Handy scanner having scanning path straightness-maintaining mechanism

An image scanning apparatus for scanning an image by user hand-held operation along a surface of an the image to be scanned, said apparatus comprising:

• an illumination light source for illuminating the image;
• an image pick-up mechanism receiving light reflected from the illuminated image, said image pick-up mechanism converting the received light into an image electrical signal;
• a scanning movement means for conducting movement of said scanning apparatus over the surface of the image;
• a position detector coupled to said scanning movement means for detecting a position of said apparatus over the surface of the image, the detected position being converted into a position electrical signal;
• electronic circuitry coupled to said image pick-up mechanism and said position detector for receiving, the image electrical signal and the position electrical signal, respectively, for processing;
• and
• a scanning path straightness-maintaining means for assisting to constrain movement of said scanning apparatus in an intended straight line for achieving optimized scanning effect, and comprising a pair of guide rollers, each of said guide rollers having a central axis of rotation thereof arranged perpendicular to the surface of the scanned image.