Patent ID: 6966554

Claim:
A scanner apparatus for scanning bank checks, comprising: an input receptacle for receiving at least one check to be scanned; an image-scanner device for scanning at least one of the faces of the check; an output receptacle for receiving the check after it has been scanned by the scanner device; a conveyor mechanism for conveying checks, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the output receptacle along a path extending in front of the scanner device; a feed device for picking up checks from the input receptacle and transferring them to the conveyor mechanism, wherein the feed device includes: a feed plate movable in the input receptacle and associated with a thrust means for urging the plate resiliently towards an opposed fixed surface, the plate being able to reach a position remote from the surface in order to receive a bundle of checks between the plate and the surface; and a feed roller acting on the side remote from the plate in order to pick up from the input receptacle a check disposed adjacent the surface and to transfer the check towards the interior of the apparatus; wherein the feed plate is associated with a stop means for stopping the movement of the plate towards the opposed surface in a position close to that surface so as to define between the plate and the surface a gap of sufficient width for the insertion of at least one check in the input receptacle.