Digital image capture and processing system having a single printed circuit (PC) board with a light transmission aperture, wherein a first linear array of visible light emitting diodes (LEDS) are mounted on the rear side of the PC board for producing a linear targeting illumination beam, and wherein a second linear array of visible LEDS are mounted on the front side of said PC board for producing a field of visible illumination within the field of view (FOV) of the system

• US 20090057410A1
• Filed: 02/29/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• 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: Giordano, Partick, Zhu, Xiaoxun, Veksland, Michael, Ren, Jie, Knowles, C. Harry, Au, Ka Man, Allen, Christopher, Yan, Weizhen, Smith, Taylor, De Foney, Shawn, Mandal, Sudhin, Kotlarsky, Anatoly, Miraglia, Michael V., Wilz, David M. SR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,087,588 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.70
• 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 digital image capture and processing system having single printed circuit (PC) board with light transmission aperture, wherein a first linear array of visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) are mounted on the rear side of the PC board for producing a linear targeting illumination beam, and wherein a second linear array of visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) are mounted on the front side of the PC board for producing a field of visible illumination within the field of view (FOV) of the system. The linear targeting illumination beam is centrally disposed within the field of visible illumination.

Claims

1. A digital image capture and processing system comprising:

a housing having an imaging window;

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

an image formation and detection subsystem, disposed in said housing, 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, mounted on the rear side of said PC board, for forming and detecting 2D digital images of the object during object illumination and imaging operations;

a FOV folding mirror supported above the rear surface of said PC board over said light transmission aperture, for folding and projecting said FOV from said image formation optics, off said FOV folding mirror and through said light transmission aperture and said imaging window, towards an object within said FOV outside of said housing;

an automatic object detection subsystem, disposed in said housing, for automatically detecting the presence of an object within said FOV and generating a trigger event signal;

an object targeting illumination subsystem, disposed in said housing, for generating and projecting a targeting illumination beam within a central portion of said FOV, in response to the generation of said trigger event signal, wherein said object targeting illumination subsystem includes a first array of visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) is mounted on the rear side of said PC board for producing said linear targeting illumination beam that is reflected off said FOV folding mirror, and through said light transmission aperture and said imaging window, towards an object within said FOV outside of said housing;

a LED-based illumination subsystem, disposed in said housing, and including a second linear array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted on the front surface of said PC board, adjacent said light transmission aperture, for generating and projecting a field of illumination through said imaging window and within said FOV, towards an object within said FOV outside of said housing, so that illumination reflected and/or scattered off the object is retransmitted through said imaging window, reflecting of said FOV folding mirror, and detected by said area-type image detection array; and

wherein said targeting illumination beam is momentarily switched off while said second LED illumination array is producing said field of illumination within said FOV and said area-type image detection array is detecting a 2D digital image of said detected object within said FOV, during object illumination and imaging operations.

2. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, which further comprises an automatic illumination control subsystem, disposed in said housing, for controlling the operation of said LED-based illumination subsystem during object illumination and imaging operations.

3. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said optical axis of said FOV forming optics is disposed perpendicular to the said PC board.

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

6. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said field of illumination is a narrow-band field of illumination generated by said linear array of LEDs and covering substantially the entire region of said FOV along its working distance.

7. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 6, 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.

8. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 7, 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.

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

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

a digital image processing subsystem, disposed in said housing, 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.

10. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 9, which further comprises:

an input/output subsystem, disposed in said housing, 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 housing, for controlling and/or coordinating said subsystems during object illumination and imaging operations.

11. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 9, wherein said one or more code symbols are selected from the group consisting of 1D bar code symbols, 2D bar code symbols, PDF symbols and datamatrix symbols.

12. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said housing is a hand-supportable housing.

13. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 1, wherein said housing is a countertop-surface supportable housing.

5. The digital image capture and processing system of 10, wherein said linear array of LEDs comprises a linear array of visible LEDs.

14. A digital image capture and processing system comprising:

a single a printed circuit (PC) board with light transmission aperture mounted with a housing;

wherein a first array of visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) is mounted on the rear side of said PC board for producing a linear targeting illumination beam; and

wherein a second linear array of visible LEDs is mounted on the front side of said PC board for producing a field of visible illumination within the FOV of said system.

15. The digital image capture and processing system of claim 14, wherein said linear targeting illumination beam is centrally disposed within said field of visible illumination.