Hand-held character-oriented scanner with external view area
First Claim
1. A hand-held scanner for reading characters from a strong of characters recorded on a substrate, comprising:
- a housing, being adapted to be held by a user in the manner of a pen and being further adapted such that the scanner may be conveniently moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters, the housing having a bottom face adjacent the substrate, the bottom face having a projection on the substrate;
movement sensor means, mounted to the housing, for detecting movement of the scanner across the surface of the substrate;
optical means, located within the housing, for viewing an area of view;
optical detector means, located within the housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view;
wherein the housing is further adapted such that the area of view is outside of the projection of the housing'"'"'s bottom face on the substrate, so that the user may view a field of view which includes the area of view, and such that the field of view is entirely unobstructed by the housing in at least one direction along the string of characters from the area of view, so as to facilitate tracing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hand-held scanner is provided for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate. The scanner may be held like a pen and moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters. Movement of the scanner is sensed by a sensor. An optical system views a small area of the substrate and an optical detector detects the relative intensity of light reflected from each of several points in the area of view. To facilitate tracking, a portion of the string of characters adjacent to the area of view is clearly visible to the user. The scanner includes memory for storing codes representing individual characters. The scanner may include a computer, connected by a cable, or may be self-contained and battery operated.
166 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hand-held scanner for reading characters from a strong of characters recorded on a substrate, comprising:
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a housing, being adapted to be held by a user in the manner of a pen and being further adapted such that the scanner may be conveniently moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters, the housing having a bottom face adjacent the substrate, the bottom face having a projection on the substrate; movement sensor means, mounted to the housing, for detecting movement of the scanner across the surface of the substrate; optical means, located within the housing, for viewing an area of view; optical detector means, located within the housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view; wherein the housing is further adapted such that the area of view is outside of the projection of the housing'"'"'s bottom face on the substrate, so that the user may view a field of view which includes the area of view, and such that the field of view is entirely unobstructed by the housing in at least one direction along the string of characters from the area of view, so as to facilitate tracing. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A hand-held scanner for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate, comprising:
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a housing, being adapted to be held in the manner of a pen and being further adapted such that the scanner may be conveniently moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters; movement sensor means, mounted to the housing, for detecting movement of the scanner across the surface of the substrate; optical means, located within the housing, for viewing an area of view; optical detector means, located within the housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view; wherein the housing has an elongated shape and a longitudinal axis, and a brow proximate to the substrate and angled with respect to the longitudinal axis, the brow having a window for defining the area of view, such that the area of view may lie substantially outside the projection of the housing on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A hand-held scanner for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate, comprising:
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a housing, being adapted to be hand-held and being further adapted such that the scanner may be conveniently moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters; movement sensor means, mounted to the housing, for detecting movement of the scanner across the surface of the substrate and providing synchronization signals indicative of a series of positions along the length of the string of characters; optical means, located within the housing, for viewing an elongated area of view transverse to the string of characters; optical detector means, located within the housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points along the elongated area of view and providing an intensity signal for each point; and electronic means, mounted within the housing, for accepting intensity signals and synchronization signals and identifying the intensity signals associated with a given character in the string of characters; wherein the housing has an elongated shape and a longitudinal axis, and a brow proximate to the substrate and angled with respect to the longitudinal axis, the brow having a window for defining the area of view, such that the area of view may lie substantially outside the projection of the housing on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A hand-held scanner for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate, comprising:
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a housing, being adapted to be held by a user in the manner of a pen and being further adapted such that the scanner may be conveniently moved, in contact with the substrate, along the string of characters; movement sensor means, mounted to the housing, for detecting movement of the scanner across the surface of the substrate; optical means, located within the housing, for viewing an area of view; optical detector means, located within the housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view; wherein the housing is further adapted such that the user may view a field of view which includes the area of view, along a line of sight, between an eye of the user and the area of view, that is approximately perpendicular to the substrate, and such that the field of view is entirely unobstructed by the housing in at least one direction along the string of characters from the area of view, so as to facilitate tracking. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification