1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image processing apparatus which is capable of reading a document in the form of a sheet of paper while the apparatus is in an upright position, and can be placed by a simple manipulation in a position to read a document in the form of a book.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known multifunctional apparatuses having a scanner function and changeable in position as desired, between an upright position where the apparatus stands substantially upright, and a horizontal position where the apparatus lies down substantially horizontally, thereby enabling to save space. For instance, JP-A-2003-115963 (especially paragraph [0006] and FIG. 3) discloses a multifunctional apparatus having a box-shaped printer portion as a base and a scanner portion placed on the printer portion to stand therefrom in a tilted position.
When a document in the form of a sheet (which will be hereinafter referred to as “the sheet document”) is to be read by this multifunctional apparatus, the sheet document is fed along the scanner portion in the upright position. On the other hand, when a document in the form of a book (which will be hereinafter referred to as “the book document”) is read, the multifunctional apparatus as a whole is laid down such that the scanner portion is placed in the horizontal position, namely, the scanner portion extends low, substantially horizontally and along a surface on which the multifunctional apparatus is placed (which will be hereinafter referred to as “the rest surface”), and the book document is placed on the scanner portion to be scanned.
The technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication suffers from the very bothersome manipulation that when the book document is to be read, the entirety of the multifunctional apparatus needs to be laid down so as to place the scanner portion in the horizontal position to be parallel to the rest surface.