High productivity method and apparatus for scanning simplex or duplex originals
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorLawrence B. Telle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A scanning system that uses two cameras or scanners and two original document paths. If the system is to be used in a duplex mode, the original document is transmitted over a single document path while a first camera scans one side of the document and a second camera scans the other side of the document. If the system is to be used in a simplex mode, the original document is placed on either of the paths or, if a series of original documents are to be simplex scanned, both paths may be utilized at the same time. In this manner and with the use of mirrors, either camera may scan one side of the original document, one side of two original documents may be scanned at substantially the same time or two sides of the original document may be scanned at substantially the same time.
Claims16
A scanning apparatus for simplex and duplex document scanning, said apparatus comprising:
- a first and a second document path for transporting the documents to be scanned,
- a first scanning station positioned adjacent both document paths for scanning a first surface of documents transported along one of said document paths and a second surface of the documents transported along another document path,
- a second scanning station positioned adjacent only one of said document paths for scanning the surface, adjacent to said second scanning station, of documents traveling along said document path, and
- means for selectively directing the documents to the first and second document paths for scanning.
A scanning apparatus for simplex and duplex document scanning, said apparatus comprising:
- a first and a second document path for transporting the documents to be scanned,
- a first scanning station positioned adjacent both document paths for scanning documents transported along said document paths,
- said first scanning station including a first lens and first means for directing light reflected from a first surface of the documents transported along one of said document paths and from a second surface of the documents transported along the other of said document paths along a first optical path through said first lens to a first electro-optical sensor,
- a second scanning station positioned adjacent only one of said document paths for scanning a surface, adjacent to said second scanning station, of documents transported along said one document path,
- said second scanning station including a second lens and second means for directing light reflected from the surface, adjacent to said second scanning station, of document transported along said document path along a second optical path through said second lens to a second electro-optical sensor, and
- means for selectively directing the documents to the first and second document paths for scanning.
Scanning apparatus for scanning simplex and duplex documents, said apparatus comprising:
- first means for feeding a document along a first path, second means for feeding a document along a second path;
- means for scanning both sides of a document fed along the first path,
- means for scanning one side of a document fed along the second path;
- means for feeding documents seriatim from a stack in a receiving means to said first and second feeding means;
- directing means adjustable between a first condition in which it directs a document from the stack into the first path and a second condition in which it directs such a document into the second path;
- and
- logic and control means for controlling the condition of the directing means.
A method of scanning simplex and duplex documents from a document supply, the method comprising the steps of:
- feeding the documents from the supply to one of two document scanning paths having scanning stations adjacent said paths;
- detecting the location of images contained on the surfaces of the documents;
- allowing access to only one of said document paths upon detecting images contained on one surface of said documents and to either document path upon detecting images contained on the another surface of the documents;
- and
- moving the documents along said path of access adjacent to and past one or more of the scanning stations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.