Automatically-activated hand-supportable 2-D bar code symbol reading system employing a linear laser scanning pattern generator, an automatic bar code symbol data detector, audible data capture feedback generator, and a manually-activated data transmission activation switch

• US 20040251307A1
• Filed: 07/03/2003
• Published: 12/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhu, Xiaoxun, Knowles, C. Harry, Au, Ka Man, Giordano, Patrick, Schmidt, Mark, Wilz, David M. Sr., Colavito, Stephen J., Xu, Congwei, Wang, Lin, Jiang, Min, Hudrick, Donald T., Russell, Garrett, Shi, Shamei, Jin, Hongjian, Hu, Meng, Byun, Sung, Blake, Robert, Bonanno, John, Rockstein, George, Ji, MingQing
• Granted Patent: US 7,007,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.46
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 15/00 Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing or actuating, e.g. quantum dots as markers in protein assays or molecular motors
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1012 Special detection of object
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10544 by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10564 Light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10584 Source control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10594 Beam path
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10603 Basic scanning using moving elements
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10663 using hologram
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10673 Parallel lines
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10693 for omnidirectional scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10702 Particularities of propagating elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors G06K7/10831 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10792 Special measures in relation to the object to be scanned
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10801 Multidistance reading
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10811 Focalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10861 sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10871 randomly oriented data-fields, code-marks therefore, e.g. concentric circles-code
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10891 the scanner to be worn on a finger or on a wrist
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 : using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed is an automatically-activated wireless code symbol reading system comprising a bar code symbol reading mechanism contained within a hand-supportable housing having a manually-activatable data transmission switch. During symbol reading operations, the bar code symbol reading mechanism automatically generates a visible laser scanning pattern for repeatedly reading one or more bar code symbols on an object during a bar code symbol reading cycle, and automatically generating a new symbol character data string in response to each bar code symbol read thereby. During system operation, the user visually aligns the visible laser scanning pattern with a particular bar code symbol on an object (e.g. product, bar code menu, etc.) so that the bar code symbol is scanned, detected and decoded in a cyclical manner. Each time the scanned bar code symbol is successfully read during a bar code symbol reading cycle, a new bar code symbol character string is produced, while an indicator light on the hand-supportable housing is actively driven. During the bar code symbol reading cycle, the user actuates the data transmission switch producing a data transmission control activation signal and enabling a currently or subsequently produced symbol character data string to be automatically selected and transmitted to the host system. By virtue of the present invention, automatically-activated hand-supportable bar code symbol readers are now able to accurately read, in an unprecedented manner, bar code symbols on bar code menus, consumer products positioned in crowded point-of-sale environments, and other objects requiring automatic identification and/or information access.

Claims

1-92. -92. Cancel

93. An automatically-activated laser scanning 2D bar code symbol reading system for use in a work environment, said system comprising:

(A) a hand-supportable 2D bar code symbol reader in two-way communication with a base station operably connected to a host system, and having a bar code reading mode of operation and a data transmission mode of operation, said hand-supportable 2D bar code symbol reader including

(1) a hand-supportable housing;

(2) an automatically-activated laser scanning 2-D bar code symbol reading mechanism, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for automatically (a) producing, during said bar code reading mode of operation, a visible linear-type laser scanning pattern for scanning a 2D bar code symbol structure on an object as said hand-supportable housing is manually transported past said 2D bar code symbol along a height-wise direction by an operator, (b) capturing lines of scan data from said scanned 2D bar code symbol structure, (c) decode processing said scan data, and (d) generating a symbol character data string representative of said read 2-D bar code symbol;

wherein said laser scanning 2-D bar code symbol reading mechanism includes

(i) a bar code symbol data detector for automatically detecting each line of said 2-D bar code symbol during said bar code reading mode of operation, and producing a line of scan data for buffering in a buffer memory, and

(ii) an audible data capture buffering indicator for automatically generating audible sounds as each line of bar code symbol data is captured and buffered in said buffer memory, and

(iii) a decode processor for automatically decode processing an entire set of scan data collected in said buffer memory and corresponding to a scanned 2-D bar code symbol, and generating a symbol character data string representative of said read 2-D bar code symbol;

(5) a data transmission circuit, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for transmitting said produced symbol character data string to said host system during said data transmission mode of operation;

(6) a manually-operated data transmission activation switch, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for generating a data transmission control activation signal in response to the actuation of said manually-operated data transmission switch during said bar code reading mode of operation; and

(7) a device controller, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for controlling said automatically-activated laser scanning 2-D bar code symbol reading mechanism and said data transmission circuit so that the symbol character data string, produced during the bar code reading mode of operation when said data transmission control activation signal is generated, is transmitted to said host system.

94. The wireless automatically-activated laser scanning bar code symbol reading system of claim 93, which further comprises a good read indicator, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for indicating each instance of when a 2-D bar code symbol structure is read by said automatically-activated laser scanning 2-D bar code symbol reading mechanism and a symbol character data string representative thereof is produced.

95. The wireless automatically-activated laser scanning bar code symbol reading system of claim 93, which further comprises an objection detection subsystem disposed within said hand-supportable housing and including infrared (IR) signal transmission/receiving circuitry for automatically detecting said object within an object detection field definable relative to said hand-supportable housing.

96. The wireless automatically-activated laser scanning bar code symbol reading system of claim 93, which further comprises an objection detection subsystem disposed within said hand-supportable housing, and including low-power non-visible laser beam signaling mechanism for automatically detecting said object within an object detection field definable relative to said hand-supportable housing.