What purpose does the brush serve at the exit point of a scanner?

Question

I've always wondered what this was used for. This is visible on the underside of my Epson ES-500 form feeding scanner.

There are lots of hairs on the brush of this scanner designed for office use. But an similar model for consumer use, the FF-680, has a much thinner brush. Is there any reason for this?

Answer 1

Googling "scanner exit brush" brings back results like these:

So it seems to be there to prevent static build up, probably so the pages don't stick to you, other pages, or the scanner.