Automatic book page turner for imaging

Details Automatic book page turner for imaging Automatic book page turner for imaging

2001-09-28

2003-08-26

Lee, Cheukfan (Department: 2622)

Facsimile and static presentation processing

Facsimile

Picture signal generator

C358S498000, C355S025000, C399S362000, C348S455000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06611362

ABSTRACT:

Disclosed in the embodiments herein are improved systems and methods for automatically sequentially turning over the pages of a book, such as to provide for their improved sequential digital imaging or viewing, with rapidity, reliability and safety (minimizing damage to delicate or valuable books). Further disclosed in these embodiments are improved systems and methods for improving book page turning systems by improved flattening and/or holding book pages stationary for improving the imaging of the book, which may be provided automatically in automatic coordination with automatic sequential page turning.
Page turning technology for reading or imaging extends back in time for at least approximately 100 years, to an automatic page turner developed for reading U.S. plural page folded census forms for example, and to various special devices built for the photocopying or microfilming of official records and other books. However, even though page turning and imaging is a long-standing art, there continue to be problems, and/or a lack of suitable products, for providing various desired features of low cost, speed, reliability (prevention of skipped pages, pluralfed pages, or folded-over pages, etc.), and/or protection from damage of old, fragile paper, and/or rare or valuable books.
With the development of improved and lower cost digital imaging, digital data storage, OCR, data compression, and data transmission technologies, as well as electronic books, the internet, “on demand” printing, remote printing, the “information explosion”, etc., there is an increased need for more rapidly, reliably and safely automatically digitally reading and storing the pages of many prior hardcopy books, including out of print books, especially conventionally bound books (but also books in the broader sense of paper brochures, pamphlets, etc.). Improvements in laser or multipixel imager (e.g., linear and two-dimensional imaging arrays), image processing and manipulation, digital OCR, etc., have made digital imaging of physical (hardcopy) printed books much easier, cheaper and faster. Optics and software has even been developed for compensating for image distortion from the inherently curved surfaces that an opened thick edge-bound book typically has unless subjected to excessive flattening pressures that could damage the binding.
However, the development of technology for sequentially suitably presenting the pages of books for such imaging (broadly referred to as book page turning herein) has not kept up. Especially, for doing so automatically but non-destructively, without cutting out the pages of a book into separate sheets to be imaged manually or fed by an automatic document feeder into a conventional sheet imaging device such as a digital scanner/copier. Much book imaging has heretofore actually been done by sending books to third world countries for reducing the costs of fully manual copying, with inherent delays. Some specialized niche market devices for turning pages for handicapped people to read have also been developed, not suitable for accurate higher speed book page digital imaging systems.
Many government, educational, and commercial institutions have huge libraries of printed books they would like to transfer into digital formats to reduce the costs of storage, make the information available remotely, and make the information available for electronic searching. This increases the need for a system able to turn large numbers of book pages quickly and reliably and also to hold these sheets stationary, and flatter, for imaging.
Various apparatus for automatically turning the pages of books are known in the art. The following patent disclosures are noted by way of some examples (some of which also show or describe book imaging systems): Ricoh U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,033, issued Feb. 14, 1995, on a face up digital book scanner and page turner, and other art cited therein; and the following Xerox Corp. U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,970—Automatic Sheet Turner Using A Rotating Vacuum Head; U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,453—Page Turning Device; U. S. Pat. No. 3,939,587—Page-Turner for Books and the Like; U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,071—Automatic Page Turning Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,141—Automatic Document Page Turning Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,873—Page Flipper for Book Copying; U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,286—Frictionless Vacuum Feeder for Book Copying; U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,839—Page Turning Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,482—Automatic Page-Turning Device; U.S. Pat. No.5,325,213—Image Reader and Book Document Reader with a Page Turning Capability for an Image Forming Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,277—Book Document Reading Device Having a Page Turning Capability; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,791—Bound Document Imager with Air Jet Page Turning System.
Of particular interest as to the concept of using a vacuum head on a pivoting arm to acquire and turn the pages of a book are U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,296 issued Dec. 29, 1970 to J. F. Castagna; and Xerox Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,252 issued Jun. 17, 1997 to William D. Turner, et al; and other art cited therein.
Also noted as to book copying background art, as to various book imaging systems, and book holding systems, are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,584—Semi-Automatic Document Handler; Rank Xerox U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,950—Variable Platen Cover; Xerox Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,960—Retractable Support Member; U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,594—Platen Transport and Vacuum Plenum for Book Copying; U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,812—Hand Held Optical Scanner for Omni-Font Character Recognition; U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,720—Document Reproduction Machine with Enhanced Book Copying Capability; U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,275—Right-to-Left Scanning System for Copying Documents or Bound Books; U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,732—Book Copying Machine; U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,206—System for Printing Bound Documents; U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,617—Book Edge Copier Inversion Sorting; U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,568—Method and Apparatus for Scanning a Signature Document; U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,530—Document Reproduction Machine with Electronically Enhanced Book Copying Capability; U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,207—Wedge Scanner Utilizing Two Dimensional Sensing Arrays; U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,505—Canted Platen Input Scanner; U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,302—Apparatus and Method for Scanning a Bound Document Using a Wedge Shaped Platen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,006—Apparatus and Method for Scanning a Bound Document Using a Wedge Shaped Platen with a Moving Mirror; U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,775—Method and Apparatus for Determining a Profile of an Image Displaced a Distance From a Platen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,925—Platenless Book Scanning System with a General Imaging Geometry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,383—Platenlelss Book Scanner with Line Buffering to Compensate for Image Skew; U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,241—Method for Determining the Profile of a Bound Document with Structured Light; U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,846—Apparatus and Method for Scanning a Bound Color Document Using a Wedge Shaped Platen; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,258—Bound Document Imager.
Further by way of background art, the protecting of a book's binding while copying or imaging the book by holding the book in a “V” configuration, rather than flat, typically with an inclined “corner” or “roof” type platen, is disclosed in various of the above-cited patents. Such a V-shaped book platen and/or book cradle is disclosed with a digital scanner in, for example, the above-cited Xerox Corp. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,056,258, issued May 2, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,505 issued on Dec. 12, 1995; and also in U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,846. Additionally noted on a “roof” type platen for a book copier system is a Xerox XDJ publication Vol. 12, No. 5, September/October 1987, pp. 231-2. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,334 based on a GB 034478 of Dec. 24, 1983, by the British Library Board, in which apparently the book is held right-side up in a V-shaped book support and scanned by an overlying wedge shaped surface scanner housing with a window in one face. Also noted is a German DE 3546404-A1 Offenlegungstag of Jul. 2, 1987 with a roof shaped double platen for simultaneous copying of book p

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