Image reading device

Abstract

To reduce a load imposed on a flexible flat cable (FFC) that electrically connects an image reading unit and an image forming unit to each other.SOLUTION: A regulation member 601 is attached to an FFC 401 that connects to each other a control board 301 provided in a document reading device 101 and a control board 304 provided in an image forming apparatus 100. The regulation member 601 is hooked on an edge of a slit 404 formed to insert the FFC 401, thereby to regulate a length of the FFC 401 to a connector 403 on the control board 304 and prevent sagging of the FFC 401.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image reading device that reads an image of a document. Device

Background Art

[0002] In a multi-functional peripheral (MFP) having a copy function and a print function, an image reading device such as an ADF or a scanner is disposed on the upper part of an image forming apparatus. In such a system in which the image reading device is disposed on the upper part of the image forming apparatus, a flexible flat cable is used for image data transmission between the image reading device and the image forming apparatus.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, the flexible flat cable is routed from the image reading device through an opening provided on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus to the image forming apparatus and connected to a connector inside the image forming apparatus. According to such a configuration, the image reading device can be easily attached and detached by removing the cable from the connector inside the image forming apparatus.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] ​Incidentally, when developing a product, there may be a product configuration in which a common image reading unit is diverted to a plurality of types of image forming apparatuses. At this time, since the length of the flexible flat cable connecting the image reading unit and the main body of the image forming apparatus is determined according to the product specification with the longest routing path, there is often an extra length in a product with a short wiring path. Thus, when the extra length portion of the flexible flat cable occurs near the connector of the control board of the image forming apparatus, stress is applied to the flexible flat cable, and there is a risk of disconnection or breakage.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to suppress disconnection and breakage of a flexible flat cable.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet An image reading device disposed above the Said Disposed in the image reading device One end is connected to a first connector provided on a first control board, and said Disposed in the image forming unit The other end is connected to a second connector provided on a second control board, and said Of the document read by the image sensor Image data From the first control board to the second control board A flexible flat cable for transmitting, and A restricting member attached to a predetermined position of the flexible flat cable, and the flexible flat cable is inserted into a slit provided in the image forming unit, and the restricting member is Contacting the edge of the slit te Regulating the length of the flexible flat cable from the slit to the second connector, It is characterized by that.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, by moving the area where extra length can occur away from the connector on the control board in the image forming apparatus, disconnection and breakage of the cable due to stress can be suppressed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an image forming system 1000 including an image reading device 101 and an image forming device 100 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of application of the present technology only to them unless otherwise specifically described.

[0011] [Configuration of the Image Forming Apparatus] First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 1000 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment, and shows a schematic configuration of a full-color printer using the electrophotographic method. The image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes an original document reading device 101 and an image forming unit 102. The original document reading device 101 is an example of reading means for optically reading an image of an original document and generating image data. The image forming unit 102 is an example of image forming means for forming an image on a sheet based on the image data.

[0012] The image forming unit 102 has a plurality of image forming stations. Specifically, it has image forming stations Y, M, C, and Bk for forming toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk). The image forming station Y includes a photosensitive drum 103a that is a photoreceptor, a charging device 104a for charging the photosensitive drum 103a, and an optical scanning device 105a that emits a light beam (laser beam) for forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged photosensitive drum 103a. Further, the image forming station Y includes a developing device 106a for developing the electrostatic latent image with toner and a cleaning device 107a for cleaning residual toner on the photosensitive drum 103a. The other image forming stations also have the same configuration as the image forming station Y.

[0013] The image forming process performed at each image forming station will be described. Since the image forming processes performed at each of the image forming stations Y, M, C, and Bk are the same process, the yellow image forming station Y will be described as an example. The photosensitive drum 103a is charged by the charging device 104a. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the charged photosensitive drum 103a by laser light (light beam) emitted from an optical scanning device 105a having a laser emitting unit as a light source, and this electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 106a using yellow toner.

[0014] Then, the yellow toner image developed on the photosensitive drum 103a is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 109 by a transfer bias applied to the transfer blade 108a.

[0015] Similarly, the magenta, cyan, and black toner images on the photosensitive drums 103b are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 109 by the transfer blades 108b, c, and d. The toner images of each color transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 109 are collectively transferred onto the paper by the secondary transfer roller 110 in the secondary transfer unit T in four colors. After that, the recording medium carrying the toner image passes through the fixing device 111 and is subjected to fixing processing, and then is discharged outside the apparatus by the paper discharge roller 112 or the like.

[0016] Note that the black image forming station Bk is provided closer to the secondary transfer portion side than the other color image forming stations Y, M, and C in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 109. By arranging in this way, it is possible to suppress the time from when an instruction for image formation is given by the user until the image is output when forming a monochrome image.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the document reading device 101. The document reading device 101 is disposed above the image forming device 100 shown in FIG. 1, and reads an image of a document to generate image data. The document reading device has a document tray 202 on which a plurality of documents can be placed. The document tray 202 includes side regulating plates 223 that regulate the placed document from the front side and the back side. The side regulating plates 223 move so that the document placed on the document tray 202 is centered. Also, when the side regulating plates 223 move, a volume resistor (not shown) installed inside the document tray 202 operates in conjunction. The document reading device 101 can detect the width of the document from the resistance value of the volume resistor.

[0018] When an instruction to start reading is input, the pickup roller 203 feeds the document into the device in order from the topmost document placed on the document tray 202. Note that the pickup roller 203 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). Since the pickup roller 203 feeds the document 201 only by frictional force, there may be a case where a plurality of documents are fed simultaneously depending on the friction coefficient of the document 201. Therefore, a separating unit having separating rollers 204 and 205 separates the documents one by one. In the present embodiment, the separating roller 204 rotates in the direction of conveying the document, and the separating roller 205 is a non-rotating roller.

[0019] The document 201 separated into a single sheet by the separating unit having the separating rollers 204 and 205 is conveyed downstream in the conveying direction by the rotation of a pair of front conveying rollers 206. Thereafter, a pair of lead rollers 207 conveys the document 201 to the surface reading position A.

[0020] Below the surface reading position A, a transparent surface flow reading glass 208 is arranged. And a surface reading unit 209A located below the surface flow reading glass 208 reads the surface of the document 201.

[0021] The surface reading unit 209A includes an LED 210, an image sensor 211, and an optical component group 212. The LED 210 illuminates the surface of the document 201, and the reflected light is reflected and condensed by the optical component group 212 and read by the image sensor 211.

[0022] In this embodiment, the surface reading unit 209A has an A / D converter (not shown), converts the analog image data output by the image sensor 211 into digital data, and outputs it to a reading control unit 300 on a control board 301 described later.

[0023] The document reading device 101 arranges a document detection sensor 213 for detecting the leading edge of the document 201 upstream of the surface reading position A. After the leading edge of the document is detected by the document detection sensor 213, the reading control unit 300 starts receiving the digital image data from the surface reading unit 209A at a predetermined timing until the leading edge of the document 201 reaches the surface reading position A. Also, the reading control unit 300 discriminates the length of the document in the sub-scanning direction (the length in the document conveyance direction) based on the ON time of the document detection sensor 213.

[0024] When reading is performed with the posture of the document 201 being unstable, the distance between the surface reading unit 209A and the document 201 is not stable, and the shadow of the leading edge of the document described later becomes unstable. Therefore, the upstream pressing roller 214 and the downstream pressing roller 215 press the document 201 from above. A white surface guide plate 216 is arranged at a position facing the surface reading unit 209A between the upstream pressing roller 214 and the downstream pressing roller 215.

[0025] The original document 201 that has passed through the front reading position A is further conveyed downstream by a pair of rear conveying rollers 217 and is conveyed to the back reading position B. Above the back reading position B, a transparent back-flow reading glass 218 is arranged, and the back surface of the original document 201 is read by a back reading unit 209B arranged further above it. Note that the back reading unit 209B in this embodiment has the same configuration as the front reading unit 209A.

[0026] The back reading unit 209B is controlled by a reading control unit 300. The reading control unit 300 starts receiving the digital image data output from the back reading unit 209B at a predetermined timing from the timing when the original document detection sensor 213 detects the leading edge of the original document until the leading edge of the original document 201 reaches the back reading position B.

[0027] A white back guide plate 219 is arranged at a position facing the back reading unit 209B. The original document 201 that has passed through the back reading position B is discharged outside the apparatus by a pair of paper discharge rollers 220. The discharged original document 201 is placed on a paper discharge tray 221. A white reference plate 222 for acquiring shading data is arranged on the right side of the surface-flow reading glass 208.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the image forming apparatus 100 and the original document reading apparatus 101. The reading control unit 300 is an example of a first control unit that controls the image reading unit 209. In addition to the image reading unit 209 and the original document detection sensor 213, a conveyance motor 302 for rotationally driving each roller that conveys the original document is connected. The reading control unit 300 is mounted on a control board 301 which is an example of a first control board. An operation unit 303 that receives user instructions is connected to the reading control unit 300 on the control board 304.

[0029] On a control board 304 which is an example of a second control board, an image formation control unit 305 is mounted. The image formation control unit 305 is an example of a second control unit that controls the image forming unit 102. The image formation control unit 305 communicates with the reading control unit 300 in accordance with a user instruction received from the operation unit 303, and starts the control of the document reading apparatus 101. When a reading instruction is input from the operation unit 303, the reading control unit 300 drives the conveyance motor 302 to convey the document 201, and the image of the document is read by the image reading unit 209. The image data generated from the read image is transmitted from the reading control unit 300 to the image formation control unit 305. The image formation control unit 304 controls the image forming unit 102, and causes the image forming unit 102 to perform image formation based on the received image data.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a rear view of the image reading apparatus 101 and the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 4, a strip-shaped flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as "FFC") 401 is provided along the vertical direction between the control board 304 and the control board 301. One end of the FFC 401 is connected to a connector 402 (first connector) on the control board 301 in the image reading apparatus 101, and the other end of the FFC 401 is connected to a connector 403 (second connector) on the control board 304 in the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the reading control unit 300 and the image formation control unit 305 are electrically connected via the FFC 401. The FFC 401 is mounted from a direction (direction A in FIG. 8) perpendicular to the mounting surface of the control board 304. The FFC 401 is used for image data transmission from the reading control unit 300 to the image formation control unit 305, power supply to the reading control unit 304, transmission of drive signals for each motor, and the like. The FFC 401 passes through a slit 404 which is an example of an opening provided on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus 100.

[0031] FIG. 5 is a side view of the image reading apparatus 101 and the image forming apparatus 100. Normally, the total length of the FFC 401 is optimized to a length that matches the distance from the connector 402 mounted on the control board 301 in the image reading apparatus 101 to the connector 403 mounted on the control board 304 in the image forming apparatus 100 (see FIG. 5(a)). Therefore, normally no excess length occurs in the FFC. However, in recent MFP development, for the purpose of improving development efficiency, the document reading apparatus 101 common to a plurality of types of image forming apparatuses with different sizes and control board arrangement configurations may be diverted. In this case, since the document reading apparatus 101 is installed in another image forming apparatus with a short distance X from the slit 404 to the connector 403, an excess length occurs near the connector 403 on the control board 304 (see FIG. 5(b)). As a result, a load is applied to the connector 403 and the FFC 401, and there is a risk of breakage or disconnection of the FFC 401.

[0032] Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6(a), a regulating member 601 formed of a PET sheet is attached to a predetermined position on the flat surface of the FFC 401 at a predetermined position. The regulating member 601 is formed with a dimension longer than the side of the slit 404 parallel to the FFC 401 (the long side of the slit 404). Further, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the regulating member 601 has an uneven shape. Specifically, the regulating member has a recess recessed upward. This recess catches on the protrusion formed in the slit 404. Thereby, the length of the FFC 401 from the slit 404 to the connector 403 is regulated.

[0033] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment in which the length of the FFC 401 from the slit 404 to the connector 403 is optimized with respect to the state of the FFC 401 shown in FIG. 5(b). FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of FIG. 7A. When the regulating member 601 is caught by the convex portion of the slit 404, the length of the FFC 401 from the connector 403 to the slit 404 is regulated, preventing an excess length from occurring near the connector 403. At this time, in order to avoid loading on the connector 403 and the FFC 401, as shown in FIG. 8, it is preferable that the angle with respect to the horizontal direction (A) in the vicinity of the connector of the FFC 401 be within ±15 degrees. That is, the regulating member 601 determines the length Y of the FFC 401 from the connector 403 to the slit 404 so that the angle with respect to the horizontal direction (A) is within ±15 degrees, and attaches it to a predetermined position of the FFC 401.

[0034] As described above, the regulating member 601 formed of a PET sheet is attached to the FFC 401. The regulating member 601 is caught by the edge of the slit 404 formed on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus 101, and regulates the length of the FFC 401 from the connector 403 on the control board 304 to the slit 404. Thereby, an excess length is prevented from occurring near the connector 403 on the control board 304. As a result, the load applied to the connector 403 and the FFC 401 on the control board 304 can be reduced.

[0035] In the present embodiment, the regulating member 601 uses a PET sheet having a concavo-convex shape, but the material and shape are not limited thereto. Any other material and shape may be used as long as it has a function of preventing the FFC from sagging by contacting the edge of the slit 404.

[0036] Also, in the present embodiment, the width dimension of the regulating member 601 is set to be longer than the width of the FFC, but such a dimension is not limited thereto.

[0037] Also, in this embodiment, the angle of the FFC 401 with respect to the connector 403 is set within ±15 degrees, but this is not the limit. The attachment position of the regulating member 601 is selected according to the thickness and material of the FFC so as to obtain an appropriate angle.

Explanation of Signs

[0038] 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Image reading apparatus 102 Image forming section 209 Reading section 213 Original document detection sensor 301 Control board (on the image reading apparatus side) 302 Conveying motor 303 Operation section 304 Control board (on the image forming apparatus side) 401 FFC 402 Connector (on the image reading apparatus side) 403 Connector (on the image forming apparatus side) 404 Slit 601 Regulating member

Claims

1. An image reading device disposed above an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, An image sensor that reads an image of a document; a flexible flat cable having one end connected to a first connector provided on a first control board arranged in the image reading device and the other end connected to a second connector provided on a second control board arranged in the image forming unit, the flexible flat cable transmitting image data of an original document read by the image sensor from the first control board to the second control board; a restricting member attached to a predetermined position of the flexible flat cable; Equipped with The flexible flat cable is inserted into a slit provided in the image forming unit, the restricting member abuts against an edge of the slit to restrict the length of the flexible flat cable between the slit and the second connector; 1. An image reading apparatus comprising:

2. The restricting member is provided with a recess that is recessed upward, 2. An image reading device as described in claim 1, characterized in that the length of the flexible flat cable between the slit and the second connector is regulated by the recess of the regulating member being hooked onto a protrusion provided on the edge of the slit.

3. An image reading device disposed above an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, An image sensor that reads an image of a document; a flexible flat cable having one end connected to a first connector provided on a first control board arranged in the image reading device and the other end connected to a second connector provided on a second control board arranged in the image forming unit, the flexible flat cable transmitting image data of an original document read by the image sensor from the first control board to the second control board; a restricting member attached to a predetermined position of the flexible flat cable; Equipped with The flexible flat cable is inserted into a slit provided in the image forming unit, The restricting member abuts against an edge of the slit to restrict sagging of the flexible flat cable.

1. An image reading apparatus comprising:

Images