JPH05273668A - Reflecting mirror cleaning device for original scanning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to enable cleaning of a reflecting mirror without increasing the size and complexity of the apparatus, and to perform an operation for copying and a recording paper used for copying. An object of the present invention is to obtain a document scanning device equipped with a reflecting mirror cleaning device having a structure capable of reducing waste. [Structure] The present invention relates to reflectors 1A and 1A of a reflector block 1.
The cleaning member 2 is fixed to the wire 5 having the expanding portion at a position facing B, one end of the wire 5 fixing the cleaning member 2 in the expanding direction is coupled to the elastic body 6, and the other end is formed in the image forming apparatus. When the solenoid 8 is excited, it is provided so as to be disengageable with respect to the rotating claw member 7, and when the solenoid 8 is excited, the claw member 7 is connected to the wire to restrain the end portion of the claw member 7 and The cleaning member 2 is slid in association with the movement of the mirror block 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mirror cleaning device for a document scanning device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer which executes electrophotographic image formation, scanning light from an original is introduced into a photosensitive member or an image forming element through a reflecting mirror and a lens. It has become so.
By the way, in the above-described document scanning system, if the reflecting mirror is contaminated due to continuous use, for example, the generation of an abnormal image such as a part of the document image formed on the photosensitive member is lost or the image is not printed. The sharpness may be reduced. Therefore,
In order to clean the reflecting mirror, a device having a structure in which the cleaning member is slid on the reflecting mirror surface in conjunction with the movement of a zoom lens equipped in the scanning optical system (for example, JP-A-64-7978).
No. 2), or a device for sliding a cleaning member on a mirror surface by providing a knob for sliding the cleaning member and sliding the knob with a lever that can be operated from the outside of the copying machine (for example, (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-86661), or a device in which a brush rotating on a mirror surface is provided and the brush is rotated by a drive motor provided at a position different from the reflecting mirror (for example, 62-30
No. 230), or a cleaning member capable of reciprocating on a reflecting mirror surface, and a reciprocating motion of the cleaning member is performed by a driving source driven in conjunction with opening and closing of the device frame (for example, actual opening). Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-137967) has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in such a reflecting mirror cleaning device, the process for cleaning is set in advance, and a drive source for this purpose is prepared in the cleaning process, so that copying is performed. Not only is the procedure in the process complicated, but the size of the device cannot be denied. Moreover, since there is no way to know whether the actual dirt on the mirror surface is properly removed after the sliding or rotating operation of the cleaning member is performed, it is necessary to inspect the copied image after cleaning. Since it can be determined that the cleaning has not been performed completely, there is a possibility that an operation for copying will be extra, or that the recording paper used for copying will be wasted.

Therefore, in view of the problems in the above-described conventional document scanning apparatus, particularly, the cleaning apparatus for the reflecting mirror used in this apparatus, an object of the present invention is to prevent the apparatus from becoming too large and complicated. Another object of the present invention is to obtain a reflecting mirror cleaning device of a document scanning device having a structure that enables cleaning of the above-mentioned documents and reduces waste of recording paper used for copying and copying.

[0005]

To achieve this object, the present invention is directed to an original scanning apparatus provided with an optical system in which a reflecting mirror is arranged in the optical path of the reflected light from the original. A pulley that is provided in a reciprocating reflector block and that is arranged at both ends of the reflector in the longitudinal direction; The wire fixed to the fixed elastic member, the cleaning member fixed to a position corresponding to the mirror surface of the reflecting mirror in the expanded portion of the wire, and the wire wound around the other side of the pulley. An engaging member provided at the other end of the claw member, a claw member having one end portion displaceable in a direction in which the claw member can be engaged and disengaged, and an actuator pivotally attached to the other end of the claw member. Have And a solenoid, the solenoid is characterized energized engaging the pawl member and the engagement member when in a state position in which said reflector block is moved.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a white cleaning state detecting member which is arranged at a stationary portion on the upstream side of the original scanning start position in the forward direction of the reflecting mirror block, and the cleaning state detecting member is inspected. An illumination source for irradiating light and an optical sensor for receiving light reflected from the cleaning state detecting member are provided, and when the reflecting mirror block reaches the original scanning start position, cleaning is performed by the reflected light from the cleaning state detecting member. It is characterized by determining the state.

[0007]

According to the present invention, when the reflecting mirror block starts moving, the solenoid is excited in accordance with the change of the position of the pulley arranged in the reflecting mirror block, so that the wire becomes elastic. The cleaning member slides on the mirror surface of the reflecting mirror in accordance with the displacement position of the pulley that is pulled against the bias of the body.

Further, according to the present invention, the cleaning state of the reflecting mirror is detected by the optical sensor before the reflecting mirror block reaches the scanning start position for the original.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a reflecting mirror cleaning device of an original scanning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the reflecting mirror block 1 supporting the reflecting mirror used in the original scanning device is not shown. The support structure allows the document to reciprocate in the scanning direction. And
As shown in FIG. 1, reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B for switching optical paths are fixed to the reflecting mirror block 1 in an expanded state, and a cleaning member 2 is in contact with the surface of the reflecting mirror. There is. The cleaning member 2 is pressed against the reflecting mirror surface by being given a divergence habit by a mechanism (not shown), and can slide along the longitudinal direction of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B in FIG. Therefore, for this reason, the reflecting mirror block 1 is provided with a structure for sliding the cleaning member 2. That is, this structure is composed of a pair of pulleys 3, 4 provided on the reflecting mirror block 1, a wire 5, an elastic body 6, a claw member 7 and a solenoid 8, and among these members, the pulley 3, Numeral 4 is rotatably supported at both longitudinal ends of the reflector block 1. The wire 5 is wound around each of the pulleys 3 and 4, and the above-mentioned cleaning member 2 is fixed to a stretched portion that extends to a position facing the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B. The wire 5 has one end in the extending direction connected to one end in the lead direction of a coil spring 6 that constitutes an elastic body. Coil spring 6
Has a habit of pulling the wire 5 by fixing the other end in the lead direction to the reflector block 1, and
As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning member 2 is positioned at one end of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B in the longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, a ring member 5A is attached to the other end of the wire 5 in the extending direction.
A can be engaged with the claw member 7 by driving a solenoid 8 described later. The claw member 7 is rotatably provided by a support shaft provided in an immovable portion of the document scanning apparatus main body, one end sandwiching the support shaft is opposed to the ring member 5A, and the other end is a solenoid. 8 actuators 8A. This claw member 7
The spring 7A (see FIG. 2), which is hooked on the end portion on the side opposite to the ring member 5A, is set as a normal position so as to be deviated from the ring member 5A. The solenoid 8 is set so as not to retract the actuator 9A when it is de-energized. When energized, the solenoid 9 retracts the actuator 9A into the main body to rotate the pawl member 7 counterclockwise in FIG. Is becoming Therefore, when the pawl member 7 rotates counterclockwise, one end thereof engages with the ring member 5A. The excitation timing of the solenoid 8 is assumed to be when the main power source of the image forming apparatus is turned on. In this case, the claw member 7 engages with the ring member 5A, so that the wire 5 is extended in the extending direction. The other end will be restrained.

In order to always engage the above-mentioned ring member 5A and the claw member 7 at a constant position, for example, the other end of the wire 5 connected to the ring member 5A in the extending direction is connected to a pipe (not shown) or the like. The ring member 5A is inserted through the ring member 5A so that the ring member 5A is urged against the pipe by the extension tension of the wire 5 by the coil spring 6.
The positional relationship between the claw member 7 and the claw member 7 is set. Since the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, when the solenoid 8 corresponding to the normal position is not excited, the claw member 7 and the ring member 5A are not engaged with each other.
The wire 5 is positioned at one end in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B by the behavior of the coil spring 6 connected to one end in the extending direction.

On the other hand, when the main power source of the image forming apparatus is turned on and started, the solenoid 8 is excited and the claw member 7 is rotated counterclockwise. The claw member 7 is the ring member 5
The other end of the wire 5 in the extending direction is restrained through the engagement with A. Therefore, as the reflecting mirror block 1 starts to move in the scanning direction of the original, the supporting positions of the pulleys 3 and 4 provided on the reflecting mirror block 1 are also displaced, so that the wire 5 whose other end in the extending direction is restrained. Is extended toward the other end of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B in the longitudinal direction by extending the coil spring 6, and the cleaning member 2 fixed to the stretched portion of the wire 5 slides on the mirror surfaces of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B. .. When the cleaning member 2 slides, the reflecting mirror block 1 is moved to the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1A.
This is performed until the distance corresponding to the length of B in the longitudinal direction is moved, and when the distance is reached, the solenoid 8 is returned to the normal position. Therefore, the wire 5 is pulled by the coil spring 6 and returns the cleaning member 2 to one end in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B.

According to the present embodiment, the cleaning member is automatically placed on the mirror surface in accordance with the movement of the reflecting mirror block only by setting the position where the cleaning can be started when the main power source of the image forming apparatus is turned on. Since it can be slid in, there is no need for a special drive source for sliding.

Next, a reflecting mirror cleaning device of a document scanning device according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is characterized by having a structure for confirming the cleaning effect due to the sliding of the cleaning member. That is, in FIG. 3, the lower surface of the document table 10 is located on the downstream side of the forward movement start position in the forward movement direction (the direction of the arrow in the drawing) of the reflecting mirror block 1 having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Cleaning state detection member 11 composed of a white plate member
Is fixed. Further, in the document scanning system including the reflector block 1, an optical sensor 13 for receiving the reflected light from the reflector block 1 is arranged in addition to the optical lens 12 into which the reflected light from the reflector block 1 is introduced. Has been done.
This optical sensor 13 includes the reflector 1 of the reflector block 1.
This is used to determine that the cleaning of the reflecting mirrors 1A and 1B is being performed well when the reflected light from A and 1B is received and the amount of light is within a prescribed amount. A light amount detection signal is output to the control unit 14 that operates. The control unit 14 is mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and when the output signal from the above-mentioned optical sensor 13 is input, the control unit 14 relates to cleaning of the reflecting mirror in accordance with the output signal, and Even when the forward movement operation and the excitation / non-excitation state of the solenoid 8 are set and the reflecting mirror is cleaned by this setting, the cleaning of the reflecting mirror is still insufficient due to the signal from the optical sensor 13. In this case, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the reflecting mirror or the optical scanning system. Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, for example, the procedure based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is executed. That is, the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is set, for example, as a part of the initialization process in the entire copying process when the image forming apparatus is started, and when the image forming apparatus is started, illumination of the original scanning system is performed. Light source 15 (Fig. 3
(Refer to FIG. 3) to introduce the reflected light from the cleaning state detecting member 11 into the optical sensor 13 from the reflecting mirror of the reflecting mirror block 1. Then, it is determined whether or not the light amount detection signal from the optical sensor 13 is a specified value.
The document scanning system including the reflecting mirror block 1 is driven to move the reflecting mirror block 1, and the solenoid 8 is excited at this time. In this case, the control unit 14 is configured to cause the document scanning system to reciprocate a predetermined number of times, and this number of times is counted by a counter provided in the control unit 14. Therefore, the cleaning member 2 slides on the mirror surface at the start of the forward movement of the reflecting mirror block 1, and repeats the cleaning of the mirror surface according to the reciprocating movement of the reflecting mirror block 1.

On the other hand, when the reciprocating movement of the reflecting mirror block 1 is repeated a predetermined number of times, the illumination light source 15 is turned on again and the light quantity is detected by the optical sensor 13. In this detection, the output signal from the optical sensor 13 is still present. Does not correspond to a predetermined light amount, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the cleaning member 2 or the scanning optical system, and a warning is issued.

According to this embodiment, since the cleaning state can be confirmed at the time of cleaning, it is possible to avoid wasteful consumption of recording paper and execution of copying process.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cleaning member which is slidable on the reflecting mirror surface of the reflecting mirror block is provided, and the cleaning member is slid according to the movement of the reflecting mirror block. Since it is configured, it is not necessary to provide a special drive source for sliding the cleaning member on the mirror surface. Therefore,
It becomes possible to clean the reflecting mirror with a simple structure that uses the existing structure.

Further, according to the present invention, since the cleaning state of the cleaning member can be confirmed by the document scanning system, it is not necessary to make a copy for confirmation.
Therefore, it is possible to increase the time and effort for copying by executing the copying process separately from the original copying process and to suppress wasteful consumption of recording paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a reflecting mirror cleaning device of a document scanning device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a layout view of a reflecting mirror cleaning device of a document scanning device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the main part configuration shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reflector block 1A, 1B Reflector 2 Cleaning member 3, 4 Pulley 5 Wire 6 Coil spring 7 which is an elastic member 8 Ring member 8 Claw member 9 Solenoid 10 Original platen 11 Cleaning state detection member 13 Optical sensor 14 Control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A document scanning apparatus including an optical system in which a reflecting mirror is arranged in an optical path of reflected light from a document, the reflector being provided in a reflecting block which can reciprocate in a scanning direction of the document. Pulleys disposed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the wire, wires hung on the pulleys, and one end diverting from the one pulley is fixed to an elastic member whose one end is fixed to the reflecting mirror block, A cleaning member fixed at a position corresponding to the mirror surface of the reflecting mirror in the wire extension portion; an engagement member provided at the other end of the wire wound around the other end of the pulley; A claw member having one end that is displaceable in a direction in which it can be engaged with and disengaged from the mating member; and a solenoid having an actuator pivotally attached to the other end of the claw member. Reflector cleaning device of the document scanning apparatus according to claim energized engaging the pawl member and the engagement member when the mirror block is state position to move. 2. A reflecting mirror cleaning device for a document scanning device according to claim 1, wherein a white cleaning state detecting member is arranged at a stationary portion upstream of a document scanning start position in the forward movement direction of the reflecting mirror block. And a light source for irradiating the cleaning state detecting member with inspection light and an optical sensor for receiving the light reflected from the cleaning state detecting member, at the time when the reflecting mirror block reaches the original scanning start position. And a reflecting mirror cleaning device of a document scanning device for discriminating the cleaning state by the reflected light from the cleaning state detecting member.