Patent Application
20120262763
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image scanning device, and more particularly to an automatically-activated image scanning device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional image scanning device activates a scanning process by pressing a button disposed on the device or utilizing software installed in a computer, resulting in complicated activating procedures for the scanning process. For users who need to digitalize a large amount of documents, scanning efficiency is hindered as the scanning process is not able to be activated automatically.
A conventional image scanning device configured with a switch or a sensor is able to scan automatically when an upper lid of the image scanning device is detected to be closed. However, the addition of the switch or sensor increases the manufacturing cost, besides, scanning process cannot be activated until the user closed the upper lid, resulting that scanning efficiency is still not promising.
In summary, it is highly desirable to provide an image scanning device simplifying the activating procedure for the scanning process and also being able to automatically scan without disposing additional hardware.
The present invention is directed to an automatically-activated image scanning device which is configured with an image sensor to capture images on a platform and the captured images are analyzed to determine existence of the object on the platform. A scanning process will be automatically activated when the existence of the object on the platform is determined.
According to an embodiment, the automatically-activated image scanning device includes a platform, a light source, an image sensor, a driving unit and a controller. The platform is configured for supporting an object. The light source is disposed at one side of the platform for providing illuminating light. The image sensor is configured for capturing reflected light of the illuminating light from the object and outputting an image signal. The driving unit is configured for driving the image sensor to move relative to the object. The controller is electrically connected to the image sensor and the driving unit and is configured for analyzing the image signal to determine existence of the object on the platform and then activate a scanning process if the existence of said object is determined.
The objective, technologies, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein certain embodiments of the present invention are set forth by way of illustration and examples.
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According to one embodiment of the present invention, the platform 11 may be made of transparent material. The light source 12 and the image sensor 13 may be disposed below the platform 11. The illuminating light from the light source 12 may transmit through the platform 11 to illuminate the surface of the object 20. The illuminating light is then reflected by the surface of the object 20 and captured by the image sensor 13. It is noted that the light source 12 and the image sensor 13 may also be disposed above the platform 11, which is still within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The driving unit 14 is electrically connected to the image sensor 13, for driving the image sensor 13 to move relative to the object 20 for achieving larger scanning area. For example, the image sensor 13 is driven by the driving unit 14 to move along the rail 141 thereby being able to capture the entire image of the object 20. It is noted that the driving unit 14 may be electrically connected to the platform 1 land the platform 11 may move relative to the image sensor 13 so as to achieve larger scanning area.
The controller 15 is electrically connected to the image sensor 13 and the driving unit 14 and configured for controlling the image sensor 13 and the driving unit 14 to activate scanning process. Furthermore, the controller 15 is configured for analyzing the image signal captured by the image sensor 13 to determine the existence of the object 20 to be scanned. A scanning process is activated by the controller 15 in the case of the existence of the object 20. The scanning process includes image preview, image scan, scanning parameter set up and etc.
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In one embodiment of the present invention, the existence of the object 20 on the platform 11 is determined by the controller 15 based on the brightness variation of one or several captured images. For example, the light source 12 emits steady light when the image sensor 13 captures image at the predetermined detecting position. When the object 20 is disposed on the platform 11, the illuminating light is reflected by the object 20, resulting in brightness variation. The existence of the object 20 on the platform 11 is determined when the brightness variation exceeds a predetermined value lasts longer than a predetermined period, and then scanning process is activated by the controller 15. In one embodiment of the present invention, the light source 12 emits blinking light when the image sensor 13 captures image at the predetermined detecting position. Brightness variation detected by the image sensor 13 is fairly small when the object 20 is not disposed on the platform 11. The object 20 is determined to be existent on the platform 11 when brightness variation of the image signal is regular, and then scanning process is then activated by the controller 15.
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To sum up, the automatically-activated image scanning device according to the present invention utilizes the image sensor to capture images on the platform and activates scanning process according to the result of analyzing the existence of the object on the platform. No additional hardware is disposed in the automatically-activated image scanning device according to the present invention, thereby lowering manufacturing cost, simplifying operating procedure and improving scanning efficiency.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific example thereof has been shown in the drawings and is herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
