Portable automatic hand-supportable omnidirectional laser projection scanner with power conserving control system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An automatic portable bar code symbol reading system comprising:
- a hand-supportable housing having a light transmission aperture through which visible light can exit and enter into said hand-supportable housing;
object detection means in said hand-supportable housing, for detecting an object located within at least a portion of a scan field definable external to said hand-supportable housing, and automatically generating an activation signal in response to the detection of said object located therein;
scan data producing means in said hand-supportable housing, for producing scan data from a detected object located in said scan field, said scan data producing means including,laser beam generating means for generating a visible laser beam and directing said visible laser beam through said light transmission aperture and into said scan field,laser beam scanning means for scanning said visible laser beam within said scan field, for scanning a code symbol on said detected object presented therein,laser light detecting means for detecting the intensity of laser light reflected off said bar code symbol and passing through said light transmission aperture as said visible laser beam is scanned within said scan field, andmeans for automatically producing scan data indicative of said detected intensity;
scan data processing means for processing produced scan data so as to detect and decode said bar code symbol on said detected object, and automatically producing symbol character data representative of said decoded bar code symbol;
system control means for controlling the operation of said automatic portable bar code symbol reading system in response to the generation of said activation signal;
a battery power supply disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for supplying electrical power within said hand-supportable housing;
power distribution circuitry disposed within said hand-supportable housing for distributing said electrical power to said object detection means, said scan data producing means, said scan data processing means, and said system control means; and
resettable power control circuitry, operably associated with said battery power supply and said power distribution circuitry, for automatically controlling the flow of electrical power from said battery power supply to said power distribution circuitry for a predetermined time period, upon each occurrence of any one of a set of predetermined events.
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Abstract
A fully automatic bar code symbol reading system comprising an automatic (i.e., triggerless) portable bar code symbol reading device with an omnidirectional projection laser scanning engine mounted within the head portion of its hand-supportable housing, and an associated base unit positioned within the data transmission range thereof without a physical wiring connection thereto. The hand-supportable bar code symbol reading device produces a narrowly confined scanning volume for omnidirectional scanning of code symbols presented therein, while preventing unintentional scanning of code symbols on nearby objects located outside thereof.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An automatic portable bar code symbol reading system comprising:
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a hand-supportable housing having a light transmission aperture through which visible light can exit and enter into said hand-supportable housing; object detection means in said hand-supportable housing, for detecting an object located within at least a portion of a scan field definable external to said hand-supportable housing, and automatically generating an activation signal in response to the detection of said object located therein; scan data producing means in said hand-supportable housing, for producing scan data from a detected object located in said scan field, said scan data producing means including, laser beam generating means for generating a visible laser beam and directing said visible laser beam through said light transmission aperture and into said scan field, laser beam scanning means for scanning said visible laser beam within said scan field, for scanning a code symbol on said detected object presented therein, laser light detecting means for detecting the intensity of laser light reflected off said bar code symbol and passing through said light transmission aperture as said visible laser beam is scanned within said scan field, and means for automatically producing scan data indicative of said detected intensity; scan data processing means for processing produced scan data so as to detect and decode said bar code symbol on said detected object, and automatically producing symbol character data representative of said decoded bar code symbol; system control means for controlling the operation of said automatic portable bar code symbol reading system in response to the generation of said activation signal; a battery power supply disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for supplying electrical power within said hand-supportable housing; power distribution circuitry disposed within said hand-supportable housing for distributing said electrical power to said object detection means, said scan data producing means, said scan data processing means, and said system control means; and resettable power control circuitry, operably associated with said battery power supply and said power distribution circuitry, for automatically controlling the flow of electrical power from said battery power supply to said power distribution circuitry for a predetermined time period, upon each occurrence of any one of a set of predetermined events. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13)
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9. An automatic projection laser bar code symbol reading system comprising:
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a hand-supportable housing having a light transmission aperture through which visible light can exit and enter into said hand-supportable housing; object detection means in said hand-supportable housing, for detecting an object located within at least a portion of a 3-D scanning volume definable external to said hand-supportable housing, and automatically generating an activation signal in response to the detection of said object located therein; scan data producing means in said hand-supportable housing, for producing scan data from a detected object located in said 3-D scanning volume, said scan data producing means including, laser beam generating means for generating a visible laser beam and directing said visible laser beam through said light transmission aperture and into said 3-D scanning volume, laser beam scanning means for scanning said visible laser beam within said 3-D scanning volume, and a bar code symbol on said detected object presented therein, laser light detecting means for detecting the intensity of laser light reflected off said bar code symbol and passing through said light transmission aperture as said visible laser beam is scanned within said 3-D scanning volume, and means for automatically producing scan data indicative of said detected light intensity; scan data processing means for processing produced scan data so as to detect and decode said bar code symbol on said detected object, and automatically producing symbol character data representative of said decoded bar code symbol; system control means for controlling the operation of said automatic projection laser bar code symbol reading system in response to the generation of said activation signal; a battery power supply disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for supplying electrical power within said hand-supportable housing; power distribution circuitry disposed within said hand-supportable housing for distributing said electrical power to said object detection means, said scan data producing means, said scan data processing means, and said system control means; and resettable power control circuitry, operably associated with said battery power supply and said power distribution circuitry, for automatically controlling the flow of electrical power from said battery power supply to said power distribution circuitry for a predetermined time period, upon each occurrence of any one of a set of predetermined events. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification