Patent Document ID: 7619664
Application ID: 11248156
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A digital image capture apparatus configured to capture an image of a document at least partially illuminated by ambient light, the apparatus comprising: a digital camera positioned vertically above said document, said digital camera comprising: a lens; a detector element located proximate to said lens, wherein said detector element comprises an array of image collecting nodes which each produce an output signal; an illumination source for illuminating said document, wherein said illumination source is positioned proximate to said lens and is configured to emit a controlled beam of light at an angle in a direction of said document; and a detector read-out circuit, wherein said detector read-out circuit is configured to produce a captured image corresponding to said output signals received from said image collecting nodes, and a computing device electronically coupled to the digital camera, said computing device comprising: a controller configured to control said detector read-out circuit and said illumination source, wherein said controller is configured to provide a first control signal to said detector read-out circuit to capture a first image of said document when illuminated by said illumination source at a first intensity and by said ambient light to produce said first image, and wherein said controller is further configured to provide a second control signal to said detector read-out circuit to capture a second image of said document when said document is illuminated by said illumination source at a second, lower, intensity and by said ambient light, said second, lower, intensity having a value greater than or equal to zero intensity but less than the first intensity; and a processor configured to process said first image with said second image to produce a final image of said document, wherein said processor is configured to process said first image with said second image to produce said final image by subtracting a value at each data point in said second captured image from a value at each corresponding data point in said first captured image to arrive at a final value for each data point, wherein said processor is configured to allocate said final value for each data point to a corresponding data point in said final image.