Indicia reader with synchronized light source and associated methods and computer program product

• US 20050269411A1
• Filed: 06/07/2004
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Vesikivi, Petri, Viitaniemi, Pekka K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,229,021 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.10
• 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 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/22 Illumination; Arrangements for improving the visibility of characters on dials
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2755 by optical scanning

Abstract

The present invention provides systems, methods and computer program-product of obtaining information from machine-readable indicia with a mobile device having an indicia reader incorporated therein. The mobile device uses one or more light sources that may illuminate the indicia under consideration, assist in the orientation and position of the indicia reading device, and provide indication to the user that information has been obtained from the indicia under consideration, by use of the one or more light sources. Control of the one or more light sources occurs through an application operating on a controller within the mobile device.

Claims

1. A terminal for interacting with a machine-readable indicia comprising:

a controller capable of receiving information regarding at least one machine-readable indicia containing encoded information,

at least one device for communicating with said at least one machine-readable indicia; and

one or more sources of light, wherein said at least one device for communicating with said at least one machine-readable indicia and said one or more sources of light are operable by said controller such that when said at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia is communicating with said at least one machine-readable indicia, said one or more sources of light are illuminated and when said encoded information has been obtained, said one or more sources of light are no longer illuminated.

2. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the at least one machine-readable indicia is a barcode and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia is an electronic media device.

3. A terminal according to claim 2, wherein the electronic media device is a digital camera.

4. A terminal according to claim 3, wherein the one or more sources of light facilitate the digital camera in obtaining an image of the barcode.

5. A terminal according to claim 2, wherein the at least one machine-readable indicia is a one-dimensional barcode.

6. A terminal according to claim 2, wherein the at least one machine-readable indicia is a two-dimensional barcode.

7. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the at least one machine-readable indicia is a RFID transponder tag and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia is an RF transceiver.

8. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sources of light are light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

9. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sources of light have a defined field of illumination and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia has a defined field of view and said field of illumination corresponds to said field of view.

10. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sources of light have an adjustable field of illumination and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia has a defined field of view and said field of illumination is adjustable to correspond to said field of view.

11. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sources of light have a defined field of illumination and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia has an adjustable field of view, and said field of view is adjustable to correspond to said field of illumination.

12. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sources of light have an adjustable field of illumination and the at least one device for communicating with machine-readable indicia has an adjustable field of view, and said field of illumination and said field of view are adjustable to correspond to one another.

13. A terminal for interacting with a barcode comprising:

a controller capable of receiving information regarding at least one barcode having information encoded thereon,

an electronic media device for obtaining an image of said at least one barcode; and

one or more sources of light, wherein said electronic media device and said one or more sources of light are operable by said controller such that when said electronic media device is obtaining an image of said at least one barcode, said one or more sources of light are illuminated and when said encoded information from said barcode has been obtained, said one or more sources of light are no longer illuminated.

14. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the electronic media device is a digital camera.

15. A terminal according to claim 14, wherein the one or more sources of light facilitate the digital camera in obtaining an image of the barcode.

16. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the at least one barcode having information encoded thereon is a one-dimensional barcode.

17. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the at least one barcode having information encoded thereon is a two-dimensional barcode.

18. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more sources of light are light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

19. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more sources of light have a defined field of illumination and the at least one electronic media device has a defined field of view and said field of illumination corresponds to said field of view.

20. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more sources of light have an adjustable field of illumination and the at least one electronic media device has a defined field of view and said field of illumination is adjustable to correspond to said field of view.

21. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more sources of light have a defined field of illumination and the electronic media device has an adjustable field of view, and said field of view is adjustable to correspond to said field of illumination.

22. A terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more sources of light have an adjustable field of illumination and the electronic media device has an adjustable field of view, and said field of illumination and said field of view are adjustable to correspond to one another.

23. A terminal for interacting with a RFID transponder tag comprising:

a controller capable of receiving information regarding at least one RFID transponder tag having information encoded therein,

a RF transceiver for communicating with at least one RFID transponder tag; and

one or more sources of light, wherein said RF transceiver and said one or more sources of light are operable by said controller such that when said RF transceiver is communicating with said RFID transponder tag, said one or more sources of light are illuminated and when said encoded information from said RFID transponder tag is obtained, said one or more sources of light are no longer illuminated.

24. A terminal according to claim 23, wherein the one or more sources of light are light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

25. A terminal according to claim 23, wherein the one or more sources of light have an adjustable field of illumination.

26. A method of obtaining information from a machine-readable indicia with a terminal, comprising:

illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal;

positioning said terminal proximate to said machine-readable indicia to facilitate communication between said terminal and said machine-readable indicia;

receiving information from said machine-readable indicia with said terminal while said terminal is positioned proximate to said machine-readable indicia and said one or more sources of light are illuminated; and

providing visual indication with said one or more sources of light when said information has been obtained from said machine-readable indicia.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein at least receiving information from said machine-readable indicia with said terminal comprises obtaining information from a barcode with a digital camera.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein at least receiving information from said machine-readable indicia with said terminal comprises obtaining information from a one-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein at least receiving information from said machine-readable indicia with said terminal comprises obtaining information from a two-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein at least receiving information from said machine-readable indicia with said terminal comprises obtaining information from a RFID transponder tag with a RF transceiver.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein positioning said terminal proximate to said machine-readable indicia such that said position facilitates communication between said terminal and said machine-readable indicia comprises positioning said terminal such that said machine-readable indicia is illuminated in a field of illumination of said one or more sources of light.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein positioning said terminal proximate to said machine-readable indicia such that said position facilitates communication between said terminal and said machine-readable indicia comprises positioning said terminal such that said machine-readable indicia is illuminated in a field of illumination of said one or more sources of light and said field of illumination of said one or more sources of light corresponds to the area in which the terminal is able to communicate with the machine-readable indicia.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein providing visual indication with said one or more sources of light when said information has been received from said machine-readable indicia and recognized by said terminal comprises no longer illuminating said one or more sources of light.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal comprises illuminating one or more light-emitting diodes.

35. A method of obtaining information from a barcode with a terminal having an electronic media device and a controller, comprising:

illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal;

positioning said terminal proximate to said barcode to illuminate the barcode within a field of illumination from the one or more light sources and facilitate reading the barcode with the electronic media device;

obtaining information from the barcode with the electronic media device while said terminal is positioned proximate to said barcode and said one or more light sources are illuminated; and

switching off said one or more sources of light when said information from said barcode has been obtained.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein obtaining information from the barcode with the electronic media device comprises obtaining information from a one-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein obtaining information from the barcode with the electronic media device comprises obtaining information from a two-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein positioning said terminal proximate to said barcode to illuminate the barcode within a field of illumination from the one or more light sources and facilitate reading the barcode with the electronic media device comprises positioning said terminal to illuminate the barcode with a field of illumination of the one or more light sources that corresponds to a field of view of a digital camera.

39. The method of claim 35, wherein illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal comprises illuminating one or more light-emitting diodes.

40. The method of claim 35, wherein obtaining information from the barcode with the electronic media device comprises obtaining information from the barcode with a digital camera.

41. A method of obtaining information from a RFID transponder tag with a terminal having an RF transceiver and a controller, comprising:

illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal;

positioning said terminal proximate to said RFID transponder tag to facilitate communication between said RF transceiver in said terminal and said RFID transponder tag;

receiving information from said RFID transponder tag with said RF transceiver while said terminal is positioned proximate to said RFID transponder tag and said one or more light sources are illuminated; and

switching off said one or more sources of light when said information has been obtained from said RFID transponder.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein positioning said terminal proximate to said RFID transponder tag such that said position facilitates communication between said RF transceiver said RFID transponder tag comprises positioning said terminal such that said RFID transponder tag is illuminated in a field of illumination of said one or more sources of light.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein positioning said terminal proximate to said RFID transponder tag such that said position facilitates communication between said RF transceiver said RFID transponder tag comprises positioning said terminal such that said RFID transponder tag is illuminated in a field of illumination of said one or more sources of light and said field of illumination corresponds to the area in which the RF transceiver is able to communicate with the RFID transponder tag.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein illuminating one or more sources of light associated with said terminal comprises illuminating one or more light-emitting diodes.

45. A method of controlling a terminal having a device for communicating with a machine-readable indicia and one or more sources of light, comprising:

illuminating the one or more sources of light when said terminal is set to communicate with a machine-readable indicia with the device for communicating with machine-readable indicia;

communicating with said machine-readable indicia with said device for communicating with machine-readable indicia; and

switching off said one or more sources of light when said terminal has received information from said machine-readable indicia and recognizes said information.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said machine-readable indicia is a barcode and the device for communicating with a machine-readable indicia is a digital camera.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein communicating with said machine-readable indicia with said device for communicating with machine-readable indicia comprises obtaining information from a one-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein communicating with said machine-readable indicia with said device for communicating with machine-readable indicia comprises obtaining information from a two-dimensional barcode with a digital camera.

49. The method of claim 45, wherein communicating with said machine-readable indicia with said device for communicating with machine-readable indicia comprises obtaining information from a RFID transponder tag with a RF transceiver.

50. The method of claim 45, wherein illuminating the one or more sources of light comprises illuminating one or more light-emitting diodes.

51. A computer program product for controlling a terminal having a device for communicating with a machine-readable indicia and one or more sources of light, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion for illuminating the one or more sources of light when said terminal is set to communicate with a machine-readable indicia with the device for communicating with machine-readable indicia;

a second executable portion for obtaining information from said machine-readable indicia with said device for communicating with machine-readable indicia; and

a third executable portion for switching off said one or more sources of light when said terminal has obtained information from said machine-readable indicia.

52. A computer program product according to claim 51, wherein the executable portions are adapted to communicate with a machine-readable indicia that is a barcode and the device for communicating with a machine-readable indicia is a digital camera.

53. A computer program product according to claim 51, wherein the executable portions are adapted to communicate with a machine-readable indicia that is a RFID transponder tag and the device for communicating with a machine-readable indicia is a RF transceiver.

54. A computer program product according to claim 51, wherein the third executable portion is adapted to switch off said one or more sources of light when said terminal has obtained information from said machine-readable indicia into an actively-operating application on a controller in said terminal and said application decodes and recognizes said information

55. A computer program product according to claim 51, wherein the second executable portion is adapted to obtain information to the terminal when the terminal is actively operating an application in a state of receiving data.