MACHINE DOCUMENT READING Field of the Invention The invention relates to machine document reading and particularly, but not exclusively to machine document readers for reading so-called E-passports.

Background to the Invention

Referring to Figure 1, an E-passport 10 is shown in an open condition in which facing pages 12 and 14 of the document can be viewed. The pages 12, 14 meet along a fold 15, which serves as a hinge that allows the E-passport to be opened from a closed condition in which the pages face one another and are in contact to open positions in which the pages no longer contact one another and can be viewed. The page 12 has a contactless silicon chip 16 embedded in it. The chip 16 holds electronic data concerning the passport holder and, possibly, security data for authenticating the origin of the E-passport. The page 14 includes a photograph 18 of the passport and a zone 20 containing human readable text that provides information about the passport holder. Running along a lengthways extending free edge 22 of the page 14, there is a machine readable zone 24 containing two lines of machine readable data.

A machine document reader for use with an E-passport 10 must be able to read the data held on the chip 16 and the data contained in the machine readable zone 24. The data held in the chip 16 is read by exciting the chip (providing power to the chip). The chip 16 is a contactless chip and excitation is provided by an antenna 26 embedded in the E-passport and at least one excitation antenna loop provided in the document reader. Using current technology, it can take up to five seconds to read the data from the chip and during that time, the E-passport should be kept in close proximity to the antenna or antennae provided in the document reader. Typically, the E-passport should not be moved further than 2cm from the antenna/antennae.

Although they are embedded in the same page, the chip 16 and antenna 26 can be embedded anywhere in the E-passport (at the front, the back or somewhere in between). As an alternative to being embedded in a page of the E-passport, the chip and antenna may be embedded in the front or back cover or may provided on a leaf

within the document. The E-passports issued by some countries have a foil shield provided in one cover of the E-passport to prevent excitation (reading) of the chip 16 while the E-passport is closed. This measure is intended to prevent unauthorised reading of data from the passport by persons involved in identity theft crime. Additionally, the E-passports issued by some countries included access control measures that prevent access to the data stored in the chip 16 without first reading the data printed in the machine readable zone 24. When such control measures are employed, first date from the machine readable zone 24 is read to construct a key to unlock the chip 16.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a machine document reader comprising a document receiving aperture comprising a first portion extending in a first plane and a second portion extending in a second plane such that a document can be inserted into the document reader with a first portion of the document passing through one of said first and second portions of the document receiving aperture and a second portion of the document passing through the other one of said first and second portions of the document receiving aperture such that respective first and second pages of the document are exposed for machine reading, and an optical reader system arranged for reading data from respective read areas associated with said first and second portions of the document receiving aperture such that data can be read from a predetermined region of said first page regardless of whether the first portion of the document is inserted into the first portion of the document receiving aperture or the second portion of the document receiving aperture.

The invention also includes a machine document reader for reading data from a document comprising a first portion and a second portion that is connected with said first portion at a hinge axis that extends substantially parallel to respective edge portions of said first and second portions, said machine document reader comprising: a document receiving opening having respective sections for receiving at least said edge portions such that when a said document is received in said document receiving opening the first and second portions of the document lie in respective planes that are mutually inclined and said hinge axis lies along a line at which said planes intersect; and

a data reading unit arranged for reading data from respective read zones that lie in said planes and are substantially symmetrical with respect to said line at which the planes intersect.

The invention also includes a method of reading data from a document comprising a first portion and a second portion that is connected with said first portion at a hinge axis that extends substantially parallel to respective edges of said first and second portions, said method comprising: opening said document to expose a page of one of said portions having a machine read zone from which data is to be read and inserting said opened document into a bifurcated opening that comprises two sections that are disposed in different planes; and scanning respective read zones disposed in said planes to read data from said machine readable zone, said read zones being disposed symmetrically with respect to a line at which said planes bisect one another whereby said machine readable zone lies in one said read zone.

The invention also includes a machine document reader comprising means defining respective insertion planes for a first portion and a second portion of a document which portions join along a fold line and data reading means for reading data from respective read zones disposed in said insertion planes, said read zones being disposed symmetrically about a line along which said insertion planes intersect

The invention also includes a machine document reader comprising a document receiving opening having a first portion having a first length defined in a first plane and a second portion having a second length that is less than said first length and is defined in a second plane and a data reading device arranged for reading data from a read zone defined in one of said first and second planes.

The invention also includes a machine document reader comprising a first document receiving station for receiving a first portion of a document, a second document receiving station for receiving a second portion of said document and an optical reading system for reading data from a said document having first and second portions received by said document receiving stations, said first and second document

receiving stations being disposed in different planes and said optical reading system comprising reflectors arranged to reflect data from respective read areas associated with said first and second document receiving stations and an optical reading device that receives reflections from said reflectors, the arrangement being such that data contained in a predetermined area of the first portion of the document can be read by the optical reading device when said first portion is received by either one of said document receiving stations.

The invention also includes a machine document reader comprising means defining respective document receiving regions for receiving a first portion and a second portion of a document, which first and second portions are joined at a document hinge portion, such that the first and second portions are disposed in different planes and data reading means for reading data from respective read areas associated with said document reading regions, said data reading means comprising optical data reading means and reflecting means for reflecting data from said read zones to the optical data reading means.

The invention also includes a machine document reader for reading data from a document having first and second portions that are disposed on either side of a hinge axis, said machine document reader comprising respective document portion receiving positions disposed in different planes and an optical data reading system for reading data from respective read areas associated with said document portion receiving positions, said read areas being disposed symmetrically with respect to a line at which said different planes intersect.

The invention also includes a method of reading data from a document comprising a first portion and a second portion that is connected with said first portion at a hinge axis that extends substantially parallel to respective edges of said first and second portions, said method comprising: opening said document to expose a page of one of said portions that has a zone containing data which is to be read and loading said opened document to a machine document reader such that said first and second portions are received at different document portion receiving sections of the machine document reader, which document receiving sections lie in different planes; and

reading from respective read zones associated with said document portion receiving sections and disposed symmetrically with respect to a line at which said planes intersect.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In order that the invention may be well understood, an embodiment thereof, which is given by way of example only, will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an E- passport;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the E-passport of Figure 1 partially inserted in a machine document reader;

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 showing the machine document reader with the E-passport removed;

Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 showing the E-passport substantially fully received in the machine document reader;

Figure 5 is a schematic illustration of data reading components of the machine document reader;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of another machine document reader with one wall removed to show the interior of the reader;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the machine document reader of Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a side view of yet another machine document reader.

Detailed Description of the Embodiments

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, a machine document reader 100 comprises a front panel member 112, which defines a document receiving aperture 114 through which a document, such as an E-passport 10 can be inserted into the machine document reader

so that data can be read from the document. Although the machine document reader 100 is not limited to reading data from E-passports, for ease of reference, in the description that follows the documents to be read by the machine document reader 100 will be referred to as E-passports.

As best seen in Figure 3, the document receiving aperture 114 comprises a first elongate portion 118 which in its lengthways direction is disposed in a first plane and a second elongate portion 120, which in its lengthways direction is disposed in a second plane. The first and second planes are mutually orthogonal and respective ends of the first elongate portion 118 and the second elongate portion 120 meet at 122 such that the document receiving aperture 114 is generally L-shaped with the limbs (formed by the first and second elongate portions) being of equal length. Thus when an E-passport 10 is to be inserted in the document receiving aperture 114, the document must be opened so that one half is inserted in the first elongate portion 118 of the aperture and the other half is inserted in the second portion 120 of the aperture such that, for example, the normally facing pages 12, 14 are disposed perpendicular to one another and are exposed to permit reading of the data contained in the chip 16 and machine readable zone 24.

At the corner of the L-shaped document receiving aperture 114 where the elongate portions 118, 120 meet, a rectangular, in this embodiment square, recess 124 is provided in the front panel member 112. As can be seen in Figure 4, the recess 124 allows the passport holder to access a portion of the E-passport 10 when it is fully inserted in the machine document reader 100. This facilitates insertion of the E- passport 10 into the document receiving aperture 114 and its subsequent removal once the data reading process is complete. It will be appreciated that a rectangular recess is not essential and that the recess may be of any convenient shape that allows the E- passport to be gripped.

Referring to Figure 5, the machine document reader 100 includes a data reading

\ system that comprises two optical readers 130, 132. The optical reader 130 is arranged to read data from the machine readable zone 24 if the page 14 is inserted in the first elongate portion 118 of the document receiving aperture 114 and the optical reader 132 is arranged to read data from the machine readable zone 24 if the page 14

is inserted in the second elongate portion 120 of the document receiving aperture. Thus, regardless of which way the E-passport 10 is inserted into the machine document reader 100 (ie with the page 12 inserted through the first elongate portion 118 and the page 14 inserted through the second elongate portion 120 or vice versa), the data from the machine readable zone 24 will be read by one of the optical readers 130, 132.

The optical readers 130, 132 may be of any suitable type analogue or digital, such as a charge coupled device (CCD), a complementary metal oxide semiconductor device (CMOS) or a line imager. Such devices are well known to those skilled in the art and so will not be described in further detail herein.

In addition to the optical readers 130, 132, the data reading system comprises two chip exciting antennae 134, 136. The antenna 134 is arranged to excite the chip 16 when the page 14 has been inserted through the first elongate portion 118 of the document receiving aperture 114 and the antenna 136 is arranged to excite the chip when the page 14 has been inserted through the second elongate portion 120 of the document receiving aperture. The antenna 134 is disposed as close as possible to the plane in which the page 14 lies when it has been inserted through the first elongate portion 118 and similarly, the antenna 136 is disposed as close as possible to the plane in which the page 14 lies when it has been inserted through the second elongate portion 120. It is preferred that the antennae 134, 136 lie within 2cm of the respective planes and that they should lie no further than 3cm from those planes. The arrangement of the antennae 134, 136 is such that it does not matter which way the E- passport 10 is inserted into the machine document reader 100 (ie with the page 12 inserted through the first elongate portion 118 and the page 14 inserted through the second elongate portion 120 or vice versa), one of the antennae will be positioned close enough to the chip 16 to reliably read data from it.

Stops 138, 140 may be provided within the machine document reader 100 so as to lie in one or both of the planes of insertion defined by the first and second elongate portions 118, 120 of the document receiving aperture 114. The stops 138, 140 define the fully inserted position of the E-passport 10. Although not shown, a limit switch may be provided in the machine document reader 100 at a location in which it will be

switched by contact with the E-passport 10 when in its fully inserted position. Operation of the limit switch by the insertion of an E-passport 10 causes the optical readers 130, 132 and the antennae 134, 136 to be activated to commence reading the data held on the E-passport.

The optical readers 130, 132 and antennae 134, 136 are connected to a suitable power supply and processing and/or data storage devices (none of which are shown). These devices do not form a part of the invention and will be familiar to those skilled in the art and so will not be described herein. It will be understood that these devices may be a part of the machine document reader 100 or part of other apparatus to which the machine document reader is attached by suitable connecting equipment.

Although, the machine document reader 100 is not limited to such use, it is particularly suitable for incorporation in a self-check in kiosk for installation at an airport. Provided the passenger opens the E-passport 10 to the page 14 showing his/her picture before inserting it into the machine document reader 100, the orientation of the document is not critical because the optical readers 130, 132 and antennae 134, 136 are arranged in respective pairs for reading the data from the chip 16 and machine readable zone 24 in the two possible insertion planes of the page 14. The lack of criticality of orientation of the E-passport is particularly suited to an environment in which passengers will check-in without assistance and the method of insertion can be readily illustrated by means of graphics or a VDU (not shown). Furthermore, the method of insertion is believed to be intuitive and should provide for a high first time read, even with inexperienced users.

It will be appreciated that the bifurcated document receiving aperture 114 allows the E-passport 10 to be presented to the read devices 130, 132, 134, 136 in an open, unfolded, condition that is stable and easy to maintain, as compared with a flat bed scanner that requires the document to be opened out and maintained flat such that the two halves of the document lie in substantially the same plane. This stability should provide good quality coupling for the optical read from the machine readable zone 24 and the read from the silicon chip 16.

It will be appreciated that although the silicon chip 16 is illustrated as being in the page 12 that faces the page 14, this will not always be the case. The silicon chip may be embedded in another page that when the E-passport 10 is opened for insertion into the machine document reader 100 may be on the same side of the document as the page 12 or the same side as the page 14. As an alternative to being embedded in a page of the E-passport, the chip and antenna may be embedded in the front or back cover or may provided on a leaf within the document. Whatever the case, the data held on the chip 16 will be read by one of the antennae 134, 136.

It will be appreciated that it is not essential to have two optical readers 130, 132 as shown in Figure 5. Instead one optical reader may be used and a suitable optics arrangement provided to allow the optical reader to read from the machine readable zone 24, regardless of which portion 118, 120 of the document receiving aperture 114 receives the page 14. For example, a pivotably mounted mirror could be arranged to be selectively pointed at the two insertion planes in which the page 14 can lie and reflect the machine readable data from the machine readable zone 24 to the single optical reader.

The width of the elongate portions 118, 120 of the document receiving aperture 114 may be varied according to the intended use of the machine document reader 100. Of course the document to be read may be one comprising a considerable number of pages, or a simple two page document made by folding a single sheet of material in two.

The elongate portions 118, 120 of the document receiving aperture 114 may be provided with a gate mechanism (not shown) that can be displaced by the insertion of an E-passport and is biased to close off the aperture when the E-passport is removed. Such a gate mechanism can reduce the likelihood of refuse, such as sweet wrappers, being pushed into the document receiving aperture 114.

It will be appreciated that although it is preferred that the two elongate portions 118, 120 of the document receiving aperture 114 are perpendicular to one another, this is not essential. The angle between the two portions 118, 120 must simply be such that the facing pages 12, 14 are sufficiently separated to allow the data to be read from the

chip 16 and machine readable zone 24. It is preferred that the angle is in the region of 90° since this is typically an open position for an E-passport that is relatively stable and easy for the user to obtain prior to insertion into the document receiving aperture 114.

In the embodiment, the first elongate portion 118 of the document receiving aperture 114 is shown lying in a horizontal plane while the second elongate portion 120 lies in a vertical plane. This is convenient, but not essential.

It will be appreciated that the machine document reader 100 is particularly suited to applications such as self-check-in at airports. However, it is not limited to such use. It could, for example, be installed in a staffed location to facilitate the checking of E- passports by officials such as immigration officers. Another possibility is the use of the machine document reader 100 as part of a security barrier system for a building.

Another machine document reader 200, which includes an optical data reading system that can optionally be used in the machine document reader 100, will now be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

The machine document reader 200 comprises a housing or casing 202 in which the optical data reading system is housed. The housing 202 comprises a base wall 204, a pair of sidewalls 206 and a pair of sidewalls 208 (one of which has been omitted to show the interior of the housing). The sidewalls 206, 208 extend upwardly and perpendicular with respect to the base wall 204. The two sidewalls 206 are rectangular in plan, whereas the two side walls 208 comprise a rectangular portion corresponding in shape and size to the sidewalls 206 and a triangular section whose apex is the part of the sidewall 208 that is disposed furthest from the base wall 204. The upper edges of the sidewalls 206, 208 (that is those disposed furthest from the base wall) define a non-planar top side, which is closed by two inclined walls 210 that meet to form a ridge 212 that extends between the apexes of the sidewalls 208. The base wall 204, sidewalls 206, 208 and inclined walls 210 define an enclosed volume 214 that houses the optical data reading system, which is described in more detail below. Although not limited to this construction, the sidewalls 206, 208 and inclined walls 210 may be made as an integral plastics moulding with an open side that is

closed by the base wall 204. The base wall 204 may also be a plastics moulding and can be secured to the sidewalls by means of screws or the like, or in any other convenient manner.

Each inclined wall 210 is provided with an aperture 216. The apertures 216 are disposed symmetrically about a line of symmetry defined by the ridge 212 and located nearer to the ends of the inclined walls 210 that join the sidewalls 204 than to the ends that meet to form the ridge 212. The positioning of the apertures 216 is selected such that when a document the machine document reader 200 is designed to read is placed on the outer surfaces 211 (document supporting surfaces) of the inclined walls 210, a zone containing machine readable data (the zone 24 of the E- passport illustrated in Figure 1) will be positioned over one of the apertures to permit data to be read from it by the optical data reading system. The document supporting surfaces 211 are provided with a pair of parallel spaced apart guide ridges 218 that are arranged to assist a user in correctly locating a document so that the zone containing machine readable data is over the respective aperture 216. In cases in which the inclined walls 210 are plastics mouldings, the guide ridges 218 may readily be made integral parts of the moulding.

Each inclined wall 210 has an associated document holder 220 for holding a document against the document supporting surface 211 while data is read from the document. The document holders 220 are disposed at the ends of the inclined walls 210 that meet the side walls 206 and partially cover the respective apertures 216. The document holders 220 are pivot mounted so as to be pivotable away from the respective inclined walls 210 against a biasing force provided by a biasing mechanism (not shown). The biasing mechanism can take any form suitable for biasing the document holders towards the inclined walls 210 to provide a pressure that will hold a document against the document supporting surfaces 211 while allowing relatively easy movement of the document holders to permit insertion and removal of a document. It is presently preferred that the biasing mechanism comprises springs, which could, for example, be springs coiled around the pivot mountings of the document holders, or suitably located tension springs. The free end of each document holder 220 is provided with a curved lead-in 222, which faces the

respective inclined wall 210 and is arranged to aid in the insertion of an edge a document between the document holder and the inclined wall.

The optical data reading system comprises a digital camera 224 and a reflector arrangement by means of which the digital camera can simultaneously see both apertures 216. The reflector arrangement comprises a pair of primary mirrors 26 that are aimed at the two apertures 216 and a secondary mirror 228 disposed opposite the digital camera 224 and adjacent the ridge 212. The digital camera 224 looks at and records images it sees on the secondary mirror 228. The primary mirrors 226 are disposed between the digital camera 224 and the secondary mirror 228 on either side of a notional line extending perpendicular to the plane of the secondary mirror and from its centre to the centre of the camera lens. The primary mirrors 226 are spaced apart to provide a gap through which the digital camera 224 is able to see reflections from the secondary mirror 228. The two primary mirrors 226 are inclined in opposite directions with respect to the notional line so as to point towards the respective apertures 216. Thus, any machine readable data on a document page placed over an aperture 216 will be reflected in the associated primary mirror 226. The primary mirrors 226 are also inclined with respect to the inclined walls and their apertures 216. The angle at which the two primary mirrors 226 are placed is such that any machine readable data reflected in their surfaces will be reflected in the secondary mirror 228 and so visible to the digital camera 224.

Although not shown in the drawings, the machine document reader 200 preferably comprises chip-exciting antennae for reading data from a chip embedded in an E- passport. The arrangement would be similar to that described with reference to Figure 5, with the respective antennae being disposed within 3cm of the inclined walls 210. It will be appreciated that the antennae should be located so as not to impinge on the optical paths between the digital camera 224, the mirrors 226, 228 and the apertures 216 so that the camera can always see both apertures.

The digital camera 224 and the antennae are connected to a suitable power supply and processing and/or data storage devices (none of which are shown). The power supply, processing device and/or data storage devices do not form a part of the invention and since they are devices that will be familiar to those skilled in the art, they will not be

described herein. It will be understood that any one of those devices may be contained within the housing 202 or be part of another apparatus to which the machine document reader is attached by suitable connecting equipment.

Although not shown, the document machine reader 200 preferably comprises a device for detecting when a document is loaded onto the document supporting surfaces 211 and activating the digital camera 224 when a document is detected. The document detecting device could, for example, be one or more proximity switches, preferably located such that it/they will be contacted when an edge/the edges of the document are positioned under the document holder/document holders 220.

In using the machine document reader 200 to read machine readable data from the machine readable zone of an E-passport, such as the machine readable zone 24 of the E-passport 10 shown in Figure 1, the user opens the E-passport so that the page 14 containing the machine readable zone 24 is exposed and places the E-passport face down on the document supporting surfaces 211 such that the pages 12, 14 face respective ones of the inclined walls 210 and the fold 15 is over the ridge 212. During this process the guide ridges 218 assist the user in locating the E-passport such that the machine readable zone 24 will be over one of the apertures 216 and the document holders 220 will lift slightly to allow respective edge regions of the E- passport to pass between them and the facing portions of the document supporting surfaces 211. Once the E-passport is positioned on the document supporting surfaces 211, the document holders 220 hold it in place while data is read from the machine readable zone 24 and any chip embedded 16 in the passport.

It will be appreciated that the machine document reader 200 may take the form of a standalone device suitable for desk use (in which case the base wall 204 may be provided with feet). Alternatively, it may be mounted into a desk-like structure or another piece of apparatus. AU that is required is that the inclined walls 210 are accessible to the user. Furthermore, the machine document reader 200 could be mounted behind an upright wall, for example a wall of a kiosk, with the inclined walls 210 projecting from the wall.

It will be appreciated that the apertures 216 define read areas associated with the respective document receiving stations that in this embodiment are constituted by the document supporting surfaces 211, guide ridges 218 and document holders 220. It will understood that the read areas may comprise the entire area of the respective apertures. However, in some embodiments, the primary reflectors 226 may only reflect data from a part of the area of the aperture. In that case, the read area would be the area seen by the reflector and the document receiving station would need to be arranged such that when a document page is received, the machine readable zone is correctly located with respect to the read area.

Figure 8 shows yet another machine document reader 300. The machine document reader 300 incorporates the optical data reading system of the machine document reader 200. The machine document reader 300 is shown mounted in an upright wall 302, which could be a wall of a kiosk or item of furniture or a wall of a building. The difference between the machine document reader 300 and the machine document reader 200 is the shape of the casing and in particular the orientation of the walls 304, 306 that provide the document supporting surfaces. In this embodiment, one of the document supporting surfaces is provided by a sidewall 304 that is perpendicular to the base wall 308, while the other 306 is an inclined wall similar to the inclined walls 210 of the machine document reader 200. While it is preferred that the wall 306 is inclined with respect to the sidewall 304 such that the angle between the document supporting surfaces is greater than 90°, it will be appreciated that the walls 304, 306 could be mutually perpendicular. In either case, the walls 304, 306 are provided with apertures (not shown) and guide ridges 310 in the same way as the machine document reader 200. The machine document reader 300 may optionally be provided with document holders, which may be similar to the document holders 220.

To avoid repetition of description, the parts of the optical data reading system in the machine document reader 300 in Figure 8 have been referenced by the same reference numerals as in Figure 6, incremented by 100.

It will be understood that while the machine document reader 300 is shown mounted behind a wall 302, it may instead be a standalone device suitable for desk use or incorporated into a larger apparatus.

Although, the machine document readers 200, 300 are not limited to such use, they are particularly suitable for incorporation in a self-check in kiosk for installation at an airport for reading passports, such as the E-passport 10 shown in Figure 1. Provided the passenger opens the E-passport 10 to the page 14 showing his/her picture before placing it onto the document supporting surfaces, the orientation of the document is not critical because the machine readable zone 24 will be over the aperture of one or the other wall 210, or 304, 306 and so visible to the digital camera 224, 324 via the primary mirrors 226, 326 and the secondary mirror 228, 328. Similarly since there are respective chip-exciting antennae associated with the walls 210, or walls 304, 306, orientation of the document is not critical since data from the embedded chip will be read by one or the other of the antennae. The lack of criticality of orientation of the E-passport 10 is particularly suited to an environment in which passengers will check-in without assistance and the method of use can be readily illustrated by means of graphics or a VDU (not shown). Furthermore, the method of use is believed to be intuitive and should provide for a high first time read, even with inexperienced users.

It will be appreciated that although the embedded silicon chip 16 is illustrated as being in the page 12 that faces the page 14, this will not always be the case. The silicon chip may be embedded in another page that when the E-passport 10 is placed onto the machine document reader 200, 300 may be on the same side of the document as the page 12 or the same side as the page 14. Whatever the case, the data held on the chip 16 will be read by the antenna associated with the inclined wall 210, or the wall 304, 306 against which that side of the document is placed.

It will be appreciated that the width and length of the inclined walls 210, or the walls 304, 306, the spacing of the guide ridges 218, 310 and position of the apertures may be varied according to the intended use of the machine document reader 200, 300. Of course the document to be read may be one comprising a considerable number of pages, or a simple two page document made by folding a single sheet of material in two. It will be appreciated that where document holders such as the document holders 220 are provided these may be configured to take account of that and that the pivot mounting of the holders provides a degree of flexibility for accommodating different size documents.

It will be understood that document holders, such as the document holders 220, are optional to either machine document reader 200, 300 and may take any suitable form. Where document holders are provided, it is preferred that the document holders are biased towards the respective document supporting surfaces so as to make them self- actuating. However, this is not essential.

It will be appreciated that the preferred data reading device 224, 324 used in the machine document readers 200, 300 is a digital camera used to capture single shot images from the read areas. However, the digital camera may optionally record continuous video images. It will also be understood that other image capturing devices, analogue or digital, may be used. It will also be appreciated that the optical reading device used may not be capable of storing or capturing images and instead transmit a stream of data to devices outside of the machine document reader.

It will be appreciated that while it is preferred that the reflector arrangement comprises glass mirrors, for some applications, other reflectors, such as a highly polished metal surface may be used.

It will be appreciated that the optical data reading systems used in the machine document readers 200, 300 and optionally in the machine document reader 100 allow simultaneous reading of the respective read zones associated with the document supporting surfaces 211 with just one fixed optical reader.

It will be appreciated that the machine document readers 200, 300 are particularly suited to applications such as self-check-in at airports. However, they are not limited to such use. They could, for example, be installed in a staffed location to facilitate the checking of E-passports by officials such as immigration officers. Another possibility is the use of either machine document reader as part of a security barrier system for a building.

It will be appreciated that the optical reading arrangement described in connection with the machine document reader 100 can be used in the machine document readers 200, 300.

It will be appreciated that while the data reader(s) in the embodiments are optical readers, there may be embodiments in which other forms of date reader may be used. For example, the data reader might be a reader for reading data from a magnetic strip.