Patent ID: 6655596
Filing Date: 2003-12-02
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A scanning apparatus utilizing gravity acceleration for scanning, comprising:a U-shaped housing having a base plate and two sidewalls; a shaft bearing disposed within said U-shaped housing with two ends thereof respectively and rotationally fastened to one of said two sidewalls; a housing having a transparent top plate, a transparent bottom plate, a hook-shaped element and a guiding rail, said shaft bearing passing through said housing in parallel with said transparent top plate and said transparent bottom plate such that said housing is rotationally fastened in said U-shaped housing, each of said transparent top plate and said transparent bottom plate serving as a scanning platform, said hook-shaped element disposed between said transparent top plate and said transparent bottom plate close to a top corner of said housing, and said guiding rail vertically disposed in said housing with opposite to said hook-shaped element; and a scanning head downward moveably disposed in said housing, said scanning head having a transparent housing, a light source, a mirror assembly, a lens assembly and a photodetector, said transparent housing having an engageable piece and a guiding piece, said engageable piece disposed in a top end of said transparent housing to be engaged with said hook-shaped element for fastening said scanning head when said scanning head is placed in a top end of said housing, said guiding piece disposed in said transparent housing with opposite to said engageable piece and cooperated with said guiding rail for guiding said scanning head to downwardly move for scanning, said light source, said mirror assembly, said lens assembly and said photodetector disposed within said transparent housing in a predetermined arrangement so as to capture image data during scanning; wherein, when said scanning head is going to scan, the engagement between said engageable piece and said hook-shaped element is released and a starting power is applied on said scanning head by a gravity acceleration, thereby said scanning head is guided to move downwardly to scan via cooperation between said guiding piece and said guiding rail, and by way of rotating said shaft bearing a predetermined angle to generate a predetermined angle contained between said housing and said base plate of said U-shaped housing to change said starting power, thereby changing a scanning speed of said scanning head.