Image scanning apparatus and method to control a light source that an intensity of light irradiated to any one of a plurality of lines of the document from the light source equal to an intensity of light irradiated to another line

Abstract

The image scanning apparatus includes a light source including at least one light emitting diode (LED) to irradiate light to a document which is a scan target, a light source control unit to control a lighting-up point of time of the light source, an image sensor to transform an image formed by light reflected from the document into an electric signal according to a result of controlling the lighting-up point of time, and an output unit to output image data corresponding to the transformed electric signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An image scanning apparatus comprising:
 a light source comprising at least one light emitting diode (LED) to irradiate light to a document which is a scan target;   a light source control unit to control a lighting-up point of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to any one of a plurality of lines of the document from the light source is equal to, or has a difference of less than a predetermined threshold value from, an intensity of light irradiated to another line of the plurality of lines;   an image sensor to transform an image formed by light reflected from the document into an electric signal according to a result of controlling the lighting-up point of time; and   an output unit to output image data corresponding to the transformed electric signal.   
     
     
         2 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an image sensor control unit to generate at predetermined intervals a first signal which is used to control an exposure time during which the image sensor receives the reflected light,
 wherein the light source control unit controls the lighting-up point of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated from the light source to the document is uniform across periods of the generated first signal.   
     
     
         3 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a synchronization unit to synchronize a generation point of time of the first signal with the lighting-up point of time of the light source,
 wherein the light source control unit controls the light source to be lit up and extinguished at least once during each period of the generated first signal, and the number of lighting-up and extinguishing times is uniform across the periods of the first signal.   
     
     
         4 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an image sensor control unit to generate a first signal, which is used to control an exposure time during which the image sensor receives the reflected light, at intervals of a first time indicating a time required for scanning any one of the plurality of lines of the document,
 wherein the light source control unit generates at intervals of a second time a second signal which is used to control lighting-up and extinguishing points of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to each of the plurality of lines of the document is uniform across the plurality of lines of the document, the second time being N times the first time and N being a natural number.   
     
     
         5 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an image sensor control unit to generate a first signal, which is used to control an exposure time during which the image sensor receives the reflected light, at intervals of a first time indicating a time required for scanning any one of the plurality of lines of the document,
 wherein the light source control unit generates at intervals of a second time a second signal which is used to control lighting-up and extinguishing points of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to each of the plurality of lines of the document is uniform across the plurality of lines of the document, the second time being at least 50 times the first time and the predetermined threshold value being 1%.   
     
     
         6 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the LED included in the light source comprises at least one white light emitting diode (W-LED). 
     
     
         7 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the LED included in the light source comprises at least one organic light emitting diode (OLED). 
     
     
         8 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a light guide to guide a path of light irradiated from the light source to the document. 
     
     
         9 . The image scanning apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the light source is installed at both end portions of the light guide. 
     
     
         10 . An image forming apparatus comprising:
 an image scanning apparatus to control a lighting-up point of time of a light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to any one of a plurality of lines of document, which is a scan target, from the light source is equal to, or has a difference of less than a predetermined threshold value from, an intensity of light irradiated to another line of the plurality of lines, irradiating light to the document by using at least one light emitting diode (LED) included in the light source according to a result of controlling the lighting-up point of time, transform an image formed by a reflected light of the irradiated light from the document into an electric signal, and output image data corresponding to the transformed electric signal; and   an image forming unit to print print data corresponding to the image data output from the image scanning apparatus onto a print sheet.   
     
     
         11 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 10 , further comprising a facsimile unit to facsimile-transmit facsimile data corresponding to the image data which is output from the image scanning apparatus. 
     
     
         12 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 10 , further comprising a transmission function performing unit to transmit transmission data corresponding to the image data output from the image scanning apparatus to an external device. 
     
     
         13 . An image scanning method comprising:
 controlling a lighting-up point of time of a light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to any one of a plurality of lines of document, which is a scan target, from the light source is equal to, or has a difference of less than a predetermined threshold value from, an intensity of light irradiated to another line of the plurality of lines;   irradiating light to the document by using at least one light emitting diode (LED) included in the light source according to a result of controlling the lighting-up point of time;   transforming an image formed by a reflected light of the irradiated light from the document into an electric signal; and   outputting image data corresponding to the transformed electric signal.   
     
     
         14 . The image scanning method of  claim 13 , further comprising generating at predetermined intervals a first signal which is used to control an exposure time during which the reflected light is received,
 wherein the controlling of the lighting-up point of time of the light source comprises controlling the lighting-up point of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated from the light source to the document is uniform across periods of the generated first signal.   
     
     
         15 . The image scanning method of  claim 14 , further comprising synchronizing a generation point of time of the first signal with the lighting-up point of time of the light source,
 wherein the controlling of the lighting-up point of time of the light source comprises controlling the light source to be lit up and extinguished at least once during each period of the generated first signal, and the number of lighting-up and extinguishing times is uniform across the periods of the first signal.   
     
     
         16 . The image scanning method of  claim 13 , further comprising generating a first signal, which is used to control an exposure time during which the image sensor receives the reflected light, at intervals of a first time indicating a time required for scanning any one of the plurality of lines of the document,
 wherein the controlling of the lighting-up point of time of the light source comprises generating at intervals of a second time a second signal which is used to control lighting-up and extinguishing points of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to each of the plurality of lines of the document is uniform across the plurality of lines of the document, the second time being N times the first time and N being a natural number.   
     
     
         17 . The image scanning method of  claim 13 , further comprising generating a first signal, which is used to control an exposure time during which the image sensor receives the reflected light, at intervals of a first time indicating a time required for scanning any one of the plurality of lines of the document. 
     
     
         18 . The image scanning method of  claim 17 , wherein the controlling of the lighting-up point of time of the light source comprises generating at intervals of a second time a second signal which is used to control lighting-up and extinguishing points of time of the light source in such a way that an intensity of light irradiated to each of the plurality of lines of the document is uniform across the plurality of lines of the document. 
     
     
         19 . The image scanning method of  claim 18 , wherein the second time is at least 50 times the first time, and the predetermined threshold value is 1%. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the image scanning method of  claim 13  on a computer.