Abstract:
An image reading apparatus having an optical system that moves via coated wires wherein the twisting or crisscrossing of the electric wires upon electrically connecting the optical system to the apparatus can be effectively prevented. To this end, an image reading apparatus reads the image of an original document through exposure scanning using the optical system mounted on a first carrier and a second carrier. Feeding cables with one end connected to a lamp of the first carrier and the other end connected to a regulator and a cable accommodating member that displaceably holds a portion of the feeding cables and is capable of sliding in the direction of an external force applied to the feeding cables are provided.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for reading the image of an original document through exposure scanning using an optical system provided with a moving carrier, and an imaging apparatus provided with said image reading apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Many copying machines, facsimiles, scanners, and the like, are provided with a so-called carriage moving type image reading apparatus, which reads the image of an original document through exposure scanning by moving the carrier back and forth along the original document, the carrier accommodating a portion of the optical system. In the image reading apparatus of this type, the optical system is provided with a plurality of mirrors for emitting the reflected light from a lamp, which is the light source, or from the original document to an image sensor device such as a CCD. A feeding cable is connected to the lamp so that it can be lit, and the lamp is mounted on the carrier and moves along with the carrier. In such a structure, flexibility and durability are demanded in the feeding cable. 
     In response to this requirement, for example, in JP2588605B, a feeding cable implementing a printed circuit board that consists of a flexible sheet with a conductive pattern printed on its one side is proposed. However, since the sheet is an insulator, this structure will be quite costly. Also, since the sheet has to be printed before being affixed, the manufacturing process of the cable will be complicated, further raising costs. Additionally, a protective member is implemented around the outer side of the printed circuit board. This protective member has the effect of strengthening the printed circuit board; however, this also raises the cost in the manufacturing process. Also, in JP2000-32235A, an electric wire is used as the connection cable of the mobile image sensor device, and an electric wire supporting member that is formed into a post capable of being elastically deformed supports this electric wire. 
     In the latter invention, an electric wire is used, thereby enabling the production of the electric supply cable at a low cost. In this structure the external forces applied to the cable are absorbed through deformation of the post of the electric wire supporting member; however, this post may break in due time after repeated use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been developed in response to the above-described problems of the prior art, and its object is to provide an image reading apparatus having an optical system that moves by means of a conventional coated electric wire wherein the twisting or crisscrossing of the electric wire upon electrically connecting the optical system to the apparatus can be effectively prevented. 
     Also, another object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus implementing an image reading apparatus having an optical system that moves and is provided power by means of a conventional coated electric wire wherein the twisting or crisscrossing of the electric wires upon electrically connecting the optical system to the apparatus can be effectively prevented. 
     To this end, the present invention first of all provides an image reading apparatus that reads the image of an original document through exposure scanning of the document using a movable optical system, the apparatus having a feeding cable with one end connected to a carrier of the optical system and the other end connected to a fixed member of the body of the apparatus; and a cable accommodating member that displaceably holds a portion of said feeding cable and is capable of sliding in response to an external force applied to said feeding cable. 
     Preferably, in the above image reading apparatus, the cable accommodating member is elastically deformed upon sliding in response to the external force, and is provided with an elastic piece that resets the cable accommodating member back to its original position upon the release of the external force. 
     Also, in the above image reading apparatus, the cable accommodating member is preferably provided with a regulating guide portion that regulates the sliding direction of the cable accommodating member affected by the elastic piece. 
     Additionally, in the above image reading apparatus, an upper portion of the cable accommodating member may be provided with a cover portion that can be opened and closed, wherein the upper portion and the cover portion hold the feeding cable in place. 
     Further, the above-mentioned regulating guide portion of the image reading apparatus may comprise a protruding guide portion protruding downward from the bottom surface of the cable accommodating member, wherein the cable accommodating member is supported by a support portion; and a guiding trench formed in the support member to receive the protruding guide member. 
     Secondly, the present invention provides an imaging apparatus comprising an image reading apparatus that reads the image of an original document through exposure scanning of said document using a movable optical system, provided with a feeding cable with one end connected to a carrier of the optical system and the other end connected to a fixed member of the body of the apparatus, and a cable accommodating member that displaceably holds a portion of said feeding cable and is capable of sliding in response to an external force applied to said feeding cables; and image reproduction means for reproducing an image based on the image information obtained by the image reading process of said image reading apparatus. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for illustrating the overall structure of the apparatus, wherein a portion of the wall of the apparatus is intentionally removed in order to show its internal structure; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cable accommodating member of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is the perspective view of the cable accommodating member of FIG. 2 wherein a part of the elastic piece is removed; and, 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of an engaging member for engaging the cable accommodating member. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following, a description of the embodiments of the present invention is given with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for illustrating the overall structure of the apparatus. In this drawing, a portion of the wall of the apparatus is intentionally removed in order to show the internal structure of the apparatus. As shown, the image reading apparatus comprises a first carrier  1  that accommodates a lamp  2 , which is the light source, and a first mirror  3 ; a second mirror  5 ; a third mirror  6 ; a rotating member  8  consisting of a pulley or the like for guiding feeding cables  10  whose one end is connected to the lamp  2 ; a sustaining member  7  for supporting the rotating member  8 ; and a second carrier  4  accommodating a guiding member  9 , which guides the feeding cables  10 . The first carrier  1  is sustained so as to be able to move along a first rail  12 , and the second carrier  4  is sustained so as to be able to move along a second rail  11 , which is located below the first rail  12 . The other ends of the feeding cables  10  are connected to a regulator  13  via a cable accommodating member  17 , which will be described in detail later on. Also,  14  represents a condenser lens, and  15  represents a CCD substrate, which is the imaging sensor device. 
     The original document from which an image is read is placed on top of a document setting platform (not shown) made of a transparent plate glass and implemented on the upper side of the apparatus. The document is irradiated by the lamp  2 , after which the light reflected by the first mirror  3 , the second mirror  5 , and the third mirror  6 , is condensed by lens  14  and then imaged onto the CCD substrate  15 . The ratio of the moving speed of the first carrier  1  to the second carrier  4  is 2:1 as in the conventional image reading device, and the carriers scan the entire document while maintaining the light path at a fixed length. 
     In the following, a description of the cable accommodating member  17  accommodating the feeding cable is given with reference to FIGS. 2 through 4. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cable accommodating member  17  by itself; FIG. 3 is the perspective view of the cable accommodating member  17  of FIG. 2 wherein a part of the elastic piece  20  is removed; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of an engaging member for engaging the cable accommodating member  17  to the apparatus. The cable accommodating member  17  is made of synthetic resin that is capable of electric insulation, and comprises a base portion  32  having lower trenches  31  formed on its top surface for holding a plurality of feeding cables  10  in place, a cover portion  33  for fixing the feeding cables  10  by covering the base portion from the top, a protruding guide portion  21  protruding downward from the bottom surface of the base portion  32 , and an elastic piece  20  located on the side of the base portion  32  that is perpendicular to the extending direction of the lower trenches  31 . One side of the cover portion  33  is connected to a side of the base portion  32  that is parallel to the extending direction of the lower trenches  31 , and the connecting portion is made thin so as to allow elastic bending therein. On the lower (inner) surface of the cover portion  33 , upper trenches  34  that correspond to the lower trenches  31  of the base portion  32  are formed, and the feeding cables  10  are held in place by these lower trenches  31  and upper trenches  34 . On the free side of the cover portion  33 , a hook portion  35  is formed, and this hook portion  35  can be snapped onto a locking trench  36 , which is formed on the side of the base portion  32  opposite the connecting portion of the cover portion  33  to the base portion  32 . Thus, these two portions are latched together, fixing the positions of the feeding cables  10 . Also, the cover portion  33  can be opened by unlatching the hook portion  35  from the locking trench portion  36 . 
     The protruding guide portion  21  protruding from the bottom surface of the base portion  32  is provided with a locking portion  21   b  that extends parallel to the base portion and is distanced apart from the base portion by a support  21   a . The support  21   a  and the locking portion  21   b  both extend along the extending direction of the trenches  31 . The support  21   a  is inserted through a long guiding hole  22 , which extends in the extending direction of the feeding cable  10  and is formed in the engaging portion  18  of the main body of the apparatus. The locking portion  21   b  comes into contact with the areas of the bottom surface of the engaging member  18  surrounding the long guiding hole  22  so that the cable accommodating member  17  will not be separated from the main body of the apparatus. The length of the long guiding hole  22  is arranged to be longer than the length of the support  21   a ; thus, the cable accommodating member  17  is able to move within the long guiding hole  22 . At the end portion of the long guiding hole  22  extending towards the rotating member  8 , a square hole  22   a  is formed so that the locking portion  21   b  can go through the hole. Thus, the locking portion  21   b  is inserted into the square hole  22   a , and the cable accommodating member  17  can slide along the length of the long guiding hole  22  at the engaging member  18 . It should be noted that the long guiding hole  22  and the square hole  22   a  can be implemented on the second rail  11  as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The elastic piece  20  is U-shaped, and one of its ends is fixed at a side of the base portion  32  that is perpendicular to the extending direction of the lower trenches  31 . The U-shape portion is arranged to protrude downward and the other free end  20   a  of the elastic piece  20  can touch the other fixed end through elastic deformation upon being pressured (when a force is applied pushing free end  20   a  toward the base portion  32 ). The cable accommodating member  17  is engaged with the engaging member  18  by having the elastic piece  20  inserted into the square hole  22   a  with the free end  20   a  being elastically pressed to touch the fixed end of the elastic piece  20 . Thus, when the pressure is released, the free end  20   a  is elastically latched onto the edge of the square hole  22   a  opposite the long guiding hole  22 . 
     Wing member  37  is placed on top of the upper surface of the engaging member  18  upon the engagement of the cable accommodating member  17  to the engaging member  18 , and this wing member  37  has a long screw hole  37   a  extending in the moving direction of the cable accommodating member  17 . A screw (not shown) is inserted into this long screw hole  37   a , and this screw is screwed into a screw hole  18   a  formed at the engaging member  18 . In this way, the cable accommodating member  17  can be prevented from being disengaged from the square hole  22   a  when it is inadvertently pushed towards the rotating member  8 . 
     By engaging the cable accommodating member  17  having the above-described structure into the square hole  22   a  with the free end  20   a  of the elastic piece  20  being pressed to the other end and releasing the pressure afterwards as described above, the free end  20   a  will be elastically latched to the edge of the square hole  22   a  opposite the long guiding hole  22  and the cable accommodating member  17  will slide towards the regulator  13  via the long guiding hole  22 . The locking portion  21   b  of the protruding guide portion  21  touches the bottom surface of the engaging portion  18 , thus preventing the cable accommodating member  17  from being disengaged. Then the hook portion  35  of the cover portion is unlatched from the locking trench  36  of the base portion  32 , and the cover portion can be opened. The feeding cables  10  are placed into the lower trenches  31  of the base portion  32 , and the cover portion  33  can be closed. Thus, the feeding cable  10  is fixed by the cable accommodating member  17 . This process of placing the feeding cables  10  in the cable accommodating member  17  can also be performed before engaging the cable accommodating member  17  to the engaging member  18 . Upon implementing the feeding cables  10  to the cable accommodating member  17 , the twisting or crisscrossing of the feeding cables  10  caused by the turning of the cable accommodating member  17  can be prevented and the loosened cables can be re-straightened by the protruding guide portion  21  moving along the long guiding hole  22 , thus enabling an effective implementation process of the feeding cables  10 . When the feeding cables  10  are loosened during operation, the cable accommodating member  17  can move smoothly in the direction towards the rotating member  8  in proportion to the degree of the loosening, working against the elastic force of the elastic piece  20 . 
     The imaging apparatus performs image reproduction by means of a publicly-known image reproduction method based on the image information obtained from the image reading process of the image reading apparatus having the above-described composition. For the image reproduction method itself, a publicly-known method such-as the electrophotography or ink jet method is used, and the image reproduction is performed based on the image output signals from the image processing apparatus, which performs image processing based on the image information obtained at the above-described image reading apparatus. 
     According to the present invention as described above, a cable accommodating member that displaceably holds a portion of the feeding cables and can slide in the direction of the external force applied to the feeding cables is provided. Also, upon implementing the feeding cable for a movable optical system, an engaging portion that is to be the cable accommodating base is provided in the middle of the feeding cable. Thus, the implementing procedures as well as the positioning (shape) of the feeding cable can be improved. Further, when an external force is applied to the cable, the cable accommodating member slides in the direction of the external force, thereby preventing the twisting or crisscrossing of the feeding cable.