Character reading apparatus with improved document scanner

Claim 9

Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said scanning means includes lens means to reduce the width of said beam where it strikes the document into a spot having a diameter no greater than about 0.010 inches.

Claim 10

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document in cylindrical shape; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam along successive elements of the surface of said document, parallel to the elements of the cylinder, whereby the beam traverses straight-line sections of the document; means to detect the laser radiation reflected from the document; and means coupled to the output of said detecting means for analyzing the reflected radiation to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 11

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document in cylindrical shape; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam along successive elements of the surface of said document, parallel to the elements of the cylinder, whereby the beam traverses straight-line sections of the document; means to detect the laser radiation reflected from the document; and means coupled to the output of said detecting means for analyzing the reflected radiation to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 12

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document containing characters to be read; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam in successive adjacent scan paths through the portions of said document containing said characters; means to detect light reflected from the document as a result of the scanning thereof by said laser beam; means coupled to the output of said detecting means for producing binary sample pulses each indicating the presence or absence of character elements at a corresponding position along the scan path; and means to analyze said binary sample signals to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 13

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document containing characters to be read; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam in successive adjacent scan paths through the portions of said document containing said characters; means to detect light reflected from the document as a result of the scanning thereof by said laser beam; means coupled to the output of said detecting means for producing binary sample pulses each indicating the presence or absence of character elements at a corresponding position along the scan path; and means to analyze said binary sample signals to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 14

Character reading apparatus comprising: a rotatable document feed-drum having a cylindrical surface arranged to support a document in cylindrical shape while advancing the document; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam along a path extending longitudinally along said feed-drum, parallel to the axis thereof, so as to traverse successive straight-line element segments of a document supported in cylindrical shape by said feed-drum; means to detect the laser radiation reflected from said document as the beam traverses each straightline segment thereof; and means coupled to said detection means for analyzing characteristics of the reflected radiation so as to identify characters on the document.

Claim 15

Character reading apparatus comprising: a rotatable document feed-drum having a cylindrical surface arranged to support a document in cylindrical shape while advancing the document; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said laser beam along a path extending longitudinally along said feed-drum, parallel to the axis thereof, so as to traverse successive straight-line element segments of a document supported in cylindrical shape by said feed-drum; means to detect the laser radiation reflected from said document as the beam traverses each straightline segment thereof; and means coupled to said detection means for analyzing characteristics of the reflected radiation so as to identify characters on the document.

Claim 16

Character reading apparatus comprising: a document drum in the form of a right-circular cylinder arranged to receive and support a document to be scanned; stepping means for rotating said drum in small discrete incremental steps of uniform size, thereby to advance said document in corresponding steps; a flying spot scanner operable between said advancing steps to sweep a narrow beam of light across the drum surface on a straight line path parallel to the axis of the drum, the spot developed at the drum by said beam being substantially smaller than the height of the characters to be scanned; said stepping means serving to advance the document each step an amount which is at least approximately equal to the size of the scanning spot; means for developing binary signal pulses indicating the presence or absence of character elements as represented by the amount of radiation reflected from said document at predetermined fixed uniformly-spaced positions along the scan path across the surface of the drum, the positions being identical for successive scans whereby repeating a scan without rotating the drum will develop signal pulse data corresponding to that produced on the preceding scan; and means responsive to said binary signal pulses for analyzing the scan data to determine the characters on said document.

Claim 17

Character reading apparatus comprising: a document drum in the form of a right-circular cylinder arranged to receive and support a document to be scanned; stepping means for rotating said drum in small discrete incremental steps of uniform size, thereby to advance said document in corresponding steps; a flying spot scanner operable between said advancing steps to sweep a narrow beam of light across the drum surface on a straight line path parallel to the axis of the drum, the spot developed at the drum by said beam being substantially smaller than the height of the characters to be scanned; said stepping means serving to advance the document each step an amount which is at least approximately equal to the size of the scanning spot; means for developing binary signal pulses indicating the presence or absence of character elements as represented by the amount of radiation reflected from said document at predetermined fixed uniformly-spaced positions along the scan path across the surface of the drum, the positions being identical for successive scans whereby repeating a scan without rotating the drum will develop signal pulse data corresponding to that produced on the preceding scan; and means responsive to said binary signal pulses for analyzing the scan data to determine the characters on said document.

Claim 18

Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein said means to rotate the drum comprises motor means having electrically-energizable force-field producing means; a rotary drive member secured to said drum, said member being responsive to and positioned within the effective range of said force-field; and sequential energizing means operable between scans of said beam to alter the force-field so as to attract and thereby shift said member an incremental step of rotary movement in a direction to advance said document each time said energizing means is activated, the angular stepping movement of said drum thereby being effected without the need of physical contact for applying the force necessary for accelerating and decelerating the drum at each step.

Claim 19

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document in cylindrical form; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said beam across said document along a fixed path parallel to the elements of the cylindrical document surface; means to advance said document in a direction perpendicular to said cylindrical elements; said advancing means being synchronized with said scanning means and having a rate of advance such that each scanning sweep of the beam is closely adjacent the preceding scanning sweep; means to detect light reflected from the document as a result of the scanning thereof by said laser beam; means operable with said scanning means for producing clock pulses at predetermined fixed points along said fixed scan path, the points along said path at which clock pulses are produced being identical for all scanning sweeps; means coupled to the output of said detecting means and responsive to said clock pulses for producing binary sample pulses each indicating the presence or absence of character elements at a corresponding position along said scan path, the sampling positions along said path being identical for all scanning sweeps; and means to analyze said binary sample signals to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 20

Character reading apparatus comprising: means to support a document in cylindrical form; a laser producing a beam of coherent radiation; scanning means for repetitively sweeping said beam across said document along a fixed path parallel to the elements of the cylindrical document surface; means to advance said document in a direction perpendicular to said cylindrical elements; said advancing means being synchronized with said scanning means and having a rate of advance such that each scanning sweep of the beam is closely adjacent the preceding scanning sweep; means to detect light reflected from the document as a result of the scanning thereof by said laser beam; means operable with said scanning means for producing clock pulses at predetermined fixed points along said fixed scan path, the points along said path at which clock pulses are produced being identical for all scanning sweeps; means coupled to the output of said detecting means and responsive to said clock pulses for producing binary sample pulses each indicating the presence or absence of character elements at a corresponding position along said scan path, the sampling positions along said path being identical for all scanning sweeps; and means to analyze said binary sample signals to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 21

Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein said scanning means includes means to form said beam where it strikes the document into a spot having a diameter no greater than about 0.010 inches.

Claim 22

A character reading system of the type including a first station having a data processing system organized for character signal analysis and coupled to at least one second station having scanning apparatus for generating signals corresponding to data scanned from a document bearing graphic characters in lines, the said second station comprising stepping means for advancing the document in discrete steps each substantially smaller than the height of the characters and in a direction perpendicular to the lines of characters; scanning means operable beTween each advancing step to scan the document along a path parallel to and along the whole length of the said line of characters; means for irradiating the document and for detecting the amount of radiation reflected therefrom at the scanned regions; the said second station further comprising pulse-generating means for producing clock pulses corresponding to predetermined fixed positions uniformly spaced along the scanning path; means controlled by the said clock pulses for developing binary pulses in accordance with the amount of detected radiation reflected from said document at each of the said uniformly-spaced positions, independently of the location of any indicia on the documents, and during successive scans so that the combined set of scan data from successive scans will represent the presence or absence of character elements at positions corresponding to the intersections of an orthogonal matrix and a repeated scanning of any one scan path will produce binary pulses representing identical sets of character elements; and means for directing to the first station data signals corresponding to the said binary pulses whereby the said first station may analyze the data signals to determine the characters on the document.

Claim 23

A character reading system of the type including a first station having a data processing system organized for character signal analysis and coupled to at least one second station having scanning apparatus for generating signals corresponding to data scanned from a document bearing graphic characters in lines, the said second station comprising stepping means for advancing the document in discrete steps each substantially smaller than the height of the characters and in a direction perpendicular to the lines of characters; scanning means operable beTween each advancing step to scan the document along a path parallel to and along the whole length of the said line of characters; means for irradiating the document and for detecting the amount of radiation reflected therefrom at the scanned regions; the said second station further comprising pulse-generating means for producing clock pulses corresponding to predetermined fixed positions uniformly spaced along the scanning path; means controlled by the said clock pulses for developing binary pulses in accordance with the amount of detected radiation reflected from said document at each of the said uniformly-spaced positions, independently of the location of any indicia on the documents, and during successive scans so that the combined set of scan data from successive scans will represent the presence or absence of character elements at positions corresponding to the intersections of an orthogonal matrix and a repeated scanning of any one scan path will produce binary pulses representing identical sets of character elements; and means for directing to the first station data signals corresponding to the said binary pulses whereby the said first station may analyze the data signals to determine the characters on the document.