Optical scanner including position sensors
US4797544A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 23, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jan 10, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 23, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2201/04734
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An optical scanning device (14) receives information from a page (11) of printed text (12) via an electrooptical transducer (16) and uses that information to fill a bit map in a memory device (102). In order to track the location of the optical scanner relative to the printed page, thus facilitating entry of information into the bit map, an optical mouse (19) is included in the scanner. In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, two optical mice (19, 150) are provided on the scanner (148) to indicate not only the position of the scanner relative to the page but also the angle that the scanner is held at relative to the page. The scanner can be used in conjunction with an optical character recognition device, a photocopying device, or any of a number of other devices. In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, indicia of location (210) are placed either on a transparent sheet or a mechanical constraint (200). A set of sensors (208) on an optical scanner (202) are adapted to sense this indicia but the sensors are spaced differently from the indicia, therefore indicating movement with very fine resolution.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.