Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.

Masanori Sato

Toshihiro Kumano

Shiro Takamizawa

Yuji Ishii

Hiroyuki Yamada

Kiroyuki Yamada

An image communication device having a lower and an upper chassis, the lower chassis having a plurality of rollers for transporting original documents and a guide plate for guiding them, the upper chassis being located above the lower chassis and having a plurality of rollers for transporting recording paper. The lower chassis has a pair of side plates whose top edges contain a plurality of open-ended recesses. Inside the recesses are bearings that rotatably support the document transporting rollers. The guide plate has projections that press the bearings against the recess bottoms. Attaching the guide plate to the lower chassis causes the projections of the former to fix the bearings concurrently. The bearings and guide plate are preferably made up of conductive materials. The rollers are connected to ground via the bearings and guide plate.

Image communication device

An image reading device comprising a device body and an image sensor unit located near the bottom of the body and facing the path through which original documents are transported. The image sensor unit is retained by a retaining member rotatably mounted on a rotary fulcrum shaft located near the bottom of the body. Turning the retaining member around the shaft causes the image sensor unit to extend out of the device and be exposed to perform maintenance thereon.

Image reading device

An image reading device having a feed roller and a document-separating member for separating and feeding one document at a time from a stack of documents on a hopper, and an image sensor for reading each document being transported through a suitable document transport path inside the device. The document transport path is inclined downward for a short distance immediately downstream of the feed roller and the document-separating member, then is bent in a near-horizontal direction, stretching substantially straight. This structure reduces the overall height of the device. A rotatable pushing member for pushing the document-separating member against the feed roller has a document guide surface which is located downstream of the document-separating member and which protrudes beyond the putative extension of the document contact plane at the end of the document-separating member, the pushing member thereby constituting a bend of the path. Because the document guide surface supports a document being fed while bending along the path, the document does not hit and raise the document-separating member to disrupt its document-separating action.

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Chiisagata, Japan

Masanori Sato