensor according to claim 1.