Hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system employing visible targeting illumination beam projected from an array of visible light sources on the rear surface of a printed circuit (PC) board having a light transmission aperture, and reflected off multiple folding mirrors and projected through the light transmission aperture into a central portion of the field of view of said system

• US 20080283607A1
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhu, Xiaoxun, Veksland, Michael, Ren, Jie, Au, Ka Man, Giordano, Patrick, Allen, Christopher, Yan, Weizhen, Smith, Taylor, Mandal, Sudhin, Kotlarsky, Anatoly, Miraglia, Michael V., Foney, Shawn De, Wilz, David M. SR., Knowles, C. Harry
• Granted Patent: US 7,845,559 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.07
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10732 Light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10752 Exposure time control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10821 further details of bar or optical code scanning devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/109 adaptations to make the hand-held scanner useable as a fixed scanner

Abstract

A hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system including a hand-supportable housing having an imaging window. A printed circuit (PC) board is mounted in the hand-supportable housing, and has front and rear surfaces and a light transmission aperture formed centrally therethrough. An image formation and detection subsystem has image formation optics for projecting a field of view (FOV) through the imaging window and upon an object within the FOV, and an area-type image detection array for forming and detecting 2D digital images of the object during object illumination and imaging operations. A first FOV folding mirror is supported above the rear surface of the PC board over the light transmission aperture, and a second FOV folding mirror is supported above the rear surface of the PC board and over the area-type image detection array. These mirrors fold and project the FOV through the light transmission aperture and the imaging window. An automatic targeting illumination subsystem is disposed in the hand-supportable housing, and has a plurality of visible light sources mounted on the rear surface of the PC board for generating a targeting illumination beam, which reflects off at least one beam folding mirror, and then off the first FOV mirror and then projects the targeting illumination beam through the light transmission aperture and the imaging window, into a portion of said FOV extending outside of the hand-supportable housing and onto the object therein.

Claims

1. A hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system comprising:

a hand-supportable housing having an imaging window;

a printed circuit (PC) board mounted in said hand-supportable housing, and having front and rear surfaces and a light transmission aperture formed centrally therethrough;

an image formation and detection subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, and having image formation optics for projecting a field of view (FOV) through said imaging window and upon an object within said FOV, and an area-type image detection array for forming and detecting a 2D digital image of the object during object illumination and imaging operations;

a first FOV folding mirror supported above the rear surface of said PC board over said light transmission aperture, and a second FOV folding mirror supported above the rear surface of said PC board and over said area-type image detection array, for folding and projecting said FOV through said light transmission aperture and said imaging window; and

an automatic targeting illumination subsystem disposed in said hand-supportable housing. having a plurality of visible light sources mounted on the rear surface of said PC board for generating a targeting illumination beam, and reflecting said targeting illumination beam off at least one beam folding mirror, and then off said first FOV mirror so as to project said targeting illumination beam through said light transmission aperture and said imaging window, into a portion of said FOV extending outside of said hand-supportable housing, and into the object present therein.

2. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said automatic targeting illumination subsystem generates and projects a visible linear-type targeting illumination beam within a central portion of said FOV.

3. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said single PC board is substantially spatially aligned with said imaging window when said PC board is mounted within said hand-supportable housing.

9. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, which further comprises:

a LED-based illumination subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for generating and projecting a field of illumination through said light transmission imaging window and within said FOV so that light transmitted through said imaging window towards the object is reflected off the object and detected by said area-type image detection array; and

an automatic illumination control subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for controlling the operation of said LED-based illumination subsystem during object illumination and imaging operations, so that said targeting illumination beam is momentarily ceased when said LED-based illumination subsystem produces said field of illumination within said FOV.

10. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 9, wherein said field of illumination is a narrow-band field of illumination generated by said LED-based illumination subsystem and covering substantially the entire region of said FOV.

11. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 10, wherein said image formation and detection subsystem further comprises:

a band-pass optical filter subsystem allowing only narrow-band illumination generated from said LED-based illumination subsystem to expose said area-type image detection array during object illumination and imaging operations.

12. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 11, wherein said band-pass optical filter subsystem comprises:

a high-pass optical filter element is embodied within said imaging window; and

a low-pass optical filter element is disposed before said image detection array, and wherein said high-pass and low-pass optical filter elements optically cooperate to form said narrow-band optical filter subsystem for transmitting substantially only the very narrow band of wavelengths of visible illumination produced from said LED-based illumination subsystem and reflected/scattered off the illuminated object, while rejecting all other optical wavelengths outside said narrow optical band.

13. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 9, which further comprises:

an image capturing and buffering subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for capturing and buffering said one or more 2-D digital images detected by said image formation and detection subsystem;

a digital image processing subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for processing said one or more 2D digital images captured and buffered by said image capturing and buffering subsystem so as to read one or more 1D and/or 2D code symbols graphically represented in said one or more 2D digital images;

an input/output subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for outputting processed image data and the like to an external host system or other information receiving or responding device; and

a system control subsystem, disposed in said hand-supportable, for controlling and/or coordinating said subsystems during object detection, illumination and imaging operations.

14. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 13, wherein said one or more code symbols are selected from the group consisting of ID bar code symbols, 2D bar code symbols, PDF symbols and datamatrix symbols.

4. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of 1, wherein said plurality of visible light sources comprises a pair of visible light sources.

5. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of 4, wherein said pair of visible sources is mounted on opposite sides of said area-type image detection array.

6. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 5, wherein said pair of visible light sources comprises a pair of visible LEDs.

7. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of claim 6, wherein said automatic targeting illumination subsystem further comprises:

a pair of aperture stops are mounted above said pair of visible LEDs, respectively, for producing a pair of linear visible light beams as visible light beams from said visible LEDs are transmitted through said pair of aperture stops.

8. The hand-supportable digital image capture and processing system of7, wherein said automatic targeting illumination subsystem further comprises:

a pair of beam focusing mirrors supported above the rear surface of said PC board, for focusing said pair of linear visible light beams, respectively, and projecting said pair of linear visible light beams through said imaging window and into the central portion of said FOV.