BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional CIS scanning apparatus;
FIG. 2(
a) is a schematic diagram illustrating the scanning operation concept of the CIS scanning apparatus 10;
FIG. 2(
b) is schematic view showing n counts of rectangular scanning regions of the document portion of the CIS scanning apparatus 10;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the optical sensing units included in the optical sensing element;
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a CIS scanning apparatus 30 according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the scanning operation concept of the CIS scanning apparatus 30;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the process of the using the contact image sensor 33 of FIG. 5 to perform a scanning operation;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a CIS scanning apparatus 30 according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the scanning operation concept of the CIS scanning apparatus 30. The CIS scanning apparatus 30 includes a casing 31, a transparent platform 32 and a contact image sensor (CIS) 33. The transparent platform 32 is disposed on the upper surface of the casing 31 and used for placing thereon the document 34 to be scanned. The CIS scanning apparatus 30 further comprises a control member 35, a driving member 36 and a storage member 37, which are also included in the casing 31. The contact image sensor 33 includes a light-emitting element 331, a lens 332 and an optical sensing member 333. The light-emitting element 331 is used as a light source to project a source light L31 onto the document 34 to be scanned. The source light L31 includes red, green and blue light. The light L32 reflected from the scanned document is focused by the lens 332. The focused light L32 is then imaged onto the optical sensing member 333 to convert the optical signals reflected from the scanned document 34 into corresponding image pixels.
Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The process of using the contact image sensor 33 to perform a scanning operation will be illustrated as follows. As shown in FIG. 6, the present invention is principally distinguished from the prior art in that the optical sensing member 333 includes three rows of optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 arranged in parallel with each other. The optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 have 13,600 optical sensing units SR11˜SR113600, 13,600 optical sensing units SG11˜SG113600 and 13,600 optical sensing units SB11˜SB113600, respectively, which are arranged in a line along the X direction. It is preferred that at least two of the optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 have equivalent lengths.
An end 3331a of the first optical sensing elements 3331 is distant from an end 3332a of the second optical sensing elements 3332 by a distance D1 along the X direction. The end 3332a of the second optical sensing elements 3332 is distant from an end 3333a of the third optical sensing elements 3333 by a distance D2 along the X direction. In a preferred embodiment, the distance D1 is equal to the distance D2, and the distance D1 or D2 is preferably one half or one third of any optical sensing unit.
For each scanning stroke, under the control of the control member 35, the light-emitting element 331 of the contact image sensor 33 projects a red source light L31 onto one rectangular scanning region (e.g. Z2 as shown in FIG. 2(b)) on the document 34. The reflective red light L32, which is reflected from the scanned document 34, is focused by the lens 332 and uniformly imaged onto the optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 of the optical sensing member 333. In accordance with a feature of the present invention, under the control of the control member 35, the optical sensing units SR11˜SR113600 of the first optical sensing element 3331 are enabled, but the optical sensing units SG11˜SG113600 of the second optical sensing element 3332 and the optical sensing units SB11˜SB113600 of the third optical sensing element 3333 are disabled. Under this circumstance, the control member 35 control the optical sensing units SR11˜SR113600 of the first optical sensing element 3331 to generate 13,600 red sub-pixels R11˜R113600.
Likewise, under the control of the control member 35, the light-emitting element 331 of the contact image sensor 13 may successively project a green or blue source light L31 onto the selected rectangular scanning region (e.g. Z2) on the document 34. The reflective green or blue light L32, which is reflected from the scanned document 34, is focused by the lens 332 and uniformly imaged onto the optical sensing units SG11˜SG113600 of the second optical sensing element 3332 and the optical sensing units SB11˜SB113600 of the third optical sensing element 3333. The red sub-pixels R11˜R113600, the green sub-pixels G11˜G113600 and the blue sub-pixels B11˜B113600 can be stored in the storage member 37.
By the control member 35, corresponding sub-pixels generated from the three optical sensing elements can be synthesized into combined pixels. For example, the sub-pixels R11, B11 and G11 are synthesized into a first pixel P11. Likewise, the sub-pixels R12, B11 and G11 are synthesized into a second pixel P12, the sub-pixels R12, B11 and G12 are synthesized into a third pixel P13, and the sub-pixels R12, B12 and G12 are synthesized into a fourth pixel P14. The rest may be deduced by analogy until the 40799th pixel P140799 is synthesized from the sub-pixels R113600, B113599 and G113599 and the 40800th pixel P140800 is synthesized from the sub-pixels R113600, B113600 and G113600. The control member 35 will control the 40800 pixels P11˜P140800 to form an image row. After the image row is stored in the storage member 37, a scanning stroke is implemented. It is noted that a total of n image rows are generated when the contact image sensor 33 performs the remainder scanning strokes on the document 34. By the control member 35, the n image rows are synthesized into an image frame, which is then transmitted to the external data processing device 40.
Please refer to FIG. 6 again. The optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 of the optical sensing member 333 are arranged in a staggered form, such that adjacent optical sensing units of the optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 are partially overlapped with each other along the Y-direction. In a preferred embodiment, the overlapping region is one half or one third of any optical sensing unit. As a consequence, the sub-pixel generated from each optical sensing unit contributes to the components of three combined pixels. For example, the sub-pixel R12 generated from the optical sensing unit is one component of each of the pixels P12, P13 and P14. In such way, by using the contact image sensor 33 to perform a scanning operation, 40,800 pixels are obtained. That is, the resolution is tripled without difficulty.
Hereinafter, a flowchart of the using the contact image sensor 33 of FIG. 5 to perform a scanning operation will be illustrated with reference to FIG. 7.
First of all, when the light-emitting element 331 emits a red source light, a green source light and a blue source light, the optical sensing elements 3331, 3332 and 3333 of the optical sensing member 333 will generate 13,600 red sub-pixels R11˜R113600, 13,600 green sub-pixels G11˜G113600 and 13,600 blue sub-pixels SB11˜SB113600, respectively (Step 100). Then, the first red sub-pixel R11, the first green sub-pixel G11 and the first blue sub-pixel B11 are synthesized into a first pixel P11 (Step 110). The second red sub-pixel R12, the first green sub-pixel G11 and the first blue sub-pixel B11 are synthesized into a second pixel P12 (Step 120). The second red sub-pixel R12, the second green sub-pixel G12 and the first blue sub-pixel B11 are synthesized into a third pixel P13 (Step 130). The second red sub-pixel R12, the second green sub-pixel G12 and the second blue sub-pixel B12 are synthesized into a fourth pixel P14 (Step 140). The third red sub-pixel R13, the second green sub-pixel G12 and the second blue sub-pixel B12 are synthesized into a fifth pixel P15 (Step 150). The third red sub-pixel R13, the third green sub-pixel G13 and the second blue sub-pixel B12 are synthesized into a sixth pixel P16 (Step 160). The rest may be deduced by analogy until the 40800th pixel P140800 is synthesized from the sub-pixels R113600, B113600 and G113600 (Step 170). Then, the 40800 pixels P11˜P140800 are formed into an image row to implement a scanning stroke (Step 180). The above steps are repeated to scan the whole document 34 until a total of n image rows are generated (Step 190). Afterwards, these n image rows are synthesized into an image frame (Step 200).
Referring to FIG. 8, a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The optical sensing member 333 includes three rows of optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 arranged in parallel with each other. The optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 have 13,600 optical sensing units SR21˜SR213600, 13,600 optical sensing units SG21˜SG213600 and 13,600 optical sensing units SB21˜SB213600, respectively, which are arranged in a line along the X direction. It is preferred that at least two of the optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 have equivalent lengths. An end 3334a of the first optical sensing elements 3334 is distant from an end 3335a of the second optical sensing elements 3335 by a distance D3 along the X direction. The end 3335a of the second optical sensing elements 3335 is distant from an end 3336a of the third optical sensing elements 3336 by a distance D4 along the X direction. In a preferred embodiment, the distance D3 is equal to the distance D4, which is preferably one half or one third of any optical sensing unit. In comparison with the first embodiment, each optical sensing unit of the optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 of this embodiment has an effective sensing section N1 and an ineffective sensing section M1. In a preferred embodiment, the area of the effective sensing section N1 is two third of the total area for each optical sensing unit, and the area of the ineffective sensing section M1 is one third of the total area for each optical sensing unit. The ineffective sensing section M1 is formed via a masking step. The effective sensing sections N1 of the optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 are arranged in a staggered form, such that adjacent effective sensing sections N1 of the optical sensing elements 3334, 3335 and 3336 are partially overlapped with each other along the Y-direction. In a preferred embodiment, the overlapping region is one half of the effective sensing sections N1.
In this embodiment, the procedure of synthesizing the sub-pixels into a combined pixel is substantially identical to that described in the first embodiment. In other words, the sub-pixel generated from each optical sensing unit contributes to the components of three combined pixels. It is noted that, if the sampled sub-pixel is located at the ineffective sensing section M1 of one optical sensing unit, the sub-pixel sensed by the effective sensing sections N1 of the next optical sensing unit is selected as the component of the combined pixel. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the sampling positions of the second pixel P22 include the ineffective sensing section M1 of the first optical sensing unit SR21 of the first optical sensing element 3334, the effective sensing sections N1 of the first optical sensing unit SG21 of the second optical sensing element 3335 and the effective sensing sections N1 of the first optical sensing unit SB21 of the third optical sensing element 3336. Since the sampled sub-pixel is located at the ineffective sensing section M1 of the first optical sensing unit SR21 of the first optical sensing element 3334, the sub-pixel R22 sensed by the effective sensing sections N1 of the next optical sensing unit SR22 is selected as the component of the combined pixel. That is, the second pixel P22 is synthesized from the second red sub-pixel R22, the first green sub-pixel G21 and the first blue sub-pixel B21. Similarly, the sampling positions of the second pixel P22 include the effective sensing sections N1 of second optical sensing unit SR22 of the first optical sensing element 3334, the ineffective sensing section M1 of the first optical sensing unit SG21 of the second optical sensing element 3335 and the effective sensing sections N1 of the first optical sensing unit SB21 of the third optical sensing element 3336. Since the sampled sub-pixel is located at the ineffective sensing section M1 of the first optical sensing unit SG21 of the second optical sensing element 3335, the second green sub-pixel G22 sensed by the effective sensing sections N1 of the next optical sensing unit GR22 is selected as the component of the combined pixel. That is, the third pixel P23 is synthesized from the second red sub-pixel R22, the second green sub-pixel G22 and the first blue sub-pixel B21. In such way, by using the contact image sensor 33 to perform a scanning operation, 40,800 pixels are obtained. That is, the resolution is tripled without difficulty.
By the way, although the first optical sensing unit SB21 of the third optical sensing element 3336 is not directly aligned with the sampling positions of the second pixel P21, the sub-pixel B21 sensed by the effective sensing sections N1 of the next optical sensing unit SB21 is selected as the component of the combined pixel, so that the first pixel P21 is synthesized from the first red sub-pixel R21, the first green sub-pixel G21 and the first blue sub-pixel B21. In addition, the sub-pixels R213601 and G213601 contained in the 40799th pixel P240799 and the 40800th pixel P240800 are sensed by two additional optical sensing units (not shown). Alternatively, the red sub-pixel R213601 and the green sub-pixel G213601 are pre-determined.
Referring to FIG. 9, a schematic diagram of the optical sensing member 333 according to a third embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The optical sensing member 333 includes three rows of optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 arranged in parallel with each other. The optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 have 13,600 optical sensing units SR31˜SR313600, 13,600 optical sensing units SG31˜SG313600 and 13,600 optical sensing units SB31˜SB313600, respectively, which are arranged in a line along the X direction. It is preferred that at least two of the optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 have equivalent lengths. An end 3337a of the first optical sensing elements 3337, an end 3338a of the second optical sensing elements 3338 and an end 3339a of the second optical sensing elements 3339 are aligned with each other along the X direction. Each optical sensing unit of the optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 of this embodiment has an effective sensing section N2 and an ineffective sensing section M2. In comparison with the first embodiment, the area of the effective sensing section N2 is one third of the total area for each optical sensing unit, and the area of the ineffective sensing section M2 is two third of the total area for each optical sensing unit. The ineffective sensing section M1 can be formed via a masking step. In this embodiment, the effective sensing sections N2 of the optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 are arranged in a staggered form, but adjacent effective sensing sections N2 of the optical sensing elements 3337, 3338 and 3339 are not overlapped with each other along the Y-direction. The procedure of synthesizing the sub-pixels into a combined pixel is substantially identical to that described in the second embodiment, and is not redundantly described herein. Likewise, the sub-pixels R213601 and G213601 contained in the 40799th pixel P240799 and the 40800th pixel P240800 are sensed by two additional optical sensing units (not shown) or predetermined.
As described in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the effective sensing sections of the optical sensing elements are arranged in a staggered form. Since the sub-pixel generated from each optical sensing unit contributes to the components of three different combined pixels, the scanning resolution is tripled without difficulty. It is noted that, however, those skilled in the art will readily observe that the area ratio of the effective sensing section to each optical sensing unit is varied according to the manufacturer's design.
From the above description, the contact image sensor 33 of the present invention is capable of largely enhancing the resolution of the scanning apparatus without considerably increasing the fabrication cost. By using three conventional optical sensing elements, in which the optical sensing units/effective sensing sections are arranged in a staggered form, the sub-pixel generated from each optical sensing unit contributes to the components of three different combined pixels. Accordingly, after the contact image sensor 33 as shown in FIG. 5 implements a scanning operation, the resolution can be increased to 40,800, provided that each of the three optical sensing elements has 13,600 optical sensing units.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
Patent Application
20070279713
