Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Hisashi Yamanaka

Shohichi Fukutome

Yasuhiro Suto

Kenji Nakanishi

Mitsuharu Yoshimoto

Tomohiko Okada

Masahiro Imoto

Yoshihisa Yamada

Kazuhiro Iguchi

Hironori Ogasawara

Kenji Kuroda

Toshiki Fukunishi

Sohichi Takata

Yasuhiro Ono

Makoto Masuda

Reishi Aoki

Tetsushi Ito

Kiwamu Morita

Masatsugu Hatanaka

Kenji Tanaka

Yasumasa Morimoto

Hiroshi Nakatani

Keiji Sakai

Noritomo Nakashima

Shinichiroh Hiraoka

Eiji Kurimoto

Yoshikazu Fukuda

Hiroshi Sudoh

Yutaka Fukuda

A document feeder includes a document placing tray on which a document is placed; a document discharging tray on which a document discharged from a document discharging port in a discharging direction is stacked; and a light source that radiates light to the document discharging tray. The document discharging tray is disposed below the document placing tray. The document discharging tray has a protruding portion protruding upward from the surrounding area. The light source is disposed within a region having a width that is the same as a document having a maximum size in the width direction.

Document feeder and image forming apparatus

A document reading apparatus has a first scanning unit that can scan in a document conveyance direction and determines a document reading position, and a guide plate provided in a position that sandwiches the document being conveyed with the first scanning unit. On a facing surface of the guide plate relative to the first scanning unit, a first color section to which a white sheet is attached and a second color section having a sheet metal color (e.g. gray) of the guide plate are formed in the document conveyance direction. The document reading position corresponds to a position facing the second color section when a document is read in a crop mode.

Document reading apparatus and image-forming device with image cropping mode

An image reader used as a back surface reading unit includes LEDs, a first mirror, a second mirror, a third mirror, a lens, and a CCD inside a housing. The first mirror, which first reflects light reflected from the document, is positioned farther away from the document reading position than other reflecting mirrors (i.e. the second mirror and the third mirror) in an optical axis direction of the optical path connecting the document reading position and the first mirror.

In an image reading device including a document platen, a document holder, multiple light sources, and a close contact type image sensor, the light sources are sequentially turned on and the image sensor individually reads light of multiple different colors reflected from a document in a main scanning direction. When the document holder is opened, in an area determination process, a first scanning area where a difference between output values of the image sensor when the light sources are sequentially turned on is within a predetermined threshold value range, and a second scanning area where the difference is outside the predetermined threshold value range are determined in an entire scanning area of the image sensor. A document size in the main scanning direction is detected based on a position of a boundary in the main scanning direction between the first and second scanning areas determined in the area determination process.

Image reading device and image forming apparatus including the same

A document feeder includes an input tray (part of a document placing portion) on which a document is placed, an output tray on which the document output from a document output port in an output direction is stacked, and a substrate including a light source that emits light to the output tray. The output tray is disposed below the input tray. The substrate is fixed to the document placing portion at an oblique angle relative to a horizontal reference of the document feeder such that the optical axis of the light source extends toward the document output port.

An image reading apparatus includes an image scanning unit that is provided with a holding portion holding a flexible flat cable. The holding portion is protruded toward an upstream side in a sub scanning direction, and provided with a second wall part. The flexible flat cable that is extended from a connector is brought into contact with the second wall part. As for the flexible flat cable, a downward movement is regulated by a lower holding portion and an upward movement is regulated by an upper holding portion. Accordingly, the flexible flat cable does not rise.

Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus

An illuminating device capable of stably illuminating an irradiated object such as a document while suppressing light loss with a simply structure is provided. An LED array and a reflective plate are disposed sandwiching a slit (St) through which light reflected by a document MS passes and a light-guiding member is disposed on the side of the LED array. The light-guiding member includes a direct emission unit disposed between an illumination range y centered on a document reading position and the LED array and an indirect emission unit disposed between the reflective plate and the LED array, a light incidence face of the direct emission unit and a light incidence face of the indirect emission unit are disposed at mutually different position around the LED array, and the LED array is disposed on a side of an interior angle formed by the light incidence faces.

Illuminating device, image reading apparatus including the illuminating device, and image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus

An image reading device includes an image reader that scans a document so as to read an image of the document. The image reader includes a scanning body in which at least plural mirrors, a condenser lens, and an image sensor are disposed. In the scanning body, concerning positional relationships among the plural mirrors as viewed from a main scanning direction, the plural mirrors are disposed on two sides with respect to an imaginary line extending along an optical axis of reflected light from the document. The mirrors on a corresponding one of the two sides are disposed such that a reflecting position of a mirror on a downstream side in a traveling direction of the reflected light is positioned closer to the document and also to the imaginary line than that of a mirror on an upstream side in the traveling direction of the reflected light.

An illuminating device according to an embodiment included in an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus includes light source portions, light-guiding members for illuminating an illumination target from an elongated light emitting face that extends in a longitudinal direction, by guiding light from the light source portions, and holding members for holding the light-guiding members. The holding members include holding portions for removably holding the light-guiding members, and tilted portions that reflect light emitted from the light emitting face, the tilted portions extending from a front end on the light emitting face side of the holding portions, obliquely widening with increasing distance from the light-guiding members.

Illuminating device, image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Hisashi Yamanaka