Patent ID: 7019873

Claim:
An image reading apparatus having a mode for reading an image on a still document and a reading mode for reading an image on a moving document, comprising; a first reading station having a first platen glass to support a still document for reading an image of the still document, a second reading station having a second platen glass situated adjacent to the first platen glass for reading one surface of the moving document, and first guide member facing the second platen glass, a third reading station situated slightly away from the second platen glass and having a contact glass for reading the other surface of the moving document situated at a side opposite to the second reading station and formed integrally with the first guide member as one unit, and a second guide member adjacent to the second platen glass to face the contact glass, said first platen glass, second platen glass and second guide member being arranged linearly in a horizontal direction in this order on a same plane such that document guide surfaces thereof have same heights, and said second platen glass and said second guide member form a continuous flat document guide, supporting means for swingingly supporting said first guide member and said contact glass, a supply tray situated above the first platen glass to stack the document, a discharge tray for storing the document that have been read, a transport path to guide the document on the supply tray from a portion between the first and second platen glasses to the second platen glass and the second guide member in this order in a direction opposite to the first platen glass, first reading means configured to move between the first platen glass and the second platen glass adjacent thereto, said first reading means being moved to read the image of the still document on the first platen glass and immovably disposed to read an image of the one surface of the moving document moving on the second platen glass at the second reading station, and second reading means for reading the other surface of the document passing through the contact glass at the third reading station, wherein said second platen glass and said contact glass are formed in positions such that the document is simultaneously read by the first reading means and the second reading means.