Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Daniel's new build with a fixed platen, and I'm planning a similar build, but able to accommodate much larger books. I want 8-10 inches max spine width and pages of something like 20" x 24".
With such wide books, I was intrigued by Daniel's mention of a self-adjusting spine support system. I did a little study of one sample book in my library (Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary) and threw together a possible model in Blender. I'm hoping to get some critique from the seasoned vets and engineers here on the forum.
The book in this first picture shows the problem when a large book is open with the spine flat. The problem is the cover is open to the proper angle, but since the pages are attached to the spine they come up perpendicular to the floor before curving over to the desired angle.
The second picture shows that if the spine were lifted up on the "thin" side, then the pages line up with the covers just fine. What we need then is a system that raises one side above the other as you go.
I put together one idea using blender. This changes a few things about the way books have been held, so I'm hoping I haven't overlooked anything stupid. It's a fair amount more complicated, but since these are historical books I want my scans to be as clear as possible. I haven't modeled the whole scanner yet, just the cradle, and scale is not accurate in any way.
I plan to lift the entire red frame with a counterbalanced lever. The big difference here is the support system. The supports for the two sides of the cradle are fixed in relation to each other.
- Model1.jpg (23.14 KiB) Viewed 5133 times
Instead of adjusting the whole side by sliding it horizontally, the plywood cradle pieces can be adjusted along their supports. I think a couple metal brackets with wingnuts would allow this to be done without too much pain. The nice thing about this is that the farther out they are adjusted, the more roll it allows for, which is exactly what I need.
The two sides then float up and down with the weight of the book.
- Model2.jpg (25.32 KiB) Viewed 5133 times
Underneath, there's a simple lever system to balance out the two sides. Springs could be added to get it to default to centered.
- Model3.jpg (29.2 KiB) Viewed 5133 times
So there are two things I can think of that still need to be solved. The first is that the spine itself is still unsupported. Maybe I could put some kind of hinged piece between the cradle pieces that would adjust along with them.
The other is for the roll in the center of the book, and for this I'm not sure if there is a good solution. Here's a picture:
See, now both sides are curved with the spine. For many books, including this one, I could stick a piece of PVC under it to support it, but if the spine is made of wood, I don't think I'll be able to do anything with it. I suppose that's where software comes in.
I would appreciate any thoughts and advice.
