Portable reader system having an adjustable optical focusing means for reading optical information over a substantial range of distances
First Claim
1. A portable optical reader system for reading optical information over a substantial range of distances, comprising:
- (a) a casing having a light receiving opening for alignment with optical information to be read;
(b) optical means comprising reflected light collecting means for forming a reflected light image and reading sensor means for converting a reflected image of optical information into an information signal, said optical means being adjustable such that said collection means tends to focus a reflected light image of optical information located within said substantial range of distances onto said reading sensor means;
(c) light beam generating means associated with said casing and directed relative to said optical means and said light receiving opening such that a light beam generated thereby will impinge on an information carrier having optical information to be read and will be reflected therefrom through said light receiving opening and via said collecting means to said reading sensor means, the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on said reading sensor means being a function of the range of the information carrier from said image sensor; and
(d) control means for adjusting said optical means to tend to focus a reflected light image of optical information associated with the information carrier at least in part in accordance with the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on said reading sensor means.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable optical reader system for reading optical information over a substantial range of distances includes a casing having a light receiving opening for alignment with optical information. Further included is a reading sensor for converting a reflected light image of optical information into an information signal and reflected light optical elements for forming a reflected light image. The optical system is adjustable to tend to focus a reflected light image of optical information, located within a substantial range of distances, onto the reading sensor. A light beam generator is associated with the casing and directed relative to the optical elements and the light receiving opening such that a light beam generated thereby will impinge on an information carrier, having optical information to be read, and will be reflected therefrom through the light receiving opening and via the optical elements to the reading sensor. Since the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on the reading sensor is a function of the range of the information carrier from the image sensor, the optical system may be adjusted to focus a reflected light image of optical information associated with the information carrier, at least in part, according to the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on the reading sensor.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A portable optical reader system for reading optical information over a substantial range of distances, comprising:
-
(a) a casing having a light receiving opening for alignment with optical information to be read; (b) optical means comprising reflected light collecting means for forming a reflected light image and reading sensor means for converting a reflected image of optical information into an information signal, said optical means being adjustable such that said collection means tends to focus a reflected light image of optical information located within said substantial range of distances onto said reading sensor means; (c) light beam generating means associated with said casing and directed relative to said optical means and said light receiving opening such that a light beam generated thereby will impinge on an information carrier having optical information to be read and will be reflected therefrom through said light receiving opening and via said collecting means to said reading sensor means, the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on said reading sensor means being a function of the range of the information carrier from said image sensor; and (d) control means for adjusting said optical means to tend to focus a reflected light image of optical information associated with the information carrier at least in part in accordance with the position of impingement of the reflected light beam on said reading sensor means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A portable optical reader system for reading optical information over a substantial range of distances, comprising:
-
(a) a casing having an opening for facing optical information; (b) adjustable optical means, disposed in said casing, for imaging at a predetermined reading position in said casing an image of optically readable information facing said opening by light reflected therefrom, said information located on the surface of an optically readable information carrier; (c) reading sensor means, disposed at said predetermined reading position and having a light receiving plane, for converting an image into an electric signal; (d) means for emitting a light beam, positioned in said casing, such that said light beam is reflected from a surface of an optically readable information carrier without being refracted by said optical means, said carrier at an unknown distance from the plane of said reading sensor means, such that said reflected light beam is refracted by said optical means onto the plane of said reading sensor means such that the optically refracted and reflected light beam is converted into an electric signal; (e) means for obtaining a measure of any needed focus adjustment based in part on said electric signal produced by said reading sensor means from the refracted light beam reflected from said carrier surface, said measure of any needed focus adjustment including an indication of the direction and the distance to adjust said optical means; (f) means for adjusting said optical means in accordance with said measure of needed focus adjustment such that said optical means focuses the image of optically readable information, located on the surface adjacent said information carrier, at said predetermined reading position; and (g) means for producing a digital information set corresponding to the image of said optically readable information focused at said predetermined reading position.
-
-
15. A method of determining focusing quality according to a contrast gradient, comprising:
-
(a) reflecting a light beam from an object having an image to be focused; (b) optically directing the image of said reflected light beam such that said light beam impinges on the surface of a photosensitive array; (c) processing the output of said photosensitive array such that an image contrast gradient is determined; and (d) focusing said image with said contrast gradient wherein focus quality is a function of the slope rate of the contrast gradient. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
-
16. A method of determining focusing quality according to a distribution of modulations, comprising:
-
(a) optically directing the image of an object to be focused such that the reflected light image of said object impinges on the surface of a photosensitive array; (b) determining the modulation transfer function of at least certain areas of the image of said object from the output of said array; (c) sorting the pulse modulations of said at least certain areas of the image of said object by pulse width; (d) separating the sorted pulse modulations into a group of narrow pulse widths and a group of wide pulse widths; (e) calculating the average pulse modulation of each group; and (f) focusing said image with said average pulse modulation for each group wherein focus quality is a function of the ratio of the narrow pulse width group and wide pulse width group.
-
-
17. A method of determining the focusing quality of an image of pulses of various widths, comprising:
-
(a) optically directing the image of an object to be focused such that the reflected light image of said object impinges on the surface of a photosensitive array; (b) determining the extreme values of bright pulses (Bi) and dark pulses (Di) of the image of said object from the output of said array; (c) determining the average values of bright extremes (Bo) and dark extremes (Do); (d) determining the number of pulse pairs (n); (e) statistically evaluating said pulse data according to the following expression;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Q.sub.a =Σ
(A.sub.i -A.sub.o)/nA.sub.o +Σ
(B.sub.i -B.sub.o)/nB.sub.owherein; Qa is a measure of focus quality, Ai is a current extreme value of a bright pulse, Ao is an average value of bright extremes ((1/n)Σ
Ai),Bi is a current extreme value of a dark pulse, Bo is an average value of dark extremes ((1/n)Σ
Bi), andn is the number of pulse pairs.
-
Specification