US3670099A — Facsimile system utilizing pre-scan detection of …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 322 words

Apparatus for the reproduction at a remote location of the contents of a document containing indicia therein, said apparatus comprising in combination A. an optical scanner for scanning discrete segments of the document in line-by-line and stepwise fashion and having 1. an optical reading head for generating data signals in accordance with the indicia in said segments as said scanner scans each segment in sequence, 2. a first optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating first control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a segment in advance of the reading head, 3. a second optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating second control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a line in advance of the line read by the reading head at a given time, B. first driving means for advancing said reading head over said document in stepwise fashion and at a controlled rate in accordance with said first control signals, C. second driving means for advancing said reading head one or more lines with respect to said document in accordance with said second control signals, D. a light source for each head, each source providing light to its associated head for illuminating a selected portion of the document, E. a detector connected to said scanner for receiving light reflected from said document onto said heads and for generating electrical signals comprising a data signal and a plurality of control signals in accordance therewith, F. a remote receiver having driving means and image-reproducing means operated in synchronism with said scanner to thereby reproduce the contents of said document at a remote location, and G. a transmission link for transmitting to said receiver a plurality of signals derived from said data signals and said first and second control signals respectively whereby said receiver may reproduce the contents of said document.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 322 words

Apparatus for the reproduction at a remote location of the contents of a document containing indicia therein, said apparatus comprising in combination A. an optical scanner for scanning discrete segments of the document in line-by-line and stepwise fashion and having 1. an optical reading head for generating data signals in accordance with the indicia in said segments as said scanner scans each segment in sequence, 2. a first optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating first control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a segment in advance of the reading head, 3. a second optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating second control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a line in advance of the line read by the reading head at a given time, B. first driving means for advancing said reading head over said document in stepwise fashion and at a controlled rate in accordance with said first control signals, C. second driving means for advancing said reading head one or more lines with respect to said document in accordance with said second control signals, D. a light source for each head, each source providing light to its associated head for illuminating a selected portion of the document, E. a detector connected to said scanner for receiving light reflected from said document onto said heads and for generating electrical signals comprising a data signal and a plurality of control signals in accordance therewith, F. a remote receiver having driving means and image-reproducing means operated in synchronism with said scanner to thereby reproduce the contents of said document at a remote location, and G. a transmission link for transmitting to said receiver a plurality of signals derived from said data signals and said first and second control signals respectively whereby said receiver may reproduce the contents of said document.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 36 words

a first optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating first control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a segment in advance of the reading head,

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 36 words

a first optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating first control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a segment in advance of the reading head,

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 62 words

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the first and second driving means include first and second d.c. stepping motors respectively, the first stepping motor advancing the scanner one segment per step at a rate dependent on the first control signal and the second stepping motor advancing the scanner one line per step at a rate dependent on the second control signal.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 61 words

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the light sources each comprise a light-emitting diode having a d.c. voltage source connected to provide a bias current therethrough and having an a.c. voltage source connected thereto to vary the bias current at a predetermined rate to thereby provide an output light signal whose amplitude is modulated in accordance with the a.c. signal.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 219 words

a second optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating second control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a line in advance of the line read by the reading head at a given time, B. first driving means for advancing said reading head over said document in stepwise fashion and at a controlled rate in accordance with said first control signals, C. second driving means for advancing said reading head one or more lines with respect to said document in accordance with said second control signals, D. a light source for each head, each source providing light to its associated head for illuminating a selected portion of the document, E. a detector connected to said scanner for receiving light reflected from said document onto said heads and for generating electrical signals comprising a data signal and a plurality of control signals in accordance therewith, F. a remote receiver having driving means and image-reproducing means operated in synchronism with said scanner to thereby reproduce the contents of said document at a remote location, and G. a transmission link for transmitting to said receiver a plurality of signals derived from said data signals and said first and second control signals respectively whereby said receiver may reproduce the contents of said document.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 219 words

a second optical indicia-detecting head a. positioned in advance of said reading head, b. for generating second control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in a line in advance of the line read by the reading head at a given time, B. first driving means for advancing said reading head over said document in stepwise fashion and at a controlled rate in accordance with said first control signals, C. second driving means for advancing said reading head one or more lines with respect to said document in accordance with said second control signals, D. a light source for each head, each source providing light to its associated head for illuminating a selected portion of the document, E. a detector connected to said scanner for receiving light reflected from said document onto said heads and for generating electrical signals comprising a data signal and a plurality of control signals in accordance therewith, F. a remote receiver having driving means and image-reproducing means operated in synchronism with said scanner to thereby reproduce the contents of said document at a remote location, and G. a transmission link for transmitting to said receiver a plurality of signals derived from said data signals and said first and second control signals respectively whereby said receiver may reproduce the contents of said document.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 45 words

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the first indicia-detecting head and the reading head are spaced apart in the scanner a distance equal to the lengtH of a scanning segment whereby the first indicia-detecting head scans one segment in advance of the reading head.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 37 words

Apparatus according to claim 4 in which the second indicia-detecting head is spaced from the reading head a distance sufficient to permit the second head to scan the document one line in advance of the reading head.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 56 words

Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the reading head and the indicia-detecting heads are formed from a plurality of optical fibers interconnecting the scanner with the light sources and the detector, the heads being formed as the termination of exposed ends of groups of said fibers in a surface of the scanner adjacent the document.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 140 words

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the remote receiver includes A. a shift register for receiving signals transmitted to said receiver from said transmitter, B. a decoder connected to said shift register to supply one of a plurality of outputs dependent on the contents of said shift register, C. means responsive to the decoder output for driving said remote receiver driving means at a first rate when the contents of said shift register correspond to a first pattern, D. means responsive to the decoder output for driving the remote receiver driving means at a second rate when the contents of the shift register correspond to a second pattern, and E. means responsive to the decoder output for advancing the image-reproducing means by one or two lines when the contents of said register correspond to third or fourth patterns respectively.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 45 words

Apparatus according to claim 7 which includes gating means for applying to said image-reproducing means those signals transmitted to said receiver which correspond to said data signals, said gating means being operative only when the remote receiver driving means is operating at said second rate.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 41 words

Apparatus according to claim 8 which includes a shift register and control means associated with said shift register for repeating the operation of said driving means at said second rate when a predetermined control signal is detected by said control means.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 171 words

In a facsimile transmitter: reading means for scanning indicia in a given area of a line on a data bearing medium and for generating data signals in accordance with said indicia; first indicia detecting means for detecting the presence of indicia in the next area of said line to be scanned by said reading means and for generating control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in said next area of said line in advance of said reading means, said reading means and said first indicia detecting means including separate light sources whose intensities are periodically varied at separate and distinct rates for distinguishing the light associated with said reading means from that associated with said first indicia detecting means; and control means coupled to said first indicia detecting means for causing said reading means to scan indicia containing areas of said line at a given velocity and for causing said reading means to scan non-indicia containing areas of said line at a higher velocity than said given velocity.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 171 words

In a facsimile transmitter: reading means for scanning indicia in a given area of a line on a data bearing medium and for generating data signals in accordance with said indicia; first indicia detecting means for detecting the presence of indicia in the next area of said line to be scanned by said reading means and for generating control signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in said next area of said line in advance of said reading means, said reading means and said first indicia detecting means including separate light sources whose intensities are periodically varied at separate and distinct rates for distinguishing the light associated with said reading means from that associated with said first indicia detecting means; and control means coupled to said first indicia detecting means for causing said reading means to scan indicia containing areas of said line at a given velocity and for causing said reading means to scan non-indicia containing areas of said line at a higher velocity than said given velocity.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 25 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 in which said control means causes said reading means and said first indicia detecting means to simultaneously scan said medium.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 58 words

Apparatus according to claim 11 in which said control means includes a stepping motor operable in response to said control signals for driving said reading means and said first indicia detecting means at said given or higher velocity in accordance with the presence or absence of indicia, respectively, in areas of said medium scanned by said reading means.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 42 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 in which said reading means and said first indicia detecting means each include a light-transmitting portion for directing light from its associated source onto said medium and a light-receiving portion for receiving light reflected from said medium.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 16 words

Apparatus according to claim 13 in which said light-receiving and light-transmitting portions comprise fiber optical bundles.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 95 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 and further including a second indicia detecting means spaced from said reading means and from said first indicia detecting means for generating output signals indicative of the presence or absence of indicia in the next line of said medium in advance of said reading means and said first indicia and detecting means, and including means actuated by said output signals for causing said reading means to advance beyond said next line without the scanning thereof when no indicia are detected by said second indicia detecting means in said next line.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 29 words

Apparatus according to claim 15 in which said second indicia detecting means is caused to scan said medium simultaneously with said reading means and said first indicia detecting means.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 33 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 and further including means for combining the data signals from said reading means and said control signals into a single composite signal for transmission over a data link.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 30 words

Apparatus according to claim 17 in which said data signals are encoded into portions of the control signals indicative of the presence of indicia and corresponding to said given velocity.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 88 words

Apparatus according to claim 18 in which said control means includes a level detector for detecting the amplitude of the signals from said first indicia detecting means, means for generating first signals corresponding to said higher velocity, means for generating second signals corresponding to said given velocity, and means for applying said second signals in place of said first signals when the amplitude of the signals applied to said level detector passes beyond a threshold value indicating that indicia are being detected by said first indicia detecting means.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 70 words

Apparatus according to claim 19 in which said means for generating said first signals includes a clock pulse generator, a flip-flop, and gating means connecting said clock pulse generator to said flip-flop when the amplitude of the signals applied to said level detector does not pass beyond said threshold value, said flip-flop alternating from one state to another under control of said clock pulse generator for generating said first signals.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 40 words

Apparatus according to claim 20 in which said means for generating said second signals includes means responsive to said level detector for blocking said gating means for a predetermined time when indicia are detected by said first indicia detecting means.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1975-06-13	1975-12-13	1976-06-13	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1979-06-13	1979-12-13	1980-06-13	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1983-06-13	1983-12-13	1984-06-13	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Facsimile system utilizing pre-scan detection of indicia

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