Scanning apparatus

A scanning apparatus for scanning an object includes a casing, a scanning module, at least one sensor, and a control unit. The control unit is electrically connected to the scanning module and the sensor for receiving a detecting signal generated by the sensor so as to actuate the scanning module to scan, and the scanning module then generates a first image of a first scanned page and a second image of a second scanned page. The control unit further includes a recognition unit for recognizing whether the first image along with the second image are continuous. As the recognition unit recognizes the first image and the second image to be discontinuous, the control unit generates an insertion image between the first image and the second image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a scanning apparatus, and more particularly, to a scanning apparatus for scanning a binding document.

2. Description of the Prior Art

With the growth of scanning technology, scanners are becoming widespread and applied at home or office. A scanner is capable of capturing objects and is utilized in scanning documents, photos, and books. The captured digital image data can be displayed and stored in a computer, so that the image data can be permanently stored and the space that the objects occupied may be saved; meanwhile, the image data can also be edited or delivered by the user for a variety of applications of the image data.

Scanners can be classified into flatbed scanners and sheet-fed scanners according to different operation. The sheet-fed scanner is capable of automatically feeding sheets and is generally used for scanning a large amount of sheets. The flatbed scanner is particularly used for scanning binding documents or books. It is impractical to scan the binding documents or a book by the sheet-fed scanner without detaching the sheets from the binding. However, the binding documents or books can properly be scanned by use of the flatbed scanner. When a book is opened and placed on a scanning flatbed, the spine of the book makes it difficult to fully lay flat on the scanning flatbed, causing unsatisfactory scanning result like lack of clarity or shadows on the images. Hence, a flatbed scanner with an inclined surface can properly place the spine and the pages of the book can be laid flat on the flatbed such that a clear image may be obtained. However, the book to be scanned has odd pages and even pages, these scanners with one inclined surface can only scan one page at a time and need a 180 degrees rotation of the book after finishing scanning an odd page before the even page can be scanned. Also when scanning discontinuous pages, such as merely even pages or merely odd pages, the conventional scanner is incapable of recognizing that these pages are discontinuous. Therefore, it is an important issue to design a scanner capable of recognizing the discontinuous pages and automatically carrying out appropriate procedures so that the discontinuous pages may be distinguished for conveniently previewing, reading, and printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a scanning apparatus, and more specifically, to a scanning apparatus for scanning a binding document so as to solve the above drawback.

According to the disclosure, the scanning apparatus is for scanning an object. The scanning apparatus includes a casing, a scanning module, at least one sensor, and a control unit. The casing includes a first flatbed and a second flatbed. The first flatbed is for placing the object and includes a scanning area, and the second flatbed is adjacent to the first flatbed. The scanning module is disposed on the casing and under the first flatbed for capturing the object on the scanning area so as to generate a first image from a first scanned page and a second image from a second scanned page. The sensor is disposed in the casing for sensing the object so as to send a detection signal. The control unit is electrically connected to the scanning module and the sensor for actuating the scanning module to scan and generate the first image and the second image when the control unit receives the detection signal. The control unit further includes a recognition unit for recognizing whether the first image along with the second image are continuous. As the first image and the second image are recognized by the recognition unit to be discontinuous, the control unit generates an insertion image between the first image and the second image.

The control unit determines whether the scanning apparatus enters a book scanning mode according to the detection signal sent by the sensor when scanning the object. The recognition unit recognizes whether the images scanned under the book scanning mode are continuous. The control unit inserts a blank image automatically when the scanned images are discontinuous. In addition, all pages of a finished document are aligned in orientation, and the left-and-right positions of pages of the finished document are not confused by the blank image for conveniently reading. The drawback caused by the discontinuous pages during scanning can be solved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer toFIG. 1andFIG. 2.FIG. 1is a functional block diagram of a scanning apparatus5according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2is a schematic diagram of the scanning apparatus5according to the embodiment of the present invention. The scanning apparatus5is for scanning an object4. The scanning apparatus5includes a casing50, a scanning module52, at least one sensor54, and a control unit56. The casing50includes a first flatbed502and a second flatbed504. The first flatbed502is for placing the object4and includes a scanning area5021, and the second flatbed504is adjacent to the first flatbed502. The scanning module52is disposed in the casing50and under the first flatbed502for capturing the object4on the scanning area5021. The at least one sensor54, either one or more, is disposed in the casing50for sensing the object4so as to send a detection signal. Three sensors54are used in the embodiment ofFIG. 2, but not limited to this.

The control unit56is electrically connected to the scanning module52and the sensor54for actuating the scanning module52to scan when receiving the detection signal. Additionally, the control unit56receives and processes the image captured by the scanning module52. The control unit56can be disposed either in the casing50, or out of the casing50like a central processing unit (CPU) disposed in a personal computer and electrically connected to the scanning module52and the sensor54so as to control the scanning module52and the sensor54. According to other embodiments, the scanning module52can be actuated by a computer or by a button (not shown in the figures) on the scanning apparatus5. The control unit56further includes a recognition unit562. The scanning apparatus5further includes an output module58for outputting images processed by the control unit56. The output module58can be disposed on the casing50. It can also be an external computer or a printer.

Please refer toFIG. 3.FIG. 3is a diagram of the scanning apparatus5scanning an object4according to the embodiment of the present invention. The object4includes a ready page42and an unready page44. In the present invention, object4is a binding document, such as a book, includes a plurality of pages. The ready page42is placed on the first flatbed502facing down to the scanning area5021of the first flatbed502. The unready page44is placed on the second flatbed504. Being as the form of a book, when the object4is to be scanned with the ready page42placed on the first flatbed502, the unready page44that is connected to the ready page42will be placed on the second flatbed and will trigger the sensor54on the second flatbed504to send the detection signal to the control unit56, and the control unit56controls the scanning apparatus5to enter a book scanning mode accordingly. According to the embodiment, the sensor54is disposed at a position of the second flatbed504close to the first flatbed502, but not limited to this. The sensor54can be disposed on the first flatbed502and can be triggered by the ready page42of the object4according to another embodiment. Practically, the sensor54may be a mechanical sensor, an optical sensor, or an infrared ray sensor so that the object4may trigger the sensor54by way of pressing or covering the sensor54. Furthermore, the first flatbed502and the second flatbed504may be structured in a way that an angle exists therebetween, which ranges from 90 to 180 degrees, so as to be able to properly place the object4thereon, providing that the object4, particularly a portion close to the binding of the object4, can stay as close as possible to the scanning area5021for quality scanning.

Please refer toFIG. 4.FIG. 4is a flow chart of a scanning process carried out by the scanning apparatus5according to the embodiment of the present invention. The scanning process includes the following steps:

Step102: The control unit determining whether the scanning apparatus enters the book scanning mode;

Step104: Scanning the object placed on the scanning area of the first flatbed;

Step106: Scanning a first scanned page and a second scanned page in sequence and generating a first image and a second image respectively;

Step108: Utilizing a recognition unit to recognize whether the first image along with the second image are continuous according to orientation or page numbers of the first image and the second image;

Step110: The control unit generating an insertion image between the first image and the second image according to the recognition results of the recognition unit, and the control unit further adjusting the first image or the second image so as to align the first image in orientation with the second image;

Step112: The output module outputting a finished document.

The description of the above steps is detailed as follows. Please refer toFIG. 2toFIG. 4. In step100, the scanning apparatus5is first actuated. When operating the scanning apparatus5, the ready page42of the object4is placed on the scanning area5021of the first flatbed502, and the unready page44will be placed on the second flatbed504, as shown inFIG. 3.

In step102, the control unit56determines whether the scanning apparatus5enters the book scanning mode. According to the embodiment, as the sensor54detects the existence of the unready page44of the object4, it is triggered to send the detection signal to the control unit56. Once receiving the detection signal, the control unit56determines the object4on the first flatbed502to be a book. The control unit56then controls the scanning apparatus5to enter the book scanning mode and execute step106. If the sensor54is not triggered, that is, the object4is not regarded as a book, which does not include the unready page44on the second flatbed504, the scanning apparatus5will enter a standard scanning mode and scan the object4placed on the scanning area5021of the first flatbed502immediately by executing step104. According to another embodiment above-mentioned, the sensor54is disposed on the first flatbed502and is triggered by the ready page42of the object4directly, and it is providable for the scanning apparatus5to enter the book scanning mode by utilizing a computer or actuating a mode controlling button on the scanning apparatus5.

Please refer toFIG. 3toFIG. 5.FIG. 5is a functional block diagram of image recognition and processing in a first status according to the embodiment of the present invention. In step106, the scanning module52scans a first scanned page71to generate a first image72of the first scanned page71. After finishing scanning the first scanned page71, the object4is rotated 180 degrees so as to place a second scanned page73on the scanning area5021. The above-mentioned steps are repeated for scanning the second scanned page73so as to generate a second image74of the second scanned page73, and then execute step108.

Please refer toFIG. 4toFIG. 6.FIG. 6is a functional block diagram of image recognition and processing in a second status according to the embodiment of the present invention. In step108, the control unit56receives the first image72and the second image74, and the recognition unit562recognizes whether the first image72along with the second image74are continuous. The recognition unit562can be an orientation recognition unit or a page number recognition unit. The recognition unit562recognizes whether the first image72along with the second image74are continuous according to the orientation or the page numbers of the first image72and the second image74. The recognition unit562optionally generates and sends a status signal D1to the control unit56. For example, as the first image72is aligned in orientation with the second image74, the recognition unit562recognizes the first image72and the second image74are discontinuous and sends the status signal D1to the control unit56.

In step110, the control unit56follows different procedures according to whether the control unit56receives the status signal D1or not. For example, in the first status as shown inFIG. 5, as the control unit56has received the status signal D1, the control unit56then generates an insertion image76between the first image72and the second image74. In the second status as shown inFIG. 6, when the control unit56fails to receive the status signal D1, the control unit56will not generate the insertion image76between the first image72and the second image74. In this embedment, the insertion image76is a blank image. The insertion image76can also be a well-designed page in another embodiment. Additionally, as the first image72and the second image74are indifferent orientations, the control unit56adjusts the first image72or the second image74so as to align the first image72in orientation with the second image74. As shown inFIG. 6, the recognition unit562recognizes the first image72to be upside down so that the control unit56rotates the first image72for 180 degrees. Not limited to this, according to another embodiment, when the first and second scanned pages71,73are originally placed and scanned to generate the first image72and the second image74having misplaced orientation with each other in a way from upside down, say, 90 degrees apart from each other, the control unit56is still able to adjust the orientation of the first image72or the second image74so as to align the first image72in orientation with the second image74.

The recognition and determination procedures regarding the first image72and the second image74provided above are applicable on any two serially scanned pages of a plurality of pages of the object4. The orientation of each of the former scanned page (the first scanned page71) and the later scanned page (the second page73) can be determined by step106to step108. Each the former scanned page can be adjusted to align in orientation with the later scanned page automatically, and the control unit56performs appropriate procedures to make discontinuous pages distinguishable, facilitating a user with easy preview, read, and output.

Finally, in step112, a finished document80, including all images processed by the above steps such as the first image72, the second image74and the insertion image76. . . etc., is outputted by the output module58. These images will be shown in correct orientation, with blank images between discontinuous pages that makes previewing and reading a lot easier.

According to the embodiments of the invention, the control unit determines whether the scanning apparatus enters the book scanning mode according to the existence of the detection signal sent by the sensor when scanning the object. The recognition unit then recognizes whether the images scanned under the book scanning mode are continuous. The control unit automatically inserts the blank image when the scanned images are discontinuous. Additionally, all pages of the finished document will be aligned in orientation after the adjustment made by the control unit, and the inserted blank image will serve a role to correctly position the pages of the finished document at the left/right sides, so that reading of the finished document may be easier.