Compact facsimile machine

Claim 2

A housing of an integral structure for use in a facsimile machine, comprising: a pair of side walls held upright in parallel and spaced apart from each other over a predetermined distance; a rounded horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls with its concave surface directed upward; and a flat horizontal wall arranged side by side with said rounded horizontal wall, extending horizontally between said pair of side walls and from one side of said rounded horizontal wall substantially to one end of said pair of side walls.

Claim 3

The housing of claim 1 wherein said rounded horizontal wall is semi-circular in cross section.

Claim 4

The housing of claim 2 wherein said flat horizontal wall is provided approximately at a mid-height of said pair of side walls and the sides of said semi-circular horizontal wall are generally in plane with the surface of said flat horizontal wall.

Claim 5

The housing of claim 3 wherein bottom of said semi-circular wall is located at a predetermined distance above the bottom of said pair of side walls.

Claim 6

The housing of claim 1 wherein said pair of side walls and said rounded and flat horizontal walls are integrally formed.

Claim 7

The housing of claim 5 wherein said housing is formed from a reinforced plastic material as a unit.

Claim 8

A facsimile machine comprising: a housing of an integral structure including a pair of side walls held upright in parallel as spaced apart from each other, a rounded horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls with its concave surface directed upward and a flat horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls and from one side of said rounded horizontal wall substantially to one end of said pair of side walls; a roll of recording paper stored in said rounded horizontal wall; recording means disposed above said flat horizontal wall for recording received facsimile information on a sheet of recording paper unrolled from said roll of recording paper; image sensing means mounted on said flat horizontal wall for converting light image information into electrical image information; feeding means disposed adjacent to the side of said rounded horizontal wall opposite to said one side joining said flat horizontal wall for feeding an original document along a predetermined path in which a scanning region for scanning said original document is provided; and an optical system for leading scanning light at said scanning region to said image sensing means.

Claim 9

A facsimile machine comprising: a housing of an integral structure including a pair of side walls held upright in parallel as spaced apart from each other, a rounded horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls with its concave surface directed upward and a flat horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls and from one side of said rounded horizontal wall substantially to one end of said pair of side walls; a roll of recording paper stored in said rounded horizontal wall; recording means disposed above said flat horizontal wall for recording received facsimile information on a sheet of recording paper unrolled from said roll of recording paper; image sensing means mounted on said flat horizontal wall for converting light image information into electrical image information; feeding means disposed adjacent to the side of said rounded horizontal wall opposite to said one side joining said flat horizontal wall for feeding an original document along a predetermined path in which a scanning region for scanning said original document is provided; and an optical system for leading scanning light at said scanning region to said image sensing means.

Claim 10

The facsimile machine of claim 7 wherein said rounded horizontal wall is semi-circular in cross section.

Claim 11

The facsimile machine of claim 8 wherein said recording means includes a thermal print head.

Claim 12

The facsimile machine of claim 8 wherein image sensing means includes a CCD ( Charge Coupled Device ).

Claim 13

The facsimile machine of claim 8 wherein said predetermined path is defined almost vertically at the front end of said machine.

Claim 14

The facsimile machine of claim 8 wherein said optical system includes a plurality of reflecting mirrors which are disposed such that the optical path from said scanning region to said image sensing means is defined folded around the convex surface of said semi-circular horizontal wall.

Claim 15

The facsimile machine of claim 8 further comprising a driving system as mounted at the outer side of each of said side walls.

Claim 16

A facsimile machine comprising: a housing of an integral structure including at least a pair of side walls held upright in parallel as spaced apart from each other and a rounded horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls with its concave surface directed upward; image sensing means mounted on said housing at a first position below said rounded horizontal wall for receiving light image information and converting it into electrical image information; feeding means mounted on said housing for feeding an original document along a predetermined path; scanning means mounted on said housing at a second position below said rounded horizontal wall, which is opposite to said first position with respect to said rounded horizontal wall, for scanning said original document fed along said predetermined path by said feeding means to produce said light image information; and an optical system for leading said light image information produced by said scanning means to said image sensing means along a folding light path defined around a convex side of said rounded horizontal wall.

Claim 17

A facsimile machine comprising: a housing of an integral structure including at least a pair of side walls held upright in parallel as spaced apart from each other and a rounded horizontal wall extending horizontally between said pair of side walls with its concave surface directed upward; image sensing means mounted on said housing at a first position below said rounded horizontal wall for receiving light image information and converting it into electrical image information; feeding means mounted on said housing for feeding an original document along a predetermined path; scanning means mounted on said housing at a second position below said rounded horizontal wall, which is opposite to said first position with respect to said rounded horizontal wall, for scanning said original document fed along said predetermined path by said feeding means to produce said light image information; and an optical system for leading said light image information produced by said scanning means to said image sensing means along a folding light path defined around a convex side of said rounded horizontal wall.

Claim 18

A facsimile machine according to claim 14 wherein said rounded horizontal wall is semi-circular in cross section.

Claim 19

A facsimile machine according to claim 15 further comprising a roll of recording paper partly stored in said rounded horizontal wall and recording means mounted on said housing for recording received facsimile information on a sheet of recording paper unrolled from said roll of recording paper.

Claim 20

A facsimile machine according to claim 16 wherein said optical system includes a plurality of reflecting mirrors which are disposed to define said folding light path around the convex side of said rounded horizonzal wall.

Claim 21

A facsimile machine according to claim 17 wherein said recording means includes a thermal print head.

Claim 22

A facsimile machine according to claim 18 wherein said image sensing means includes a CCD.