Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7362477?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2015-04-26 02:33:46
Document Index: 551046402

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n5', 'Application No. 7', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 170', 'art 107', 'art 12', 'art 160', 'art 12', 'art 170', 'art 107', 'art 170', 'art 12', 'art 160', 'art 107', 'art 12', 'art 160', 'art 107', 'art 107', 'art 12', 'art 14', 'art 12', 'art 14', 'art 160', 'art 107', 'art 160', 'art 12', 'art 12']

Patent US7362477 - Image reader - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus and for reading an image on a medium, includes an interface connectible to and disconnectible from the electronic apparatus a housing having an image-reading surface that faces the medium,...http://www.google.com/patents/US7362477?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7362477 - Image readerAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7362477 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/445,023Publication dateApr 22, 2008Filing dateMay 27, 2003Priority dateMay 31, 2002Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS20030231355Publication number10445023, 445023, US 7362477 B2, US 7362477B2, US-B2-7362477, US7362477 B2, US7362477B2InventorsYoshiro Ishikawa, Hirotaka Chiba, Tsugio NodaOriginal AssigneeFujitsu LimitedExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (5), Classifications (27), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetImage reader
US 7362477 B2Abstract
1. An image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus and for reading an image on a medium, said image reader comprising:
an interface connectible to and disconnectible from the electronic apparatus;
a housing having an image-reading surface that is to face the medium;
a medium detecting part, provided on the image-reading surface, for detecting the medium;
an image reading part, provided on the image-reading surface and driven based on a detection result by said medium detecting part, for reading the image on the medium; and
a reinforcing member detachably provided between said housing and the electronic apparatus, and made of an elastic material.
4. An image reader according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first base for forming said interface; and
a second base, fixed perpendicular to said first base, for forming said image reading part.
5. An image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus and for reading an image on a medium, said image reader comprising:
a plurality of reinforcing members to be detachably provided between said housing and the electronic apparatus and made of an elastic material, each reinforcing member having a different width in a direction from said housing to the electronic apparatus, wherein one of said plurality of reinforcing members which fits an interval between said housing and the electronic apparatus being selected and inserted between said housing and the electronic apparatus.
6. An image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus and for reading an image on a medium, said image reader comprising:
an image reading part, provided on the image-reading surface and driven based on a detecting result by said medium detecting part, for reading the image on the medium;
a pair of main rollers rotatably provided on side surfaces perpendicular to the image-reading surface on said housing; and
an auxiliary roller attached to said image-reading surface.
8. An image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus and for reading an image on a medium, said image reader comprising:
a medium detecting part, provided on the image-reading surface, for detecting the medium; and
an image reading part, provided on the image-reading surface and driven based on a detection result by said medium detecting part, for reading the image on the medium
wherein said image reading part includes a read window formed on the image-reading surface extending in a longitudinal direction of the image-reading surface, and
wherein said image reader further comprises:
a pair of main rollers rotatably provided in said housing; and
a projection member, provided on the image-reading surface, for correcting distortion of the medium, said projection member inclining in a forward read direction of the image.
9. An image reader, detachably attached to an electronic apparatus, for functionally expanding the electronic apparatus by providing the electronic apparatus with an image reading function, and for reading an image on a medium, said image reader comprising:
an image reading part, provided on the image-reading surface, for reading the image on the medium;
a pair of main rollers rotatably provided on a pair of side surfaces perpendicular to the image-reading surface on said housing; and
a shaft, provided in said housing, for connecting said pair of main rollers,
wherein said shaft perforates the image reading part.
The present invention relates generally to electronic apparatuses, and more particularly an electronic peripheral. The present invention is suitable, for example, for an image pick-up device for functionally expanding a portable information terminal, such as a personal digital assistant (�PDA�).
Scanners as a device for reading an image on a medium have conventionally been widely known, and miniature scanners have been proposed suitable for portability. A portable scanner, different from other peripherals, such as a digital camera, requires a user to move the scanner on the medium, and thus is demanded to provide good operability, e.g., smooth scan movements and easy read control operations. Known portable scanners include one connected to a personal computer (referred to as a �PC� hereinafter) through a cable and a stand-alone type that has a memory to store an image in the device.
Accordingly, the instant inventors have addressed a small and portable information terminal that has functions similar to the PC. The recent development of electronic apparatuses, such as a PDA, has promoted smaller, lower profile and lighter miniature and portable information terminals, such as a PDA, to enhance its portability. In addition, a method for functionally expanding a portable terminal in accordance with users'preferences by providing the portable terminal with a compact flash (�CF�) (card) slot and PC (card) slot so as to make the portable terminal multifunctional. When the scanner part is connected to the PDA through an interface such as a CF slot, the console part, memory, and indicator on the PDA may become available and the power may become supplied from the PDA. The cable may be omitted by using the CF card, and the obtained image may be confirmed as image data on site. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-283910 discloses an image reader including a PC card and a scanner.
As shown in FIG. 5, the shaft 114 perforates a perforation hole 179 in a unit housing 170 a in the image reading part 170. If the shaft 114 does not perforates the housing 170 a in the image reading part 170 and located on the housing 170 a, the diameter of the roller and thus the image reader 100 become larger in the height direction HD. As a result, a position of the center of gravity becomes higher, lowering the stability of the scan movement. In addition, such a structure enlarges the moving distance per one roller rotation and requires a high-resolution rotary encoder for detecting the moving distance of the roller.
Therefore, the instant embodiment solves these problems by enabling the shaft 114 to perforate the perforation hole 179 in the image reading part 170. This structure may miniaturize a structure that arranges the roller and shaft while avoiding the image reading part 170. The shaft 114 in this embodiment has the same uniform diameter along its span. In assembling the shaft 114 inside the image reading part 170, it is conceivable to provide stages for correcting positional offsets of the rollers 112. Since the image reading part 170 is unitized, the control board 106 for the image reading part 170 should be disassembled once and then reassembled. However, this would cause the image reading part 170 to break and deteriorate its performance and it is preferable to avoid disassembly of the image reading part 170. The shaft 140 having the same diameter over its span would prevent the image reading part 170 from being disassembled since the shaft 114 may be inserted into the housing 170 a from its side surface.
Each main roller 112 has a plurality of projections 112 a at the side of the housing 101, as shown in FIG. 8. Here, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the main rollers 112. The shaft with the same diameter over its span cannot fix a position of the main roller 112 using bearings on the shaft. With the large tolerance and the large clearance among components, the roller 112 becomes rickety. The strict size enough to make small the clearance would increase cost, while the smooth rotation of the rollers 112 deteriorate due to friction resulting from a contact between the rollers 112 and housing 101. Accordingly, the instant embodiment provides a plurality of projections 112 a on a surface of the main roller 112, and lowers the friction even when there is a contact between the main roller 112 and the housing 101 because the contact becomes point contacts. In addition, the clearance may be made small even in the design.
The image reading part 170 is provided inside the housing 101, which is an image sensor unit for reading an image on the medium through the read window shown in FIG. 3. The image reading part 170 includes, as shown in FIG. 5, a light source 172, a lens 174, and a sensor chip 176, and is protected by the transparent protective cover 177. Here, FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the housing 101 showing the structure of the image reading part 170. As shown in FIG. 5, the light source 172, lens 174, and sensor chip 176 are unitized in the housing 170 a. In addition, the housing 170 a includes the perforation hole 179 for the shaft 114, as described above.
The perforation hole 179 is provided at the side of the board 106 in the housing 170 a, which is a groove-shaped housing component that does not cause the molding manufacture complex. Since it uses a dead space above the light source or light guide member 172, it does not shield an optical path in the optical system. A unit of the housing 172 a may be assembled and inspected as a single member without assembling the shaft 114 by the same procedure as a type that does not perforate the shaft. The size of the component usually has tolerance to account for the manufacture error, but the assembly conceivably creates an aperture that causes the roller 112 to be rickety in the longitudinal direction LD. In order to prevent this, a shaft often includes steps at a bearing portion in the roller 112 to position the roller 112 relative to the housing 101. However, the step would require the board 106 to be removed and assembled, and the image reading part 170 is required to be inspected and adjusted. The structure of this embodiment improves the operability by eliminating the re-inspection and readjustment of the image reading part 170.
A description will now be given of the operation of the image reader 100. The control part 107 determines whether the console part 12 on the PDA 10 has been operated or the medium detecting part 160 has detected the medium. The operation of the console part 12 is an activation for setting the image reading part 170 to a readable state. The control part 107 does not run the image reading part 170 until it determines that the console part 12 on the PDA 10 has been operated or the medium detecting part 160 has detected the medium. When the control part 107 determines that the console part 12 on the PDA 10 has been operated or the medium detecting part 160 has detected the medium, the control part 107 runs the image reading part 107 after designating (or setting up) the number of lines in the image data to be read. Here, the number of lines means the number of lines in the scan or read direction R of the image reader 100 on the paper, and a readable area by the image reader 100 corresponds to the number of lines multiplied with a width in the longitudinal direction of the image read window 101 b. The former case would be implemented in a PDA of such a device type that arranges the console part 12 above the display part 14 or in the PDA that arranges the console part 12 under the display part 14 but is low. The latter case is implemented when the medium detection signal or ON signal is transmitted from the medium detecting part 160 to the control part 107. The instant embodiment thus enables the image reading part to be set to an automatic readable state as a result of a detection of the medium by the medium detecting part 160, and the user thus does not have to operate the console part 12 and feels improved operability when the holding part at which the user holds the PDA 10 and the image reader 100 shown in FIG. 2 is apart from the console part 12.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5963343 *Feb 20, 1997Oct 5, 1999Nec CorporationScannerUS6744537 *Jul 9, 1999Jun 1, 2004Fujitsu LimitedImage readerUS6886749 *Apr 21, 2003May 3, 2005Fujitsu LimitedImage reading apparatusUS6965862 *Apr 11, 2002Nov 15, 2005Carroll King SchullerReading machineUS6978939 *Mar 19, 2003Dec 27, 2005Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.Portable imaging device accessory for a personal data assistantUS7133168 *Dec 12, 2002Nov 7, 2006Xerox CorporationPortable coilable electronic apparatus and methodUS20020193141 *Jun 18, 2001Dec 19, 2002Yaz-Tzung WuBracket for a personal digital assistant with the function of a digital cameraUS20020196477 *Jun 21, 2001Dec 26, 2002Michael ChenScanner with wireless connectionsUS20030151780 *Feb 8, 2002Aug 14, 2003Chung-Hua TsaiAssembly of portable scanning device and PDAUS20050111056 *Jan 9, 2004May 26, 2005Fujitsu LimtedImage readerUS20060284987 *Jun 17, 2005Dec 21, 2006Wolf Erich W IiPDA compatible text scannerJPH0353760A Title not availableJPH05130321A Title not availableJPH06111061A Title not availableJPH07283910A Title not availableJPH10283910A Title not available* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8284989 *Aug 17, 2005Oct 9, 2012Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.Method for locating an object associated with a device to be controlled and a method for controlling the deviceUS8488211 *Nov 7, 2007Jul 16, 2013Colin Mark RuskinDevice, system and method for portable data scanning and transmissionUS8559069 *Sep 22, 2011Oct 15, 2013Avision Inc.Sheet-fed scanner with linking memberUS20100091341 *Nov 7, 2007Apr 15, 2010Colin Mark RuskinDevice, system and method for portable data scanning and transmissionUS20120081764 *Sep 22, 2011Apr 5, 2012Shu-Wei HoSheet-fed scanner with linking member* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification358/473, 358/483, 358/442, 358/474International ClassificationH04N1/00, H04N1/107, G06T1/00, H04N1/04, H04N5/225Cooperative ClassificationH04N2201/0051, H04N1/107, H04N1/00687, H04N1/00541, H04N1/00681, H04N1/00204, H04N1/00782, H04N2201/04731, H04N1/00734, H04N1/00538European ClassificationH04N1/00G5E4, H04N1/00G2B, H04N1/00G3C, H04N1/00E3B, H04N1/00E3, H04N1/00G, H04N1/00C3, H04N1/107Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionSep 14, 2011FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Sep 30, 2008CCCertificate of correctionMay 27, 2003ASAssignmentOwner name: FUJITSU LIMITED, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ISHIKAWA, YOSHIRO;CHIBA, HIROTAKA;NODA, TSUGIO;REEL/FRAME:014114/0650;SIGNING DATES FROM 20030207 TO 20030511RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services