Patent ID: 7045765

Claim:
A device for counting thin products ( 1 ) that can be stacked side-by-side in a tray ( 2 ), characterized in that it comprises at least one counting station comprised of at least one contact image sensor (CIS) module ( 3 ; 3 1 , 3 2 , 3 3 ), whose overall length is at least equal to the length of the tray ( 2 ) in which the products ( 1 ) are stacked and means for performing multiple scans in a direction transverse to the tray ( 2 ), each CIS module ( 3 ; 3 1 , 3 2 , 3 3 ) comprising at least means ( 31 ) for longitudinally illuminating the products ( 1 ) with a linear light beam and at least one CIS circuit ( 33 ), said CIS circuit comprising a plurality of photosensitive elements connected to at least one printed circuit ( 34 ), means for detecting positioning of the tray ( 2 ), means for moving the tray or CIS modules in a direction perpendicular to the linear light beam, means for storing signals representative of data derived from the linear light beam reflected by the products ( 1 ), and means for processing said data for determining the number of products.