Patent ID: 7872783

Claim:
An image reading apparatus comprising: a feeding unit arranged at a first side of the image reading apparatus; a primary stacking unit arranged at a second side of the image reading apparatus; a conveying unit that conveys a medium over a conveying path including a bend section, the conveying unit conveying the medium in a first conveying direction from the feeding unit to the primary stacking unit in a first conveying mode and conveying the medium in a second conveying direction opposite to the first conveying direction in a second conveying mode; a reading unit that is arranged along the conveying path between the bend section and the primary stacking unit, and reads an image from the medium; a driving unit that drives the conveying unit into either one of the first conveying mode and the second conveying mode; a secondary stacking unit that receives the medium fed one by one from the primary stacking unit in the second conveying mode; a switching unit that switches the conveying path between a first conveying path for conveying the medium in the first conveying direction through the bend section and a second conveying path for conveying the medium in the second conveying direction from the primary stacking unit to the secondary stacking unit by bypassing the bend section, the switching unit including: a guide member that makes contact with the medium and guides the medium; a shaft that supports the guide member such that the guide member is swingable between a first position for the first conveying mode and a second position for the second conveying mode; and an arm that is arranged on one end of the shaft; and a transmitting unit that transmits a driving force of the driving unit to the switching unit, the transmitting unit including: an eccentric cam that is arranged to abut against the arm, and rotates in a first direction to move the guide member from the first position to the second position; a clutch that transmits to the eccentric cam, torque generated by the driving unit in the second conveying mode and stops transmitting the torque when a predetermined load acts on the clutch; and an urging unit that urges the eccentric cam in second a direction opposite to the first direction, wherein the switching unit switches the conveying path between the first conveying path and the second conveying path by the driving force.