JP2860907B2 - Image reading device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, and more particularly to an image reading apparatus capable of easily reading image information on both sides of a document.

(Prior Art) There has been proposed an electronic file device in which title data is added to a blank portion of a manuscript by printing or handwriting, and is automatically registered together with image information (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-137661). Gazette). However, the margin of the surface on which the image of the document is recorded is a limited space, so that much image information cannot be added.

Therefore, if the back side of the document is blank,
It can be used for an image to be added. However, in this case, it is necessary to read the image information on the front and back of the document.

An apparatus for reading image information on both sides is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-269853. here,
After reading the image information on the front surface, the document is mechanically turned over and the image information on the back surface is read.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the present invention, images of a document having image information on both sides can be read simultaneously or separately by one operation. It is an object to provide an image reading device capable of recording an image on a back surface.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, an image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a separation feeding unit that separates and feeds a plurality of documents one by one, and transports the document to a reading position. Image information reading means provided on both front and back sides of a scanned document, and when the document has image information on both front and back sides, the image information is simultaneously or once read by the two sets of image information reading means. In the image reading device that is read separately by the operation of
A printing unit is provided between the separation feeding unit and the reading position.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, when a document has image information on both sides, the image information can be read simultaneously by two sets of image information reading means or separately by one operation. Further, for a document having a blank back surface, necessary additional image information can be recorded on the back surface by a printing unit.

(Example) Hereinafter, an Example is described in detail with reference to drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Although a drive unit and an external input unit of each mechanism, and electric circuit units such as an interface and a control system are naturally provided, they are not shown in the drawings.

The main components are a document separating / feeding unit, a document conveying unit, a printing unit, an optical reading unit disposed on the front side of the document in the reading unit, an optical reading unit disposed on the back side of the document in the reading unit, and the like. It is.

First, in the document separating and feeding means, reference numeral 1 denotes a document table on which a plurality of documents D are set in an overlapping manner. Here, the original is set with its front side (the side having image information) facing down. Reference numeral 2 denotes an extraction roller, reference numeral 3 denotes a feed roller, and reference numeral 4 denotes a friction roller. The extraction roller 2 feeds the document D to the position of the feed roller 3. Feed roller 3
Cooperates with the friction roller 4 to separate and supply originals one by one.

As the document conveying means, conveying rollers 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b
Are arranged, and the separated and fed document is sent to the reading unit, and the read document is discharged to the discharge tray 13. Also,
Reverse the original if necessary.

Reference numerals 7a and 7b denote transparent contact glasses arranged at the reading position, between which a document is conveyed. 8a, 8b are lamps for illuminating the original surface, 9a, 10a and 9b, 10b are mirrors for guiding reflected light or transmitted light from the original surface, 11a, 11b are lenses, 12a, 1
2b is a CCD. Here, the reference numeral a denotes the first optical reading means arranged on the front side of the original in the reading unit, and the reference numeral b denotes the first optical reading unit disposed on the back side of the original in the reading unit. A second optical reading means.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a printer as a printing unit, which records desired image information on the back side of a blank white page of a document.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The document D set on the document table 1 is fed by a pull-out roller 2 and separated and supplied one by one by cooperation of a feed roller 3 and a friction roller 4. The original is transported to the reading position between the contact glasses 7a and 7b by the transport rollers 5a and 5b,
Is read by the optical reading means. That is, the lamp 8a
Illuminates the surface, and its reflected light, including image information,
Light is guided by the mirrors 9a and 10a, and an image is formed on the CCD 12a by the lens 11a, and is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal. This device is a digital image reading device, in which image reading is performed by scanning in the main and sub-directions.
The sub-scan is performed by moving the original. The read original D 'is discharged to the tray 13 by the transport rollers 6a and 6b.

Here, when the document has image information on both sides, the front side is read by the first reading unit and the back side is read by the second reading unit. However, the apparatus has a memory sufficient to store the page image information. If there is, the reading can be performed simultaneously by the first and second reading means and the data can be stored. If the memory capacity is small, first, the image information on one side is read by one of the reading means, and is fed back from the position D 'to the position D "by the conveying rollers 6a and 6b before being discharged to the outside. In the case of this reverse feeding, do not enter the conveyance path leading to the separation feeding means.When the document is fed back to the position of D ", the leading end of the document is disengaged from the conveying rollers 5a and 5b. Then, the image is sent in the forward direction and the image information on the other surface is read by the other reading means. The document read on both sides is discharged to the tray 13.

When reading a single-leaf original, the original may be inserted from the original platen 1. However, the original is preferably inserted from the position of D ″ because the number of passing roller rows is small and the transport path is straight. When the document is inserted from the document table 1, the friction roller 4 exerts a force in the direction of stopping the feed with respect to the feed of the feed roller 3, and an unnecessary external force is applied to the document. When the original is made of, for example, a film, it is easily damaged.

For a document having image information only on the front side and a blank back side, desired image information can be recorded and added by the printer 14 on the back side. For example, in facsimile transmission, in addition to the original information to be transmitted, when the destination is output to the other party, conventionally, the information described on a separate sheet is attached to the original and transmitted, but in this embodiment, If the destination is printed, read, and transmitted on the back side of the document, no extra paper is required and one operation is required. The printed one can also be checked later. The same is true for filing input.

The printing information is input from an external input, for example, a word processor.
Alternatively, input from an operation board is also possible, and alphanumeric information from an external input keyboard can be printed and converted to image information by reading means, and notified to a receiving side or a host. . Of course, by connecting the OCR means, it is possible to convert not only image data but also code data. In addition, since the printer 14 is disposed after the separating unit, when a double feed of originals occurs, the original is printed on the uppermost sheet, so that it can be confirmed later.

The use of blank paper on the back side of the document allows recording more additional information than using the margins on the front side having image information, and also has the advantage that the original information and the additional information can be clearly distinguished. is there.

When the original is made of a translucent film or the like, if the reflected light is used to illuminate the original, the attenuation is increased and information cannot be accurately extracted. Therefore, a means for arbitrarily selecting a lamp is provided so as to use transmitted light (not shown). That is, when an image is read by the first reading unit, the light is transmitted using the lamp of the second reading unit.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, (1) image information of a document on both front and back sides can be read simultaneously or by one operation, and a complicated mechanism such as a document reversing mechanism is required. No mechanism or transport path is required.

(2) Since reflected light or transmitted light can be arbitrarily selected as light for illuminating the original according to the type of the original,
The level of information to be taken out can be increased and read accurately.

(3) For an original with a blank back surface, the necessary additional image information can be recorded by the printing means on the back surface, and it is used for printing destinations and filing titles in facsimile transmission and other various functions. can do.

(4) By providing a transport path different from the transport path for separation and feeding, it is possible to protect the passing of the original and the single-leaf original during reverse transport.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. 1. Document table, 3. Feed roller, 4. Friction roller, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b Transport roller, 7a, 7b Contact glass, 8a, 8b Lamp for document illumination, 9a , 9b, 10a, 10b
…… Mirror, 11a, 11b …… Lens, 12a, 12b …… CCD, 13
… Discharge tray, 14… printer, D… original.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An image information reading means provided on both sides of a document conveyed to a reading position; ,
When an original has image information on both sides, in the image reading apparatus in which the image information is read simultaneously by the two sets of image information reading means or separately by one operation, a separation feeding means and a reading position An image reading device comprising a printing means between the image reading device and the image reading device. 2. An image forming apparatus comprising: a separation feeding unit for separating a plurality of originals one by one and feeding the originals; and image information reading units disposed on both front and back sides of the original conveyed to a reading position. ,
When an original has image information on both front and back sides, an image reading apparatus for reading the image information simultaneously or separately by one operation by the two sets of image information reading means, An image reading apparatus, comprising: means for arbitrarily selecting the light of the illumination means on either side as the light, and illuminating with the transmitted light when the original is made of a translucent film. 3. An image forming apparatus comprising: a separating and feeding unit for separating and feeding a plurality of originals one by one; and image information reading units disposed on both front and back sides of the original conveyed to a reading position. ,
When the document has image information on both sides, the image information is read by the two sets of image information reading means simultaneously or separately by one operation. Is a transport path different from the transport path leading to the separation and feeding means, and through which a single-leaf original can be directly inserted from the outside, through which a document which is reversely fed when separately reading in one operation is traced An image reading apparatus comprising: