Ana Tech Corporation

Intergraph Corporation

Colortrac Limited

Curtis A Lipkie

Eugene A Kleca

J Thomas Cilke

Charles W Spehrley

Dean H Cranston

David N Grover

Gregory A Baxes

Gary W Schneider

Robert H Ring

James T Sherhart

An apparatus and method for a large-format scanner. In a preferred embodiment, a device for scanning an image on a medium having a width and providing signals representing the image includes a frame, a transport, a lamp and a plurality of sensors. The transport is mounted to the frame and is used for moving the medium along a first axis transverse to the medium's width. The lamp illuminates the medium. The lamp has a first end and a second end wherein the first end and the second end are folded back approximately 180 degrees, so that the lamp produces uniform brightness across the width of the medium. The plurality of sensors are proximate to the transport, span the medium's width, and the sensors provide a signal representative of a portion of the image within the illuminated portion of the medium. The device may also include a focal length adjustor, mounted to the frame between the sensors and the transport, for adjusting the distance between the medium and the sensors. In another embodiment, a method for focusing a device for scanning an image on a medium having a plurality of sensors each sensor having a length is presented. A scan pattern is placed into the device for scanning which creates an output of the scan pattern. The scan pattern has black dots and white spaces, where the black dots are approximately the length of a sensor, and the white spaces are positioned between the black dots. The white dots are of such a size that the black dots are spaced apart at a distance which is greater than the length of a sensor. The output of the scan pattern is displayed and the focal length between the sensor and the medium is changed based on the output of the scan pattern so that at least one sensor produces a signal which is displayed as a peak black reading.

Method and apparatus for a large-format scanner

A scanner for scanning an image on a large-format medium and generating image information. The scanner includes a secondary substrate mounted to the frame and having a length spanning the width of the medium, and a plurality of sensor boards disposed on the secondary substrate. A plurality of sensor dies are mounted on each of the sensor boards. The scanner further includes a lens strip, mounted to the frame between the sensor dies and the moving means. Preferably, a die on each end of each sensor board overhangs the end of the board, and the sensor boards are mounted on the secondary substrate so that dies overhanging ends of the sensor boards are butted against each other. The sensor dies may be wired in groups, so that image information read from the sensors in a group passes through the same data path; image information is read from a first set of sensor dies, wherein only one sensor die from each group is in the first set; and immediately after reading image information from the first set of sensor dies, image information is read from a second set of sensor dies, wherein only one sensor die from each group is in the second set, and wherein each of a plurality of sensor dies in the second set is separated by at least one other sensor die from the sensor die in the first set that is in the same group.

Contact image sensor for large format scanner

The invention in a preferred embodiment recognizes symbols by determining the center of mass and maximum extremity of a symbol candidate, and comparing it to a reference library after normalizing with respect to scale, orientation and center of mass.

Method and apparatus for vectorizing documents and symbol recognition

A method and apparatus is described in which a document is scanned and the coordinates of each graphic element intercepted along the scan line are analyzed to encode a compact digital representation of the various graphic elements. In one embodiment, detected features of a height less than a first dimension or having both a width less than a desired width threshold and a height less than a desired height threshold are deleted as representative of noise. No data representative of topological or dimensional features is output until after the continued recognition of such features for more than a threshold number of scan lines.

Graphic vectorization system

The invention provides a scanner system which in one embodiment includes only a single moving part in the document path, namley a drive roll, which serves not only to move the document through the system, but also to provide a backing against which the document is pushed while a proximate region thereof is being scanned. The invention in an embodiment also provides an opto-mechanical assembly that is shock-mounted to the frame of the system at only three-spaced apart locations, so that the assembly tends to be isolated from vibration and torsional forces.

Document scanning system

An apparatus codes a scanned document locally representing each graphic element within a prescribed measure of accuracy by a trapezoidal approximation. The invention also includes a method for similarly coding a scanned document. The apparatus determines whether each scanned run is indicative of a Y- or .lambda.-junction, the termination of an old, or the commencement of a new graphic element, and whether a new linear approximation is necessary. The invention in a preferred embodiment recognizes symbols by determining the center of mass and maximum extremity of a symbol candidate, and comparing it to a reference library after normalizing with respect to scale, orientation and center of mass. In a preferred embodiment, an adaptive threshold parameter governs coding so as to reject noise and optimize a pair of linear predicters in a small number of scans. In a further preferred embodiment the accuracy of the linear predicters is refined so that the error is exponentially bounded.

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Littleton, CO, United States of America

Curtis A Lipkie