Patent ID: 8526079

Claim:
A device for capturing digital images of a plurality of sheets, said sheets having a thickness of less than a millimeter and being flexible enough to be susceptible to creasing by pressure from a human hand, said device comprising: (a) an elongated pocketed belt with a plurality of pockets along the length of said belt; each of said pockets having a front wall and a back wall opposite said front wall; each of said pockets capable of holding at least one of said sheets between said front wall and said back wall; each of said sheets having a surface to be imaged adjacent to said front wall; (b) a scanner capable of capturing in a single exposure, for each of said sheets, a digital image of said surface to be imaged, said scanner including (A) a digital camera viewing a target area along a line of sight, the field of view of said digital camera in said target area encompassing at least said surface to be imaged; and (B) a light source for shining light on said target area; (c) each of said front walls having a portion transparent to said light, said transparent portion being at least coextensive with said surface to be imaged of said sheet; (d) an automated drive mechanism for moving said belt past said target area with each of said pockets moving through said target area in succession without stopping; (e) an automated image-freezing means comprising said light source employed as a strobe; (f) a glare reducer.