Body-wearable automatic laser scanner with power-conserving control subsystem
First Claim
1. A body-wearable laser scanning system for consecutively reading code symbols without system reactivation, said body-wearable laser scanning system comprising:
- housing support means wearable on the arm of an operator;
a housing having a light transmission aperture through which visible light can exit and enter said housing, and being operably connected to said housing support means so that said light transmission aperture is orientable in a scanning direction;
activatable scan data producing means in said housing for producing, when activated, scan data from an object located in at least a portion of a scan field definable relative to said housing, said activatable scan data producing means includinglaser beam producing means for producing a laser beam and projecting said laser beam through said light transmission aperturelaser beam scanning means for scanning said laser beam across said scan field and a code symbol on said object, andlaser light detecting means for detecting the intensity of laser light reflected off said scanned code symbol and passing through said light transmission aperture, and for automatically producing scan data indicative of said detected light intensity;
code symbol presence detection means in said housing, for processing produced scan data and automatically generating an activation signal indicative of the presence of said scanned code symbol in at least a portion of said scan field;
activatable scan data processing means for processing when activated, produced scan data so as to detect and decode said scanned code symbol and automatically produce symbol character data representative of said decoded code symbol; and
system control means for automatically activating said activatable scan data producing means and said activatable scan data processing means in response to the generation of said activation signal, so that after the generation of said activation signal, two or more code symbols on one or more objects in said scan field can be consecutively detected and decoded without reactivation of said activatable scan data producing means or said activatable scan data processing means.
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Abstract
A portable automatic code symbol reading system having a laser scanning engine mounted upon the hand of its operator to provide hands-free automatic laser scanning capabilities. The automatic code symbol reading system includes a battery power supply aboard its hand-mounted housing, and a power-conserving control subsystem for conserving the consumption of electrical power during automatic portable laser scanning operations. The control subsystem of the present invention has a plurality of control enters which control the operation of the system components in accordance with preselected system control operations. Each of the control centers is responsive to control activation signals generated by certain of the system components upon the occurrence of predefined conditions. Certain of the control centers are capable of overriding other control centers to provide diverse control capabilities. These control capabilities facilitate execution of intelligent functions and power consumption measures required during automatic, hands-free code symbol reading operations.
102 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A body-wearable laser scanning system for consecutively reading code symbols without system reactivation, said body-wearable laser scanning system comprising:
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housing support means wearable on the arm of an operator; a housing having a light transmission aperture through which visible light can exit and enter said housing, and being operably connected to said housing support means so that said light transmission aperture is orientable in a scanning direction; activatable scan data producing means in said housing for producing, when activated, scan data from an object located in at least a portion of a scan field definable relative to said housing, said activatable scan data producing means including laser beam producing means for producing a laser beam and projecting said laser beam through said light transmission aperture laser beam scanning means for scanning said laser beam across said scan field and a code symbol on said object, and laser light detecting means for detecting the intensity of laser light reflected off said scanned code symbol and passing through said light transmission aperture, and for automatically producing scan data indicative of said detected light intensity; code symbol presence detection means in said housing, for processing produced scan data and automatically generating an activation signal indicative of the presence of said scanned code symbol in at least a portion of said scan field; activatable scan data processing means for processing when activated, produced scan data so as to detect and decode said scanned code symbol and automatically produce symbol character data representative of said decoded code symbol; and system control means for automatically activating said activatable scan data producing means and said activatable scan data processing means in response to the generation of said activation signal, so that after the generation of said activation signal, two or more code symbols on one or more objects in said scan field can be consecutively detected and decoded without reactivation of said activatable scan data producing means or said activatable scan data processing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification