The present invention relates to a scanner apparatus for scanning paper documents, in particular bank cheques.

More specifically the invention relates to a scanner apparatus of the type having an input opening for the introduction of the documents to be scanned, and an output receptacle for receiving the documents as they are scanned, at least one scanner unit for scanning at.least one side of said documents, and a conveyor mechanism for conveying sequentially, one at a time, the documents from the input opening to the output receptacle, said documents passing in front of the scanner unit; the conveyor mechanism being designed to deposit in the output receptacle a document so as to be arranged behind the preceding document, without changing the position thereof with respect to the position when introduced into the apparatus.

In the present description and in the claims which follow, the term "position" of a document is understood as meaning the way in which it lies or its orientation, for. example the orientation "front side up and rear side down".

A scanner of the type defined above is described for example in US patent No. 6,966,554 B2, in the name of the same Applicant.

When such a scanner is used to perform the scanning of a series of documents, the scanned documents are arranged in the output receptacle in the reverse order compared to their sequence when introduced into the apparatus.

This may constitute a drawback.

One object of the present invention is to provide a scanner apparatus, in particular for bank cheques, of the type specified above, which is able to overcome the abovementioned drawback. This object, together with other objects, is achieved according to the invention with a scanner apparatus of the type defined further above, characterized in that it also has an auxiliary receptacle adjacent to the output receptacle, and transfer means for picking up each scanned document as it reaches the output receptacle and transferring it to the auxiliary receptacle, without changing the position thereof, such that in the auxiliary receptacle the scanned documents are ordered in the same sequence as when introduced into the apparatus.

In one embodiment where the conveyor mechanism comprises at least one first output roller and at least one second output roller, i.e. upper roller and lower roller, respectively, situated opposite each other, and where the auxiliary receptacle is arranged on the opposite side to the output receptacle with respect to the upper roller of the conveyor mechanism, the aforementioned transfer means may conveniently comprise at least one crown arrangement of flexible teeth or fingers rotationally integral with said upper roller and radially protruding beyond the periphery thereof; the arrangement being such that said teeth or fingers are able to be resiliently deformed towards the axis of said upper roller by a document which is gripped between said rollers, then extend again outwards when said document is deposited in the output receptacle, and finally lift said document and transfer it into the auxiliary receptacle.

Further characteristic features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following detailed description provided purely by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective cross-sectional view of a scanner apparatus according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinally sectioned view of the scanner apparatus according to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail on a larger scale of the cross-sectional view shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a partial perspective view, which shows a group of output rollers with associated members for transferring a document from the output receptacle to the auxiliary receptacle; and

Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to that shown in Figure 2 and show two successive stages during scanning of a series of documents in a scanner according to the invention.

In the drawings 1 denotes overall a scanner apparatus according to the present invention.

This apparatus comprises an outer housing 2 which on its front side 2a has a shaped input opening 3, for introducing in sequence documents to be scanned, in particular bank cheques.

The apparatus 1 also has an output receptacle 4 for receiving the documents as they are scanned.

With particular reference to Figure 2, an image scanner device 11, of the known type, comprising for example one or more CIS optical sensors, is mounted inside the housing 2 of the apparatus. This device may be of the type able to perform scanning of one of the sides of each document introduced or may be designed to perform selectively scanning of one side only or both sides (front and rear) of a document, for example in the manner described in the abovementioned US patent.

The scanner apparatus 1 comprises internally a conveyor mechanism for conveying sequentially, one at a time, the documents to be scanned from the input opening to the output receptacle, said documents passing in front of the scanner unit 11.

In the example of embodiment illustrated, the conveyor mechanism comprises an input presser roller 6 and, situated thereafter, a pair of counter-rotating separator rollers 7 and 8 which allow feeding of only one document at a time. These rollers are arranged ahead of the scanner unit 11, close thereto.

The conveyor mechanism comprises, finally, a set of motor-driven output rollers 9 and 10, i.e. upper roller and lower roller, respectively. This set of output rollers is able to deposit in the output receptacle 4 a document, on each occasion so as to be arranged behind the preceding document, without however changing the position thereof with respect to the position when introduced into the apparatus.

In the embodiment illustrated, an inclined support tray 4a is associated with the output receptacle.

With reference to Figure 2, a first document A scanned through the apparatus 1 is deposited inside the output receptacle 4 so that it is deposited in an inclined position, resting on the tray 4a.

As mentioned above, the position of the document A is unchanged with respect to the position which it had when introduced into the input opening 3 of the apparatus. Thus, for example, if the document A was introduced with the position or orientation "front side up", it is deposited in the output receptacle 4 with an orientation essentially corresponding again to the initial orientation "front side up".

In the scanner apparatus 1 according to the present invention, each document scanned and deposited in the output receptacle 4 is transferred to an adjacent auxiliary receptacle indicated by 5 in the drawings (see in particular Figures 2, 3 and 5, 6).

The transfer of each scanned document from the output receptacle 4 to the auxiliary end receptacle 5 is performed with the aid of transfer means, described below, which are able to pick up each document as it reaches the output receptacle 4 and transfer it to the receptacle 5, without varying the position or orientation thereof. In this way, in the auxiliary or end receptacle 5 the scanned documents are ordered in the same sequence in which they were introduced into the scanner apparatus 1 via the input opening 3.

With reference in particular to Figures 3 and 4, in the embodiment shown the transfer of each single scanned document from the output receptacle 4 into the auxiliary or end receptacle 5 is performed by means of at least one, or preferably, a plurality of crown arrangements of flexible teeth or fingers 20 which are made for example of a soft elastomer material and are rotationally integral with the output roller or rollers 9. The flexible teeth or fingers 20 project radially beyond the periphery of the upper output roller or rollers 9 and are able to be deformed resiliently towards the axis of these rollers by a scanned document which is gripped between the rollers 9 and 10. These teeth or fingers then extend again outwards when this document is deposited in the output receptacle 4 and, as a result of the further rotation, the teeth or fingers which are extended again and then move into the vicinity of the receptacle 4, raise the document deposited in said receptacle, transferring it into the auxiliary or end receptacle 5.

The receptacle 5 is in fact arranged on the opposite side to the output receptacle 4 with respect to the upper roller 5 of the pair of motor-driven output rollers 9, 10.

As can be understood more clearly when viewing Figure 3, a curved covering wall 14 extends above the output roller 9 such that it may be travelled over by the bottom edge or rim of each document during transfer from the receptacle 4 to the receptacle 5, this curved wall having incisions in the zone or zones where the flexible teeth or fingers 20 pass.

An inclined containing wall 5a is associated with the receptacle 5.

With reference to Figures 2 and 5, a first scanned document A, deposited momentarily inside the output receptacle 4 (Figure 2), is soon afterwards transferred into the auxiliary or end receptacle 5 (Figure 5). In this last condition, also, the document A remains resting against the inclined tray 4a.

With reference to Figure 6, the following scanned document, denoted by B, is also deposited in the output receptacle 4 where it is arranged between the previously scanned document A and the inclined tray 4a, pending its transfer also into the auxiliary receptacle 5. Scanning of a series of documents is performed in the manner described above until, at the end of scanning, inside the auxiliary receptacle 5 the scanned documents are ordered in the same sequence in which they were introduced into the input opening 3 of the apparatus 1.

Obviously, without affecting the principle of the invention, the embodiments and the constructional details may be extensively modified with respect to that described and illustrated purely by way of a non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.