System, method and article for enhancing aiming in machine-readable symbol readers, such as barcode readers
First Claim
1. A method of operating a machine-readable symbol reader to read machine-readable symbols, the method comprising:
- projecting an aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader in a direction generally aligned with a field-of-view of the machine-readable symbol reader;
determining whether an elapsed time following a successful decoding of an acquired first machine-readable symbol exceeds an elapsed time threshold; and
continually projecting the aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader until the elapsed time is determined to exceed the elapsed time threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A reader for reading machine-readable symbols such as barcode, area or matrix code, or stack code symbols employs an aiming beam which may continue to provide an indication of an orientation of a field-of-view of the reader for a set interval following a successful decode of a machine-readable symbol. This provides a more intuitive and efficient user interface, allowing a user to quickly aim at a next symbol to be acquired, without inadvertently acquiring and/or decoding an unintended symbol. This may also reduce the number of user actions required to operate the reader, and may simplify the triggering mechanism interface.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating a machine-readable symbol reader to read machine-readable symbols, the method comprising:
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projecting an aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader in a direction generally aligned with a field-of-view of the machine-readable symbol reader;
determining whether an elapsed time following a successful decoding of an acquired first machine-readable symbol exceeds an elapsed time threshold; and
continually projecting the aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader until the elapsed time is determined to exceed the elapsed time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A processor-readable medium storing instructions for causing a processor to operate a machine-readable symbol reader to read machine-readable symbols, by:
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projecting an aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader in a direction generally aligned with a field-of-view of the machine-readable symbol reader;
determining whether an elapsed time following a successful decoding of an acquired first machine-readable symbol exceeds an elapsed time threshold; and
continually projecting the aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader until the elapsed time is determined to exceed the elapsed time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of operating a machine-readable symbol reader to read machine-readable symbols, the method comprising:
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in response to a first activation of a user input device, projecting an aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader in a direction generally aligned with a field-of-view of the machine-readable symbol reader;
acquiring a first machine-readable symbol in the field-of-view of the machine-readable symbol reader;
attempting to decode the acquired first machine-readable symbol;
determining that the attempt to decode the acquired first machine-readable symbol was successful;
determining whether an elapsed time following the successful decode of the acquired first machine-readable symbol exceeds an elapsed time threshold; and
projecting the aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader if it is determined that the elapsed time does not exceed the elapsed time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A machine-readable symbol reader operable to read machine-readable symbols, the machine-readable symbol reader comprising:
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a housing;
an optoelectronic detector received in the housing and having a field-of-view extending from the housing;
an aiming subsystem carried by the housing an operable to selectively project an aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader in a direction generally aligned with the field-of-view of the optoelectronic detector;
a first trigger operable in response to a first activation to cause the aiming system to project the aiming beam from the machine-readable symbol reader and operable in response to a second activation while the aiming beam projects from the machine-readable symbol reader to cause the acquisition of an electronic representation of machine-readable symbols for decoding; and
a control subsystem received in the housing and coupled to control the aiming subsystem based at least in part on signals generated by the first and the second activation of the first trigger. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification