An image reading apparatus includes an image reading sensor, a transparent plate, a guiding member, a first roller pair, and a second roller pair provided upstream of the first roller pair with respect to a sheet feeding direction. The first roller pair and the second roller pair are disposed so as to nip a sheet in each of nips of the first roller pair and the second roller pair when a leading end of the sheet enters between the guiding member and the transparent plate.

An illumination device includes a light guide member having a first side in a main scanning direction and a second side in a sub-scanning direction and a plurality of light sources including first light emitters respectively to emit beams of light of a first color and a second light emitter to emit a beam of light of a second color different from the first color toward an inside of the light guide member via a side of the light guide member in the main scanning direction. The first light emitters are positioned in the sub-scanning direction to be symmetrical to each other.

An image scanning device includes a casing, a paper feeding wheel, a transparent plate, a light bar, and an elastic support member. The transparent plate includes a first surface and a second surface, and the first surface faces the paper feeding wheel. The light bar is located on the second surface of the transparent plate and includes a plurality of light-emitting elements. A position at which the paper feeding wheel is tangent to the first surface defines a tangent position, a position at which the light-emitting elements are projected onto the first surface in a normal direction of the first surface defines a scanning position, and a scanning spacing exists between the tangent position and the scanning position. The elastic support member pushes the light bar and the transparent plate toward the paper feeding wheel. An image scanning equipment with an image scanning device is also provided.

An image reading device includes: an area sensor in which color filters of three colors of R, G, and B are arranged in a Bayer array and a light receiving amount is detected by a light receiving element for each color filter; and a hardware processor that: reads a document by using the light receiving elements in a first group in the area sensor, reads the document by using the light receiving elements in a second group in the area sensor, at a region shifted by ½ pixels in a sub-scanning direction from a reading region of the light receiving elements in the first group, and interpolates R-color read data and B-color read data using G-color read data and synthesizes image data having a resolution twice the resolution of the area sensor.

An image reading device includes a lens array including lenses arranged in a main scanning direction and forming an erect unmagnified optical system to converge light from a reading target, a holder holding the lens array, a light receiver to receive the light converged by the lenses, and slit units. Each slit unit includes three or more light shielding plates each separating an optical path of one lens from an optical path of another lens between the lens array and the light receiver, and side plates disposed on two sides of the light shielding plates in a direction intersecting the main scanning direction and connecting two adjacent light shielding plates. The slit units are arranged in the main scanning direction, and each two adjacent slit units are arranged with a space therebetween for one optical path of one lens.

An image reading apparatus includes a light emitter to irradiate a document with light, a first light guide to guide the light reflected by the document, an output device to output a readout signal obtained from the light reflected and guided by the first light guide, a base to correct shading in the readout signal, and circuitry to output a scanned image in which the shading of the document in the readout signal is corrected, based on correction data obtained from the readout signal of the base output from the output device, control a timing at which the light emitter emits the light and a timing at which the output device outputs a signal, and heat the first light guide with the light emitted from the light emitter before the output device outputs the readout signal of each of the document and the base.

An illumination device includes light sources and a light guide member. The light guide member includes an incidence part that guides light emitted from the light sources and entering through an incidence surface towards a center of the light guide member and a central part that has a scattering surface for emitting the guided light towards an illumination target body. The light sources include a first light source facing the incidence surface and a second light source facing the incidence surface and is arranged on the central part's side relative to the first light source. The incidence part has a first curved surface that reflects the light entering through the incidence surface towards the central part and a second curved surface that is arranged on the central part's side relative to the first curved surface and reflects the light entering through the incidence surface towards the central part.

Before reading of a document, an image processing control portion makes an image reading portion perform pre-scanning operation, which is scanning operation performed with a document cover open without a document placed on a placement surface, and checks the incident condition of external disturbance light on the image sensor. If it is judged that the incident condition is a predetermined state, the image processing control portion makes a control device perform a countermeasure process to make the room dimmer than it currently is.

An image forming apparatus includes first and second light sensors positioned in a laser scanning system of at least one color, such that scanned light is detected by the first light sensor and then by the second light sensor and light sensing surfaces of the first and second light sensors are not parallel, and a control unit connected to the first and second light sensors and configured to determine a time difference in the timing of light detection by the first and second light sensors and to execute a color position shift operation upon determining that the time difference is greater than a first threshold value.

There are provided a line sensor (110) including two first sensor pixel rows (111a, 111b) and a second sensor pixel row (112a); an image obtaining unit (140) to obtain, from electrical signals obtained by scanning an original in a sub-scanning direction with the two first sensor pixel rows (111a, 111b), two first read image data items, and obtain, from electrical signals obtained by scanning the original in the sub-scanning direction with the second sensor pixel row (112a), a second read image data item; and an image processor (150) to incorporate one or more pixel data items of one or more pixels included in an interval between the two first sensor pixel rows (111a, 111b) out of the second read image data item into the two first read image data items, thereby generating a line image data item in which the one or more pixels in the interval are not vacant.