Document transport and scanning system for optical character recognition

In an optical character recognition system;

• a document support bed having a concave arcuate surface, a central channel extending its length, and a document reading station including structure forming a scanning arc through which documents having characters thereon are to be transported along a linear path;
• a plurality of guide pulleys rotatably mounted within said channel;
• a document transport belt journaled about said pulleys to have its upper surface parallel to and lying slightly above the plane of the surface of said bed adjacent said central channel;
• a shaft mounted for rotation about an axis above said bed and extending in the direction of said linear path;
• an illumination mirror and an image mirror mounted on said shaft, both of said mirrors having a reflection plane lying upon the longitudinal axis of said shaft;
• a light source mounted upon said structure and positioned to direct a beam of light onto the surface of said illumination mirror and reflect the beam to a point located upon said scanning arc on said bed;
• a columnar photocell retina positioned to receive the image reflected by said image mirror of a character located at the illuminated point upon said scanning arc;
• a roller housing supported above said bed and extending the length of said bed overlying said channel;
• a plurality of rollers mounted within said housing;
• said rollers being biased into engagement with the surface of a document supported by said bed to press said document into frictional engagement with said belt;
• means for oscillating said shaft through a preselected arc to simultaneously illuminate the scan images of characters lying upon said scanning arc across said columnar retina;
• and
• means for moving said belt to transport said document along the surface of said bed through said scanning arc while simultaneously oscillating said shaft to scan the lines of characters on said document.

In an optical character recognition system having a reading station, comprising in combination:

• a document bed having a concave arcuate support surface with the arc transverse of the length of said bed to form a scanning arc, and a central channel extending the length thereof in the direction of movement of a document along said bed;
• a plurality of drive pulleys rotatably mounted within said channel;
• a document transport belt engaging said pulleys and having an upper surface generally parallel to and aligned slightly above the plane of the surface of said bed adjacent said central channel;
• a roller housing which extends the length of said bed and lies above said channel;
• a plurality of rollers mounted within said housing;
• means to urge said rollers into engagement with the surface of a document supported by said bed and press the document into frictional engagement with said belt;
• means for moving said belt to transport the document along the surface of said bed to the reading station;
• means mounted at the reading station to generate a light beam to a point located upon the scanning arc;
• a columnar photocell retina;
• and
• optical means mounted at the reading station and positioned to project upon said retina from the document a reflected image of a character located at the illumination point upon the scanning arc.