Patent ID: 8422098

Claim:
A duplex document data capturing device for capturing data from both sides of a document, the document data-capturing device comprising: a sheet supply tray in a sheet-conveyance upstream end of the data capturing device, for carrying documents; a sheet discharge tray in a sheet-conveyance downstream end of the data capturing device, for storing documents having been conveyed from the upstream end to the downstream end of the data capturing device; a U-shaped conveying pathway arranged in between said sheet supply tray and said sheet discharge tray, and being furnished with a conveying mechanism, for conveying documents from said sheet supply tray to said sheet discharge tray, said conveying pathway constituted by an upstream, substantially horizontal sheet-supply path, a first, substantially vertical scanning path downstream from said sheet-supply path, a second, substantially horizontal scanning path downstream from said first scanning path, and a sheet-discharging path downstream from said second scanning path; a first reduction-optics scanning mechanism disposed outside said U-shaped conveying pathway and including a first scanning section formed in said second, substantially horizontal scanning path, for capturing data from one side of a document being conveyed along said conveying pathway via said conveying mechanism; a second reduction-optics scanning mechanism disposed inside said U-shaped conveying pathway and including a second scanning section formed in said first, substantially vertical scanning path, for capturing data from the other side of a document being conveyed along said conveying pathway via said conveying mechanism, a light source, disposed alongside said first scanning path in an area inside said U-shaped conveying pathway, for shining light onto the other side of the document in said second scanning section, a photodiode, disposed alongside said sheet discharge tray, horizontally separated from said second scanning section, for photoelectrically converting light reflected from the other side of the document, and an optical pathway reaching from said first scanning path to said photodiode, and having an initial optical path, formed alongside said second scanning path, for horizontally guiding document-reflection light, a final optical path, formed alongside said sheet supply tray, for horizontally guiding document-reflection light, and a reciprocating optical path for reciprocating reflection light back and forth along a vertical interval between said initial optical path and said final optical path, wherein said second reduction-optics scanning mechanism is surrounded on at least three sides by said U-shaped conveying pathway; and a detection mechanism including a detection section disposed in said sheet-supply path, for detecting shingle-feeding of documents conveyed along said conveying pathway via said conveying mechanism.