US4707747A — Hand held scanning input device and system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 166 words

A hand held scanning device for text and graphics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in said housing, a planar substrate in said housing opposite said line opening, a linear array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, a line light source parallel to and spaced from said photosensitive element array, said light source being positioned to direct light through said line opening at a sheet having information to be scanned by said device, both said linear array and said line light source being mounted on said planar substrate in side-by-side relationship, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on a surface of said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said device when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 166 words

A hand held scanning device for text and graphics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in said housing, a planar substrate in said housing opposite said line opening, a linear array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, a line light source parallel to and spaced from said photosensitive element array, said light source being positioned to direct light through said line opening at a sheet having information to be scanned by said device, both said linear array and said line light source being mounted on said planar substrate in side-by-side relationship, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on a surface of said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said device when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 22 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 1 in which said line light source comprises a linear array of light emitting diodes.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 53 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 1 additionally comprising a movable member containing a pattern of light and dark areas, said movable member being positioned to be moved when said roller is rotated, and a shaft position encoder positioned to sense the pattern of light and dark areas on said movable member.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 63 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 1 additionally comprising means for determining an extent of motion of said at least one guide member, said motion determining means being connected to provide signals for controlling operation of said photosensitive element linear array to define a plurality of line scans as said scanning device is moved along a sheet containing information to be scanned.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 74 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 4 additionally comprising a line light source parallel to and spaced from said photosensitive element array, said light source being positioned to direct light through said line opening at a surface having information to be scanned by said device, said motion determining means being connected to control operation of said light source to provide a uniform amount of illumination for each line scan of said scanning device.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 41 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 4 additionally comprising a data gate connected to receive output signals from said photosensitive element linear array, said data gate also being connected to receive the control signals supplied by said motion determining means.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 54 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 4 in which said motion determining means comprises a movable member containing a pattern of light and dark areas, said movable member being positioned to be moved by rotation of said roller, and a shaft position encoder positioned to detect the pattern of light and dark areas.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 30 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 1 in which said guide member comprises a roller making substantially continuous contact with the sheet along substantially a length of said opening.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 16 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 8 in which said roller is an elastomeric roller.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 149 words

A hand held scanning device for text and graphics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in a surface of said housing, a linear array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said drive when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet, said linear array of photosensitive elements being formed from at least one integrated circuit having photosensitive elements, a transparent body of material positioned over the photosensitive elements, an opaque layer over said transparent body of material, and an aperture over each photosensitive element in said opaque layer.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 149 words

A hand held scanning device for text and graphics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in a surface of said housing, a linear array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said drive when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet, said linear array of photosensitive elements being formed from at least one integrated circuit having photosensitive elements, a transparent body of material positioned over the photosensitive elements, an opaque layer over said transparent body of material, and an aperture over each photosensitive element in said opaque layer.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 15 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 10 in which said photosensitive elements are photodiodes.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 25 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 10 additionally comprising a linear array of light emitting diodes parallel to and spaced from the photosensitive elements.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 60 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 12 in which said at least one integrated circuit and said linear array of light emitting diodes are mounted on a common substrate, said substrate being positioned behind said line opening, with a transparent window mounted in said line opening over said at least one integrated circuit and said light emitting diode array.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 30 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 10 in which said guide member comprises a roller making substantially continuous contact with the sheet along substantially a length of said opening.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 16 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 14 in which said roller is an elastomeric roller.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 142 words

A hand held scanning device for text and grapahics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in a surface of said housing, an array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said device when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet, said array of photosensitive elements being formed from at least one integrated circuit having photosensitive elements, and a collimating fiber optic plate being positioned on the transparent body of material over the photosensitive elements of said at least one integrated circuit.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 142 words

A hand held scanning device for text and grapahics, which comprises a housing, a line opening in a surface of said housing, an array of photosensitive elements behind and in proximity to said opening, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on a sheet having information to be scanned by said device when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being positioned to maintain a direction of motion of said housing along the sheet, said array of photosensitive elements being formed from at least one integrated circuit having photosensitive elements, and a collimating fiber optic plate being positioned on the transparent body of material over the photosensitive elements of said at least one integrated circuit.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 15 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 16 in which said photosensitive elements are photodiodes.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 25 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 16 additionally comprising a linear array of light emitting diodes parallel to and spaced from said photosensitive elements.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 58 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 18 in which said plurality of integrated circuits and said linear array of light emitting diodes are mounted on a common substrate, said substrate being positioned behind said line opening, with a transparent window mounted in said line opening over said plurality of integrated circuits and said light emitting diode array.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 30 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 16 in which said guide member comprises a roller making substantially continuous contact with the sheet along substantially a length of said opening.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 16 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 20 in which said roller is an elastomeric roller.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 143 words

A hand held scanning device, which comprises a housing dimensioned and configured to be held in a person's hand and moved by hand along a statoinary flat surface containing an image to be scanned, an elongated opening extending along a surface of said housing to be positioned over the stationary flat surface, the elongated opening extending normal to the direction the scanner is to be moved over the flat surface, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on the flat surface when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being configured to maintain a constant orientation of said housing with respect to the flat surface as said housing is moved by hand along the flat surface.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 143 words

A hand held scanning device, which comprises a housing dimensioned and configured to be held in a person's hand and moved by hand along a statoinary flat surface containing an image to be scanned, an elongated opening extending along a surface of said housing to be positioned over the stationary flat surface, the elongated opening extending normal to the direction the scanner is to be moved over the flat surface, and at least one high friction resilient material rotatable guide member mounted on said housing and being configured to make contact with a substantial area on the flat surface when compared with an area of the surface of said housing, said at least one guide member being configured to maintain a constant orientation of said housing with respect to the flat surface as said housing is moved by hand along the flat surface.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 21 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 22 additionally comprising a photoreceptive means behind and in proximity to said elongated opening.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 58 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 23 additionally comprising a means for determining an extent of motion of said at least one guide member, said motion determining means being connected to provide signals for controlling operation of said photoreceptive means to define a plurality of line scans as said scanning device is moved along the flat surface.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 40 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 24 in which said motion determining means is further connected to control operation of said line light source to provide a uniform amount of illumination for each line scan of said scanning device.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 18 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 23 in which said photoreceptive means is an array of photodiodes.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 37 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 23 additionally comprising a fiber optic structure positioned between the elongated opening and said photoreceptive means and being configured to guide light from the flat surface to said photoreceptive means.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 21 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 23 additionally comprising a light source on said housing parallel to said photoreceptive means.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 20 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 28 in which said light source comprises an array of light emitting diodes.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 31 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 22 in which said guide member comprises a roller making substantially continuous contact with the flat surface along substantially a length of said opening.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 16 words

The hand held scanning device of claim 30 in which said roller is an elastomeric roller.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1990-11-16	1991-05-18	1991-11-17	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1994-11-16	1995-05-18	1995-11-17	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1998-11-16	1999-05-18	1999-11-17	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Hand held scanning input device and system

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