CN1325230A - Portable Scanning Device - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable scanning device includes a scanner and a paper feeder. The scanner is connected to the computer host by a universal serial bus, and the universal serial bus provides power supply for the scanner. The scanner includes an ASIC for controlling the portable scanning device and an image sensor module. The image sensor module is used for receiving an image signal of a file to be scanned and outputting the image signal to the special application integrated circuit. The sheet feeder and the scanner are selectively combined to perform sheet-fed scanning or handheld scanning. The paper feeder comprises a motor and a battery. The motor is used for controlling the roller of the paper feeder so as to drive the document to be scanned. The battery is used for providing power required by the paper feeder.

Description

Portable Scanning Device

The invention relates to a portable scanning device, in particular to a portable scanning device whose paper feeder can be separated from the scanner.

With the development of computer multimedia in recent years, scanners for capturing images are increasingly playing an important role. It is the subject that the manufacturers are working hard to make the scanner can save power, low cost, and easy to use.

In U.S. Patent No. 5,956,158 and U.S. Patent No. 5,864,410, scanners using Universal Serial Bus (USB) to provide power are proposed. In these patents, several improvements were made to the scanner. In this way, the energy required by the scanner is reduced. Although these scanners can be directly powered by the USB, the cost of these scanners is also increased due to the complexity of the design.

In addition, there are already two types of portable (Portable) scanners on the market. One is the scanner produced by the Attache company. The scanner uses Antec's chip, but the scanner is only suitable for paper-fed scanning. And another kind of portable scanner is the scanner produced by Peti Scan Company. This scanner uses the chip of NET company, but it is a platform type (Flatbed) scanner. Since the space occupied by the flatbed scanner is much larger than that of the sheet-fed scanner, it is very inconvenient to use.

In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a portable scanning device, which uses the USB and battery to provide the required power, so no additional power cord is needed to obtain the power. In addition, the portable scanner of the present invention requires low cost, and can selectively perform paper-fed scanning and hand-held scanning.

According to the object of the present invention, a portable scanning device is provided, including a scanner and a document feeder. The scanner is connected to the host computer via the universal serial bus, and the universal serial bus provides the power required by the scanner. Wherein, the scanner includes application-specific integrated circuits and image sensor modules. The ASIC is used to control the portable scanning device. The image sensor module is used to receive the image signal of the document to be scanned, and output the image signal to the ASIC. Optional combination of sheet feeder and scanner for sheet-fed scanning or hand-held scanning. The paper feeder includes a motor and a battery. Wherein, the motor is used to control the rollers of the paper feeder, and is used to drive the documents to be scanned, and the battery is used to provide the power required by the paper feeder.

In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features, and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, a preferred embodiment is specifically cited below, and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the detailed description is as follows:

A brief description of the attached drawings:

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a portable scanning device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an internal circuit of a portable scanning device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the portable scanning device when the scanner is combined with the paper feeder for paper-fed scanning.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view when the portable scanning device is not used.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the scanner when it is used alone for hand-held scanning.

Referring to FIG. 1 , it is a perspective view of the appearance of a portable scanning device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The portable scanning device includes a scanner (Scanner) 100 and a feeder (Feeder) 101 . The scanner 100 is connected to a computer host 103 via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 102 , and the power required by the scanner 100 is provided via the Universal Serial Bus 102 . The paper feeder 101 further includes grooves 104A and 104B for tightly combining the scanner 100 and the paper feeder 101 . The sheet feeder 101 and the scanner 100 can be selectively combined to perform sheet-fed scanning or hand-held scanning. That is, when the scanner 100 is used in combination with the paper feeder 101, paper-fed scanning can be performed; and when the scanner 100 is not combined with the paper feeder 101, the scanner 100 alone can also perform hand-held scanning .

From the appearance of the portable scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the paper feeder 101 further includes a paper feeding platform 106 , positioning sensors (Positioning Sensors) 108A and 108B, rollers 110 , and a rotating shaft 112 . The paper feeding platform 106 is fixed on the paper feeder 101 via a rotating shaft 112 for placing documents 113 to be scanned. The rollers 110 are used to transport the document 113 to be scanned in a direction perpendicular to the rollers 110 . The positioning sensors 108A and 108B are perpendicular to the forward direction of the document 113 to be scanned, and are respectively disposed on two sides of the paper feeder 101 for sensing the document 113 to be scanned. Wherein, the positioning sensor 108A or 108B is, for example, an electronic sensor.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an internal circuit of a portable scanning device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The right side of the line XX′ is the internal circuit block diagram of the scanner 100 , and the left side of the line XX′ is the internal circuit block diagram of the paper feeder 101 . The scanner 100 includes an application specific integrated circuit (Applied Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC) 202 and a contact image sensor module (Contact Image Sensor Module, CISModule) 204 . Among them, the application-specific integrated circuit 202 is used to control the portable scanning device of this embodiment, and the contact image sensor module 204 is used to receive the image signal of the document 113 to be scanned, and output the image signal to the application-specific integrated circuit 202 .

Wherein, the touch sensor module 204 includes a light emitting diode array (Light Emitting DiodeArray, LED array) 206, a sensor array (Sensor Array) 208, an amplifier 210 and an analog to digital converter (Analog to Digital Converter, ADC) 212. The diode array 212 is used for emitting light to the document to be scanned 113 to generate an image signal of the document to be scanned 113 . The sensor array 208 is used to receive the image signal of the document to be scanned 113 . After being processed by the amplifier 210 and the analog-to-digital converter 212 , the analog-to-digital converter 212 outputs the image signal of the document to be scanned 113 to the ASIC 202 . The portable scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes an LED driving circuit 214 for controlling the LED array 206 , and a sensor driving circuit 216 for controlling the sensor array 208 .

The paper feeder 101 further includes a motor 218 , a motor driving circuit 220 , and a battery 222 . The motor 218 is used to control the action of the rollers 110 of the paper feeder 101 , and the motor driving circuit 220 is used to control the motor 218 . The positioning sensors 108A and 108B are used to sense the leading edge of the document 113 to be scanned, and the battery 222 is used to provide power required by the document feeder 101 . When the paper feeder 101 is combined with the scanner 100 to perform paper-feed scanning, the motor driving circuit 220 can receive the control signal transmitted by the ASIC 202 .

Besides, the scanner 100 further includes a reference voltage driving unit 224 , a clock generator 226 , and a memory 228 . The reference voltage driving unit 224 is used to provide a suitable reference voltage for the analog-to-digital converter 212 so that it can correctly convert the analog signal to the digital signal. The clock generator 226 generates a clock signal for inputting to the application-specific integrated circuit 202 so that the operations of the circuits in the scanner 100 can be synchronized. The memory 228 is used to record the calibration record value after calibration of the portable scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , it is a perspective view of the portable scanning device when the scanner is combined with the paper feeder for paper-fed scanning. Refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time. Before scanning, the scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention must complete a calibration operation, such as calibration of black and white, gray scale and chromaticity, and store the calibration values in the memory 228 . The host computer 103 transmits a control signal CONTROL to the ASIC 202 via the USB 102 to control the scanning action of the portable scanning device. When scanning, the document 113 to be scanned is placed on the paper feeding platform 106 to be fed into the portable scanning device for scanning. When the positioning sensors 108A and 108B sense the leading edge of the document 113 to be scanned, a signal is sent to the ASIC 202 to start scanning. Next, the ASIC 202 transmits a control signal to the motor driving circuit 220 for starting the motor 218 to drive the document 113 to be scanned.

Then, during the scanning process, after the LED array 206 emits light and the document to be scanned 113 reflects the light, the sensor array 208 receives the image signal DATA of the document to be scanned 113 . After the video signal DATA is processed by the amplifier 210 and the analog-to-digital converter 212 , the analog-to-digital converter 212 outputs the video signal to the ASIC 202 . The ASIC 202 transmits the obtained image signal DATA to the host computer 103 via the USB 102 . The actions of the LED array 206 and the sensor array 208 are controlled by the ASIC 202 via the LED driving circuit 214 and the sensor driving circuit 216 respectively.

Moreover, although the positioning sensors 108A and 108B are used in the embodiment of the present invention, even if only one positioning sensor 108A or 108B is used, the effect of sensing the leading edge of the document to be scanned 113 to start scanning can be achieved. However, using the positioning sensors 108A and 108B at the same time can detect whether the document 113 to be scanned is placed in a deviation situation. That is, when only one of the positioning sensors 108A and 108B senses the document 113 to be scanned, it means that the document 113 to be scanned is fed into the paper feeder in a deviated direction. At this time, the user may be notified to reposition the file 113 to be scanned or to suspend scanning to prevent scanning errors. Referring to FIG. 4 , it is a perspective view when the portable scanning device is not used. When the portable scanning device is not in use, the paper feeding platform 106 can also be vertically rotated to one side of the portable scanning device to save the space required for placement.

Referring to FIG. 5 , it is a perspective view of the scanner when the scanner is used alone for hand-held scanning. When the document or image to be scanned is not in the form of paper and cannot be scanned by paper-fed scanning, a hand-held scanning method can be used to scan, such as scanning the book 502 .

The biggest feature of the present invention is that the power required by the scanner 100 is provided by the USB 102 of the host computer 103 , while the power required by the paper feeder 101 is provided by the battery 222 . In this way, the portable scanning device of the present invention does not need to connect another power cord to a plug to obtain power. The portable scanner of the present invention does not need to use a very complicated circuit design to achieve the purpose of not using a power line as in the conventional method. It is only necessary to isolate the power supply system of the scanner 100 and the document feeder 101, so that no power cord is used.

Moreover, the scanner 100 and the paper feeder 101 in the portable scanning device are detachable. When the scanner 100 is separated from the sheet feeder 101 , hand-held scanning can be used; and when the scanner 100 is used in combination with the sheet feeder 101 , sheet-fed scanning can be used.

In addition, the contact image sensor module can also be replaced by a charge coupled device (CCD) to achieve the same effect.

The portable scanning device disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention uses the USB and the battery to provide the required power, so there is no need to use an additional power cord to obtain the power. In addition, the portable scanner of the present invention requires low cost, and can perform paper-fed scanning or hand-held scanning. Because there is no need to use a power cord, it is extremely convenient to use.

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed above with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Changes and modifications, so the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (15)

1. portable scanner comprises:

The one scan device is connected to a main frame by a USB, and this USB provides the required power supply of this scanner, and this scanner comprises:

One Application Specific Integrated Circuit is in order to control this portable scanner; And

One image sensor module in order to receiving the signal of video signal of a file to be scanned, and exports this signal of video signal to this Application Specific Integrated Circuit; And

One paper feeder makes up to carry out paper feed type scanning or hand-held scanner with this scanner selectivity, and this paper feeder comprises:

One motor, this motor are in order to control a roller of this paper feeder, in order to this file to be scanned of transmission; And

One battery is in order to provide this paper feeder required power supply.

2. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this image sensor module is a charge coupled cell.

3. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this image sensor module is a contact image sensor module.

4. portable scanner as claimed in claim 3, wherein, this touch sensor module comprises a light emitting diode matrix.

5. portable scanner as claimed in claim 4, wherein, this scanner also comprises in order to control a LED driving circuit of this light emitting diode matrix.

6. portable scanner as claimed in claim 4, wherein, this contact image sensor module also comprises a sensor array, an amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter, this sensor array is in order to receive the signal of video signal of this file to be scanned, this signal of video signal is after this amplifier and the processing of this analog-to-digital converter, and this analog-to-digital converter exports signal of video signal to this Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

7. portable scanner as claimed in claim 6, wherein, this scanner also comprises a sensor drive driving circuit, in order to control this sensor array.

8. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this paper feeder also comprises a motor drive circuit, in order to control this motor.

9. portable scanner as claimed in claim 8, wherein, when this paper feeder links to each other with this scanner when carrying out paper feed type scanning, this Application Specific Integrated Circuit is also in order to control this motor drive circuit.

10. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this paper feeder also comprises an alignment sensor, in order to the leading edge of this file to be scanned of sensing.

11. portable scanner as claimed in claim 10, wherein, this alignment sensor is an electronic sensor.

12. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this paper feeder also comprises two alignment sensors, places the both sides of this paper feeder respectively.

13. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein, this paper feeder also comprises a paper feed platform, in order to place this file to be scanned.

14. portable scanner as claimed in claim 1 wherein, also comprises a groove on this paper feeder, with so that this scanner and this paper feeder combined closely.

15. a portable scanner comprises:

The one scan device is connected to a main frame via a USB, and this USB provides the required power supply of this scanner, and this scanner comprises:

One Application Specific Integrated Circuit is in order to control this portable scanner; And

One contact image sensor module in order to receiving the signal of video signal of a file to be scanned, and exports this signal of video signal to this Application Specific Integrated Circuit; And

One paper feeder makes up to carry out paper feed type scanning or hand-held scanner with this scanner selectivity, and this paper feeder comprises:

One motor, this motor are in order to control a roller of this paper feeder, in order to this file to be scanned of transmission;

One motor drive circuit is in order to control this motor; And

One battery is in order to provide this paper feeder required power supply;

Wherein, when this paper feeder links to each other with this scanner when carrying out paper feed type scanning, this Application Specific Integrated Circuit is also in order to control this motor drive circuit.

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