Patent ID: 8508812

Claim:
An image reading apparatus, comprising: a conveying path that conveys a reading medium having thereon an image to be read; a light source that irradiates light toward the conveying path, and irradiates the light toward the reading medium when the reading medium is conveyed; an image sensor that picks up an image on the reading medium based on reflected light of the light by the reading medium; and a light guiding unit that is provided on an opposite side to the light source with respect to the conveying path, the light guiding unit including a reflecting unit that reflects a part of the light irradiated from the light source to guide the part of the light directly to the image sensor when the reading medium is not conveyed to the light guiding unit, and a shielding unit provided between the reflecting unit and the image sensor in a direction orthogonal to the reading medium to reduce disturbance light incident to the image sensor, among the light irradiated from the light source and light having transmitted through the reading medium, when the reading medium is fed to the image sensor.