How Xerox Scanners Work
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Basics
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A Xerox scanner operates based on the natural force known as static electricity. Both positive and negative electrical charges can be used in static electricity. The process by which it is created can be likened to the way poles on magnets work. When you place the negative end of a magnet near the positive end of a magnet the negative end will attach to the positive end. However, if two negative charges or two positive charges come in contact with each other they repel one another. This same idea can be applied to electricity.
Generating Electrical Charge
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A Xerox scanner uses the aforementioned concept of electrical attraction and rejection. What we view as a printed image or a document is nothing but a series of black and white or colored interlaced spaces to a Xerox scanner. When an image or document is put on the glass tray panel to be scanned, the scanner actually does several tasks at once.
Underneath the glass tray there is a flat belt referred to as a photoreceptor. An electrical piece on the machine called a Corona wire moves over the glass tray. This process gives the entire surface area a positive electrical charge. A very bright light transverses the photoreceptor and the original document or photo placed on the glass tray is scanned.
The light produces photons that penetrate the lighter sections of the scanned document, but not the dark areas. Once these photons hit the surface of the photoreceptor those areas are neutralized electrically. The dark elements of the document still retain a positive electrical charge. This contrast between a positive charge and the neutralized charge is the information that is then stored on the photoreceptor.
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Sending the Image
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Now that the image has been successfully stored on the photoreceptor the scanning system the image can be printed or sent to a computer using the Xerox Software provided with the machine. The scanner connects to a computer via a USB cord. Plug one end of the USB cord into the USB port on the scanner and the other end into the USB port on your computer.
Once inside the Xerox software you can save the image or document in a wide variety of photo file types, or you can save it as a PDF (Portable Document Format). This makes the file easy to transfer and store a wide variety of documents and photos.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit http://www.cmswire.com/
