Patent ID: 6134028
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A method for scanning documents by a multifunction machine including a scanner, the method comprising the steps of:scanning a block of a document support and storing said scanned block as a reference block in a memory;scanning a block of said document and generating a document block;comparing said reference block with said document block and determining whether said scanner is currently positioned over said document support or a rightmost portion of said document, wherein said comparing step comprises the steps of:dividing said reference block and said document block into a predetermined number of slices in a direction corresponding to a moving direction of said scanner;comparing an Nth slice of said reference block and an Nth slice of said document block to detect an amount of common data between said Nth slices, where the value N is initially set to one;determining whether the amount of common data is larger than a predetermined critical value;determining whether the value N is greater than or equal to a predetermined number, when it is determined that said amount of common data is not larger than said predetermined critical value; andrecognizing said document block as actual data when it is determined that the value N is greater than or equal to said predetermined number.