Patent ID: 7914002

Claim:
An image reading apparatus comprising: an apparatus body including a contact glass serving as a document read surface; and an automatic document feeder for automatically feeding a document to said contact glass, said automatic document feeder including: a first carrying mechanism for feeding a document toward said contact glass; a document leading mechanism for leading up the document after passing above said contact glass; a second carrying mechanism for carrying the document led by said document leading mechanism, in a downstream direction; and a housing equipped with said first carrying mechanism, said document leading mechanism and said second carrying mechanism, and the housing being movably mounted on the apparatus body so that the housing is adapted to be selectively opened and closed relative to said contact glass, wherein the housing has a rectangular shape having a front end and a rear end spaced apart along a longitudinal direction, and is swingably moved about a pivot axis at the rear end, the pivot axis extending in a direction parallel to a transport direction of the document, and a position of the housing is changeable between a closed position where the document read surface is covered and an opened position where the front end is lifted upward by a swinging movement about the pivot axis, and wherein the apparatus body includes a guide plate disposed downstream of the contact glass for guiding a document after passing above said contact glass to said document leading mechanism, said document leading mechanism of the automatic document feeder includes a movable member disposed downstream of the contact glass and a plurality of pivot members disposed in the housing downstream of the contact glass, the movable member includes a plurality of supported portions disposed side by side in forward and rearward directions of the housing, the pivot members are disposed respectively corresponding to the supported portions, the pivot members swingably support the supported portions independently of each other, and the movable member has a first inclined surface which extends obliquely downward in such a manner as to direct a distal edge thereof toward said contact glass, the guide plate of the apparatus body includes a second inclined surface that extends obliquely downward toward said contact glass, the guide plate further including a first flat plate extending in a downstream direction from a lower height position relative to a downstream edge of the second inclined surface, and disposed to be contacted by the distal edge of the first inclined surface when the housing is in a closed position relative to the contact glass of the apparatus body so that the first inclined surface of the movable member continues downstream of the second inclined surface of the guide plate of the apparatus body when the distal edge of the first inclined surface is in contact with the first flat plate of the guide plate.