Apparatus for capturing images and barcodes
First Claim
1. An apparatus for capturing images and barcodes, comprising:
- an image-sensing device;
a lens having a variable-focal-length region focusing light onto a first region of said image-sensing device;
said lens having a substantially fixed-focal-length region focusing light onto a second region of said image-sensing device; and
wherein focal length in said variable-focal-length region varies such that different portions of said variable-focal-length region focus objects at different distances from said lens in different areas of said first region, wherein said apparatus is able to focus, in said first region, objects at varying distances from said apparatus.
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Abstract
An apparatus for capturing images and barcodes. The apparatus has an image-sensing device and a lens having a variable-focal-length region and a substantially fixed-focal-length region. The variable-focal-length region focuses light onto a first region of the image-sensing device and the substantially fixed-focal-length region focuses light onto a second region of the image-sensing device. The variable-focal-length region varies such that different portions of that region of the lens focus objects at different distances from the lens in different areas of the first region of the image-sensing device. Thus, the device is able to focus, in the first region of the image-sensing device, objects at varying distances from the apparatus.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus for capturing images and barcodes, comprising:
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an image-sensing device;
a lens having a variable-focal-length region focusing light onto a first region of said image-sensing device;
said lens having a substantially fixed-focal-length region focusing light onto a second region of said image-sensing device; and
wherein focal length in said variable-focal-length region varies such that different portions of said variable-focal-length region focus objects at different distances from said lens in different areas of said first region, wherein said apparatus is able to focus, in said first region, objects at varying distances from said apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for focusing images and barcodes, comprising:
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a first image-sensing device;
a second image-sensing device;
a first lens having a variable-focal-length and focusing light onto said first image-sensing device;
a second lens having a substantially fixed-focal-length and focusing light onto said second image-sensing device;
wherein said first lens has a focal length which varies across its surface such that different portions of said lens focus objects at different distances from said lens at different regions of said first image-sensing device, wherein said apparatus is able to focus barcodes at varying distances from said apparatus; and
wherein said second lens focuses image data from objects at up to infinity from said apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A portable electronic apparatus for image and barcode capture, comprising:
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an image-sensing device having a first and a second region;
a lens having a first portion of variable-focal-length focusing light onto said first region and said lens having a second portion with a substantially fixed-focal-length focusing light onto said second region;
a signal processor coupled to said image-sensing device, said processor for decoding barcodes from data from said first region and for processing images from data from said second region; and
wherein said focal length of said first portion of said lens varies such that different areas of said first portion focus objects at different distances from said lens at different areas of said first region of said image-sensing device, wherein said apparatus is able to focus, in said first region, objects at varying distances from said apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification