# US 2019/0174020 A1 · Image sensor unit, image reading device, and image forming device

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- Number: US 2019/0174020 A1
- Document ID: US20190174020A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/199,511
- Filed: 2018-11-26
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-12-05
- Assignees: Konica Minolta, Inc.
- Applicants: Konica Minolta, Inc.
- Inventors: Hiroshi UGA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190174020A1

## CPC

- H04N 1/02885: {Means for compensating spatially uneven illumination, e.g. an aperture arrangement}
- G02B 6/0085: {Means for removing heat created by the light source from the package}
- G02B 6/0096: {the lights guides being of the hollow type}
- H04N 1/02835: {in combination with a light guide, e.g. optical fibre, glass plate (light-guides per se G02B6/00)}
- H04N 1/0318: {Integral pick-up heads, i.e. self-contained heads whose basic elements are a light-source, a lens array and a photodetector array which are supported by a single-piece frame}
- G02B 6/0038: {Linear indentations or grooves, e.g. arc-shaped grooves or meandering grooves, extending over the full length or width of the light guide}
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

An image sensor unit includes: a light source that illuminates a document; a rod-shaped light guide including a reflection surface that reflects light from the light source and an emission surface provided on a side opposite to the reflection surface that emits light reflected by the reflection surface to the document; a thermal conductor provided so as to cover the reflection surface of the light guide; an image forming element that forms an image of reflected light from the document on a photoelectric conversion element; a sensor substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is mounted; and a frame including a locator for mounting the light guide.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An image sensor unit comprising:
a light source that illuminates a document;
a rod-shaped light guide including a reflection surface that reflects light from the light source and an emission surface provided on a side opposite to the reflection surface that emits light reflected by the reflection surface to the document;
a thermal conductor provided so as to cover the reflection surface of the light guide;
an image forming element that forms an image of reflected light from the document on a photoelectric conversion element;
a sensor substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is mounted; and
a frame including a locator for mounting the light guide.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The image sensor unit according to claim 1, comprising:
a plurality of support members mounted on the locator in a state of supporting the light guide,
wherein the plurality of support members supports at least both ends and a central part of the light guide.

### Claim 3

An image reading device comprising:
an image sensor unit that reads a document,
the image sensor unit including:
a light source that illuminates a document;
a rod-shaped light guide including a reflection surface that reflects light from the light source and an emission surface provided on a side opposite to the reflection surface that emits light reflected by the reflection surface to the document;
a thermal conductor provided so as to cover the reflection surface of the light guide;
an image forming element that forms an image of reflected light from the document on a photoelectric conversion element;
a sensor substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is mounted; and
a frame including a locator for mounting the light guide,
the image reading device comprising:
a controller that performs shading correction on image data of the document read by the image sensor unit.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The image reading device according to claim 3,
wherein the controller includes:
an initial reference value storage that reads a surface of a reference member when the image sensor unit is mounted on an image reading device main body and generates and stores an initial reference value;
a primary shading value generator that corrects the initial reference value to generate a primary shading value; and
a secondary shading value generator that reads the surface of the reference member to obtain a time-course reference value before reading the image of the document by the image sensor unit, corrects the obtained time-course reference value using the primary shading value, and generates a secondary shading value, and
performs the shading correction on the image data of the document read by the image sensor unit using the secondary shading value.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The image reading device according to claim 4, comprising:
a state correction coefficient calculator that calculates a state correction coefficient for correcting the initial reference value,
wherein the primary shading value generator generates the primary shading value by correcting the initial reference value using a state correction coefficient calculated by the state correction coefficient calculator.

### Claim 6

An image forming device comprising:
an image reading device including an image sensor unit that reads a document; and
an image former that forms an image based on image data of a document read by the image reading device,
wherein the image sensor unit includes:
a light source that illuminates a document;
a rod-shaped light guide including a reflection surface that reflects light from the light source and an emission surface provided on a side opposite to the reflection surface that emits light reflected by the reflection surface to the document;
a thermal conductor provided so as to cover the reflection surface of the light guide;
an image forming element that forms an image of reflected light from the document on a photoelectric conversion element;
a sensor substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is mounted; and
a frame including a locator for mounting the light guide, and
the image reading device includes:
a controller that performs shading correction on the image data of the document read by the image sensor unit.