Book scanner with a uniform light source

• US 20050243386A1
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Published: 11/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avision, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Avision, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheng, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,535,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/506
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0313 Direct contact pick-up heads, i.e. heads having no array of elements to project the scanned image elements onto the photodectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0422 Media holders, covers, supports, backgrounds; Arrangements to facilitate placing of the medium H04N2201/0406 - H04N2201/0412, H04N2201/0434 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0434 specially adapted for scanning pages of a book

Abstract

A book scanner comprises a transparent platen, a carriage and a housing. The carriage is disposed in the housing, and the transparent platen with an angular structure is disposed on the housing for an original placed to be scanned. The carriage has a strip-shaped light tube disposed corresponding to the transparent platen. The part of the light source that has the highest luminance is disposed in the position farthest away from the transparent platen, while the part of the light source that has the lower luminance is disposed in the position closer to the transparent platen to assure a uniform and stable luminous intensity of light on each scan line when the light source illuminates the original.

Claims

1. A book scanner with a uniform light source having a housing, a carriage moving in reciprocating motion in said housing, an original placed on said book scanner and being scanned with a scanning module disposed in said carriage, comprising:

a transparent platen disposed on a top of said housing, wherein said original is placed onto said transparent platen; and

a light source having a substantially strip-shaped light tube disposed in said carriage and corresponding to said transparent platen, wherein a light beam from said light source transmitting through said transparent platen and illuminating said original,

wherein said transparent platen comprises a first light transmission part and a second light transmission part, both said first and second light transmission parts are configured adjacently to form an angular structure, a crest line is formed along a joint of said first and second light transmission parts and said strip-shaped light source being lengthwise perpendicular to said crest line.

2. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 1, wherein a scan area is defined on each of said first light transmission part and said second transmission part and said original is placed within said scan areas;

two ends of said light source exceed a boundary of said scan area for each of said first light transmission part and said second transmission part.

3. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 2, wherein an opening is formed in said housing for mounting said transparent platen, a distance is reserved from said boundary of said scan area of said first light transmission part and said second light transmission part to an inner edge of said opening, and said two ends of said light source is located between said boundary of said scan area and said inner edge of said opening.

4. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 1, wherein an opening is formed in said housing for mounting said transparent platen, a frame surface is formed around said opening, and said two ends of said light source are disposed correspondingly under said frame surface.

5. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 1, wherein at least one light reflection component is disposed at each of two ends of said light source to reflect said light beam from both ends to said transparent platen.

6. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 1, wherein a bending part is disposed at each of two ends of said light source.

7. The book scanner with a uniform light source of claim 1, wherein a part of said light source which has the highest luminance is disposed at a position farthest away from said original placed on said transparent platen, while a part of said light source which has the lower luminance is disposed at a position closer to said original.