APPARATUS COMPRISING LIGHT SENSING ASSEMBLIES WITH RANGE ASSISTED GAIN CONTROL

• US 20140131448A1
• Filed: 01/16/2013
• Published: 05/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Xian, Tao, Good, Timothy, Wang, Ynjiun Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,465,967 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/470
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10564 Light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10732 Light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10752 Exposure time control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10792 Special measures in relation to the object to be scanned
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10801 Multidistance reading
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10811 Focalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03

Abstract

There is set forth herein an indicia reading apparatus comprising two or more light sensing assemblies. In one embodiment, the indicia reading apparatus can comprise a linear light sensing assembly and an area light sensing assembly, and can be operative to determine the range between the apparatus and the indicia. In one embodiment, the indicia reading apparatus can be operative to apply a range-assisted gain to the data output by one or more of the linear light sensing assembly and the area light sensing assembly to increase the likelihood of indicia reading and improve expected indicia read time.

Claims

1. An indicia reading apparatus comprising:

a linear light sensing assembly, the linear light sensing assembly operative for projection of a light pattern and to detect reflected light, the linear light sensing assembly being operative to output a first signal representing the reflected light, the linear light sensing assembly having a first amplifier for amplification of the first signal;

an area light sensing assembly having an area image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image onto the area image sensor array, the area light sensing assembly having an area field of view and being operative to output a second signal representing reflected light incident on the image sensor array, the area light sensing assembly having a second amplifier for amplification of the second signal;

wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative for attempting to decode decodable indicia utilizing one or more of the first signal and the second signal; and

wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative so that one or more of a gain of the first amplifier and a gain of the second amplifier is responsive to a representation of the light pattern of the linear light sensing assembly included in the second signal output by the area light sensing assembly.

2. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative so that the linear light sensing assembly projects the light pattern within the area field of view of the area light sensing assembly while the area image sensor array detects reflected light incident on the image sensor array.

3. The indicia reading apparatus of 2, wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative to determine the range of the apparatus from a decodable indicia by utilizing the second signal to determine the area of the representation of the light pattern in the representation of the area field of view, and wherein one or more of a gain of the first amplifier and a gain of the second amplifier is responsive to the range.

4. The indicia reading apparatus of 2, wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative to determine the range of the apparatus from a decodable indicia by utilizing the second signal to determine the location of the representation of the light pattern in the representation of the area field of view, and wherein one or more of a gain of the first amplifier and a gain of the second amplifier is responsive to the range.

5. The indicia reading apparatus of 4, wherein the location of the representation of the light pattern in the area field of view is utilized to determine the range of the apparatus from a decodable indicia through triangulation of the location of the light pattern with respect to a fixed point in the representation of the area field of view of the area light sensing assembly.

6. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative to utilize the representation of the light pattern of the linear light sensing assembly included in the second signal output by the area light sensing assembly to determine the range of the apparatus from a decodable indicia, and wherein one or more of a gain of the first amplifier and a gain of the second amplifier is responsive to the range.

7. The indicia reading apparatus of 6, wherein one or more of a gain of the first amplifier and a gain of the second amplifier is determined via a lookup table utilizing the range of the apparatus.

8. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the area light sensing assembly includes an illumination assembly for projection of an illumination pattern at least partially within the area field of view, and wherein the illumination assembly is responsive to a representation of the light pattern of the linear light sensing assembly included in the second signal output by the area light sensing assembly.

9. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the output first signal includes a first analog signal representing the reflected light, and wherein the first amplifier applies a gain to the first analog signal.

10. The indicia reading apparatus of 9, wherein the output second signal includes a second analog signal representing the reflected light incident on the image sensor array, and wherein the second amplifier applies a gain to the second analog signal.

11. The indicia reading apparatus of 10, wherein the apparatus is operative to determine the range of the apparatus from a decodable indicia from the representation of the light pattern of the linear light sensing assembly included in the second signal output by the area light sensing assembly, and wherein the gain of the first amplifier and the gain of the second amplifier is responsive to the range.

12. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the linear light sensing assembly comprises a laser assembly operative to at least emit laser light for projection of the light pattern and to detect reflected laser light, and wherein the first signal represents the reflected laser light along a scan path or plane.

13. The indicia reading apparatus of 12, wherein processing for attempting to decode a decodable indicia includes determining whether there is a decodable indicia in the scan path or plane of the linear light sensing assembly.

14. The indicia reading apparatus of 1, wherein the linear light sensing assembly comprises an illumination assembly for projection of the light pattern as a thin-lined illumination pattern, and an image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image onto the image sensor array, the linear light sensing assembly having a field of view with a height less than a width, and wherein the first signal represents the reflected light of the thin-lined illumination pattern within the field of view and incident on the image sensor array of the linear light sensing assembly.

15. An indicia reading apparatus comprising:

a first light sensing assembly outputting a first signal and projecting a light pattern, the indicia reading apparatus having a first amplifier capable of amplifying the first signal and utilizing the first signal for attempting to decode a decodable indicia;

a second light sensing assembly outputting a second signal, the indicia reading apparatus having a second amplifier capable of amplifying the second signal and utilizing the second signal for attempting to decode the decodable indicia;

wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative for processing a signal representing the light pattern to determine the range of the apparatus from the decodable indicia; and

wherein the indicia reading apparatus is operative for utilizing the range of the apparatus for determining a gain applied by one or more of the first amplifier and the second amplifier.

16. The indicia reading apparatus of 15, wherein the second light sensing assembly is capable of detecting the light pattern of the first light sensing assembly and wherein the second signal is processed to determine the range of the apparatus from the decodable indicia.

17. The indicia reading apparatus of 16, wherein the first light sensing assembly is a linear light sensing assembly comprising at least one of:

a laser scanning assembly operative to at least emit and scan laser light for projecting the light pattern and to detect reflected laser light, wherein the first signal includes a representation of the reflected laser light along a scan path;

a laser emitting assembly operative to at least emit a static laser light beam focused in one direction and expanded in another direction for projecting the light pattern and to detect reflected laser light, wherein the first signal includes a representation of the reflected static laser light beam; and

an illumination assembly for projecting the light pattern as a thin-lined illumination pattern, and a first image sensor array and a first imaging lens for focusing an image onto the first image sensor array to detect reflected light of the thin-lined illumination pattern, the linear light sensing assembly having a first field of view with a height less than a width, wherein the first signal represents the reflected light of the thin-lined illumination pattern within the first field of view and incident on the first image sensor array.

18. The indicia reading apparatus of 17, wherein the second light sensing assembly is an area light sensing assembly having a second image sensor array and a second imaging lens for focusing an image within a second field of view onto a second image sensor array, and wherein the second signal includes a representation of the light pattern of the linear light sensing assembly.

19. The indicia reading apparatus of 18, wherein first signal includes a first analog signal, and wherein the first amplifier is capable of amplifying the first analog signal.

20. The indicia reading apparatus of 19, wherein second signal includes a second analog signal, and wherein the second amplifier is capable of amplifying the second analog signal.