1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for scanning documents, and particularly to a method for scanning documents by a machine including a shuttle-scanner that scans documents by back-and-forth motion thereof, wherein, when the document is smaller than a maximum size that can be scanned by the machine, data scanned in the area on a document support that is not occupied by the document are processed white or skipped.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, office automation facilities such as a printer, a scanner, etc. have been widely spread. To extend their own functions, these office automation facilities each having high efficiency have been developed. Accordingly, the manufacturing costs of the products increase and this may impose an economic burden on users.
In recent years, several office automation machines have been combined into one system. Remarkable progress has been made toward the development of a multi-tasking system by combining a printer, a facsimile machine, a scanner, together with other components of image formation equipment. Exemplary practice in the art is found in the structure illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,741 to Charles D. Wilson entitled Image Reproducing Apparatus With CCD Scanner And Bubble Jet Printer Simultaneously Driven By A Common Belt In Opposite Directions And Operated Asynchronously; U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,345 to Elizabeth M. Paradise et al. entitled Queue Management System For Multi-Function Copier, Printer, and Facsimile Machine; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,916 to Masaaki Ogura entitled Digital Copier With A Facsimile Function.
Conventionally, a multifunctional machine optionally includes a fax machine, a printer, a scanner, a duplicator (copier), a modem and a computer and prints data scanned by the scanner or data transmitted from another system through the modem by the printer or stores the data in a hard disk of the computer. To interface a personal computer (PC), the multifunctional machine such as a multifunctional printer supports Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1284 as an interface technology that allows bidirectional communication.
When the document to be scanned in a conventional multifunctional machine is smaller than the maximum document size that can be scanned by the machine, for example, when A5 sized document is to be scanned in a conventional multifunctional machine capable of scanning up to A4 sized documents, the scanner in the machine scans a document support for the remaining area that is not occupied by the A5 sized document. The document support may be a white or black panel. When the document support is a white panel, there is no serious problem. However, when the document support is a black panel, the amount of scanned data is increased, for example, data to be processed at the receiving end of a facsimile, is increased by the amount corresponding to the remaining area on the document support. That is, since the remaining area of the black panel that is not occupied by the document is recognized as data, the remaining area is processed as black data and transmitted. The white panel may also have a problem when it is dirty or contaminated by sprayed ink. In this case, the white panel cannot perform its own function as a white panel. The contaminants are recognized as black data and transmitted. As aforementioned, the conventional multifunctional machine suffers from problems of processing data that are not actual data, which results in unnecessary consumption of printing ink or toner.