Automatically-activated hand-supportable laser scanning bar code symbol reading system with omnidirectional and unidirectional scanning modes in addition to a data transmission activation switch
First Claim
1. A bar code symbol reading device comprising:
- (1) a hand-supportable housing having a light transmission aperture through which light can exit and enter said hand-supportable housing;
(2) a laser scanning engine, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, that selectively operates in one of first and second scan modes, wherein in said first scan mode, the laser scanning engine projects an omni-directional scan pattern through said light transmission aperture, repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said omni-directional scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine during said first scan mode, and wherein in said second scan mode the laser scanning engine projects a single line scan pattern through said light transmission aperture and repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said single line scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine during said second scan mode, (3) a manually-activated data transmission switch integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for producing, when activated, a data transmission activation control signal in response to activation of said manually-activated data transmission switch;
(4) a data transmission subsystem in said band-supportable housing for transmitting, when activated, a selected one of said produced symbol character data strings to a host device operably coupled to said bar code symbol reading device;
(5) a system control subsystem for controlling said data transmission subsystem so that the symbol character data string, produced at substantially the same time when said data transmission control activation signal is generated, is transmitted to said host device, and said system control subsystem deactivating said data transmission subsystem when said data transmission activation control signal is not being produced by said data transmission switch.
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Abstract
A hand-supportable bar code symbol reading device having a laser scanning engine that is controlled to selectively operate in either an omni-directional scan mode or a single line scan mode. In the single line scan mode of operation, symbol character data produced by the laser scanning engine is communicated to a host device in response to an activation signal produced by a data transmission switch. In the omni-directional scan mode, symbol character data is communicated to the host device irrespective of the activation signal. Preferably, mode selection means selectively operates the laser scanning engine in either the omni-directional scan mode of operation or the single line scan mode of operation in response to placement of the device in a support stand, thereby enabling automatic operation as a stationary hands-free omni-directional projection scanner (in stand), and automatic operation as a portable hand-held line scanner (out of stand).
56 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A bar code symbol reading device comprising:
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(1) a hand-supportable housing having a light transmission aperture through which light can exit and enter said hand-supportable housing;
(2) a laser scanning engine, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, that selectively operates in one of first and second scan modes, wherein in said first scan mode, the laser scanning engine projects an omni-directional scan pattern through said light transmission aperture, repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said omni-directional scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine during said first scan mode, and wherein in said second scan mode the laser scanning engine projects a single line scan pattern through said light transmission aperture and repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said single line scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine during said second scan mode, (3) a manually-activated data transmission switch integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for producing, when activated, a data transmission activation control signal in response to activation of said manually-activated data transmission switch;
(4) a data transmission subsystem in said band-supportable housing for transmitting, when activated, a selected one of said produced symbol character data strings to a host device operably coupled to said bar code symbol reading device;
(5) a system control subsystem for controlling said data transmission subsystem so that the symbol character data string, produced at substantially the same time when said data transmission control activation signal is generated, is transmitted to said host device, and said system control subsystem deactivating said data transmission subsystem when said data transmission activation control signal is not being produced by said data transmission switch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of transmitting bar code symbol character data to a host computer system, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) controlling a laser scanning engine disposed within a hand-supportable housing to selectively operate in one of first and second scan modes, wherein in said first scan mode, the laser scanning engine projects an omni-directional scan pattern through a light transmission aperture, repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said omni-directional scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each decoded bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine, and wherein in said second scan mode the laser scanning engine projects a single line scan pattern through said light transmission aperture and repeatedly detects and decodes bar code symbols on objects passing through said single line scan pattern, and produces a symbol character data string representative of each decoded bar code symbol read by said laser scanning engine, (b) producing a data transmission activation control signal in response to the manual-actuation of a manually-actuatable data transmission switch;
(c) controlling said data transmission subsystem so that the symbol character data string, produced at substantially the same time when said data transmission control activation signal is generated, is transmitted to said host device;
(d) disabling said data transmission subsystem when said data transmission activation control signal is not being produced by said data transmission switch. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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37. The method of clam 35, further comprising the step of selectively operating the laser scanning engine in said bar code symbol presence detection state and said bar code symbol reading state in response to operation of the laser scanning engine in said bar code symbol object detection state.
Specification