Existing scanners are generally handheld, sheet-fed or flatbed. Handheld scanners are held by a user and passed over a document, photo or other media to digitally scan its image. The image quality of a scan performed with a handheld scanner is largely dependent on the steadiness and alignment of the scan pass. Sheet-fed scanners are generally integrated into another device, such as a fax machine; scanning for output to a personal computer or similar device is a secondary function. The quality of images associated with a sheet-fed scanner is largely dependent on the ability of the feed mechanism to handle the article being scanned.
As relatively high resolution flatbed scanners have grown in popularity, handheld scanners have become largely obsolete, while sheet-fed scanners are relegated to the aforementioned secondary role. Existing flatbed scanners are configured similar to a copier. A document cover lid is opened, the item or media to be scanned is placed face down on a document glass or platen and a mechanism disposed beneath the glass is activated to scan a digital image of the media. Typically a document cover is closed over the document, photo or other media to hold the media in place and to shut out ambient light. Necessarily a flatbed scanner has a large “footprint” as it must accommodate a document laid flat.
Computer software, e-mail and Internet traffic have become image intensive. Therefore, the use of scanners has become more prevalent. As scanner technology moves to the desktop, several barriers arise. First, the footprint or the size of the scanning device is not compatible with the fairly well occupied desktop. Hence, potential scanner users must consider the tradeoffs associated with incorporating a new bulky piece of equipment into their computing environment. To address the relatively large footprint of existing flatbed scanners, scaled down versions of scanners, sized to take a four inch by six inch photograph or similar items, have been introduced. These smaller existing scanners have the typical horizontal flatbed architecture or configuration, accepting an item or photograph face down for scanning. Therefore, these smaller flatbed scanner still possess a cumbersome footprint. Additionally, the flatbed scanner is a utilitarian product, it has no function beyond that of scanning images.