h a l f b a k e r yI like this idea, only I think it should be run by the government.
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A scanner that is a V shaped device on the desk that you
can
put a book on that will scan 2 pages at once. Be able to not
crush the book onto a flat plate scanner.
This would assist in that a lot of times I scan a book 2
pages
at once I will get a big black area in the gutter where the
spine is because I didnt mash it down hard enough. This
makes
OCR not work.
Many books I scan are 100-150 years old, and damaging
them
just to scan a page in is not an option.
There are scanners that take a picture looking down into
the book, and then have to extrapolate the curve of the
page.
A "V" scanner would even alleviate this.
Robot Book Scanner
http://sfgate.com/c...3/05/19/BU52555.DTL
Well baked now! [PiledHigherandDeeper, Oct 04 2004]
Another approach
http://www.nytimes....ircuits/08howw.html
A handheld scanner: hold it at right angles to the text, and it can follow the curve of the page. [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004]
(?) Atiz BookDrive
http://www.atiz.com/BookDrive.php
Fully automated book scanner. Bring money. [bristolz, Feb 23 2006]
Google did it!
https://code.google...inear-book-scanner/
V-shape: [rmtmaine]; 2 scanner heads: [half]; weight retainers (me); vacuum page turner (Google) [lurch, Nov 16 2012]
A camera-based V-shaped book scanner built from garbage
https://www.instruc...-Trash-and-Cheap-C/
Instructables no longer tells you when an instructable was posted (boo) but this was posted in or before 2011 [notexactly, Dec 03 2018]
[link]
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Hm, yes. Somewhat recondite, if you ask me. Also, the wrinkle that it's going to be difficult to scan close to the apex will be an expensive one. Which will make this an expensive item which only you and a few copyright libraries -- and maybe not even then -- would want. Still, because this is an original idea, I give it a technical [+]. |
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I don't see this being terribly expensive. An ordinary scanner is not very expensive. I'm visualizing a glass or plastic inverted "V" made with relatively thin material and a good thin point on the V. The book is then placed face down with a page on each face of the V. It seems that dual conventional scanning mechanisms would easily be able to scan the 2 pages at once. |
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Someone possessing more knowledge about the particulars of antique book bindings and scanner mechanisms will need to work out the angle of the "V" and the design of the scanning mechanisms. |
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In software, it's a dual scanner; but in hardware, it's just a single with a fold in the middle of the plate and sensor bar. Probably LED scan lighting; replaceable or adjustable spectrum for various old inks. Be sure to put some spring-loaded retainers on each side to carry the weight of the book - you most likely don't want the point to split the binding. |
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Most of your books should be openable to 90 degrees, I would think? |
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Good idea, austere. But the perceived depth would be too great for the illumination-reflection effect of scanners, wouldn't it? And besides, if you're doing that you might as well use a camera? |
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This is definitely Baked, in the form of both photocopiers and scanners. I'm sure I saw it at a trade show sometime. I'll try to track it down and post a link. |
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Don't believe that even in software it needs to be a dual
scanner if its just a v shaped sensor bar. |
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You're right, it wouldn't be a requirement, but I thought it would be nice to get separate images for the two pages when you wanted them. The other options are single scan, split the image; or scan two passes, once for each side. (The cheap version would use a regular bar tilted up, so you turn the book around for each page...) |
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Great idea. I listen to books on my 90 minute daily commute. My computer generates the reading voice from text files. Every other weekend, I spend 4 to 6 hours scanning books for the next week's commute. |
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I've gone through the books you can get through the audio clubs. I've gone through the books-on-tape at the library. I don't like banal books, so very little of what I want is available, particularly technical material for work. |
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Unless you are scanning books at this pace, I doubt you can understand wonderful this sort of device would be. |
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Hi; Joined just to vote and reply to your idea. |
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I have often wished for something like this to exist. Bake it and I'll buy it. But only as an addon to my existing scanner. I only scan the occasional book. |
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I don't agree with [froggie]'s curved track, though; it's technically challenging and would stop the scanner being used for flat scanning. |
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What you need is a clear V-shaped adaptor for a conventional A4 scanner and morphing software to correct for the perspective. |
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This aftermarket product would be easy to design and prototype, cheap to produce and could retrofit all existing A4 scanners, without being a permenant conversion. |
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Please mail my 1%-gross royalties to the email address on my HB profile page. :-) |
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You're missing an obvious solution. Just design a scanner that is extremely thin. You could nearly close the book on it then scan. The scanning head could be 'double sided' so it scans both pages at once. Basically it's 2 sheets of glass with a scan head between. http://members.rogers.com/seyeklopz/2sidebookscan.gif |
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Book scanners already exist. Look at Minolta PS 7000, BookEye and Zeutchel. The Minolta uses a dynamic focal plane and compensates for curvature via an algarithym while the others use a large depth of field. |
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Actually, there is now an automatic book scanner that turns pages and scans them at 1200 pages per hour. It's a young company in the Rochester area, NY. Check out their website at www.kirtas-tech.com. They even have a cool demo on their site. It looks like it's gentle enough for rare books. The Only caveat: it's a very pricey toy ($150K). |
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//Marked For Deletion\\: This item is illegal. |
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My God man, don't you realize that this is a Circumvention Device?! I'll have the RIAA on you I will! |
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even nearly 2 years later I have yet to see a device that is
cheap enough <$1000 and non-complicated enough to do
this job. I even at one point purchased 2 Umax 300
scanners and took them apart to start building the
scanner, but I am afraid i am just not adept enough. |
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Anyone want to build this? |
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The tight tolerances required to build this properly likely will elude most hobbyists unless they can use a scavenged scanning mechanism intact. |
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If you found a standard scanner with the edge of the scanning area close to the physical edge of the scanner, then you might be able to hang the book over this area and scan one page at a time. |
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Hah! That's nearly exactly what I had first tried to write, [Ling]. I was trying to say that if the active scanning area was close enough to the case edge then you could be assured that the scan would capture into the gutter area of the book. But my words were clumsy and so I gave up. |
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I think the newer, and thin, Canonscan LiDE scanners might work but most scanners have a fairly large case boundary around the glass plate. |
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[bristolz], yeah, I had three goes as well! |
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Off topic for a moment: Can anyone here tell me what the name is for that characteristic of rubber, and rubber-like materials, where the surface is so pliable that it is almost sticky? Think about those little sticky hand toys that kids throw on walls (and ruin paint). |
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Tack or tackiness? They used the term "tackiness" on a web page I found describing microstructures of very sticky rubber. May or may not be what you're looking for. |
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I've actually been asking around at libraries, trying to find one of these. I think you'd need a triangular prism with the same refractive index as glass (or air), though with a gradient from the thin to the thick edges to compensate for the longer light path to the scanner head. |
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maybe you can try a not-so-expensive book scanner
www.plustek.com |
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This device should or might instead be just a photocopier
or an add on for a photocopier. Then you could make
copies without that horrid black gutter in the middle of
every copy made. These could then be scanned easily. I
am currently working in a copy shop where course packs
for University are made, and 9 of every ten pages in
course packs have places that are basically unreadable
because it is not always possible to mash the spine of a
book or periodical down hard enough on a copier to get
rid of the black gutter. |
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No, not thixotropic, but thank you for the suggestion. |
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cohesion? adhesion? ...-ivity? |
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I thought there'd be a better scientific name for "stickiness" but couldn't find one. |
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The kid's toy is called the "Wacky WallWalker." Had a good deal of family fun in a cabin in Colorado some years ago with a couple of these! |
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The Atiz BookDrive DIY is exactly just that. It cradles the book on the V-shaped plane and two overhead digital cameras will shoot the images of the book.
www.atiz.com |
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Back when I was in college I always
thought the libraries should get a
copier company to create a V-shaped
copier for them. I actually sent a letter
to Xerox about making one. I think
school libraries would eat that up.
Students just DESTROY books smashing
them down on the copiers. And now
that I'm in school again I want a
scanner that's made to allow you to
open the book at a 90 degree angle. |
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Turns out there ARE two fairly low cost
options for scanning books. A company
named Plustek (www.plustek.com)
makes a scanner called the OptiBook
specifically for this purpose. Rather
than a V-shape (which would be fairly
difficult to engineer, and thus costly)
they simply have the scanner glass
come right up to the edge of the
chassis. That way you can open the
book 90 degrees and scan one page.
After you scan all the pages it will put
them all in a PDF for you. Brilliant. |
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A second option is a truly amazing
handheld scanner called the DocuPen
(www.docupen.com). It's not really a
pen scanner, but it is shaped like a long
pen. It uses a lithium-ion battery, fits
easily into a backpack or briefcase and
can scan in full color, 400 dpi. You just
put it at the top of the page and sweep
it down the page. |
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So both these options allow you to scan
a book with it only open 90 degrees. |
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Check out the uber-cool *open-access* Google book scanner. Either they were reading this idea, or they've got people who think a lot like us. |
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// they've got people who think a lot like us // |
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That's possibly the most terrifying statement of the millennium ... |
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