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US 6,459,506 B1Granted
Lightweight dual-mode mobile scanner powered from a universal serial bus port
AssigneeSyscan, Inc.
InventorsDarwin Hu, Alpha Hou
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Abstract
A portable dual-mode scanner device capable of being powered through a universal serial bus connection where the individual components of the portable scanner are selectively and controllably powered so as to function within the power limitations of the usb port (i.e., 5 Volts, 2.2 watts) without appreciable degradation of a captured image whether that image resides on a transparent media (i.e., a negative) or an opaque media (i.e., paper) is described.
Claims20
A mobile scanner comprising
- an image sensing module comprising:
- a one-dimensional image sensor array;
- a lens mounted in front of the image sensor array;
- and
- a first illumination source comprising three colored lights that are turned on independently and successively by an illumination control signal when a scanning document is opaque;
- a second illumination source comprising a colored light that is turned on by the illumination control signal when the scanning document is transparent;
- a motion mechanism working in synchronization with the image sensing module, the motion mechanism causing the scanning document illuminated by one of the first and the second illumination sources to pass through the lens so that the scanning document is imaged by the image sensor array;
- and
- a universal serial bus interface module coupling the image sensing module and the motion mechanism to a computing device and receiving power and system control signals therefrom.
6 more elements
A mobile scanner comprising:
- a main case including an image sensing module and a motion mechanism, wherein the image sensing module includes a one-dimensional image sensor array, a lens mounted in front of the image sensor array;
- and an illumination source comprising at least two colored lights that are turned on independently and successively by an illumination control signal when a scanning document is opaque, and wherein the scanning document is moved across the image sensing module by the motion mechanism;
- an interface engine coupled to the image sensing module and the motion mechanism, the interface engine including electronic parts supporting operations of the image sensing module and the motion mechanism;
- a universal serial bus coupled the interface engine to a computing device so that the interface engine draws voltage therefrom to energize the electronic parts therein and support the image sensing module and the motion mechanism to operate synchronously, and
- wherein a calibration procedure for the image sensing module is carried out in the computing device that causes the mobile scanner to scan a test sheet to produce test signals for the computing device to determine various parameters for correcting actual scanning signals.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.