Patent ID: 7342694

Claim:
An image reading device for reacting an image of a document while conveying said document, said image reading device comprising: a reading member configured to read the image of the document; a path member positioned downstream of said reading member in a direction of a document conveyance such that the document moving away from said reading member is conveyed along said path member; a pair of rollers positioned on said path member and configured to nip and convey the document and having a nip positioned above a top of said reading member; and an auxiliary sheet member positioned on said path member between said reading member and said pair of rollers for conveying the document to said nip; wherein one end of said auxiliary sheet member is affixed to said path member and is adjacent to said reading member at a position lower than a top of said reading member while the other end of said auxiliary sheet member is held in contact with part of said pair of roller around the nip; wherein when said pair of rollers comprise a plurality of pairs of rollers arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the direction of document conveyance, said auxiliary sheet member is associated with at least one of said plurality of pairs of rollers located at a center of a maximum document width that can be dealt with by said device.