Patent ID: 8401268

Claim:
A document processing device, comprising: a first sensor arrangement positioned along a first side of a transport path, the first sensor arrangement comprising: i) at least one light source configured to illuminate at least a portion of a first surface of a document being transported along the transport path in a direction of motion; and ii) a first gradient index lens array configured to collect light reflected from the first surface of the document and to transmit at least a portion of the collected reflected light onto a first photodetector array; and a second sensor arrangement positioned along a second opposing side of the transport path, the second sensor arrangement comprising: i) at least one light source configured to illuminate at least a portion of a second surface of the document; and ii) a second gradient index lens array configured to collect light reflected from the second surface of the document and transmit at least a portion of the collected reflected light onto a second photodetector array; and wherein, the first sensor arrangement and the second sensor arrangement are off-set along the direction of motion of the transport path by a distance of about 0.2 inches to about 1.0 inch; and wherein the first and the second photodetector arrays generate one or more electrical signals from which visually readable images of the first surface and of the second surface of the document can be reproduced having a resolution such that alphanumeric characters can be extracted therefrom, the electrical signals being generated in response to the document remaining within a depth of field of the first and the second gradient index lens arrays while being transported along the transport path, the depth of field being at least about 0.03 inches.