IMAGE SCANNER APPARATUS OF THE DRUM TYPE HAVING AN EFFICIENT LINE-OF-LIGHT ILLUMINATION SYSTEM

Image scanner apparatus includes a drum having an aperture rotatable about an axis. A mechanism clamps a border of an exposed photographic film to the drum, with the film image aligned with the aperture substantially in a surface of revolution of the drum. A source of diffuse light, disposed between the rotational axis of the drum and its surface of revolution, projects a line of diffuse illumination through the aperture directly onto the film image. Lens apparatus, interposed between the surface of revolution of the drum and a linear image sensor, focuses a line of diffuse light, modulated in accordance with the film image, onto the sensor.