JP2001041226A - Lid coupling device and image reading device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lid coupling device capable of rotating a lid with a small number of parts, stabilizing the lid in an opened state, and detachably locking the lid to a base, and an image using the same. A reader is provided. SOLUTION: A lid portion 5 is locked in a bearing groove 3 formed in a base portion 13. One end of the bearing groove 3 is opened on the upper surface of the base 13. The lid 5 has a joint 2 formed integrally with the lid main body 6, and a rotating shaft 8 protruding from the joint 2 and rotatably housed in the bearing groove 3 and locked by the projection 11. When the lid 5 stands upright in the vertical direction, the rotating shaft 8 can be pulled out of the bearing groove 3. When the lid 5 rotates, the lid 5 is supported by the bottom surface 4a of the joint storage section,
Since the end of the joint 2 and the bottom surface 4a are in sliding contact with each other, the joint 2 can rotate smoothly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for connecting a base and a lid which is rotatably supported by a base and which is detachable, and an image reading apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a flatbed type scanner and a small table-top copying machine have been known as devices having a connecting device for a base and a detachable lid which are rotatably supported by a base. The flatbed type scanner has a platen made of a transparent member at the base and irradiates the document with light from under the platen,
Image data is output by photoelectrically converting the reflected light with a light receiving element such as a CCD. At the time of reading a document, a cover is placed on the document to reduce light other than light reflected from the document from being incident on the light receiving element. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, a flatbed scanner includes a lid coupling device that can cover a thick original such as a book.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a lid connecting device provided in a conventional flatbed type scanner. Lid 104
The opening and closing unit 10 connected by hinges 102 and 103
1 and a support portion 103. A joint 106 is formed on the lower surface of the support 103. End 106 of fitting 106
a is in the shape of a key. A fan-shaped latch plate 107 is formed on the lower surface of the opening / closing section 101 to stabilize the opening / closing section in an almost upright state. A projection 107a is formed at an end of the retaining plate 107. The base 108 has a joint hole 109 into which the joint 106 is inserted, and a latch plate 107.
Is formed so as to be rotatable.

[0004] Next, the operation of such a conventional flatbed type scanner lid coupling device will be described. Platen 11
When the document is placed on the document holder 1, when the opening / closing unit 101 is turned upright, the projection 107 a of the latch plate 107 is locked to the edge of the latch hole 110. When reading a thin document such as a photograph, the joint 106 is inserted to the deepest part of the joint hole 109, and the support 103 and the base 108 are in contact with each other. When reading a thick original such as a book, the joint 106 is connected to the joint hole 10.
9 is inserted into the joint hole 109 shallowly.
Is locked to the edge. Insert the end 106a into the joint hole 109
The lid 104 can be removed from the base 108 by removing the lid 104 from the edge. When reading large documents such as A3,
Thus, the original can be read by removing the lid 104 from the base.

[0005]

However, the conventional lid connecting device requires a plurality of members to rotate the lid and detachably lock the lid to the base. For example, in the case of the flatbed scanner described above, the opening / closing unit 101, the support unit 103, and the hinges 102, 1 are used to rotate the lid.
05 is required. Also, a joint 106 is required to detachably lock the lid to the base. Further, a latch plate 107 and a latch hole 109 are required to stabilize the lid with the lid opened. As described above, the conventional lid connecting device has a problem in that the manufacturing cost is high because it is constituted by a plurality of members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a lid coupling device for rotating a lid with a small number of parts to detachably support a base and a lid, and using the same. It is an object to provide an image reading device.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid connecting apparatus comprising: a base; a lid rotatably supported by the base and detachable from the base; and a first end face of the base. Bearing groove having one end open to the second end face adjacent to the first end face, a convex portion formed on the side wall of the bearing groove, a joint extending from the lid, and a rotating shaft protruding from the joint. Having. The rotating shaft portion is rotatably housed in the bearing groove and locked on the convex portion. Therefore, the lid can be rotated with a small number of parts and the lid can be detachably attached to the base.

According to the lid connecting device of the second aspect of the present invention, the rotating shaft portions are columnar bodies, and two planes which are parallel to each other and whose distance between each other is smaller than the groove width of the bearing groove in the convex portion. It has a side surface composed of two curved surfaces facing each other and curved outward. The interval between the two virtual planes that are in contact with the two curved surfaces and are parallel to each other is larger than the groove width of the bearing groove in the projection. For this reason, the rotating shaft cannot be pulled out of the bearing groove unless the two planes are substantially parallel to the bearing groove. Therefore, the lid and the base can be attached and detached only when the lid is at the predetermined rotation angle, and it is possible to prevent the lid from unintentionally coming off the base.

According to the lid connecting device of the third aspect of the present invention, the end of the joint has a semi-disk shape. The base has a joint storage portion which communicates with the bearing groove to rotatably store the joint and to which the end of the joint slides. At the time of rotation of the lid, the lid can be smoothly rotated by supporting the lid with the joint storage portion that slides on the end of the joint.

[0010] According to the lid connecting device of the present invention, the joint accommodating portion is open from the upper surface to the side surface of the base. Further, the joint storage portion has a support portion with which the end face in the longitudinal direction of the joint can be abutted and which supports the lid portion in a substantially upright state. When the joint is moved along the portion where the joint storage portion is open and the joint abuts on the support portion, the lid portion can be stabilized in an almost upright state. Therefore, it is not necessary to hold the lid when keeping the lid open. According to the lid connecting device of claim 5 of the present invention,
Since the bearing groove accommodates the rotating shaft portion so as to be reciprocally movable, the lid portion can be moved in parallel with the base portion.

According to the image reading apparatus of the present invention, the base has a transparent member on the upper surface, has a light source and a light receiving element inside, and emits light from the light source to a document placed on the transparent member. Irradiation is performed, and the reflected light is photoelectrically converted by a light receiving element to output image data. Further, since the lid coupling device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is used, light other than the reflected light of the light emitted from the light source when reading an original having various thicknesses and sizes is read. It is possible to prevent the light from entering the light receiving element.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention; (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 5 show a flatbed type scanner provided with a lid connecting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The flatbed type scanner 1 is an image reading device that is used by being connected to a host computer (not shown), reads a reflection original according to a command from the host computer, and sends image data to the host computer.

The flatbed type scanner comprises a base 13 and a lid 5. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A document table 12 made of a transparent member is provided on the upper surface of the document table 3. The base 13 includes a carriage (not shown) in a case 14,
It contains a drive unit, a control unit, and an input / output interface. The cover 5 is rotatably supported by the base 13 and covers the document table 12.

The carriage has a CCD (Ch) as a light receiving element.
arge Coupled Device), a fluorescent lamp as a light source, a mirror, a condenser lens, and the like. The CCD, the fluorescent lamp, the mirror, and the condenser lens are arranged so that the original placed on the document table 12 is irradiated by the fluorescent lamp, and the light reflected by the original enters the CCD via the mirror and the condenser lens. ing. The drive unit moves the carriage to the platen 12
Is a mechanism for reciprocating in parallel to The control unit is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (not shown)
(Random Access Memory) and the like, and controls the entire flatbed scanner 1 to send out the output signal of the CCD as image data to the host computer through the input / output interface.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the base 13 has two joint housings 4 at the upper corner of the case 14. As shown in FIG. The joint storage section 4 is formed by cutting a three-dimensional figure formed by a locus drawn when a sector having a central angle of 90 degrees is translated in parallel from a corner of the case 14. The bearing groove 3 is formed in a fan-shaped side wall of the joint storage portion 4. The bearing groove 3 is formed from the upper surface of the case 14 toward the lower surface. The bearing groove 3 has a convex portion 11 near the upper surface of the case 14 for reducing the groove width. The joint housing 4 and the bearing groove 3 are
4 is formed integrally with the case 14.

The cover 5 has a flat cover body 5 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and covers the entire upper surface of the base 13 so that light other than the light reflected by the original does not enter the CCD. It is. The lid 5 has the joint 2 formed so as to protrude from the lid main body 6. The joint 2 is rotatably housed in the joint housing 4. The joint 2 is tapered on the distal end side, and the end is formed in a semi-disk shape. Fitting 2 is fitting storage part 4
When this is stored in the bottom of the joint storage part 4
In sliding contact with Also, the joint 2 is stored in the joint storage section 4,
When the lid 5 stands almost vertically, the longitudinal end surface 2a of the joint 2 comes into contact with the bottom surface 4a of the joint housing 4 as a support.

A rotary shaft 8 is formed near the end of the joint 2. The rotating shaft 8 is accommodated in the bearing groove 3 so as to be able to reciprocate. The rotating shaft portion 8 is a pillar having a shape obtained by cutting out two cylinders of a cylinder from a cylinder. The side surface of the rotating shaft 8 is composed of flat surfaces 8a and 8c and curved surfaces 8b and 8d. Plane 8
Both a and 8b are parallel to the lid main body 6 and the interval between them is smaller than the groove width of the bearing groove 3 in the convex portion 11. The curved surfaces 8b and 8d are formed such that, when assuming two parallel planes that are in contact with the curved surfaces 8b and 8d, the interval between the two planes is larger than the groove width of the bearing groove 3 in the convex portion 11. The side surfaces of the rotating shaft 8 may be all flat. The reason why the side surface of the rotating shaft 8 is curved in this embodiment is to rotate the rotating shaft 8 more smoothly and to facilitate the attachment and detachment of the lid 5. The joint 2 and the rotating shaft 8 are integrally formed when the lid main body 6 is molded.

The configuration of the flatbed type scanner 1 has been described above. Next, the operation of the flatbed scanner 1 will be described. When reading a document placed on the document table 12, when a reading command is issued from the host computer, light is emitted from the fluorescent lamp to the document through the document table 12. The light illuminated on the original is reflected by the original and becomes
2 and enters the case 14. In the case 14, the incident light passes through a mirror and a condensing lens,
Incident on. Light incident on the CCD is photoelectrically converted and output to the control unit. The control unit outputs the output signal of the CCD to the input / output interface as image data. The input / output interface sends image data to the host computer. This image data includes the light emitted from the fluorescent lamp and C
Generated based on the intensity of light incident on the CD. For this reason, when reading a document, it is necessary to cover the document and the document table 12 with the cover 5 so that light other than the reflected light of the light emitted from the fluorescent lamp does not enter the CCD.

The base 13 and the cover 5 are connected to the base 5 by the base 1.
3, a structure for rotating the cover 5, a structure for stabilizing the cover 5 in an upright state, a structure for moving the cover 5 in parallel with the base 13, and a structure for removing the cover 5 from the base 13. Is provided. Hereinafter, each structure will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1A, when the joint 2 is housed in the joint housing 4 and the rotary shaft 8 is housed in the bearing groove 3, as shown in FIG. Is locked to the base 13. That is, the joint 2 is
Is stored, the translation and the rotation of the lid 5 on the horizontal plane are restricted. Also, as shown in FIG.
Since the flat surfaces 8a and 8c of the rotary shaft portion 8 abut on the convex portion 11, the lid portion 5 is not lifted up even if the lid portion 5 is lifted upward unless the flat surfaces 8a and 8c are parallel to the bearing groove 3.
It does not deviate from 3.

Structure for Rotating the Lid 5 When no external force is applied to the lid 5, the end of the joint 2 is in contact with the bottom surface 4 a of the joint housing 4 due to the weight of the lid 5. When the side opposite to the joint of the lid main body 6 is lifted, the end of the joint 2 and the bottom surface 4a of the joint storage section 4 slide, and the lid 5 rotates about the rotating shaft 8 as an axis. When the lid 5 rotates, the lid 5
Due to its own weight, the end of the joint 2 becomes the bottom surface 4a of the joint storage portion 4.
Is in contact with Since the end of the joint 2 is formed in an arc shape, the lid 5 rotates smoothly.

Structure for Stabilizing Lid 5 As shown in FIG. 1C, when the lid 5 is rotated,
Is inclined slightly from the vertical direction to the opening direction, the longitudinal end surface 2a of the joint 2 comes into contact with the bottom surface 4a of the joint storage portion 4. At this time, the weight of the lid 5 is equal to the bottom surface 4a of the joint storage portion 4.
As a result, the lid 5 is stabilized in an upright state. Since the lid 5 can be stabilized in the upright state, it is not necessary to hold the lid 5 with one hand when placing a document on the document table 12.

The structure in which the cover 5 is moved in parallel with the base 13 The rotating shaft 8 can reciprocate in the bearing groove 3.
By lifting the lid 5 as shown in FIG. 1B, the lid 5 can be moved in parallel with respect to the base 13. As described above, since the lid 5 can be moved in parallel, it is possible to effectively block light entering the inside of the case from the outside when reading a thick original such as a book. Further, as described above, the planes 8a, 8c
As long as is not parallel to the bearing groove 3, even if the lid 5 is lifted upward, the lid 5 does not come off the base 13.

Structure in which the lid 5 is removed from the base 13 As shown in FIG. 1D, when the lid 5 is turned upright and upright, the flat surfaces 8a and 8c of the rotary shaft 8 are brought into contact with the bearing groove 3.
Therefore, the rotating shaft 8 can be pulled upward from the bearing groove 3. Since the lid 5 can be detached from the base 13 in this manner, a document larger than the upper surface of the base 13 can be read without bending. In addition, since the curved surfaces 8b and 8d are formed on the rotating shaft 8, it is easy to allow the rotating shaft 8 to pass through the convex portions 11.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows a flatbed scanner having a lid connecting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in Parts substantially the same as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

The bearing groove 2 is formed on the side of the case 20 of the base 13.
1 is formed. The end of the bearing groove 21 is formed in an arc shape. The bearing groove 21 is formed integrally when the case 20 is molded. The joints 2 are provided on the outermost part of the lid part 5 so as to be separated from each other.

Structure for Rotating Lid 5 When no external force is applied to the lid 5, the rotating shaft 8 is in contact with the curved side wall 21 a of the bearing groove 21 due to the weight of the lid 5. When the non-joint side of the lid main body 6 is lifted, the rotating shaft 8 and the side wall 21a slide, and the lid 5 rotates about the rotating shaft 8 as an axis. Since the side wall 21a is curved in an arc shape, the lid 5 rotates smoothly.

Structure for Stabilizing the Lid 5 When the Lid 5 is rotated and the Lid 5 is inclined slightly from the vertical direction to the open direction, the Lid main body 6 is attached to the side of the case 20 as shown in FIG. Are in contact with each other, and the lid 5 is stabilized in an upright state. Since the lid 5 can be stabilized in the upright state, it is not necessary to hold the lid 5 with one hand when placing a document on the document table 12.

As described above, according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the structure for locking the lid 5 to the base 13, the structure for rotating the lid 5, and the structure for raising the lid 5 The joint 2 formed integrally with the lid main body 6 has a structure for stabilizing in a state, a structure for moving the lid 5 in parallel with the base 13, and a structure for removing the lid 5 from the base 13.
And the rotating shaft portion 8, the bearing grooves 3, 21 formed integrally with the cases 14, 20, the convex portion 11, and the joint housing portion 4. Therefore, the configuration of these structures is simple. Therefore, it can be manufactured with high durability and low manufacturing cost.

Although the above embodiment has been described based on a flatbed type scanner, the present invention can be applied to any apparatus having a detachable rotating lid, such as a small desktop copy machine. The effect can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of a flatbed scanner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the flatbed scanner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a lid of the flatbed scanner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a base of the flatbed type scanner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a joint storage section of the flatbed scanner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a flatbed scanner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating a flatbed scanner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional flatbed scanner.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flatbed type scanner (flatbed type image reading apparatus) 2 Joint 3 Bearing groove 4 Joint storage part 4a Bottom surface (support part) of joint storage part 5 Lid part 6 Lid body 8 Rotation shaft part 11 Convex part 12 Platen ( Transparent member) 13 base

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A lid coupling device comprising: a base; and a lid rotatably supported on the base and detachable from the base, wherein the lid is formed on a first end surface of the base and the first end surface. A bearing groove having one end opened at a second end face adjacent to the bearing, a protrusion formed on a side wall of the bearing groove, a joint extending from the lid, and protruding from the joint and rotatable into the bearing groove. A rotating shaft portion that is housed and locked to the convex portion. 2. The rotating shaft portion is a columnar body, and includes two flat surfaces which are parallel to each other and have an interval smaller than a groove width of the bearing groove in the convex portion, and two curved surfaces which are opposed to each other and are curved outward. The lid coupling device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between two virtual planes that are in contact with the two curved surfaces and are parallel to each other is larger than a groove width of the bearing groove in the projection. 3. An end of the joint has a semi-disc shape, and the base has a joint accommodating portion that communicates with the bearing groove so as to rotatably house the joint and that the end of the joint is in sliding contact with. 3. The lid connecting device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The joint housing portion is open from the upper surface to the side surface of the base portion, and has a support portion that can abut on a longitudinal end surface of the joint and supports the lid portion in a substantially upright state. 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device has a lid. 5. The lid coupling device according to claim 1, wherein the bearing groove accommodates the rotary shaft so as to be reciprocally movable. 6. A flat-bed image reading apparatus using the lid coupling device according to claim 1, wherein the base has a transparent member on an upper surface, and a light source and a light source inside. An image reading apparatus, comprising: a light receiving element; irradiating the original placed on the transparent member with light from the light source; and photoelectrically converting the reflected light by the light receiving element to output image data.