Handheld document scanner

• US 6,064,779 A
• Filed: 07/23/1998
• Issued: 05/16/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xros, Inc. (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Xros, Inc. (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Slater, Timothy G., Neukermans, Armand P., Downing, James P.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, KIM Y
• Application Number:
  US09/121,439
• Time in Patent Office: 663 Days
• Field of Search: 382/313-315, 358/471, 358/473, 358/474, 358/412, 358/496, 358/498
• US Class Current: 382/313
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00689 Presence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00885 Power supply means, e.g. arrangements for the control of power supply to the apparatus or components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00891 Switching on or off, e.g. for saving power when not in use H04N1/00896 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0476 Indicating the scanning velocity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/107 with manual scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/1072 Means for guiding the scanning, e.g. rules H04N1/1077 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/1078 by moving the scanned medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/121 Feeding arrangements transporting sheets to or from the scanning position H04N1/0057; control or error compensation of sub-scanning velocity H04N1/0473
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/193 using electrically scanned linear arrays , e.g. linear CCD arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0096 Portable devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0471 using dedicated detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/04732 Detecting at infrequent intervals, e.g. once or twice per line for main-scan control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/04737 by detecting the scanned medium directly, e.g. a leading edge

Abstract

A document transport for a scanner (100) has a flexible, elongated finger (226) disposed adjacent to a document (134), and a force applied to the finger (226) urges teeth (233) on the finger (226) into contact with the document (134) which urges the document (134) along a path through the scanner (100). A piezoelectric plate (222), which applies the force to the finger (226), requires only a small amount of electrical power. To traverse the scanner (100), a document (134) may also be manually fed along a guide (272). First and second speed-sensing detectors (276a and 276b), disposed along the path traversed by the document (134), permit the scanner (100) to determine a speed at which the manually fed document (134) traverses the scanner (100). To conserve electrical energy, the scanner (100) also includes a document-presence detector (274) for activating the scanner (100) when a document (134) to be scanned is present.

Claims

1. A manually operable document scanner comprising:

a guide along which a document moves in traversing a path through the scanner; and

a first speed-sensing detector and a second speed-sensing detector disposed along the path traversed by a document in passing through the scanner for determining a speed at which the document traverses the path, said first and second speed-sensing detectors being disposed along the path so a leading edge of a document in traversing the path activates the first speed-sensing detector and then activates the second speed-sensing detector.

2. The scanner of claim 1 further comprising a document-presence detector for detecting a document to be scanned present on the scanner;

said document-presence detector being activated by the document, while the document traverses the path through the scanner, before the document activates either said first or said second speed-sensing detectors;

the scanner being activated for operation upon detection of a document by said document-presence detector.

3. The scanner of claim 1 further comprising an optically transparent window through which a scanning-beam of light passes before impinging upon a document as the document traverses the path through the scanner.

4. The scanner of claim 3 wherein said window is mounted in a housing that encloses and seals the scanner from environmental contamination.

5. The scanner of claim 4 wherein said window is recessed into the housing to protect said window from scratching as the document traverses the path through the scanner.

6. The scanner of claim 1 further comprising a housing that encloses and seals the scanner from environmental contamination.