Apparatus and Methods for Controlling an Imager

• US 20080121711A1
• Filed: 07/10/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Yeakley, Daniel Duane, Blumer, Larry L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,798,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/00 Control of exposure by setting shutters, diaphragms or filters, separately or conjointly control of exposure in television cameras by means of circuitry influencing the optical part of the camera H04N23/75
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation

Abstract

A method of controlling an imager in a portable data collection device. A plurality of data structures are created with each containing a set of values for controlling an exposure process of an imager in a portable data collection device. One of the plurality of data structures is selected and the values therein are applied to the imager. Thereafter, a frame is captured by the imager and outputted.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an imager in a portable data collection device, the method comprising:

creating a plurality of data structures, each data structure containing a set of values for controlling an exposure process of an imager in a portable data collection device;

selecting one of the plurality of data structures;

applying the values in the data structure to the imager;

capturing a fame with the imager; and

outputting an image based on the frame.

2. A method, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the step of creating comprises:

identifying a desired exposure method;

identifying values for parameters associated with the desired exposure method;

identifying a sequence of image functions to be performed upon a captured image; and

identifying a set of parameters for each image process that has adjustable parameters.

3. A method, as set forth in claim 2, wherein the step of outputting comprises:

applying the identified image functions in sequence to the captured frame to create a processed frame; and

displaying the processed frame.

4. A method, as set forth in claim 1, wherein for at least one of the plurality of data structures, the step of creating comprises:

generating a dynamic data structure;

displaying a image captured in accordance with the dynamic data structure;

modifying the dynamic data structure based on the displayed image and updating the display with images captured in accordance with the modified dynamic data structure; and

storing the final modified data structure so as to be selectable in the step of selecting.

18. A PDT, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the imager further includes a bar code decoding routine such that the imager operates to output either an image or an indication of the content of a bar code.

5. A method of controlling an imager in a portable data collection device, the method comprising:

creating a plurality of data structures, each data structure containing a set of values for controlling an exposure process of an imager in a portable data collection device and an identification of a series of image functions to be applied to images produced by the imager;

selecting one of the plurality of data structures;

applying the values in the data structure to the imager;

capturing a fame with the imager;

applying the series of image functions identified in the selected data structure to the captured frame to create a processed frame; and

outputting an image based on the processed frame.

6. A method, as set forth in claim 5 further comprising:

indicating which image functions in each series of image functions is to be applied to frames captured in an aiming stage and not in a final image capture stage.

7. A method, as set forth in claim 6 wherein the step of applying comprises:

if the portable data collection device is in an aiming mode, applying the indicated image functions to the captured frame to create a processed frame; and

if the portable data collection device is in a final capture mode, applying the each of the image function in the series of image functions to the captured frame to create a processed frame.

8. A method, as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of outputting comprises:

if the portable data collection device is in an aiming mode, creating a display frame by skipping every n pixel, n being selected based on a size of the processed frame and the size of a display and displaying the display frame on the display; and

if the portable data collection device is in a final capture mode, transmitting a copy of the processed frame to a designated location, applying a resize process to generate a display frame having a desired size, and displaying the display frame on the display.

9. A method of controlling a data capture device in a portable data collection device, the method comprising:

creating a plurality of data structures, each data structure containing a set of values for controlling a data capture process of the data capture device in a portable data collection device;

selecting one of the plurality of data structures;

applying the values in the data structure to the data capture device; and

capturing data with the data capture device.

10. A method, as set forth in claim 9, wherein the step of creating further comprises:

for each data structure, defining a first set of parameters used to capture date and a second set of parameters used to process captured data.

11. A PDT comprising:

a first memory location storing a plurality of profiles, each profile containing a set of values for controlling an exposure process and an indication of at least one post capture image manipulation function;

an imager, responsive to a set of values in a select one of the profiles, that captures at least one frame; and

a processor that applies the at least one post capture image manipulation function indicated in the select profile to the at least one captured frame.

12. A PDT, as set forth in claim 11, wherein the indication of at least one post capture image manipulation function comprises a list of functions and wherein the imager, in an aiming stage repeatedly captures frames and wherein the processor, in the aiming stage, applies a selected subset of functions from the list of functions.

13. A PDT, as set forth in claim 12, wherein the imager, in an final capture stage captures a final frame and wherein the processor applies the entire list of functions to the final frame.

14. A PDT, as set forth in claim 13, wherein the processor, in the final capture stage, applies the entire list of functions in the order in which the functions are listed.

15. A PDT as set forth in claim 13, wherein the processor resizes each frame captured using a different resizing method for frames captured in the aiming stage and the frame captured in the final capture stage.

16. A PDT, as set forth in claim 11, further comprising:

software that causes the PDT to operate in a profile generation mode wherein a user can create a profile and view the effects of modifications to the values.

19. A PDT, as set forth in claim 11, wherein the profiles are stored in an .xml format.

17. A PDT, as set forth in clam 11, wherein the post capture image manipulation functions include at least one function for decoding a bar code.

20. A data collection device comprising:

a first memory location storing a plurality of profiles, each profile containing a set of values for controlling an exposure process and an indication of at least one post capture image manipulation function;

a data collection device, responsive to a set of values in a select one of the profiles, that captures data; and

a processor that applies the at least one post capture data manipulation function indicated in the select profile to the captured data.