Patent ID: 6400484
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
A scanner comprising:a casing with a transparent platform onto which is placed a document to be scanned; a scanning module comprising: a housing moveably installed inside the casing; a first light source and a second light source installed in parallel inside the housing, the first light source or the second light source illuminating the document on the transparent platform; an image sensing module installed inside the housing to scan images from the document on the transparent platform to produce corresponding scanning signals; and a reflector module installed inside the housing to reflect the images from the document on the transparent platform to the image sensing module; a reflecting surface module movably fixed to the housing and located above the transparent platform to reflect light upwardly emitted from the first light source down to the document on the transparent platform, the reflecting module being driven when the housing of the scanning module is moved; a driving device installed inside the casing to move the scanning module; and a control circuit installed inside the casing to control operations of the scanner; wherein if the document is predominantly transparent, the control circuit will turn on the first light source and turn off the second light source, and light upwardly emitted from the first light source is reflected downward by the reflecting surface module and passes through the transparent document to the image sensing module to produce the corresponding scanning signals; however, if the document is predominantly reflective, then the control circuit will turn on the second light source and turn off the first light source, and light emitted from the second light source is reflected downward from the document and reflected to the image sensing module by the reflector module to produce the corresponding scanning signals.