Nisca Corporation

Riso Kagaku Corporation

Canon Finetech Nisca Inc.

Seiko Epson Corporation

Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Junya Ozawa

Shinnosuke Enomoto

Satoshi Tanaka

Fumimasa Amemiya

Yuichi Kagami

Toru Ochiai

Fumihide Sakamoto

Hiroyuki Hirokawa

Tsutomu Sato

Masaaki Shinohara

Yusuke Hashizume

Masataka Hamada

Kazuyoshi Tsutsumi

Yoshihiko Minagawa

Ryusuke Yamaguchi

Koji Ogino

Naoto Takeshita

Hiroshi Maejima

Yoshihiro Hanagata

Yutaka Hayano

Hideaki Inoue

Hotaka Ishimaru

A mechanism for supporting a traveling body includes a traveling body which reciprocates and shifts, a track member extending in a direction in which the traveling body shifts, a track surface provided in the track member to slide the traveling body, a drive section that drives the traveling body, and a slide member provided in the traveling body to support the traveling body slidably via a lubricant between the track surface and the slide member. The slide member includes a slide contact portion that slides on the track surface, a slide barrier portion provided on at least one side of the slide contact portion along a slide direction of the slide contact portion, and a guide portion which scrapes the lubricant in association with sliding of the slide contact portion, and guides the lubricant to between the slide contact portion and the slide barrier portion.

Mechanism for supporting a traveling body

In a sheet discharge mechanism for enabling a wide range of sheets stored on a sheet discharge tray from a processing section, a brake lever for reducing a velocity of a sheet fed from a sheet discharge outlet is held detachably relative to an attachment frame above the sheet discharge tray, and it is possible to select whether brake action is made corresponding to sheet discharge conditions. A sheet discharge mechanism includes a sheet discharge path having a sheet discharge outlet, a sheet discharge tray disposed on the downstream side of the sheet discharge outlet with a level difference, and a brake section of a sheet carried out at the sheet discharge outlet, wherein the brake section includes a lever member in which its base end portion is axially supported by an attachment frame, and its front end portion moves up and down corresponding to a load amount of sheets.

Mechanism for discharging sheets in apparatus for processing sheets and apparatus for reading images provided with the mechanism

A mechanism for fixing a transmission cable enables a wiring shape of a flat cable to be held relatively reliably when the cable is acted upon by torsion force, tensile force and the like from the outside without the cable skin sustaining damage. A foldable insulation sheet is joined in folding surfaces, and a position of the flat cable is regulated by at least the fold portion thereof and joint portion. The mechanism is includes a flat cable, a foldable insulation sheet, and joint portions for joining folding surfaces of the insulation sheet. At least one of the fold portion of the insulation sheet and the joint portions is disposed in a position for regulating the flat cable. Thus, the flat cable is nipped by the folding surfaces of the insulation sheet, and its wiring shape is held by the fold portion or the joint portion.

Mechanism for fixing transmission cables and apparatus for reading images provided with the mechanism

In a blast mechanism for optimizing an air blast in the main scanning direction and an air blast in the sub-scanning direction so as not to affect reading accuracy of an image, a first blast path for sending air in the main scanning direction and a second blast path for sending air in the sub-scanning direction are formed inside the housing, and collection efficiencies of air filters of the blast paths are set so that the efficiency in the main scanning direction is high than that in the sub-scanning direction. The blast mechanism includes a casing, first and second blast paths in the main and sub-scanning directions disposed in the casing, and air filters disposed in the respective blast paths. The dust collection efficiencies of the air filters are set so that the filter of the first blast path is higher than the filter of the second blast path.

Mechanism for sending air in apparatus for reading images and apparatus for reading images

A blast mechanism in an image reading apparatus reliably cools heat generated in boards by a blast path with high cooling action among a plurality of boards disposed inside a casing. A partition plate is disposed between a plurality of boards disposed at a distance away in a layered shape, a first blast path is formed between a top of the casing and a first board, a second blast path is formed between the first board and the partition plate, a third blast path is formed between the partition plate and a second board, and a flow of cooling air is formed in each blast path with a blast fan. A blast mechanism for sending cooling air includes the casing, first and second boards disposed vertically inside the casing, the partition plate disposed between the first board and the second board, and fans for sending cooling air.

Image reading apparatus having a blast mechanism

Provided is a document reading device capable of performing shading correction and making it difficult for foreign matters to enter inside the device. A document reading device includes a reading unit, a glass unit, and a closing member. The reading unit has a light source and reads a document. The glass unit has a glass plate that transmits light emitted from the light source and a reference member serving as a reference for shading correction of a reading optical system. The glass unit is disposed with a space provided with respect to the reading unit and slid between a first position where the light emitted from the light source transmits the glass plate and a second position where the light emitted from the light source reaches the reference member with the space being maintained. The closing member is positioned downstream of the glass plate and the reference member of the glass unit in a document conveying direction and fills at least a part of the space provided between the reading unit and the glass unit.

Document reading device

To provide an illumination device in which there is no variation in light intensity distribution of the illumination device, and in which illumination spots, particularly light intensity spots, are not prone to occur in a read image in an image reading device, by maintaining a constant gap between a light source and an end face of a light guide. The illumination device includes: a light guide having an end face for taking in light, a diffuse reflecting surface for diffusely reflecting the light taken in from the end face, and a light exit surface for emitting the light that is diffusely reflected at the diffuse reflecting surface towards an irradiation surface. The illumination device further include a reflector having a diffuse reflecting surface that reflects light from the light source toward the one end face of the light guide. The light guide has, at the one end, a flange portion that abuts the reflector, the light source is mounted to a circuit board, and the reflector is held between the flange portion of the light guide and circuit board so as to maintain a predetermined gap between the light source and light guide.

Illumination device

A reading unit () placed on the inner side of a U-shaped feed path () that feeds a document is formed such that the height-axis dimension of said reading unit decreases in a direction extending toward a side having a paper delivery tray (). Contact glass (), a light source and a first mirror () are placed in the reading unit () at an end portion of the side having the paper delivery tray (). Multiple reflecting mirrors (and), a lens () and a photoelectric converter element () are placed further from the paper delivery tray than the first mirror () in the reading unit. This structure enables the reading unit provided in a document feeder to be more compact while ensuring the required light path length, and enables the entire document feeder to be more compact.

Document reader

Provided is an image scanning unit which makes it possible to improve scanning accuracy while also making the overall body thinner by appropriately positioning a plurality of reflection members within an effective space in a carriage frame without wasting space. An image scanning unit, wherein a frame is divided into at least two spaces facing an irradiation surface, a first accommodation unit for accommodating a light source unit is formed in one of the spaces, a second accommodation unit for accommodating at least one reflection member is formed in the other adjacent space, a first reflection member for initially receiving light reflected from the irradiation surface is positioned at the side opposite the irradiation surface with the first accommodation unit positioned therebetween, and a light-shielding member is provided between the first reflection member and the reflection member positioned in the other space and prevents light that has strayed from a scanning light path from the first reflection member from being incident on the reflection member in the other space.

Image scanning unit

An apparatus is provided capable of guiding regular reflected light from a reading surface to a reflecting mirror when light is irradiated from two directions from light sources to the reading surface, and is suitable to read a gloss image. The light sources for irradiating light to the reading surface from the two directions of different angles are configured of a first light emitter and a second light emitter, a mirror reflecting surface for specularly reflecting light and a translucent surface for passing light therethrough being formed on the surface of a reflecting member for deflecting light from the reading surface to a predetermined reading light path direction, the first light emitter being arranged between the platen and the platen side surface of the reflecting member, the second light emitter being arranged at the back surface of the reflecting member so as to irradiate light on the reading surface through the translucent surface.

Image reading apparatus

An image reading apparatus that reads images of document images having different gloss levels with a reproducibility suitable for uses includes a data processor to irradiate a document image with light from a regular reflection light source and a diffuse reflection light source, and to generate image data based on a regular reflection output value and a diffuse reflection output value obtained from a photoelectric converter.

To provide an image reading apparatus for enabling an optical carriage movably supported in a rail member to be locked reliably in a predetermined position of an apparatus frame without causing failure by shock in transport, one of the apparatus frame and optical carriage is provided with a lock member traveling between a release position and a lock position, and a biasing member for biasing the lock member in a predetermined direction, and the other one is provided with an engagement receiving portion being fitted with an engagement portion formed in the lock member. Then, the engagement portion and the engagement receiving portion are configured to inhibit movements in the scanning direction of the optical carriage in the lock position, and the biasing force of the biasing member is concurrently configured to act on the carriage in the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction so as to increase friction between the carriage and a traveling rail.

Optical reader apparatus

An image reading apparatus has a platen, first and second carriages, a light source supported on the first carriage, a first mirror to deflect reflected light from the original document toward the second carriage, one or more second mirrors supported on the second carriage to guide the light from the first mirror to image reading device, and rail members. The first carriage has first and second mirror support portions for supporting one side edge portion of the first mirror by two points, and a third mirror support portion for supporting the other side edge portion by one point. The first carriage is supported slidably at its opposite side edge portions respectively on the rail members via slide members disposed at four right and left places including two front and back places, and a height position is adjustable for supporting the first mirror by one point.

An optical reading apparatus and a multifunction-type image forming apparatus, with a minimized thickness in a cabinet height direction and a housing shaped along an upper shape of discharge tray of the image forming apparatus provided thereunder. The optical reading apparatus comprises: platen glass defined with one end and the other end, on an upper surface of which an original document is placed; an optical reading unit that translates between the both ends on a lower surface of the platen glass, for obtaining image data by irradiating an original document surface with light through the platen glass; a control circuit board connected to the optical reading unit, for processing an electric signal; and a housing wherein a side on the side of the other end is thicker than a side on the side of the one end. The image forming apparatus has a cabinet containing: sheet discharge unit for discharging an image formation sheet from a lower-part lower-side on the thicker side of the housing of the optical reading apparatus toward a lower-part upper side on the thinner side of the housing; and a discharge tray on which the image formation sheet discharged from the sheet discharge unit is received and stacked.

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi-ken, Japan

Junya Ozawa