Patent ID: 7133179

Claim:
A scanner for obtaining an image of an object placed on an at least partially transparent platform, wherein the at least partially transparent platform has a first scan area and a second scan area, and each of the first scan area and the second area has a first edge and a second edge, respectively, comprising: a) at least one light source adapted for emitting an illuminating light; b) at least one rotatable mirror adapted for receiving the illuminating light from a first direction and reflecting the light to a second direction; c) a first flat or curved stationary mirror and a second flat or curved stationary mirror are placed near and on both sides of each rotatable mirror; for a full rotation of the rotatable mirror, the light from the second direction from the rotatable mirror is reflected off the first and the second stationary mirrors consecutively; d) the light from the second direction is reflected off the first and second stationary mirrors, consecutively and respectively, to a third direction for scanning a partial image of the object on the first and second scan area, consecutively and respectively, of the at least partially transparent platform; the same stationary mirror receives image light of the object from a fourth direction and reflects the image light to a fifth direction; the image light from the fifth direction is reflected off the same rotatable mirror to a sixth direction; e) at least one image sensor for receiving scanned partial images of the object from the sixth direction and outputting electronic signals corresponding to the received scanned partial images of the object; and f) an image processing system for receiving the electronic signals from the at least one image sensor and recording the electronic signals in a digital format; wherein the at least one light source, the at least one rotatable mirror, the two stationary mirror on both sides of each rotatable mirror, and the at least one image sensor are arranged such that the first direction and the sixth direction define a first angle, (180°−β), and the second direction and the fifth direction define a second angle, (180°+β), and the third direction and the fourth direction define a third angle, (180°−β−α), where β has a value in the range of −20° to 20°, and when rotated, the at least one rotatable mirrors causes the third direction of the light to change such that the light sequentially scans the partial images of the object from the first edge to the second edge of the first scan area along a first scan direction A and from the first edge to the second edge of the second scan area along a second scan direction B in one or more full rotation of the, rotatable mirror; if the stationary mirror on the optical path between the second and the third direction is a planar mirror, α=0; if the stationary mirror on the optical path between the second and the third direction is a curved surface mirror, then −10°≦α≦10° and variable during a scanning.