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#12894
In photocopying or scanning documents, the combination of static charge that builds up and the movement of air by closing the lid tends to de-position, disarrange or misalign a document that has been carefully placed and positioned on the glass. This can eat up a lot of time and cause much annoyance. I'd like someone to invent a technique, gizmo or system that will keep this from happening without harming the platform, the lid, the document or the user. Benefits: more efficent use of users' time, improved quality of life and working environment, lowered blood pressure and reduced stress, maybe even lives saved by fewer folks going 'postal'.

Reward: A free one, and a beautiful trophy or plaque congratulating me for inspiring a solution that will benefit photocopier and scanner users everywhere.
#13314
vinnypanico wrote:scotch tape works well.

:-? Well, scotch tape will hold a sheet in position. Unfortunately sticky residue often remains on the document, making it difficult to handle thereafter, and also tends to build up on the copier. :~(

This is not good, especially if the original is small and needs centering away from the edge because the residue builds up on the glass. :P I'm looking for something to make the job less work, not more, so scotch tape won't do. :,-(

Granted, if all you need is a quick and dirty, minimally legible copy, and nobody cares how messy the originals and copier platform get, it would do. :[

I'm looking for something cleaner and lower maintenance that produces high-quality copies. :^

Thanks for the suggestion, though. ;D
By KWu
#14692
Make small holes along the edges or corners on the glass which connected to a small rubber button. Press down the rubber button while putting the paper down to block the holes and release the rubber button. The small rubber button acts just like a vacuum bump.

KWu
#14811
KWu wrote:Make small holes along the edges or corners on the glass which connected to a small rubber button. Press down the rubber button while putting the paper down to block the holes and release the rubber button. The small rubber button acts just like a vacuum bump.

KWu
;D That's a pretty good idea, KWu! I believe it would work quite well provided the documents were all about the same dimensions.

:/ I'm not sure how it would work with variable sized documents, though, given the objective of getting very clear, clean copies whatever the size. The old-style, time-consuming solution has been to stick such items to a standard sized blank page and align that, but the occurrence of alignment creep and bent edges that show up in the image are significant using that method. And then, as I mentioned before, you pay a price in the form of sticky residue on document and/or glass. :~(

:-? To similarly stabilize small and odd-sized documents, additional vacuum holes would be needed that weren't restricted to the outer edges of the glass plate/image area -- perhaps in an X, a grid or random scatter pattern? I'm not an expert, just an interested user, but I don't know of a way to do that that wouldn't adversely impact image clarity. :*) I have done enough scanning for projects where image quality was a very high priority to be aware that it can be quite a pain to keep the glass clear of distorting fingerprints, smudges and dust, so I have definite reservations about the practicality of perforating anything but the outermost edges of the glass. :-?

;D Thanks again for the input, Kwu! and, if you or anyone else can figure out a way around that problem of odd-sized original documents, I'd love to hear of it. 8-o
By amorriso
#14817
How about an alligator clip that is fixed to the body of the photocopier and it presses the top of the document down on the glass and holds it in place. I guess you'd have to put a notch in the lid of the photocopier so it could close and not get stopped by the clip. 8-o
By KWu
#14823
Actually, the simplest way to hold a odd size document for scanning is to use a standard size paper places on top of the odd size paper and use the rubber button to hold the standard paper before flip the scanner cover on top.

KWu
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