Image reading apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10404878-B2
Application number	US-201816049659-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2018
Priority date	Jul 31, 2017
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

An image reading apparatus includes a pair of first detection sections disposed between first positions for the feeding rollers and the separation rollers for nipping and second positions for the transport roller pair for nipping, and a pair of second detection sections disposed between the first detection sections and the second positions in the medium transport direction. The second detection sections are disposed between the first detection sections in the medium width direction, and a controller determines whether to stop transporting the medium or continue transporting the medium based on the results of detection by the first detection sections and the second detection sections.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image reading apparatus for reading media supported on a media mounter, the image reading apparatus comprising:
a feeding roller configured to feed in a first direction the media supported on the media mounter;
a separation roller configured to, with the feeding roller, nip and separate at a separation nip position a medium from the media supported on the media mounter;
a transport roller pair disposed downstream from the feeding roller in the first direction, the transport roller pair being configured to nip therebetween, at a transport nip position, the medium separated by the separation roller and to transport the medium;
a reader disposed downstream from the transport roller in the first direction, and configured to read the medium transported by the transport roller pair;
a first detector and a second detector configured to detect the medium fed by the feeding roller, the first detector and the second detector being disposed between the separation nip position and the transport nip position in the first direction and on opposite sides of the feeding roller with respect to a second direction that intersects in the first direction;
a third detector and a fourth detector configured to detect the medium, the third detector and the fourth detector being disposed between the first detector and the transport nip position with respect to the first direction, the third detector being disposed between the first detector and the transport roller with respect to the second direction and the fourth detector being disposed between the second detector and the transport roller with respect to the second direction; and
a controller configured to control the transport of the medium based on detection results of detection by the first detector, the second detector, the third detector and the fourth detector, the controller determining whether to stop transport of the medium or to continue transport of the medium based on the detection results.

2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller continues transporting the medium when the third detector detected the medium, and neither the first detector nor the second detector detected the medium.

3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the controller stops transporting the medium when the first detector, the second detector, and the third detector detected the medium, and the fourth detector did not detect the medium.

4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the controller stops transporting the medium when the second detector and the third detector detected the medium, and the first detector and the fourth detector did not detect the medium.

5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a fifth detector configured to detect the medium, the fifth detector being disposed between the separation nip position and the third detector with respect to the first direction, between the separation nip position and the fourth detector with respect to the first direction, and between the third detector and the fourth detector with respect to the second direction,
wherein the controller stops transporting the medium when the third detector detected the medium and the fifth detector did not detect the medium.

6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein:
the fifth detector is disposed between the separation nip position and the first detector with respect to the first direction and between the separation nip position and the second detector with respect to the first direction, and
the controller stops transporting the medium when the first detector detected the medium and the fifth detector did not detect the medium.

7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first detector is disposed at a position overlapping part of the feeding roller in the first direction.

8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the shortest distance between the third detector and the transport nip position is shorter than the shortest distance between the first detector and the separation nip position.

9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the feeding roller and the transport roller pair are disposed in a central area with respect to the second direction.

10. An image reading apparatus for reading media supported on a media mounter, the image reading apparatus comprising:
a feeding roller configured to feed in a first direction the media supported on the media mounter;
a separation roller configured to, with the feeding roller, nip and separate at a separation nip position a medium from the media supported on the media mounter;
a transport roller pair disposed downstream from the feeding roller in the first direction, the transport roller pair being configured to nip therebetween, at a transport nip position, the medium separated by the separation roller and to transport the medium;
a reader disposed downstream from the transport roller in the first direction, and configured to read the medium transported by the transport roller pair;
a first detector and a second detector configured to detect the medium fed by the feeding roller, the first detector and the second detector being disposed between the separation nip position and the transport nip position in the first direction and on opposite sides of the transport roller with respect to a second direction that intersects in the first direction;
a third detector configured to detect the medium, the third detector being disposed between the separation nip position and the first detection in the first direction, between the separation nip position and the second detection in the first direction and between the first detector and the second detector with respect to the second direction; and
a controller configured to control the transport of the medium based on detection results of detection by the first detector, the second detector and the third detector, wherein the controller stops transporting the medium when the first detector has detected the medium and the third detector has not detected the medium.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Shiota Takayuki

Classifications

• H04N1/3878

  Skew detection or correction · CPC title

• H04N1/00745

  Detecting the leading or trailing ends of a moving sheet · CPC title

• H04N1/0074

  using inactive scanning elements, e.g. elements outside the scanning area · CPC title

• H04N1/00734

  Optical detectors · CPC title

• H04N1/00

  Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof · CPC title