Drumless paper transporter

Claim 1

A transporter of a sheet of paper for use in conjunction with an optical character reader having a pick-up head that translates along a first direction, comprising in combination, a hub rotatable about its central longitudinal axis and extending along said axis for a distance substantially less than the length of the sheet, said axis being aligned in said first direction, a reference edge located proximate one end of said hub lying in a plane substantially transverse to said axis, means for rotating said hub, a plurality of rollers that engage the periphery of said hub and hold the sheet on said periphery, said rollers being canted towards said reference edge in the direction of said rotation to dynamically adjust the sheet, said hub, rollers and reference edge cooperating to hold the sheet in a spaced relationship with said pick-up head as it rotates, supported on said hub, along a generally cylindrical path, a plurality of guards spaced closely from the periphery of said hub and substantially encircling the sheet at least in the region about said hub to maintain the sheet in said generally cylindrical path as it rotates on the hub, said guards being spaced from one another to form input and output slots and a viewing slot that each extend in said first direction, and a flexible brush located interior to said cylindrical path having a free edge extending in said first direction and proximate said viewing slot, said free edge engaging the surface of said sheet opposite said pick-up head to control said spacing between said pick-up head and said sheet along the length of said paper in said first direction.