FR2534706A1 - APPARATUS FOR READING DOCUMENTS - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO AN APPARATUS FOR READING DOCUMENTS TO BE REPRODUCED. THIS APPARATUS INCLUDES A TRAY 55 AND TWO READING STATIONS MADE OF READING GLASSES 31, 32 LOCATED IN THE PLAN OF THE TRAY 55. A READER TROLLEY 14 CAN BE PLACED UNDER ONE OR THE OTHER OF THE READING GLASSES 31, 32 TO BE ABLE TO READ A DOCUMENT MOVING AT CONSTANT SPEED ON THESE GLASSES, OR IT CAN MOVE BELOW PLATE 55 TO READ A DOCUMENT BASED ON THE LATTER. FIELD OF APPLICATION: REPRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS ALSO IN THE FORM OF FLYING SHEETS AS IN THE FORM OF LARGE WORKS.

Description

The invention relates to a document reading device intended to be

  The invention relates more particularly to a document reading apparatus for reading originals which may be in the form of individual sheets or bound volumes, and generating corresponding read signals which can be loaded into the document. Once stored, the information read may be used to control the operation of a programmable printing apparatus. A suitable programmable printing apparatus may be a xerographic copier using a modulated laser beam which

  selectively sweeping and discharging a photoconductive surface

  Alternatively, some types of printers

  ink jets "or by dots can be used.

  The invention relates to a reading apparatus.

  of documents which includes a tray for reading

  large documents and two display positions for reading both sides of documents in the form of sheets, the tray and the two

  are arranged in a common plane.

  Positive lighting and an array of photosensors are mounted on a carriage in order to move relative to the tray at a uniform reading speed and to be placed in fixed positions in the immediate vicinity of the two exposure stations. advance sheets are planned to advance the

  documents in the form of sheets at a single speed

  form, in front of the two exhibition stands, and for

  turn documents before presentation at one of the exhibition stands The coplanar arrangement of the stage and the two exposure stations allows a fast reading and a quick repositioning of the lighting device and the photosensor array, as necessary

  for the generation and storage of communication signals

  switching command for the printer.

  The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which: Figure 1 is an elevation, partially in section, of the document reading apparatus according to the invention; and FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus,

  representing a raised tray cover.

  A document reading apparatus 10 according to the invention can be made as shown generally in FIG. 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the document reading apparatus 10 can comprise a set 11 with a reading station, a cover 12 of FIG. tray, a set 13 of document supply, and a set 14 with a reader carriage, all these elements being worn by

  a chassis 15 An exhibition of the front side of a document

  is carried out either on a plate 55 or in a

  first exposure station defined by a glass 31 of reading

  In each case, the reading is performed by

  optical elements mounted on the reader carriage 14.

  The reading glass 31 is used to read the front side of originals in the form of automatically advanced sheets, while the plate 55 is used for the exposure of hand-held documents, which can be either under the form of leaves, which is of a voluminous nature.

  tray is articulated, as described below, for

  put the exhibition of large documents.

  The document reading apparatus 10 also comprises a second exposure station defined by a reading glass 32. The second exposure station allows a reading of the reverse side of documents in the form of automatically advanced sheets, thus enabling a reading of information for the realization of

  double-sided copies Automatic reversal of documents

  sheet form is carried out as described below.

  The invention has a characteristic of

  in a common plane of the reading glass 31, the reading glass 32 and the plate 55 for reading by means of elements carried by the reader 14 The elements of the reader are set to

  at the optical point on the common plane, and the trolley

  14 is mounted in such a way that it can perform a

  linearly along a path parallel to the plane

thus defined.

  The document reading device 10 is

  equipped with controls for an operator (not

  sent) that allow a selection between a manually triggered reading mode (tray reading) or an automatic document processing mode Other commands are provided to make a selection between

  a reading on one or two sides, and the introduction

  duction of various control commands suitable for the implementation of the reading apparatus and the control of an associated printer A data processing system

  (not shown) receives, processes and stores information

  The reading system produced by the reader

  data processing then generates commands

  print job for the printer Once the information read has been stored, it can be used to print as many copies as it can

to be desired.

  It therefore appears that the document reading apparatus according to the invention can operate in the following four different modes: Mode I: manually triggered reading of

  large documents (tray cover 12 raised).

  Mode II: manual reading of originals in sheet form (tray cover 12 closed).

  Mode III automatic feeding and reading

  single-sided originals in the form of sheets.

  Mode IV: automatic feeding and reading

  on two sides of originals in the form of leaves.

  FIG. 1 shows the document reading apparatus 10 in operation in the above-mentioned mode IV. In addition, the apparatus is shown during the part of the reading cycle during which the back side of a sheet is read. At this particular moment, the

  slide 14 is positioned in such a way that the optimum

  The reading carriage 14 is reciprocated between the illustrated position and a second position (indicated in phantom) below the reading glass 32 during the IV mode. reading glass 31 For operation in mode III, the slide carriage 14 remains fixed in the position below the glass 31

reading.

  During operation in modes I and II, the reader carriage 14 performs a scanning movement below the tray 55, as also shown in phantom in FIG.

  these last two modes are identical, the only difference

  However, in mode I, the tray cover 12 is raised as shown in FIG. 2 to facilitate copying of a large document. In mode II, tray cover 12 is lowered to the position shown in FIG.

in Figure 1.

  The document reading apparatus 10 also has a calibration tape (not shown) which is mounted against the platen 55. Before the start of a reading in any one of modes I to IV, the slide carriage 14 is in its "rest" position The first step in any reading sequence is to establish a dark calibration reference by a reading performed without illumination In the second step, the illumination is

  established and the drive carriage 14 is driven to a position

  In this case, the meter is calibrated to produce output signals representing exactly the known reflection of the calibration band. When the calibration is complete, the reader carriage 14 moves below the tray 55 (mode 1 or II) or to a position below the reading glass 31 (mode III or IV) In the case of a reading in one of the modes I and II, the document to be read is fixedly fixed on the plate 55, while the reader carriage moves at a uniform speed in the direction

indicated by the arrow 58.

  To operate the device 10 of

  of documents in one of the modes III and IV, a group of originals in the form of sheets is placed face down on a stack 16 resting on a plate 94

  receiving device 13 feeding A cour-

  The high-friction feed channel 17 advances the documents one by one through a retaining member 18. This member 18 has a surface which exerts a strong frictional force against the elements.

  leaves drawn beyond him by the belt 17 of

  This resistant friction force is

  than the driving force produced by the feeding belt 17, but greater than the leaves binding the sheets together.

  multiple power supplies; so that indi-

  The power supply can be assisted by an air-cushion device,

as shown.

  After passing between the rollers 19, the documents

  The sheets are received by a series of belts 20 which are mounted inside the hood 12.

  of the board A cage 76 with balls, also mounted in the

  the bonnet 12 of the tray, supports a series of

  balls 21 of maintenance These balls 21 plate the documents

  in the form of sheets down against the conveyor belts during their passage through the

hood 12 of the tray.

  The documents in the form of sheets which are-

  transported in the cover 12 of the tray are ejected from it by two rollers 22 The documents are then advanced by pairs of rollers 86, 86 and 88 a, 88 b so as to cross the reading glass 31 When the documents pass over the reading glass 31, their faces

  are read line by line This reading is done

  The reader carriage 14 is disposed below the reading glass 31, as previously mentioned, by a suitable reader mounted in the reader carriage 14.

  perform this reading of the front side.

  When the face-up reading is complete, the sheet-like documents are led by a

  gate 28 to a turntable 29 The introduc-

  in the turntable 29 is controlled by

two reversible rollers 87.

  Once a sheet has been inserted into the turntable 29, the door 28 is turned as necessary to establish a path of the turntable 29 toward the contact area of two rolls a, 90 b. then actuated to lower the sheet towards the rollers 90a, 90b so as to pass it on the reading glass 32 When the document passes on the reading glass 32, its reverse side

  exposed to be read, if desired.

  It is then advanced by two rollers 30 to a suitable collecting tray. In the case where it is not desired to read the reverse side, the door 28

  can be positioned to allow the passage of

  directly rollers 88 a, 88 b to the rollers a, 90 b to improve the passage in the narrow zone

  located below the door 28, a belt with

  sion can be set up on rollers 88b and 90b.

  As mentioned above, the reading glasses 31 and 32 and the plate 55 are all arranged in a common plane. This facilitates the use of a fixed optics, for example a linear source lighting device 37, a cylindrical lens 38, a focusing lens 45 and a photodiode array 43, such as

  shown in FIG. 1 The cylindrical lens 38

  center a clear line of illumination on the plane of read-

  This line of illumination thus exposes a line of image elements extending along the face of a

  original placed in the reading plane The line of

  The image elements thus exposed form an image on the face of the photodiode array 43 under the effect of the focussing lens 45. The reading optics are brought into each of the necessary reading positions by a simple linear movement of the trolley. For this purpose, the reader carriage 14 can be mounted on a rail 73 of

  guidance and driven by conventional control means.

  These control means may comprise a motor 47, a pulley 49 for driving and a cable 48 for driving

  guided so as to pass on a game of crazy wheels 40.

  The drive cable 48 can be connected to the reader carriage 14 by fastening bolts 42. Four fours4 can be used, two of which appear in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows the tray cover 12 in its raised position for operation. In this position, the apparatus is capable of copying large documents such as book 59 which is shown as resting directly on the top of the tray 55. In this position, the page of the book 59 which is in direct contact with the tray 55 rests in the aforementioned common reading plane Thus, the inscriptions carried by this page are placed at the proper distance of the reading carriage 14 to be

illuminated and read.

  The lower surface of the hood 12 of the plate has a sole 36 of pressure which is however reflective This sole provides a clean background suitable for originals in the form of sheets during reading mode II It can be observed that the

  sole 36 also masks the conveyor belts.

  This avoids the formation of fouled belt images in the background surrounding small-sized originals, this being a problem common to prior art readers who pass the originals directly.

on an exhibition board.

  As also shown in Figure 2, the cover 12 of the tray can be hinged along a line that is offset from the working surface of the tray This facilitates the copying of documents having a large thickness or a large surface The uprising of the cover 12 of the tray is facilitated by a gas spring 60 forming a counterweight. It goes without saying that many modifications can be made to the apparatus described and shown

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

  1 document reading apparatus comprising   a tray (55) for the display of voluminous originals   an auxiliary display means (31, 32) for exposing the front and back sides of originals in the form of sheets, a reading device (14) for illuminating and forming images of documents placed either on the tray, either on the means of auxiliary exposure,   a support (73) for the reading device, a dis-   document transport means (19, 20, 21, 22, 86) for conveying originals in the form of sheets to the auxiliary exposure means, a driving device (47, 48, 49) for executing a   reading movement to the reading device, and a dis-   positive document turning over (28, 29, 87) intended   to return the originals in sheets for   putting the presentation of their two faces to the auxiliary exposure means, the apparatus being characterized in that the auxiliary exposure means comprise two reading stations which support said sheet-shaped originals in positions situated in the plane of the plateau , and in that the training device   and the support are arranged to move together the dis-   Positive reading along a linear, parallel path   the common plane of the plateau and reading stations.   Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized   characterized in that the document transport device transports the originals in the form of sheets along a path passing above duplicate and spaced from it. latest.   Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized   characterized in thatthe document transporting device comprises a conveyor belt mounted therein a cover for the tray.   Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized   characterized in that the hood comprises means for concealing the conveyor belt so that it is not   not seen by the reading device.   Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the document reversing device   is arranged between the two reading stations.   Apparatus according to any one of the   1 to 5, characterized in that the reading device remains in a first fixed position during the reading of documents transported so as to pass through one of the two reading stations, remains in a second fixed position during the reading of documents. transported to pass through the other of said two reading stations, and moves continuously during the reading of documents positioned on the board.