ES2368983B1 - AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR SCANNER. - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatic scanner feeder, consisting of a warehouse set (1) comprising two stores (1.1 and 1.2), to place in them, respectively, the documents intended to be scanned in a scanner (2) and the documents after being scanned , in relation to said warehouse set (1) and with the scanner (2) a manipulator robot (3) that is capable of carrying the documents to be scanned from the warehouse (1.1) to the scanner (2), arranging them to be scanned, as well as remove the scanned documents from the scanner (2) and take them to the warehouse (1.2), allowing automatic scanning of document series, without operator intervention.

Description

accommodation within a protective structure.

Automatic feeder for scanner.

Technical sector

The present invention is related to the process of feeding the documents to be processed in a scanner, proposing a feeder that allows the automatic placement and removal of the documents to be scanned, thus facilitating the process of scanning large series of documents without an operator I have to be busy with it. State of the art

There are scanning processes for storing and / or sending electronic series of documents, such as photographs that municipalities usually take of their geographical scope and that are kept on file for any query that may arise related to the territories.

When the series of documents to be scanned are very large, the scanning process requires the occupation of one or more people, who must perform a very monotonous job of placing and removing the documents in the scanner, leading to produce a state of tiredness that leads to errors, and also the work process must be interrupted when the workday is completed, which can cause the task to be prolonged too long. Object of the invention

According to the invention, a feeder is proposed that allows the automatic placement and removal of documents to be processed in a scanner, thereby avoiding the problems involved in the manual work of these operations.

This feeder object of the invention consists of a double warehouse, where the documents destined to be scanned and the documents after being scanned are arranged, going in a correlative position with the application scanner and with that double warehouse, a manipulator robot that is able to take the documents to be scanned from the food store and place them in the scanner, as well as take the scanned documents from the scanner and take them to the collection warehouse, while in combination with the performance of that manipulator robot, they go arranged a actuator for activating the scanner activation button and a closing and opening actuator for the scanner lid.

The manipulator robot consists of two arms that are associated in a joint movement unit, with vertical displacement by respective columns and horizontal displacement along a longitudinal guide, one of the arms incorporating a vacuum system to take the documents that are held. to manipulate, while the other spleen has a claw system to manipulate a glass plate that is placed on the documents in the scanner.

The document stores have adjustable stops on the sides, allowing adaptation for documents of different dimensions, which are arranged in said stores in a vertical stack.

A feeder is thus obtained that results from very advantageous characteristics for the application to which it is intended, acquiring its own life and preferential character for said application. Description of the fi gures

Figure 1 shows in perspective an assembly of

Figure 2 is a plan view of the assembly of the previous figure, observing the distribution of the feeder and the application scanner.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective of the double feeder store.

Figure 4 is a plan view of said double feeder store.

Figure 5 is a perspective of the feeder manipulator robot. Detailed description of the invention

The object of the invention refers to a feeder intended to automatically place and withdraw documents with respect to a scanner, allowing scanning of large series of documents without the intervention of operators during the process.

The recommended feeder consists of a warehouse set (1) comprising two warehouses (1.1 and 1.2), one of them, for example the warehouse (1.1), for placing the documents to be scanned, while the other warehouse ( 1.2) It is intended to pick up documents after scanning.

Said storage assembly (1) is placed next to an application scanner (2), being arranged in relation to that storage assembly (1) and the scanner

(2)

a manipulator robot (3) in charge of placing and removing the application documents with respect to the scanner (2).

On one side of the scanner (2) there is also an area in which a glass plate is placed on hold

(4)

intended to be placed on the documents in the scanner (2) to perform the scanning operations, going in relation to the cover (5) of the scanner

(2)

an actuator (6) that drives the movement of said cover (5) between the closing and opening positions.

The manipulator robot (3) costs two arms (7 and 8), which are associated in a joint movement unit, being able to move vertically on respective columns (9 and 10), by actuation by a reduction motor (11), and in horizontal displacement along a longitudinal guide (12) by drive by a reduction motor (13).

An arm (7) of said manipulative robot (3) has a vacuum system (14), by means of which it is able to take the documents (15) to transfer them between the storage assembly (1) and the scanner (2), while the other arm (8) has a claw system (16), by which it is able to take the glass plate

(4)

to place and remove it from the scanner (2).

In relation to the scanner activation button (2), an actuator (17) is also arranged, which drives said scanner button (2) to activate the scanning operations, said actuator (17) being able to go on the robot itself manipulator (3),

or in any other support arrangement that keeps you facing the scanner push button (2).

With all this thus, for the scanning of a package of documents (15), these are arranged in the warehouse

(1.1) and, thus, it is only necessary to start up the functional assembly of the manipulator robot (3), which moves the arm assembly (7 and 8) to the area where the glass plate is located ( 4), taking the claw system (16) from the arm (8) to said glass plate (4).

After taking the glass plate (4), the set of

3 EN 2368983A1 4

arms (7 and 8) travel to the warehouse (1.1), where by means of the vacuum system (14) of the arm (7) take the document (15) that is in the upper part of the package stored for scanning, carrying to said document (15) taken, to the scanner (2), where it is deposited on the scanning screen, then making the assembly of the arms (7 and 8) another movement to place the glass plate (4) on the document (15) located on the scan screen.

Then the arm assembly (7 and 8) is removed, then moving the actuator (6) to the cover

(5) to the closed position, and the actuator (17) drives the scanner activation button (2), thereby scanning the document (15) located for scanning.

Once the scanning operation has been carried out, the actuator (6) lifts the cover (5) of the scanner (2) to the open position and the arm assembly (7 and 8) of the manipulator robot (3) moves to catch , with successive movements, first to the glass plate

(4)

and then to the scanned document (15), taking said scanned document (15) to the warehouse (1.2), where it is deposited, and then pick up another document (15) from the package arranged in the warehouse (1.1), repeating all the operations for scanning the new document (15) and, thus, successively with each of the documents

(fifteen)

arranged in the warehouse package (1.1) to scan.

The stores (1.1 and 1.2) are provided with fixed lateral stops (18) and facing them adjustable stops (19), allowing said stores (1.1 and 1.2) to be adapted for documents (15) of different dimensions, within the range of dimensions supported by the scanner scan screen (2).

In an application arrangement, the automatic feeder component assembly, together with the scanner (2), are placed inside a protective housing (20), as shown in Figures 1 and 2, a console (21) being arranged towards the outside To control the operation.

5 EN 2368983A1 6

Claims (5)

1. Automatic scanner feeder, intended to place and remove, with respect to a scanner (2), the documents (15) to be scanned, characterized in that it consists of a warehouse set (1) comprising two stores (1.1 and 1.2), one of them intended to place in it the documents (15) to be scanned and the other to collect in it the scanned documents (15), being arranged in relation to said warehouse set (1) and with the application scanner (2) a manipulator robot (3) that is capable of carrying the documents (15) from the warehouse (1.1) to the scanner (2) and from the latter to the warehouse (1.2), as well as placing and removing a glass plate (4) that documents (15) are arranged on the scanning screen, with an actuator (6) operating the movement of said lid in relation to the cover (5) of the scanner (2) (5) between the closing and opening positions, while an actuator (17) is arranged in relation to the scanner operating button (2) that drives said button. 2. Automatic feeder for scanner, according to the first claim, characterized in that the manipulator robot (3) consists of two arms (7 and 8) associated in a joint movement unit, with the possibility of vertical displacement on respective columns (9 and 10) by actuation by a reduction motor (11) and horizontal displacement along a longitudinal guide (12) by means of a reduction motor (13), an arm (7) being provided with a vacuum system (14) to catch the documents (15), while the other arm (8) has a claw system (16) to take the glass plate (4).

3.

Automatic feeder for scanner, according to the first claim, characterized in that the stores (1.1 and 1.2) have fixed lateral stops (18), in front of which adjustable stops (19) are arranged that allow the adaptation of said stores ( 1.1 and 1.2) for documents (15) of different dimensions.

Four.

Automatic feeder for scanner, according to the first claim, characterized in that the feeder assembly, together with the scanner

(2) of application, are placed inside a protective housing (20), with a control console (21) being arranged outwards. SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 201000180 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 02.15.2010 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: See Additional Sheet RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

Documents cited Claims Affected

Y

CN 1221929 A (HONGYOU SCIENCE & TECH CO LTD) 07.07.1999, summary; figures. Extracted from the WPI database in EPOQUE. 1-4

Y

ES 2032668 T3 (EMBAL SYSTEMS) 16.02.1993, column 4, line 47 - column 10, line 42; figures. 1-4

TO

JP 2002274644 A (RENGO CO LTD; TSUBAKIMOTO MACH & ENG) 25.09.2002, summary; figures. Extracted from the PAJ data base in EPODOC. 1-4

TO

ES 2152194 T3 (CALALBERTO CORNELIA: MALASPINA) 01.08.2002, column 2, line 55 - column 4, line 17; Figures 1-9. 1-4

TO

US 2002181031 A1 (UMAX DATA SYSTEMS INC) 05.12.2002, paragraphs [0016-0018]; figure 2. 1-4

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of realization of the report 02.11.2011

Examiner P. Pérez Fernández Page 1/4

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 201000180 CLASSIFICATION OBJECT OF THE APPLICATION H04N1 / 00 (2006.01) B65H5 / 08 (2006.01) B65H3 / 08 (2006.01) Minimum documentation sought (classification system followed by classification symbols) H04N, B65H Electronic databases consulted during the search (name of the database and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI, PAJ State of the Art Report Page 2/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201000180 Date of Written Opinion: 02.11.2011 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims 1-4 IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims Claims 1-4 IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201000180 1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

CN 1221929 A (HONGYOU SCIENCE & TECH CO LTD) 07.07.1999

D02

ES 2032668 T3 (EMBAL SYSTEMS) 16.02.1993

D03

ES 2152194 T3 (CALALBERTO CORNELIA: MALASPINA) 01.08.2002

2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement  Lack of Inventive Activity Claim 1 Document D01 is established as the closest to the State of the Art. Said document D01 refers to an "automatic document scanner" and contains: -An automatic scanner (see summary) -a transparent plate (see summary). -a cover (see summary). The difference between document D01 and claim 1 is that in D01 there is no robot capable of carrying the sheets between two stores. The technical effect of this deference is the transport of the sheets between two warehouses. The objective technical problem is how to transport the sheets between two warehouses. This problem and its corresponding solution are already described in document D02. Said document D02 makes reference to a device for the transfer of laminar products (3) from a stack (4) of a warehouse (8) to another warehouse (6) (see column 5, lines 50-60; Figures 1-3). Consequently, claim 1 of the application lacks Inventive Activity in view of what is disclosed in the documents D01 and D02 (Art 8 LP). Claim 2 The object of claim 2 already appears in document D02 (see column 6, line 28-column 8, line 67; figures 13). Therefore, claim 2 lacks Inventive Activity (Art 8 LP). Claim 3 The use of fixed lateral stops and adjustable lateral stops to adapt the dimensions of the warehouses to documents of different sizes is a well known and therefore obvious technique for an expert in the field. Consequently, claim 3 lacks Inventive Activity (Art 8 LP). Claim 4 The characteristics of claim 4 already appear in document D02 (see column 5, lines 62-66). Accordingly, claim 4 lacks Inventive Activity (Art 8 LP). State of the Art Report Page 4/4