USO0RE41272E

(19) United States (12) Reissued Patent Chang (54)

(10) Patent Number: US RE41,272 E (45) Date of Reissued Patent: Apr. 27, 2010 (56)

IMAGING APPARATUS WITH DIVERS

References Cited

RESOLUTION

(76) Inventor:

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

Tsang-Huai Chang, No. 3, Lane 36, Nanchang E. Rd., Zhang Hua County 510 (TW)

4,751,376 5,802,217 6,151,419 6,236,430 6,320,618

(21) Appl.No.: 11/262,563 (22) Filed:

Oct. 28, 2005

(51)

(52)

Oct. 28, 2003

Appl. No.: Filed:

09/654,902 Sep. 5, 2000

Int. Cl. H04N 1/04 H04N 1/40 H04N 5/225 H04N 9/083 H01L 27/00

6,424,433 B1 *

7/2002 Miyauchi et a1. ..

7,349,129 B2 *

3/2008

(57)

ABSTRACT

An imaging apparatus With divers resolution includes a light source, a re?ection lens set, a major lens and an image capture unit. The light source is used to illuminate a docu ment for further generating a document image. The re?ec tion lens set includes a plurality of re?ection lenses for

(2006.01) (2006.01) (2006.01) (2006.01) (2006.01)

forwarding the document image consecutively to the major

US. Cl. ...................... .. 358/471; 358/482; 358/483;

348/E5.044 Field of Classi?cation Search ................ .. 358/471,

358/482, 483, 474, 486; 250/2081; 348/219.1,

lens. The major lens is used to receive the document image transported by the re?ection lens set and to form the docu ment image at a focal point thereof. The image-capture unit includes a plurality of image-capture elements With various resolution for meeting divers usage requirements. While in usage, a suitable image-capture element With particular reso lution can be shifted to the focal point of the major lens for

performing the imaging.

348/270, 351 See application ?le for complete search history.

15 Claims, 8 Drawing Sheets

36

36 L

361a L i

H r/361b

_~36lc .1

358/471

Spears et a1. .............. .. 358/445

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firmistolowitz Ford CoWger LLP

358/474; 358/486; 250/208.1; 348/219.1; 348/270; 348/351; 348/E3.027; 348/E5.027; (58)

Sugiuraetal. ......... .. 250/2018 Suzuki 6161. ......... .. 382/274 Aoki ..................... .. 382/274 Suzuki et a1. .......... .. 348/2191 Aoyama ................... .. 348/335

Primary ExamineriHoushang Safaipour

6,639,694

Issued:

* 6/1988 * 9/1998 * 11/2000 * 5/2001 * 11/2001

* cited by examiner

Related US. Patent Documents

Reissue of:

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POSITION

ILLUMINATION

FIG. 5B

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r

SELECT ONE OF THE IMAGE-CAPTURE ELEMENTS

61 ’*\/

ACTIVATE T "‘ SELECTED IMAGE-CAPTURE ELEMENT

62 “M

AND INVALIDATE T * REST OF

* IMAGE-CAPTURE

‘EMENTS IMAGE THE DOCUMENT VIA ,w63 THE SELECTED IMAGE-CAPTURE ELEMENT

FIG.6

US RE41,272 E 1

2

IMAGING APPARATUS WITH DIVERS RESOLUTION

determining if a document should apply a high-resolution imaging process or a low-resolution imaging process. Currently, three methods as following have been applied to the switching mechanism of the aforesaid scanner. They

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [ ] appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue speci?ca tion; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

are:

1. Integrating a Zoom lens to the image-capture element; 2. Integrating a plurality of lens to the image-capture ele ment; and 3. Integrating a plurality of lens to a plurality of image capture elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

Basically, a common ideology for all three methods to

The invention relates to an imaging apparatus with divers resolution, and more particularly to which can perform

achieve the operation of resolution-alternating is to vary the focus of the major lens. Among these three aforesaid methods, method 3 might need much higher cost in produc tion due to more components being applied. On the other hand, though the application of methods 1 and 2 might need fewer components, yet a complicate switching mechanism is required to render the focus alternation. In the early development stage of the optical scanners, the

document scanning according to a predetermined resolution

setting by switching among divers image-capture elements with respective resolution defaults. (2) Description of the Prior Art An imaging apparatus or a scanner is one of popular com

puter peripherals. In an imaging apparatus, an interior image-capture unit such as a CCD is used to generate an

20

image from a document rested upon a document plate. The image as a form of digital signals are then forwarded to a

computer for further image processing or storage.

example). However, current image-capture technology has

Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional optical scanner is

shown schematically. The optical scanner 1 includes a light

adjusting of the imaging resolution is mainly done through varying the focus of the major lens due to the higher cost and lower resolution of the image-capture element (CCD, for

25

been improved to an extend that lower production cost and higher resolution are feasible. Hence, developing a tech

source 10, a document carrier plate 12, a re?ection lens set

nique of applying a single major lens to integrate several

14, a major lens 16 and an image-capture element 18. The light source 10 is usually a lengthy ?uorescent tube for illu minating the document 2 rested upon the document carrier

image-capture elements with various resolution will de? nitely contribute a lot to the market competitiveness of the

plate 12. The document carrier plate 12 is a transparent plate made of glass or acrylic for supporting the document 2 thereofupon. The re?ection lens set 14 includes a plurality of re?ection lenses, say 141, 142 and 143 for example. By pro viding these re?ection lenses 141, 142 and 143, a proper light path for forwarding the document image can be estab

product. 30

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an imaging apparatus with divers resolution, in which the lower production cost and the higher resolution 35

receive and forward the document image captured from the document 2 rested upon the carrier plate 12. The document image is then sent to the major lens 16 via the re?ection 40

lens 16. In the art, the image-capture element 18 can be an 45

Because the optical scanner is used to process document

imaging and the imaging quality does highly depend upon the resolution of the image-capture element, a necessary condition for a scanner to have improved imaging quality is obvious that the scanner must include a high-resolution

50

image-capture element. Generally, high resolution implies that the image-capture element needs to provide a huge num ber of pixels within a unit length of the document. Apparently, the more number of the pixels are required in the

imaging process, the slower the imaging is performed.

lens. The major lens is used to receive the document image transported by the re?ection lens set and to form the docu ment image at a focal point of the major lens. The image capture unit includes a plurality of image-capture elements with various resolution for meeting divers usage require ments. According to the present invention, a suitable image capture element with particular resolution can be shifted to

the focal point of the major lens for performing the image

capturing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

55

Though a high-resolution scanner can provide better qual

The present invention will now be speci?ed with refer ence to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an optical scanner in the art; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a ?rst embodiment of the

ity to the document image, yet plenty process time is required as an unavoidable tradeoff. However, for docu

ments that the originals are already clear enough, for those that the originals include only simple drawing, or for those

dance with the present invention includes a light source, a re?ection lens set, a major lens and an image-capture unit. The light source is a lengthy ?uorescent tube for illuminat ing a document to further generate a document image. The re?ection lens set includes a plurality of re?ection lenses for

forwarding the document image consecutively to the major

point. The image-capture element 18 for capturing the docu ment image is located right at the focal point for the major electric charge coupling device (CCD) as an example.

are two basic features.

The imaging apparatus with divers resolution in accor

lished. In an imaging process, the re?ection lens set 14 can

lenses 141, 142 and 143. In the art, the major lens 16 is a convex lens for focusing the document image to its focal

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

imaging apparatus with divers resolution in accordance with 60

the present invention; FIG. 3AiFlG. 3C are a series of schematic views of the

that clear copies are not required, a user might feel time

wasting to duplicate those document by using a high

?rst embodiment performing a typical resolution switch;

resolution scanner. On the other hand, for the users to dupli cate those documents, a simple, low-resolution and fast scanner may only meet the need. Therefore, to resolve the

ment performing another resolution switch;

problem, some high-rank scanners in the market do provide a convenient switch function for the users being capable of

FIG. 4AiFlG. 4B are schematic views of the ?rst embodi 65

FIG. 5A is a schematic view of a second embodiment of

the imaging apparatus with divers resolution in accordance with the present invention;

US RE41,272 E 3

4

FIG. 5B illustrates the relationship betWeen the illumina tion and the position for the second embodiment of FIG. 5A; and FIG. 6 is a ?oW chart showing the control algorithm of the resolution shift of the second embodiment.

automatically rotating the image-capture unit 36a to move a

speci?c image-capture element 361 With respective resolu tion to the focal point of the major lens 34. Referring noW to FIGS. 5A and 5B, a second embodiment

of the imaging apparatus With divers resolution in accor dance With the present invention is shoWn. The imaging apparatus 4 includes a light source 30, a re?ection lens set

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

42, a major lens 44 and an image-capture unit 46. In this embodiment, the light source 30, the re?ection lens set 42 and the major lens are all resembled respectively to those of

The invention disclosed herein is directed to an imaging

apparatus With divers resolution. In the folloWing

the ?rst embodiment described previously. The image

description, numerous details are set forth in order to pro

capture unit 46 of the second embodiment includes a plural

vide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It Will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that variations of these speci?c details are possible While still achieving the results of the present invention. In other instance, Well

tion. In the application, the image-capture elements 461 are preferably located to the focal pointA of the major lens 44 as close as possible. It should be noted that the document image

knoWn components are not described in detail in order not to

Will be focused to a spot With a substantial area (not a point)

ity of image-capture elements 461 With respectively resolu

unnecessarily obscure the present invention. As described in the previous section, the high-rank scan

by the major lens 44. Within the spot, the localiZed illumina tion is decreased to the spot rim from the central focal point

ner in the art applies various major lenses to attain the func tion of resolution alternating or resolution shift. Obvious

A as shoWn in FIG. 5B. HoWever, as long as the localiZed illumination does not decrease too much in the domain of the

disadvantages for such an application are higher production cost for including various major lenses and di?iculty in con

capture unit 46 fallen Within the spot can capture the docu

spot, any of the image-capture elements 461 of the image

structing a complicate lens-sWitching mechanism. HoWever, in the present invention, the function of resolution shift to

attain a particular imaging resolution is performed by utiliZ ing a respective image-capture element selected from several image-capture elements With various resolution for imaging. Details for embodying the present invention are described beloW. Referring noW to FIG. 2, a ?rst embodiment of the imag

ment image. Therefore, it is obvious that the major differ 25

30

ence betWeen the ?rst and the second embodiments is the

inclusion of the driving mechanism for moving the image capture elements 461 of the image-capture unit 46 to capture the document image. In the second embodiment, the image capture unit 46 is ?xedly mounted, and a sWitching device (not shoWn in the ?gure) is introduced to electronically con trol the selection of a speci?c image-capture element 461

ing apparatus With divers resolution according to the present invention is shoWn schematically. The imaging apparatus 3

With appropriate resolution for image capturing. The image

includes a light source 30, a re?ection lens set 32, a major lens 34 and an image-capture unit 36. The light source 30 is a lengthy ?uorescent tube for illuminating a document to generate an document image. The re?ection lens set 32 for

further computer processing.

captured by the image-capture element 461 is then sent for 35

forWarding the document image includes a plurality of re?ection lenses; say preferably 321, 322 and 323 in FIG. 2. The re?ection lenses 321, 322 and 323 are used to provide a

suitable optical path for transmitting the document image to

is selected according to the resolution thereof (step 61). 40

(step 62). Finally, the selected image-capture element 461 is utiliZed to perform the imaging of the document (step 63).

focal function for forming an image at its focal point accord ing to the document image received from the re?ection lens 45

Referring noW to FIGS. 3A to 3C, the image-capture unit 36 includes a plurality of image-capture elements 361 hav

50

pling devices (CCD) and are lined up straightly. The image capture unit 36 further includes a driving mechanism (not shoWn in all ?gures) for linearly moving the image-capture elements 361 along an L-direction as shoWn. The driving mechanism of the present invention can be a manual mechanism, an electronic control mechanism, or the like.

55

Upon the driving mechanism moving the image-capture ele

As described above, the imaging apparatus With divers resolution in accordance With the present invention mainly introduces the technique of integrating a single major lens With a plurality of image-capture elements With various resolution. Due to a substantial price doWn of the image capture elements as CCD recently in the market and also due to the upgrade of the resolution technology, it is feasible to produce a loW-cost imaging apparatus With various selection upon imaging resolution. In the ?rst embodiment of the

present invention, the resolution shift is obtained by linearly moving the image-capture unit. The driving mechanism for

ments 361, one of the image-capture elements 361 Will be move to the focal point of the major lens 34. By such an

arrangement of the present invention, a particular image

As shoWn in the ?oW chart, the electronic controller is used to determine the selected image-capture element 461 With speci?c resolution for imaging; so that the resolution shift for the second embodiment can be achieved.

ing divers resolution settings. The focal point of the major lens 34 is located at a speci?c point of the image-capture unit 36. The image-capture elements 361 can be the charge cou

Then, an electronic controller is used to activate the selected image-capture element 461 and invalidate the rest of the

image-capture elements 461 of the image-capture unit 46

the major lens 34. The major lens 34 is a convex lens With

set 32.

Referring noW to FIG. 6, a ?oW chart is shoWn to explain the control algorithm of the resolution shift of the second embodiment. Firstly, one of the image-capture elements 461

60

such moving motion is obviously easy to be constructed. On the other hand, in the second embodiment of the present

capture element 361 With suitable resolution can be selected

invention, the image-capture unit is constructed motionless,

to perform the imaging according to a practical requirement.

but a sWitching device electronically controlled is intro duced to proceed the resolution shift. Therefore, in the sec ond embodiment, the cost for constructing a driving mecha

Referring noW to FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B, the image-capture unit 36a can be a turntable mechanism, in Which the image capture elements 361 is arranged annually on a turntable.

The image-capture unit further includes a driving mecha

nism (not shoWn in the ?gure) for manually or electronically

65

nism to move the image-capture unit can be Waived.

While the present invention has been particularly shoWn and described With reference to a preferred embodiment, it

US RE41,272 E 6

5 Will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. I claim:

characterized on that: the image-capture unit further includes a sWitching device for determining one of the image-capture elements per a user’s need as a selected

image-capture element for performing document imag

1. An imaging apparatus With divers resolution, compris

ing.

ing:

9. The image apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 8, Wherein said [imaging-capture] image-capture element of said [imaging-capture] image-capture unit is a

a light source for illuminating a document to form a

respective document image; a major lens for receiving the document image and for imaging the document [imaging] image at a focal point

charge coupling device. 10. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution accord ing to claim 8, [includes] further comprising at least one re?ection lens arranged to obtained an optical path for for

thereof; and an image-capture unit, including a plurality of image capture elements With respectively various resolution,

Warding said document image.

one of the image-capture elements as a selected image

capture element being moved to the focal point for per

11. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution accord ing to claim 8, Wherein said sWitching device of said image

forming the imaging While operating the imaging appa

capture unit is an electronic device for locating said selected

ratus.

image-capture element.

2. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 1, Wherein said image-capture unit is moved lin early to locate said selected image-capture element.

20

3. The image apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 1, Wherein said [imaging-capture] image-capture unit is a turntable mechanism for being rotationally moved to locate said selected image-capture element.

4. The image apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 1, Wherein said [imaging-capture] image-capture element of said [imaging-capture] image-capture unit is a

operations of: 25

selected image-capture element;

30

said document image. 6. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution according 35

focalpoint ofa lens. 40

respective document image; thereof; and an image-capture unit, located at the focal point of the

major lens, including a plurality of image-capture ele ments With respectively various resolution for forming thereon the document image;

15. A method comprising:

selecting one ofa plurality of image-capture elements

a light source for illuminating a document to form a

a major lens for receiving the document image and for imaging the document [imaging] image at a focal point

capture elements having respective resolutions, wherein the image-capture unit is operable to select at least one ofthe image-capture elements at least in part by moving the selected image-capture element to a

8. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution, compris

ing:

image-capture elements; and (c) imaging said document image via said selected image capture element. 14. An apparatus comprising: an image-capture unit, including a plurality of image

to claim 1, Wherein said image-capture unit is moved manu

ally to locate said selected image-capture element. 7. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 1, Wherein said image-capture unit is moved elec tronically to locate said selected image-capture element.

(a) selecting one of said image-capture element as said (b) using an electronic controller to activate said selected image-capture element and to invalidate the rest of said

charge coupling device. 5. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution according to claim 1, [includes] further comprising at least one re?ec tion lens arranged to obtained an optical path for forWarding

12. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution accord ing to claim 8, Wherein said image-capture elements of said image-capture unit are arranged close to said focal point of said major lens. 13. The imaging apparatus With divers resolution accord ing to claim 8, Wherein said sWitching device includes

based at least in part on a respective resolution of the

selected image-capture element; and 45

positioning said selected image-capture element at a focal

point ofa lens, at least in part, by moving an image capture unit, said image-capture unit including said

plurality of image-capture elements. *

*

*

*

*

I' 34

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