Compact and large depth of field image scanner for auto document feeder with compound eye system

Abstract

We designed a compact and large depth of field image scanner targeted for auto document feeders (ADF) by using a compound eye system design with plural optical units in which the ray paths are folded by a reflective optics. Though we have previously proposed the principle concept, we advance the design using a free-form surface mirror to reduce the F-number for less illumination energy and to shrink its optical track width to 40 mm. We achieved large depth of field (DOF) of 1.2 mm, defined as a range exceeding 30% modulation transfer function (MTF) at 300 dpi, which is about twice as large as a conventional gradient index (GRIN) lens array contact image sensor (CIS). The aperture stop has a rectangular-shaped aperture, where one side length is as large as 4.0mm for collecting much light, and another side length is as small as 1.88mm for avoiding interference of folded ray paths.