CODE SYMBOL READING SYSTEM EMPLOYING DYNAMICALLY-ELONGATED LASER SCANNING BEAMS FOR IMPROVED LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE
First Claim
1. A laser scanning bar code symbol reading system for scanning and reading poor quality or damaged bar code symbols, said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system having a working range and comprising:
- a housing having a light transmission window;
a dynamically-elongated laser beam production module for producing, in response to a triggering event, a dynamically-elongated laser beam having (i) a direction of propagation extending along a z reference direction, (ii) a height dimension being indicated by the y reference direction, and (iii) a width dimension being indicated by the x reference direction, where x, y and z directions are orthogonal to each other;
wherein said dynamically-elongated laser beam is characterized by an elongation ratio (ER) that is defined as Y/X where, for any point within said working range of said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system, extending along said z direction,(i) Y indicates the beam height of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in said Y reference direction,(ii) X indicates the beam width of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the X reference direction, and(iii) said beam height (Y) and said laser beam width (X) are measured at 1/e2 intensity clip level; and
(iv) the elongation ratio of said dynamically-elongated laser beam changes among a set of discrete ER values during each laser scanning bar code symbol reading cycle initiated by said triggering event; and
a laser scanning mechanism for scanning said dynamically-elongated laser beam out said light transmission window and across a scanning field defined external to said housing, in which a bar code symbol is present for scanning by said dynamically-elongated laser scanning beam.
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Abstract
A laser scanning bar code symbol reading system for scanning and reading poor quality and damaged bar code symbols in flexible operating conditions. The system includes a housing having a light transmission window; a dynamically-elongated laser beam production module, including a multi-cavity visible laser diode (VLD), for producing a dynamically-elongated laser beam having (i) a direction of propagation extending along a z reference direction, (ii) a height dimension being indicated by the y reference direction, and (iii) a width dimension being indicated by the x reference direction, where x, y and z directions are orthogonal to each other. Each dynamically-elongated laser beam is characterized by an elongation ratio (ER) that is defined as Y/X where, for any point within the working range of the laser scanning bar code symbol reading system, extending along the z direction, (i) Y indicates the beam height of the dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the Y reference direction, (ii) X indicates the beam width of the dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the X reference direction, and (iii) the beam height (Y) and the laser beam width (X) are measured at 1/e2 intensity clip level. A laser scanning mechanism is provided for scanning the dynamically-elongated laser beam out the light transmission window and across a scanning field defined external to the housing, in which a bar code symbol is present for scanning by the dynamically-elongated laser scanning beam.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A laser scanning bar code symbol reading system for scanning and reading poor quality or damaged bar code symbols, said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system having a working range and comprising:
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a housing having a light transmission window; a dynamically-elongated laser beam production module for producing, in response to a triggering event, a dynamically-elongated laser beam having (i) a direction of propagation extending along a z reference direction, (ii) a height dimension being indicated by the y reference direction, and (iii) a width dimension being indicated by the x reference direction, where x, y and z directions are orthogonal to each other; wherein said dynamically-elongated laser beam is characterized by an elongation ratio (ER) that is defined as Y/X where, for any point within said working range of said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system, extending along said z direction, (i) Y indicates the beam height of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in said Y reference direction, (ii) X indicates the beam width of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the X reference direction, and (iii) said beam height (Y) and said laser beam width (X) are measured at 1/e2 intensity clip level; and (iv) the elongation ratio of said dynamically-elongated laser beam changes among a set of discrete ER values during each laser scanning bar code symbol reading cycle initiated by said triggering event; and a laser scanning mechanism for scanning said dynamically-elongated laser beam out said light transmission window and across a scanning field defined external to said housing, in which a bar code symbol is present for scanning by said dynamically-elongated laser scanning beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A laser scanning system for scanning poor quality or damaged bar code symbols, said laser scanning system having a working range and comprising:
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a housing having a light transmission window; a dynamically-elongated laser beam production module for producing, in response to a triggering event, a dynamically-elongated laser beam having (i) a direction of propagation extending along a z reference direction, (ii) a height dimension being indicated by the y reference direction, and (iii) a width dimension being indicated by the x reference direction, where x, y and z directions are orthogonal to each other; wherein said dynamically-elongated laser beam is characterized by an elongation ratio (ER) that is defined as Y/X, where for any point within said working range of said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system, extending along said z direction, (i) Y indicates the beam height of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in said Y reference direction, (ii) X indicates the beam width of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the X reference direction, and (iii) said beam height (Y) and said laser beam width (X) are measured at 1/e2 intensity clip level; and (iv) the elongation ratio of said dynamically-elongated laser beam changes among a set of discrete ER values during each laser scanning bar code symbol reading cycle initiated by said triggering event; and a laser scanning mechanism for scanning said dynamically-elongated laser beam out said light transmission window and across a scanning field defined external to said housing, in which a bar code symbol is present for scanning by said dynamically-elongated laser scanning beam. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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21. A method of scanning a laser scanning a bar code symbol comprising the steps:
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(a) in response to a triggering event, producing from a hand-supportable housing, a dynamically-elongated laser beam having (i) a direction of propagation extending along a z reference direction, (ii) a height dimension being indicated by the y reference direction, and (iii) a width dimension being indicated by the x reference direction, where x, y and z directions are orthogonal to each other; wherein said dynamically-elongated laser beam is characterized by an elongation ratio (ER) that is defined as Y/X, where, for any point within said working range of said laser scanning bar code symbol reading system, extending along said z direction; (i) Y indicates the beam height of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in said Y reference direction, (ii) X indicates the beam width of said dynamically-elongated laser beam measured in the X reference direction, (iii) said beam height (Y) and said laser beam width (X) are measured at 1/e2 intensity clip level, and (iv) the elongation ratio of said dynamically-elongated laser beam changes among a set of discrete ER values during each laser scanning bar code symbol reading cycle initiated by said triggering event; and (b), scanning said dynamically-elongated laser beam across a scanning field defined external to said hand-supportable housing, in which a bar code symbol is present for scanning by said dynamically-elongated laser scanning beam.
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Specification