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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a facsimile device, and more particularly to a
facsimile device which has an image reader and a transmitter, both being
provided independent of a receiver of the facsimile device, and is handy
and allows its vertical scanning to be done manually or automatically.
As well known, in a facsimile system, an image on a document is picked up
in a transmitting side. An image signal representing the image information
picked up is appropriately modulated. The modulated image signal is
transmitted through a transmitting system (usually a telephone line) to a
receiving side. In the receiving side, the received image signal is
demodulated, and printed out in the form of a hard copy. The general
facsimile device has both transmitting and receiving functions. The
progress of the IC technology remarkably reduces the size of the facsimile
device, to realize a compact facsimile device of the desk top type.
However, the facsimile device of the portable type has not been matured
from a view point of practical use.
There is an example of the facsimile device of the portable type in which a
drum is used for picking up and recording the image. In this device, for
picking up the image in the transmitting side, a document sheet is wound
around the drum and the drum is rotated. In the receiving side, a
recording paper is wound around the drum, and the drum is rotated for
image printing. During this rotation of the drum, a stylus electrode is
selectively discharged to destroy the conductive surface of the paper to
print the transmitted image on the paper. This type of the facsimile
device is suitable for picking up an image on a sheet like paper, but is
incapable of picking up the image on an original which can not be wound
around the drum, such as notebooks, books, and newspaper. The portable
facsimile device requires troublesome work to wind a document and a
recording sheet around the drum. This hinders a speedy facsimile
transmission.
Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) Nos. 59-63873 and 59-138164 disclose
each an image reader capable of reading in an image on notebooks, books,
newspaper, and the like, which were rejected in use by the abovementioned
portable facsimile device. The disclosed device is provided with a scanner
in which the vertical scanning can manually been done, that is, the
scanner can be moved on the document. The image information collected by
the scanner are stored into an image memory. The scanner is provided with
a rotary encoder for detecting a vertical scanning rate, viz. a moving
speed of the scanner relative to the document. Pulses generated by the
encoder are used for controlling the image data transfer to the image
memory.
The image reader of this type is suitable for reading in the image on a
document such as books, but is not suitable for reading in the image of a
sheet like document. The reason for this is that since for image reading,
the scanner is moved on the sheet like document, the document is
frequently moved or wrinkles.
The image reader as disclosed in the above Kokai has another problem. When
the scanner is slid on the document at a high speed above a predetermined
one, it improperly reads in the image. Such improper image data are stored
in the memory, and transmitted to the receiving side.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile device
adaptable for any type of document for image reading.
Another object of this invention is to provide a facsimile device allowing
the transmission of image data picked up at only a proper speed of manual
subscanning.
The first object of this invention can be achieved by a facsimile device
comprising:
means with a first case for picking up an image on an original moving
relative to and under said first case;
transmitting means with a second case allowing said first case to be placed
thereon, said transmitting means receiving an image signal transmitted
from said image pick-up means and appropriately processing the image
signal into a modulated signal suitable for signal transmission;
means for coupling said transmitting means with a transmitting system to
provide a path for said modulated signal therebetween, said coupling means
removably coupled with said transmitting system; and
means for transferring the original between said first and second cases,
while said first case being placed on said second case.
The second object of this invention is achieved by further comprising means
provided in said first case, and for detecting a moving speed of said
image pick-up means relative to the original; and
checking means for checking if a relative moving speed of said image
pick-up means as detected by said speed detecting means is within a
tolerable speed, and when the detected speed is within the tolerable
speed, allows the image signal from said image pick-up means to be
transmitted in the form of the modulated image signal by said transmitting
means.
With such an arrangement, for picking up an image on an ordinary document
such as a sheet like document, the image reader is placed on the
transmitter. Under this condition, the document is transferred and the
image data are collected in an automatic subscanning mode. For picking up
an image on a document such as a book, the image reader is manually moved,
while removed from the transmitter. The image reading is performed in a
manual scanning mode.
The image data thus read in is sent from the image reader through a cable
to the transmitter. Then, it is modulated by the transmitter, and output
to a transmitting system through the coupling means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a facsimile device according to this
invention when it reads in an image on a sheet like document;
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the facsimile device of this invention
when it reads in an image on a book;
FIG. 3 shows a horizontal sectional view of an image reader as viewed from
the bottom thereof;
FIG. 4 shows a horizontal sectional view of a transmitter used in the
facsimile device of this invention;
FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of the image reader and the transmitter
when these are placed one on another, the view being taken on line A--A
and viewed in the arrow head direction;
FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of the same as taken on line B--B and
viewed in the arrow head direction;
FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional view of the same as taken on line C--C and
viewed in the arrow head direction;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an electronic circuit section of the facsimile
device;
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of a control circuit of FIG. 8;
FIGS. 10A-10I show a set of waveforms useful in explaining the operation of
the FIG. 9 circuit;
FIG. 11 shows an outlook view of of a receiver coupled with the facsimile
device of this invention;
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an electronic circuit of the FIG. 11 device;
FIG. 13 shows a vertical sectional view of a facsimile device according to
another embodiment of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there are illustrated a facsimile device
according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates
how to read in an image on a sheet like document A, and FIG. 2 illustrates
how to read in an image on a book B.
As seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the facsimile device is comprised of an image
reader 1, transmitter 2, acoustic coupler 3 for coupling the transmitter
with a transmission system, and a paper transfer mechanism. Image reader 1
is comprised of operating section 4 including power button 4a, read button
4a, transmission button 4c, and reset button 4d, and indicating section 5
including indicating lamps 5a to 5d provided corresponding to the buttons
4a to 4d. Image reader 1 and transmitter 2 are electrically connected to
each other by cable 6, which is removably coupled with them. This cable 6
is used for the power supply from transmitter 2 to image reader 1, the
control of image reader 1 by transmitter 2, and transfer an image signal
from image reader 1 to transmitter 2. For easy carry of the device,
battery pack 8 of secondary battery such as a NiCd battery is provided for
a power supply, in addition to AC cord 7. The cord and battery pack are
removably set to transmitter 2. Charger 9 is provided from charging
battery pack 8. The output signal from transmitter 2 is supplied through
cable 10 to a receiver to be given later. Cable 10 is disconnectedly
coupled with both the transmitter and receiver.
Image reader 1, transmitter 2 and the paper transfer mechanism will be
given in detail. FIG. 3 shows a horizontal sectional view illustrating the
structure of image reader 1; FIG. 4 a horizontal sectional view
illustrating the structure of transmitter 2; FIG. 5 a cross sectional view
of the image reader 1 and transmitter 2 when these are placed one upon the
other, as shown in FIG. 1, and taken on line A--A and viewed in the arrow
head direction; FIG. 6 a cross sectional view of the same as taken on line
B--B and in the arrow head direction; and FIG. 7 a cross sectional view of
the same as taken on line C--C and in the arrow head direction.
As seen from FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 to 7, image reader 1 has a first case 11
partially opened at the lower side. Image sensor 12 is disposed in the
upper part of the inside of case 11. Array 13 of rod lenses (distributed
index lenses) called SELFOC lens (trade name) is disposed under image
sensor 12. In image sensor 12, photoelectronic elements made of amorphous
silicon are arrayed in a line. This type of the image sensor is a
one-dimensional image sensor called a close contact type image sensor. The
length of the array is equal to the width of a document with, for example,
A4 size. Lens array 13 image the pictorial image on the document at
one-to-one ratio on image sensor 12. Fluorescent lamp 14, as a light
source for illuminating the document surface, is located in the vicinity
of the light emitting end of rod lens array 13 inside first case 11. Lamp
14 is oriented in parallel with the direction of the array of
photoelectronic elements of image sensor 12. The lamp 14 is set to a pair
of sockets 15a and 15b.
A couple of shafts 16a and 16b, which are spaced at a predetermined
distance, are provided in parallel with sensor 12, lens array 13, and lamp
14. Motive rollers 17a and 17b for transferring the document are fixedly
mounted around these shafts 16a and 16b, respectively, while their outer
surfaces slightly project from first case 11 through openings. Rotary
encoder 30, fixed to shaft 16c, serves as a means for detecting a speed of
image reader 1 relative to the document. Mounted at the ends of shafts 16a
to 16c are ladder wheels 18a to 18c, which are wound by ladder chain 19.
Transmitter 2 is provided with second case 21, which is different from the
first case 11 of image reader 1, as shown in FIGS. 4, and 5 to 7. Provided
in second case 21 are shafts 22a and 22b being located in opposition to
shafts 16a and 16b in first case 11. Follower rollers 23a and 23b are
fixed to these shafts 22a and 22b. The follower rollers 23a and 23b
contain each a plurality of rollers equidistantly arranged around the
shafts 22a and 22b. Motor 24 as a rotating motive source to transfer the
document is disposed in second case 21. The rotating force is transmitted
through a chain of gears 24 to 26 to a gear 28, which is coupled with the
shaft of the roller 17a in first case 21. Gear 25 is directly coupled with
the shaft of motor 24. Gear 29a is coupled with the shaft of motive roller
17a on the opposite side of gear 28. Rotating force is transmitted from
this gear 29a through gears 29b and 29c to the shaft 16c supporting rotary
encoder 30.
As shown in FIG. 2, switch 31 is provided at the end on the surface of
second case 21. This switch is operated when second case 11 is placed on
second case 21, and serves as a vertical scanning mode detector for
detecting if the vertical scanning is done manually or automatically.
Operation of this switch indicates an automatic vertical scanning, while
nonoperation a manual vertical scanning.
Provided within second case 21 is paper sensor 33 for detecting presence or
absence of the document, as shown in FIG. 6. Sensor 33 is constructed with
combination of a light emitting element and a photo sensing element. The
light emitting element emits light rays upwardly through slit 32 at the
upper part of second case 21, while the photo sensing senses reflected
rays of light for the document presence detection. A paper sensor uses
transmitted light for its detection, in place of the reflected light.
For reading in the image on sheet like document A, the first case 11 of
image reader 21 is placed on the second case 21 of transmitter 2, with the
opening of first case 11 directed downwardly, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 to
7. Under this condition, document A is nipped at one end between the
motive rollers 17a and 17b of image reader 1 and the follower rollers 23a
and 23b of transmitter 2. Power button 4a and read button 4b are pushed.
Signals from these buttons are fed through cable 6 to motor 24. Rotating
force generated by motor 24 is transmitted through gear chains 25 to 26
and 27 to 28 to transfer roller 17a, and through a path of ladder chain 19
and ladder wheels 18a, 18c and 18b to rollers 17a and 17b. Document A is
transferred being nipped between motive rollers 17a and 17b and follower
rollers 23a and 23b. Fluorescent lamp 14 is also lit to illuminate the
surface of document A. Image on document A is imaged on image sensor 12
through rod lens array 13. The sensor 12 reads the image and outputs it as
an image signal. The image signal is sent to transmitter 2 through cable
6.
For reading in an image on book B, image reader 1 is removed from
transmitter 2, and manually slid on the sheet in desired page of the book
in the direction of arrow, for example.
Turning now to FIG. 8, there is in block form shown a circuit arrangement
of image reader 1 and transmitter 2. In FIG. 8, the image sensor 12 in
image reader 1 operates in response to first and second clock signals CLK1
and CLK2 derived from control circuit 34, and serially produces an image
signal. The image signal from image sensor 12 is normalized into a binary
signal of 1 or 0 by binarizing circuit 35, and then fed to data latch 36.
Latch circuit 36 samples and latches the binary image signal by clock
signal DCK with the same rate as that of second clock signal CLK1, which
is supplied from control circuit 34. The image signal from data latch 36
is stored into image memory 37 while being timed by clock signal DCK.
The image signal stored in memory 37 is read out by clock signal TCK of
frequency depending on a transmitting rate, and fed to transmission
processing circuit (TPC) 38. As in the ordinary facsimile device, TPC 38
applies to the image signal as input an appropriate signal processing such
as data compression encoding, and modulates it into a signal suitable for
its transmission, such as a phase modulated signal or a quadrature
amplitude modulated signal. The modulated signal is appropriately
amplified and sent to acoustic coupler 3.
Acoustic coupler 3, set to a telephone set (not shown), converts the
modulated signal from TPC 38 into an acoustic signal. The acoustic signal
is then sent through the telephone set to the telephone line (usually
public telephone line), and to the facsimile device of the opposite party.
Further connected to control circuit 34 are operating section 4, indicating
section 5, rotary encoder 30, vertical scanning mode detector 31, paper
sensor 33, light source driver 39, and motor driver 40. Drivers 39 and 40
drive light source 14 and motor 24, respectively.
A detailed arrangement of control circuit 34 is shown in FIG. 9 and a
timing chart describing its operation in FIG. 10. In FIG. 9, R-S flip-flop
41 is set by a read start signal derived from button 4b, and reset by the
output of NOR gate 42. When set, it produces Q output signal as shown in
FIG. 10A. The signal causes light source driver 39 to operate. Motor
driver 40 is operated by the output signal of AND gate 43 when flip-flop
41 is set when the output of vertical scanning mode detector 31 is low in
logical level, viz. in the automatic vertical scanning mode.
R-S flip-flop (FF) 44 is set by a transmit start signal from button 4c, and
is reset by the output signal from NOR gate 42. NOR gate 42 receives at
the first input terminal a reset signal from reset button 4d. The reset
signal from reset button 4d may be used for the reset input of FF 44. The
Q output of FF 44 is supplied to TPC 38 in FIG. 8. During the period of
time that the Q signal is high in logical level, image data transmission
is performed.
Paper sensor 33 produces a low level signal when document is detected, and
a high level signal when it is not detected. The output signal of detector
33 is applied to inverter 45 and leading edge detector 47. Detector 47
applies its output to the second input terminal of NOR gate 42. The output
signals of inverter 45 and detector 31 are coupled with the input of NOR
gate 46. The outputs of NOR gate 46 and encoder 30 are fed to NOR gate 48.
The output signals of NOR gate 48 and FF 41 are applied to AND gate 49.
Clock generators 51 and 52 generate first and second clock signals CLK1 and
CLK2 with frequencies f1 and f2 corresponding to standard rates of
vertical and horizontal scannings. Reference is made to FIGS. 10C and 10D.
The number of read-in picture elements (the number of photoelectronic
elements of image sensor 12) per horizontal scanning line is P, the
frequencies f1 and f2 are selected so as to satisfy the following relation
f2.gtoreq.P.times.f1
In this instant, P=1728, for example. Clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 are
applied to image sensor 12 and to the first input terminals of NAND gates
53 and 54. The output signal of NAND gate 53 as shown in FIG. 10 is
applied to the clear terminal (CL) of first D-FF 56. The output signal of
NAND gate 54 serves as the clock signal DCK shown in FIG. 10G, and is
input to the clock input of dot counter 55, and further to data latch 36
and image memory 37 shown in FIG. 8.
Dot counter 55 produces a pulse signal when it counts the clock signal DCK
by P. The pulse signal from dot counter 55 is input to the clear input
terminal of second D-FF 57. The Q output shown in FIG. 10E of FF 56 is
input to the D input of FF 57. Its clock input terminal (CK) is supplied
with first clock signal CLK1. The Q output (clock signal ACK) of FF 57
shown in FIG. 10F is input to the clock input of line counter 58, and the
number of clock signal ACK, i.e. the number of horizontal scanning lines
as read in by image reader, is counted by this counter. The Q output of FF
57 is input the clear input (CL) of line counter 58.
Line counter 58 produces a pulse signal when its count reaches the number
of horizontal scanning lines N (=1200) corresponding to the width of the
A4 document. The output signal from this line counter 58 is input to the
third input terminal of NOR gate 42.
FF 56 is kept at the D input in high (H) level. The pulse signal from
rotary encoder 30, as shown in FIG. 10B, is applied to the clock input
(CK) by way of NOR gate 48 and AND gate 49. When receiving at the clear
input (CL) the output signal of NAND gate 53 shown in FIG. 10H, it
produces at the Q output the signal shown in FIG. 10E. The Q output of FF
56 and the output of AND gate 49 are input to NOR gate 59. An output
waveform of NOR gate 59 is as shown in FIG. 10J.
The manual vertical scanning operation follows. When the moving speed of
image reader 1 (vertical scanning speed) relative to the document is
within a tolerable speed, encoder 30 produces pulse signals at periods
longer than the period of first clock signal CLK1, as indicated by
reference numerals 101, 102 and 103. As shown in FIG. 10E, the Q output
signal of FF 56 goes high every time pulse signals 101 to 103 are produced
from encoder 30, and is cleared by the output signal of NAND gate 53 every
time one shot of first clock pulse CKL1 is generated, and the Q output
signal goes low. At the timing of the clock signal CLK1, the Q output
signal of FF 56 is high in level, and then the Q output of FF 57 goes
high. Therefore, the clock signal CKL2 from clock signal generator 52 goes
through NAND gate 54 and acts as the clock signal DCK. This signal DCK is
counted by dot counter 55. When counter 55 counts a necessary number (P)
of the pulses, it produces a pulse signal to clear FF 57. Following the
clearing of FF 57, the Q output of FF 57 clears the counter 55 itself. By
the clock signal DCK of P thus obtained, the image signal from sensor 12
is stored into image memory 37, by way of binarizing circuit 37 and data
latch circuit 36. A sequence of these operations are continued till the
number of horizontal scanning lines counted by counter 58 reaches a
predetermined value.
If the speed of image reader 1 exceeds the tolerable speed, encoder 30
produces pulses at intervals shorter than the period of clock signal CLK1,
as indicated by numeral 104 in FIG. 10B. Thus, during the period that the
Q output of FF 56 is low, encoder 30 produces the pulse signal. The pulse
signal from encoder 30 is applied to the first input of NOR gate 59,
through NOR gate 48 and AND gate 49. The Q output of FF 56 is applied to
the second input thereof. When the pulse signal 101 as described above is
generated by encoder 30, the output of NOR gate 50 goes high, as shown in
FIG. 10J, and is output as error detection signal ERR. Signal ERR is input
the fourth input of NOR gate 42 to reset FF 41 and to stop light source
driver 39. When FF 41 is reset, the output of AND gate 49 goes low.
Therefore, FF 56 is cleared at the timing of first clock signal CLK1 as
next generated and subsequently its Q output is kept in low level. FF 57
also keeps its Q output in low level when it is cleared by the output dot
counter 55. Then, clock signal DCK stops, and the writing operation of the
image signal to image memory 37 is stopped. Accordingly, the outputting of
the image signal from transmitter 2 is finally stopped. The error signal
ERR is also supplied to indicating section 5, so that section 5 indicates
that the vertical scanning speed is too high.
In the automatic vertical scanning mode, the output signal of detector 31
goes low. Then, the output of AND gate 43 causes motor driver 40 to be in
operation. Under this condition, if the document is set between image
reader 1 and transmitter 2, the output of sensor 33 goes low and the
output of inverter 45 goes high, so that the output of NOR gate 46 goes
low. Accordingly, the pulse signal from encoder 30 is input to the clock
input (CK) of FF 56 through AND gate 49. As a result, the clock signal DCK
is generated as in the case of the manual vertical scanning, to execute
the storage of the image signal into memory 37. In the automatic vertical
scanning mode, the document is transferred at a fixed vertical scanning
speed by motor 24, and hence the period of the pulse signal generated by
encoder 30 is substantially equal to that of clock signal CLK1. For this
reason, no error signal is generated although it is generated in the
automatic vertical scanning mode. The reading operation of the image
reader 1 ends when the end of the document is detected by sensor 33 or the
number N of horizontal scanning lines counted by line counter 58 reaches
the predetermined value.
FIG. 11 shows an appearance of receiver 7, which is well combined in use
with the facsimile device of this invention. In the figure, receiver 70
contains a thermal printer (recording section). Cable 71 like cable 10 is
for connecting receiver 70 and transmitter 2. The cable is removably
coupled with these. Receiver 70 may be connected to a telephone set by an
acoustic coupler 72. Further, the device has a terminal 73 for connecting
to the telephone line, as in the case of the conventional facsimile. An AC
power code 74 is also used for a power supply means. Receiver 7 is
constructed separately from image reader 1 and transmitter 2. Therefore,
the facsimile device may be constructed compact and light in weight, and
can easily be carried. The facsimile device may be driven by a battery.
An operating section 75 of receiver 70 is provided with power button 75a,
receiving button 75b, and paper transfer button 75c. By connecting
receiver 70 to transmitter 2 by cable 71 and appropriately operating
section 75, the image picked up by reader 1 can be recorded on recording
sheet 76 (heat sensitive sheet). The combination of image reader 1,
transmitter 2 and receiver 70 is operable as a copy machine. Of course,
the image signal from the facsimile may be sent through coupler 72 or the
terminal 73 to the telephone line to the opposite facsimile device, as in
the normal facsimile transmission. It can be operated as a printer for
personal computers or word processors if the cable is combined with proper
interface.
FIG. 12 shows a circuit arrangement of receiver 70. It is comprised of a
control section including CPU 81, ROM 82, counter/timer circuit (CTC) 83
and input/output port 84, communication control section 85 containing a
MODEM for demodulating the modulated signal coming through cable 71,
coupler 72 or terminal 63 in FIG. 11, data butter 87 and thermal recorder
88.
FIG. 13 shows a cross sectional view of another embodiment of a facsimile
device of this invention. This embodiment has substantially the same
construction of the above-mentioned embodiment except that LED arrays 60a
and 60b are used for a means for illuminating the document surface. Like
reference symbols designate like portions in the previous embodiment of
FIGS. 1 to 7.
It is evident that this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned
embodiments, but may variously be changed and modified within the scope of
this invention. The acoustic coupler may be contained in a telephone set.
In this case, a cable is merely used for coupling the transmitter to the
telephone set. Also in the case that the data as input in the form of an
electrical signal is directly applied, by the telephone set, to the
telephone line without any conversion to the sound signal, the coupling
means is a mere cable for electrical signal transmission and connectors
associated therewith. The coupling means, when the transmission system has
telephone set at the terminal, may be such that the end of the
transmission system is at least removable, lie the acoustic coupler, and
fixed to the transmitter.
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