Image reading apparatus
View Patent ↗An image reading apparatus includes: a light source that irradiates light; a switching unit that switches a direction of the light irradiated by the light source to one of a plurality of predetermined directions; a light guiding unit that guides the light whose direction is switched by the switching unit and that travels in one of the plurality of directions to a position predetermined for each of the directions; and a light sensor that, in a case where an object is in the predetermined position, measures light reflect by the object out of the light guided to the position by the light guiding unit.
1. An image reading apparatus comprising:
a casing having an opening at a front end of the casing, the front end of the casing opposite a rear end of the casing;
a light source that irradiates light towards the rear end of the casing;
a plurality of light guiding units that guide the light towards the front end of the casing through the opening to a same position on an object along different directions from each other;
a switching unit that switches a direction of the light irradiated by the light source such that the light travels along a path leading to any one of the plurality of light guiding units;
a light sensor that measures reflected light that is reflected by a point of the object disposed at the position through the opening out of the light guided to the position by the plurality of light guiding units, wherein the sensor receives the reflected light directly from the object,
wherein the plurality of light guiding units comprises a first light guiding unit in a first positional relationship to the light sensor such than an angle of incidence of light guided by the first light guiding unit is different from an angle of reflection of the reflected light that is reflected toward the light sensor, in a case a surface of the object is a plane of incidence, and a second light guiding unit in a second positional relationship to the light sensor different from the first positional relationship,
wherein the first light guiding unit comprises a first mirror and the second light guiding unit comprises a second mirror.
2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the switching unit includes:
a reflecting unit that reflects towards the front end of the casing the light irradiated by the light source towards the rear end of the casing; and
a driving unit that drives the reflecting unit to switch a direction of reflection of light such that the light travels along the path leading to any one of the plurality of light guiding units.
3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the switching unit sequentially switches the direction of travel at a predetermined cycle.
4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the switching unit determines a timing of the switching based on the reflected light measured by the light sensor.
6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a light deflecting element that changes the direction of travel of light irradiated by the light source, according to an applied voltage,
wherein the switching unit switches the direction of travel by controlling the voltage applied to the light deflecting element.
9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the switching unit sequentially switches the direction of travel at a predetermined cycle.
10. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the switching unit determines a timing of the switching based on the reflected light measured by the light sensor.
12. The image reading apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
13. The image reading apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
14. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the switching unit sequentially switches the direction of travel at a predetermined cycle.
15. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
16. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the switching unit determines a timing of the switching based on the reflected light measured by the light sensor.
17. The image reading apparatus according to claim 16 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
18. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a pointing member for pointing a position to be targeted as the point of the object disposed at the position.
19. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor receives the reflected light directly from the object without reflection of the reflected light by a light guiding unit in the casing.