Abstract: The reflection mirrors in the optical system of a scanner is arranged to have reflections in a vertical direction instead of a horizontal direction as is commonly done. Then, the horizontal dimension of the scanner can be reduced.

Abstract: A dual injector for an automated immunoassay instrument is provided which allows the sequential detection of two different chemiluminescence labels within one instrument. The injector has four carefully designed orifices. The orifices are designed to work in two pairs. Orifices one and two can be used to inject trigger reagents A and B which can trigger a chemiluminescent reaction, such as acridinium. Orifices three and four can inject trigger reagents C and D for triggering a chemiluminescent reaction, such as luminol. The two pairs can be used in a sequential manner to generate signals in the wells of a cuvette. Thus, it is possible to run both acridinium and luminol based assays on one instrument.

Abstract: An automatic document feeding device has a document feeding roller which feeds a document from a stack to a conveying roller which conveys the document for further processing. The document feeding roller has intermittent motion which feeds the conveying roller with three different speeds: first, at a first speed for feeding the document; then, at a speed faster than the first speed as dragged by the document; and finally, a temporary stop. The temporary stop provides sufficient interspace between the successive documents so that a correct pagination signal is generated. The intermittent motion is provided by a power transmitting component which is coupled to the document feeding roller to speed it up when engaged and is decoupled during the stop interval.

Abstract: The collecting tray of a ink-jet printer is equipped with a guard to prevent the paper immediately after exiting from the printer to fall to the bottom of the tray. The guard is much narrower than the width of the tray so that the guard tilts the paper. A succeeding sheet of paper pushes the tilted paper until the tilted paper is pushed beyond the end of the guard and falls to the bottom of the tray after a time delay for the ink to dry.

Abstract: A flat bed image scanner uses a contact image sensor to scan a document. The distance between the contact image sensor and the glass window, over which the document is placed, is minimized and held constant by inserting a lubricating element between the contact image sensor and the glass window. The lubricating element may comprise two pads placed at the two ends of the contact image sensor. The lubricating element can also be integrated structurally with the contact image sensor. The material of the lubricating element can be nylon or some other kinds of plastic. The lubricating element may also comprise two rollers placed at the two ends of the contact image sensor.

Abstract: This invention provides a flat-edge scanner capable of scanning a thick book without any distortion at the protruding binding edge. The binding edge of the book is placed at the corner of a scanning glass window and the frame supporting the glass window so that the book can lie snugly over the window. The scanning window area is extended to the edge of the frame supporting the scanning window. All the optical system and the driving mechanism lie inside the boundary of the scanning window to increase the scanning range.

Abstract: An automatic document feeding device has a document feeding roller which feeds a document from a stack to a conveying roller which conveys the document for further processing. The document feeding roller has intermittent motion which feeds the conveying roller with three different speeds: first, at a first speed for feeding the document; then, at a speed faster than the first speed as dragged by the document; and finally, a temporary stop. The temporary stop provides sufficient interspace between the successive documents so that a correct pagination signal is generated. The intermittent motion is provided by a power transmitting component which is coupled to the document feeding roller to speed it up when engaged and is decoupled during the stop interval.