JP2000341484A - Device with scanner - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to make a scanner device detachably attachable to a base device. A base device having a part of a medium transport mechanism, a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device, having another portion of the medium transport mechanism and a reading unit, and the scanner device provided in the base device A scanner mounting portion for detachably mounting the scanner, and an engaging portion for the scanner mounting portion provided on the scanner device. The medium guide provided on the scanner device and the base device is opposed to each other, and the medium is pulled out. The media guide is arranged so as to gradually narrow toward the mouth, and at least one of the media guides is provided with a step so as to restrict the inflow of the media toward the media outlet in a stepwise manner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanner-equipped device in which a scanner device is detachably connected to a printer device or a base device such as a personal computer or word processor with a built-in printer so that the scanner device can be used as a handy scanner. . For example, in a device with a scanner in which a scanner device is combined with a printer device, the installation area can be reduced and the cost can be reduced as compared with a case where both an independent printer device and a scanner device are installed. The present invention provides a combined structure in which the scanner unit is configured to be used as a handy scanner in such a combined printer / scanner apparatus, further enhancing the usability of the scanner function, and is simple, easy to operate, and easy to maintain. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in data processing using a personal computer, the number of processes for handling images and graphics tends to increase significantly. At the same time, scanner devices for inputting images are rapidly spreading.

[0003] However, a personal computer system is composed of a main body, a display, a keyboard, a printer, and the like, and requires a considerable installation space. It is not difficult to struggle. In addition, although the price of the scanner device has been considerably reduced compared to the past, it is still a great burden at present.

Therefore, a printer with a scanner is mounted on a carriage of a printer device, and the image is read by using a paper transport mechanism of the printer device to feed an image document, thereby saving space and reducing cost. Various devices have been developed.

[0005]

In a conventional printer with a scanner function, a paper feeding mechanism is shared between the scanner function and the printer function, and both functions can be operated at the same time to operate in parallel. Did not. In some cases, the reading unit provided for the scanner function can be removed and used as a handy scanner. However, since there is no built-in drive mechanism, it can only be operated manually. On the other hand, in order to operate the handy scanner in a self-propelled manner, it is necessary to provide a dedicated drive mechanism for the handy scanner, but since the drive mechanism is not used when the handy scanner is attached to the printer device, Problems arose in terms of cost and hardware utilization.

According to the present invention, a printer device or a base device such as a personal computer or a word processor with a built-in printer and a scanner device can be used independently as an automatic paper feeding type device, and the scanner device can be removed to be used as a handy scanner. In this case, an object of the present invention is to provide an efficient mechanism that can operate as a self-propelled type.

[0007]

The present invention has the following arrangement. (1) An apparatus according to the present invention is provided in a base device having a part of a medium transport mechanism, a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device and having another part of the medium transport mechanism and a reading unit, and a base device. A scanner mounting portion for detachably mounting the scanner device, and an engaging portion for the scanner mounting portion provided on the scanner device, and a medium guide provided on the scanner device and the base device. Are arranged so as to gradually narrow toward the medium outlet, and at least one of the medium guides is provided with a step so as to restrict the flow of the medium toward the medium outlet in a stepwise manner. With. (2) The apparatus according to the present invention includes a base device having a part of a medium transport mechanism, a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device and having a reading unit with other portions of the medium transport mechanism, and a base device. A medium provided in the scanner device and the base device, the scanner device including a scanner mounting portion for detachably mounting the scanner device, and an engaging portion for the scanner mounting portion provided in the scanner device. It has a configuration in which it faces the guide and gradually narrows toward the medium outlet. (3) The scanner device of the present invention includes a base device and a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device. The base device includes at least a control unit, a part of a sheet transport mechanism, and the scanner device. A scanner mounting portion for detachably mounting the device, wherein the scanner device includes at least a reading unit, another portion of a paper transport mechanism,
An engagement portion for the scanner mounting portion; and a paper feeding portion formed so that two paper guides face each other and gradually narrow toward a paper drawing port, and at least one of the paper feeding portions is provided. The paper guide has a configuration in which a step is provided so as to restrict the inflow of paper toward the paper drawer in a stepwise manner.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a printer / scanner combined apparatus provided with a reading unit detachably mounted on a printer apparatus when the base apparatus is a printer apparatus as a scanner-equipped apparatus will be described below. In the apparatus of this embodiment, the scanner operates as an automatic paper feed type scanner when the reading unit is attached to the printer, and when the reading unit is detached from the printer, it operates as a self-propelled or manually operated scanner. Operates as a handy scanner.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of the printer / scanner composite apparatus. FIG. 1A shows a state in which a reading unit 1 is mounted on a printer apparatus 3 and can operate as an automatic paper feed type scanner apparatus. FIG. 1B shows a state in which the reading unit 1 is detached from the printer device 3 and is used as a handy scanner on the guide plate 2.

In FIG. 1A, most of the mechanisms of the printer device 3 are hidden behind because they are on the rear side, but the paper supplied from the printer paper feed unit 4 is not printed by a printing unit (not shown). , And is discharged from the printer paper discharge unit 5 in a vertical structure. The reading unit 1
A pick roller, a reading window, a feed roller, and the like are provided on the back surface (the lower surface when used as a handy scanner), and the paper (image document) supplied from the scanner paper feeding unit 6 is read by the reading unit 1. , And is discharged from the scanner paper discharge unit 7, and is configured in a vertical shape like the printer device 3. The scanner paper feeding unit 6
The L-shaped auxiliary guide 6a provided in the first embodiment can support a large-sized sheet with a simple structure.

In FIG. 1B, the reading unit 1
Is connected to the printer device 3 by a cable (not shown), and supplies power and transmits control signals and data. The guide plate 2 is made of a transparent acrylic plate or the like, and is usually used by placing it on a document. The reading unit 1 is adapted to fit exactly in the left and right guide frames of the guide plate 2, and can be self-propelled or manually operated.
The image is read by scanning the document by sliding inside. A reading position mark 1a is displayed on the side surface of the reading unit 1, and a reading area mark 1b is displayed on the front and rear surfaces. These marks are
In particular, when reading a document without a guide plate, it greatly helps the user to accurately position the reading unit 1 with respect to the reading range of the document.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the scanner device, and shows a sheet feeding mechanism by the reading unit 1. The paper transport path of the scanner device is formed between the relative surfaces between the printer device and the reading unit 1 when the reading unit 1 is mounted on the printer device. The reading unit 1 is provided with a pick roller 10 and a feed roller 11, each of which is driven to rotate by a drive motor 8 via a drive gear train 9. When the paper 12 is set, the pick roller 10
The sheets are separated one by one by the sheet separating member 13 and pulled out downward. The drawn-out sheet is first detected by the sheet detection sensor 14 to prepare for reading, and subsequently, when the sheet leading edge / back edge detecting sensor 15 detects the leading edge of the sheet, image reading is started. Thereafter, when the sheet leading / rear end detecting sensor 15 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the image reading is terminated. Feed roller 11 and driven roller 16
Scans the read sheet and feeds the sheet
Discharge to The scanner discharge section paper guide 17 can also be used as a cover of the printer paper discharge section 5 of the printer device 3 of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the attachment / detachment mechanism of the reading unit. 4 and 6, which will be described later, a fulcrum shaft groove 18a and a lock claw groove 20a are provided on both sides of the reading unit 1 so as to be detachably and firmly engaged and held with the printer device. , A shift stopper groove 21a, and a fulcrum shaft 18b, a lock claw 20b, and a shift stopper 21b which are engaged with these, are provided on the printer device 3 side.

The fulcrum shaft groove 18a is open at the bottom,
For this reason, the reading unit 1 can be easily rotated from the mounting state inclined to the right shown by the solid line to the left as shown by the arrow to be raised to the almost vertical state shown by the dotted line, and then lifted upward as shown by the arrow. Can be removed. When the reading unit 1 is mounted, the above operation may be reversed. When the reading unit 1 is mounted, the lock claw groove 20a and the lock claw 20b are engaged with each other, so that the rotation to the left is prevented unless a certain force is applied. Further, since the upward movement of the reading unit 1 in the mounted state is prevented by the engagement between the shift stopper groove 21a and the shift stopper 21b, the lock claw groove 20a and the lock claw 20b are prevented.
In combination with the engagement, the mounting state can be more firmly held. Further, a rotation stopper 19a is formed to protrude downward integrally with the fulcrum shaft groove 18a of the reading unit 1, and this is a rotation stopper groove 19b provided on the printer device 3 side when the reading unit 1 rotates to the left. To limit the rotation of the reading unit 1 within a certain angle, thereby preventing an accidental dropping accident due to careless operation.

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are a bottom view, a top view, and a perspective view of the reading unit 1, respectively. For example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a pick roller 22 is provided at the front center of the lower surface of the reading unit 1, and a pair of feed rollers 23 are provided at symmetrical positions on the left and right from the center behind the reading window 24. As shown partially in FIG. 5 and partially cut away, the pick roller 22 and the feed roller 23 are each driven to rotate by the drive motor 8 via the drive gear train 9, so that the reading unit 1
Is used as a handy scanner, it can self-propell by utilizing these rotational driving forces. Since the pick roller 22 is made of a relatively flexible material such as urethane, the pick roller 22 may sink in the reading unit due to its weight. The auxiliary wheel 22a is provided to avoid this, and has a function of supporting and running the reading unit 1 so that the pick roller 22 does not strongly hit the guide plate or the surface of the document. The auxiliary wheel 22a
As shown in the drawing, the auxiliary wheel 22a is provided outside the reading area so as not to damage the document surface.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an optical mechanism portion of the reading unit 1. There is a reading position in the reading window 24 in FIG. 4, and the light reflected from the reading original and incident therefrom is reflected a plurality of times by a plurality of mirrors and then reflected by a lens 25b.
And the light is received by the CCD 25c and converted into an electric signal.

In the printer / scanner combined apparatus, the printer and the scanner have separate paper transport paths. This is usually because blank sheets are set in the printer device, while various types of originals are set each time the scanner device needs it. This is because errors tend to occur. Further, for the same reason, it is desirable that the paper setting in the scanner device be easier than that in the printer device. Therefore, it is convenient to place the transport path of the scanner device forward.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining two paper transport paths of the printer / scanner multifunction apparatus shown in FIG. 1A configured as described above. In the printer device 3, the printing paper set in the printer paper feeding unit 4 is conveyed one by one along the arrow of the printing paper path 30 by automatic paper feeding, printed by the print head 28, and then printed by the printer paper discharging unit. Exhausted from 5 Also, in the scanner device portion where the reading unit 1 is mounted on the upper right of the figure, the read originals set in the scanner paper feeding unit 6 are fed to the reading unit 1 one by one by automatic feeding and read. Thereafter, the document is conveyed along the arrow of the read document path 31 and discharged from the printer cover / paper guide 29. As described above, the paper transport paths of the printer device and the scanner device are provided substantially in parallel.

Since the printer device and the scanner device are united in parallel without providing a gap between them, when the printing paper is set in the printer paper feeding unit 4, the front scanner paper feeding unit 6 It gets in the way and worsens workability. Therefore, the scanner paper feeding unit 6 is configured to be tilted forward to a certain angle. The printer cover / paper guide 29 serves as a cover for the printing mechanism of the printer device and also serves as a paper guide for discharging the read original of the scanner device. Similarly, it is configured so that it can be moved forward or removed.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding unit in the printer and the scanner. The two paper guides 32 and 33 are arranged so as to face each other in a wedge shape so as to gradually narrow toward the lower paper outlet 35. Even if a plurality of papers are set, the leading end automatically becomes a small number of papers. It is configured to be narrowed down. However, if the number of sheets set is large, a large pressure is generated in the vicinity of the sheet outlet 35 due to the weight of the sheets, so that jamming (jamming) of the sheets is likely to occur. For this reason, a step 34 is provided in the middle of the paper guide 32 to partially release the pressure at the leading end of the paper, thereby reducing the concentration of pressure on the paper outlet 35. For simplicity, only one step 34 is shown in the figure, but a plurality of steps may be provided, and the sheet guide 33 on the opposite side may be similarly provided. Further, the step portion 34 is provided with a gentle inclination such that the sheet can slide down toward the sheet outlet 35.

In the apparatus with a scanner according to the embodiment described above, the drive motor 8 and the feed roller 11 are provided in the reading unit 1 so as to be self-propelled as shown in FIG. 2, for example. If it is not necessary to perform the handy scanner operation 1 in a self-propelled manner, a driving mechanism may be provided on the base device side, and the reading unit 1 may be provided with a driven roller and an encoder for position detection. The size can be reduced.

Further, when the handy scanner slides on the guide plate, the cable is likely to hinder the operation. In order to prevent the cable from entering the guide plate, the cable attachment portions connecting the reading unit 1 and the printer device 3 are located at lower positions on the respective sides, and a cable clamp member for holding the cable on the guide plate is provided. It is good to attach.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a scanner device and a base device such as a printer device, a personal computer, and a word processor, which can operate independently with a small installation area, can be combined in a compact manner. In addition, the scanner device can be used as a self-propelled or manual type handy scanner with almost no additional mechanism, so that the usability and economy of the entire device can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printer / scanner multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the scanner device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an attachment / detachment mechanism of a reading unit.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the reading unit.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the reading unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a reading unit.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an optical mechanism of the reading unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a paper transport path.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: reading unit 1a: reading position mark 3: printer device 18a: fulcrum shaft groove 18b: fulcrum shaft 19a: rotation stopper 19b: rotation stopper groove 20a: lock claw groove 20b: lock claw 21a: displacement stopper groove 21b: displacement stopper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kunihiko Omi 98 Uno-Ki-nu, Unoki-cho, Hebei-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture Inside PFU Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Ishida 98 Uno-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture Address No. 2 PFU Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomohisa Sano 98 Uno-ki, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture 98-2 Inventor P-U Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Dai Oguki-nu 98, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture Address No. 2 PFU Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Taketoshi Sawada 98, Unoki-cho, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture Address 2 No. 2 Pfu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshiki Tsuchiyama Unoki-98, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa No. 2 PFU Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Kirita No. 98 Unoki Nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture No.2 PFU Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Yoshio 98, Unoki-Nu, Unoki-cho, Hebei-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture PF Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mitsugu Oue 4-1-1 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 1 Inside Fujitsu Limited

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A base device having a part of a medium transport mechanism, a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device, the scanner device having another part of the medium transport mechanism and a reading unit, provided on the base device. A scanner mounting portion for removably mounting the scanner device; and an engaging portion for the scanner mounting portion provided on the scanner device; and a medium guide provided on the scanner device and the base device. Facing each other and arranged so as to gradually narrow toward the media outlet, and that at least one of the media guides is provided with a step so as to restrict the inflow of the medium toward the media outlet in a stepwise manner. Characteristic device. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the scanner device functions as a handy scanner when detached from the base device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base device is an image forming device. 4. A base device having a part of a medium transport mechanism, a scanner device having a reading unit detachably attachable to the base device, and a scanner unit having a reading unit, provided on the base device. A scanner mounting portion for detachably mounting the scanner device; and a medium guide provided on the scanner device and the base device, the medium guide provided on the scanner device, the engaging portion being engaged with the scanner mounting portion. An apparatus characterized in that it is arranged to face each other and to become gradually narrower toward a medium outlet. 5. A base device and a scanner device detachably attachable to the base device, wherein the base device detachably attaches at least a control unit, a part of a sheet transport mechanism, and the scanner device. The scanner device includes at least a reading unit, another part of a paper transport mechanism, and an engaging part with the scanner mounting unit. A paper feeding section is formed so as to gradually become narrower toward the paper outlet, and at least one paper guide of the paper feeding section is configured to restrict the flow of paper toward the paper outlet in a stepwise manner. An apparatus with a scanner, wherein a step is provided.