Illumination apparatus, image reading apparatus, and image forming apparatus
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorSasuke Endoh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An illumination apparatus includes a light source that generates light used for reading an image and a light guide body which extends in a predetermined direction and onto which the light from the light source is incident. The light guide body includes a pair of first faces that reflect the light so as to cause the light to direct to an image reading region from directions different from one another, a second face which emits the light directing from the first faces toward the image reading region and onto which the light reflected from the image reading region is incident, and a third face which emits the light that is incident from the second face and passes between the pair of first faces.
Claims20
An illumination apparatus comprising:
- a light source that generates light used for reading an image;
- and
- a light guide body which extends in a predetermined direction, onto which the light from the light source is incident, and which includes a pair of first faces, a second face and a third face, the first faces that reflect the light so as to cause the light to direct to an image reading region from directions different from one another, the second face which emits the light directed from the first faces toward the image reading region and onto which the light reflected from the image reading region is incident, and the third face which emits the light that is incident from the second face and passes between the pair of first faces.
An image reading apparatus comprising:
- an illumination apparatus including a light source that generates light used for reading an image, and a light guide body which extends in a predetermined direction, onto which the light from the light source is incident, and which includes a pair of first faces, a second face and a third face, the first faces that reflect the light so as to cause the light to direct to an image reading region from directions different from one another, the second face which emits the light directed from the first faces toward the image reading region and onto which the light reflected from the image reading region is incident, and the third face which emits the light that is incident from the second face and passes between the pair of first faces;
- an image sensor that receives the light emitted from the third face of the illumination apparatus and performs photoelectric conversion on the light;
- and
- an optical system that images the light emitted from the third face on the image sensor.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image reading apparatus including an illumination apparatus, an image sensor and an optical system, the illumination apparatus which includes a light source that generates light used for reading an image, and a light guide body which extends in a predetermined direction, onto which the light from the light source is incident, and has a pair of first faces, a second face and a third face, the first faces that reflect the light so as to cause the light to direct to an image reading region from directions different from one another, the second face which emits the light directed from the first faces toward the image reading region and onto which the light reflected from the image reading region is incident, and the third face which emits the light that is incident from the second face and passes between the pair of first faces, the image sensor that receives the light emitted from the third face of the illumination apparatus and performs photoelectric conversion on the light, and an optical system that images the light emitted from the third face on the image sensor;
- and
- an image forming unit that forms the image on a sheet on the basis of image data that is obtained by the image reading apparatus.
An image reading method comprising:
- generating light used for reading an image;
- causing the light to be incident onto a light guide body that extends in a predetermined direction;
- reflecting the light toward an image reading region from directions different from one another using a pair of first faces of the light guide body;
- causing illumination lights directed toward the image reading region from the first faces to be emitted and causing the light reflected from the image reading region to be incident using a second face of the light guide body;
- causing the light incident from the second face to pass between the pair of first faces so as to be emitted from a third face of the light guide body;
- and
- causing the light emitted from the third face to reach an image sensor so as to generate a signal corresponding to the image reading region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.