Illumination device and image reading apparatus using the same
US6360030B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 12, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 19, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 12, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N1/031
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The form of a light condensing part of an illuminating device is of a freer form such as expressed by a general polynomial, rather than a round cross-sectional form. Accordingly, an illumination device or an image reading apparatus having the same which includes a light guide element having an entrance surface provided at one end thereof for an incident light flux, an exit surface provided on a side other than the one end extending in a longitudinal direction of the light guide element for allowing the incident light flux to exit therefrom, a reflecting and/or scattering area provided at a side other than the exit surface for reflecting and/or scattering the light flux propagated in a light-transmissive member, and a light condensing part provided on the exit surface for condensing the exiting light flux, and a light source provided adjacent to the entrance surface of the light guide element, wherein, assuming that in a cross-section orthogonally intersecting the longitudinal direction, a direction opposite to a normal line of the reflecting and/or scattering area is a z axis and a direction orthogonally intersecting the z axis is a y axis, at least a part of a surface of the light…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.