JPH114327A - Image sensor driving device and image reading device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To move an image pickup element linearly and smoothly. SOLUTION: A solid-state image pickup element 12 of the driver converts an image of a formed original into an electric signal. Support means 5a, 5b support a solid-state image pickup element 12 on an optical path from an original. An actuator 17 displaces the solid-state image pickup element 12 by a prescribed amount. Elastic members 23, 24 are fitted respectively to both sides of the solid-state image pickup element 12 in a moving direction to be fixed to the support members 5a, 5b and deformed elastically attended with the movement of the solid-state image pickup element 12 by the actuator 17. Thus, the solid-state image pickup element 12 is moved linearly and smoothly without being affected by an external disturbance or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device driving apparatus used for an image reading apparatus such as a flat bed type image scanner and a digital copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image reading apparatuses have been used as information input devices for printers and computers. Recently, demands for higher resolution of the image reading apparatus have been increasing.

However, since an image pickup device having a high resolution and a large number of pixels is expensive, an image reading apparatus which displaces the image pickup device minutely and combines and reads information on a plurality of image forming positions is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-16762. Has been proposed.

[0004] An image pickup device driving device used in a conventional image reading device will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional image pickup device driving device. In the illustrated image sensor driving device, an image sensor 12 that converts an image of a formed document into an electric signal includes:
Both sides in the displacement direction are supported by two support members 13 and 14, respectively. On both sides of the image sensor 12 perpendicular to the direction of displacement, bar-shaped guide members 15 and 16 are provided to penetrate the respective support members 13 and 14, and the support member 1 is provided.
Reference numerals 3 and 14 are slidably attached to the guide members 15 and 16. Both ends of the two guide members 15 and 16 are fixed to holding members 5a and 5b, respectively, whereby the image sensor 12 is held on the optical path from the document.

[0006] The holding member 5a is provided with an actuator 17 for pushing the support member 13 to displace the image pickup device 12 along the guide members 15 and 16 by half the pixel size. Further, the holding member 5b is provided with a position detection sensor 18 for detecting the amount of displacement of the image sensor 12 displaced in this manner.

In the conventional image pickup device driving device having the above-described configuration, when reading an original with a higher image quality than the resolution of the image pickup device 12, the image pickup device 12 is moved by the actuator 17 to a range of 1/2 pixel size. To continuously vibrate and move the entirety in a fixed direction to scan the entire surface of the original. Then, the image data before and after the displacement of the image sensor 12 are combined and output as approximately twice as much image information.

[0008]

However, the configuration of the above-described conventional image reading apparatus has the following problems.

That is, when the image pickup device 12 is displaced for a long time, the support members 13 and 14 and the guide members 15 and 16 are displaced.
The problem is that the gap generated in the sliding portion between the image sensor and the image sensor expands due to wear, and the image sensor 12 is displaced two-dimensionally due to the scanning of the entire apparatus, thereby causing image disturbance.

Further, since the sliding portion is separated from the displacement force generating point, which is the mounting position of the actuator 17, the sliding resistance increases when dust enters the inside, and the image pickup device 12 is not displaced smoothly. Is a problem that occurs.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of linearly displacing an image pickup device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of smoothly displacing an image pickup device.

[0013]

In order to solve this problem, an image pickup device driving apparatus according to the present invention comprises an image pickup device for converting an image of a formed document into an electric signal, and an image pickup device on an optical path from the document. A holding member for holding the element, an actuator for displacing the image sensor by a predetermined amount, and elastic members attached to both ends of the image sensor in the direction of displacement to fix them to the holding member and to elastically deform with the displacement of the image sensor by the actuator The imaging device can be displaced linearly without being affected by disturbance or the like. Further, the imaging element can be smoothly displaced.

The elastic member of the image pickup device driving device can be constituted by an elastically deformable plate fixed to the holding member, and a supporting member fixed to the image pickup device. Here, if the plate-shaped deformed portion of the plate is configured to be separated into two, the displacement driving force by the actuator can be smaller, so that the displacement control of the image sensor can be performed with certainty. In addition, if the plate and the support member are integrally formed, it is not necessary to use a fastening member to fasten the two members afterwards, so that it is possible to avoid a defective assembly of the elastic member or loosening due to vibration.

Further, the image reading apparatus of the present invention employs such an image sensor driving apparatus, and can achieve high image quality of a synthesized image with high reliability.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to a first aspect of the present invention is directed to an image pickup device for converting an image of a formed document into an electric signal, and a holding member for holding the image pickup device on an optical path from the document. An image pickup device drive having an actuator for displacing the image pickup device by a predetermined amount, and an elastic member attached to each end of the image pickup device in the displacement direction and fixed to a holding member and elastically deformed in accordance with the displacement of the image pickup device by the actuator. This is an apparatus and has an effect that an image sensor can be displaced linearly and smoothly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the elastic member includes an elastically deformable plate fixed to the holding member, and a support member fixed to the image sensor. It is an imaging device driving device configured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device driving apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein at least one of the plates has a structure in which a plate-shaped deformed portion is separated into two. There is an effect that the displacement driving force of the actuator is smaller and the displacement control of the image sensor can be reliably performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device driving apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein the plate and the supporting member are integrally formed. Can be avoided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus using the image pickup device driving apparatus according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect of the present invention. This has the effect of improving the quality of an image.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In these drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an image reading apparatus using an image pickup device driving device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an image pickup device driving device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a displacement operation of the image sensor of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing image information synthesized by the image sensor.

In FIG. 1, a document glass 3 on which a document 2 is loaded is fitted on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1. A document pressing plate 4 is attached to the document glass 3 so as to be openable and closable in order to press the loaded document 2 against the document glass 3.

A carriage frame 5 is provided inside the apparatus main body 1 so as to be movable in the scanning direction of the original 2 shown by an arrow A. An illumination unit 6 for irradiating the original 2 is attached to an upper portion of the carriage frame 5. Reflection mirrors 7, 8, 9, and 10 are appropriately arranged on the optical path of the reflected light emitted from the illumination unit 6 and reflected by the document 2. Then, these reflection mirrors 7, 8, 9, 10
Thereby, the reflected light is guided to the imaging lens 11 which changes the magnification of the reflected light to a predetermined magnification.

Behind the optical path of the imaging lens 11, holding members 5a and 5b for holding an image pickup device (solid-state image pickup device) 12 for converting an image of the document 2 formed by the image formation lens 11 into an electric signal. Is provided.

FIG. 2 shows an image pickup device driving device.
The image pickup device 12 is displaced by の of the pixel size, and elastic members 23 and 24 elastically deformed in accordance with such displacement of the image pickup device 12 are provided at both ends in the displacement direction indicated by the arrow B. Are attached. And
The image pickup device 12 is fixed to the holding members 5a and 5b by the elastic members 23 and 24.

The elastic members 23 and 24 are provided with the holding members 5a and 5
b, elastically deformable plates 20 and 22 fixed to b.
It is composed of supporting members 19 and 21 fixed to the image pickup device 12, and the plate-shaped deformed portions of the plates 20 and 22 are separated into two and connected to the supporting members 19 and 21. Also,
The plates 20, 22 and the supporting members 19, 21 are integrally formed.

However, the elastic member may have various structures as long as it can be elastically deformed as a whole, and is not limited to the structure shown in the present embodiment. Further, even when the structure of the present embodiment is adopted, the plate 2
The deformed portions 0, 22 need not be separated. Further, the separation structure may be used for only one of the plates 20 and 22. And the plates 20 and 22 and the support members 19 and 21 may be separate bodies.

The holding member 5a is provided with an actuator 17 made of, for example, a piezoelectric element for pushing the elastic member 23 to displace the image pickup device 12 by a predetermined amount. The holding member 5b is provided with a position detection sensor 18 for detecting the amount of displacement of the image pickup device 12 displaced by the actuator 17.

An image reading operation in the image reading apparatus configured as described above will be described.

First, the case where the original 2 is read with the normal resolution of the image sensor 12 will be described.

When the original 2 supported on the original glass 3 by the original pressing plate 4 is irradiated with light from the illumination device 6, the reflected light is formed via the reflection mirrors 7, 8, 9 and 10. It is guided to the image lens 11. Then, after the magnification is changed to a predetermined magnification by the imaging lens 11, information of the document 2 is imaged on the image sensor 12.

When reading the entire original 2,
The carriage frame 5 is scanned in the direction of arrow A according to the length of the document 2.

It is to be noted that the original 2
Is read, the image sensor 12 itself is in a stationary state.

Next, a description will be given of an operation when the original 2 is read with a higher image quality than the resolution of the image sensor 12.

In this case, the imaging device 12 that receives the reflected light that has been scaled to a predetermined magnification by the imaging lens 11 is:
The actuator 17 continuously vibrates and displaces in the direction of arrow B shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 over a range of 1/2 pixel size. Therefore, at this time, the elastic member 2
The actuators 17 continuously vibrate the plates 3 and 24 in the direction of the thickness of the plates 20 and 22, which is the direction of displacement of the image sensor 12.

When the image sensor 12 is vibrating and displacing, the displacement is controlled so as to secure the displacement amount of the 1/2 pixel size according to the position information detected by the position detecting sensor 18.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the image data before and after the displacement of the image pickup device 12 is synthesized, and output to the outside as substantially doubled image information.

In this case, when reading the entire original 2 with high image quality, the carriage frame 5 is scanned in the direction of arrow A according to the length of the original 2.

As described above, according to the image pickup device driving apparatus of the present embodiment, the elastic members 20 and 22 are elastically deformed and the image pickup device 12 is displaced. The displacement operation is performed with high accuracy without being affected by disturbance or the like. Therefore, the image sensor 12 can be displaced linearly.

Further, since the image pickup device 12 is displaced at the point where the displacement force of the actuator 17 is generated, the image pickup device 12 can be displaced smoothly.

Further, the plate 2 of the elastic members 23 and 24
Since the deformed portions 0 and 22 are separated into two portions, the displacement driving force by the actuator 17 is smaller, and the displacement control of the image sensor 12 can be performed with certainty.

Then, the supporting members 19 and 21 and the plate 2
Since the two members 0 and 22 are integrally formed, it is not necessary to fasten the two members using a fastening member afterward, so that it is possible to avoid a defective assembly of the elastic members 23 and 24 and a looseness due to vibration.

Thus, according to the image reading apparatus using the image pickup device driving device of the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the quality of the synthesized image with high reliability.

[0045]

As described above, according to the image pickup device driving apparatus of the present invention, the elastic member is elastically deformed so that the image pickup device is displaced. There is obtained an effective effect that the image pickup device can be displaced linearly with high accuracy without receiving the image.

Further, since the image pickup device is displaced at the point where the displacement force of the actuator is generated, an effective effect that the image pickup device can be displaced smoothly can be obtained.

If the deformed portion of the plate of the elastic member is divided into two parts, the displacement driving force by the actuator is smaller, so that there is an effective effect that the displacement control of the image pickup device can be surely performed. can get.

As a result, an increase in weight due to an increase in the size of the actuator can be avoided. For example, a voice coil motor is used for the actuator in order to obtain a large displacement driving force. It is possible to prevent a problem that a displacement weight increases due to displacement with the image sensor and a normal displacement of the image sensor is disturbed by disturbance or the like.

If the support member and the plate are integrally formed, it is not necessary to fasten the two using a fastening member, so that the elastic member may be loosened due to defective assembly or vibration, and the parts may be dropped due to these. Can be avoided.

According to the image reading device of the present invention, since such an image pickup device driving device is used, it is possible to improve the quality of the synthesized image with high reliability. Effective effects can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image reading device using an image sensor driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an image sensor driving device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a displacement operation of the image sensor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing image information synthesized by the image sensor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional image pickup device driving device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5a holding member 5b holding member 12 solid-state imaging device (imaging device) 17 actuator 19 support member 20 plate 21 support member 22 plate 23 elastic member 24 elastic member

Claims (5)

[Claims] An image pickup device for converting an image of a formed document into an electric signal; a holding member for holding the image pickup device on an optical path from the document; an actuator for displacing the image pickup device by a predetermined amount; An image pickup device driving device, comprising: an elastic member attached to both ends of the image pickup device in a displacement direction, fixed to the holding member, and elastically deformed in accordance with the displacement of the image pickup device by the actuator. 2. The image pickup device driving device according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member comprises an elastically deformable plate fixed to said holding member, and a support member fixed to said image pickup device. . 3. An image sensor driving device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said plates has a plate-shaped deformed portion divided into two. 4. The image pickup device driving device according to claim 2, wherein said plate and said support member are integrally formed. 5. An image reading apparatus, wherein the image pickup device driving apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4 is used.