Arrangement for and method of collecting and displaying information in real time along a line of sight
First Claim
1. An arrangement for collecting and automatically displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom, each target being identifiable by a machine-readable indicium associated therewith, the arrangement comprising:
- a) a housing aimable by the operator at the indicium of a respective target;
b) a reader at least partly supported by the housing, for reading the indicium to obtain image data related thereto; and
c) a projector at least partly supported by the housing, including i) a light source for emitting a light beam, ii) a scanner for sweeping the light beam in a pattern of scan lines on the respective target, each scan line having a number of pixels, and iii) a controller for automatically choosing selected pixels in the pattern based on the image data obtained by the reader, and for automatically causing the selected pixels to be illuminated and rendered visible by the light beam to automatically produce a two-dimensional image on the respective target adjacent the indicium associated therewith along the line of sight of the operator.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An arrangement for and a method of collecting and displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom and identifiable by machine-readable indicia. A two-dimensional image is automatically projected along the line of sight on the target alongside the indicia while maintaining the image size relatively constant over an extended range of working distances.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An arrangement for collecting and automatically displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom, each target being identifiable by a machine-readable indicium associated therewith, the arrangement comprising:
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a) a housing aimable by the operator at the indicium of a respective target;
b) a reader at least partly supported by the housing, for reading the indicium to obtain image data related thereto; and
c) a projector at least partly supported by the housing, including i) a light source for emitting a light beam, ii) a scanner for sweeping the light beam in a pattern of scan lines on the respective target, each scan line having a number of pixels, and iii) a controller for automatically choosing selected pixels in the pattern based on the image data obtained by the reader, and for automatically causing the selected pixels to be illuminated and rendered visible by the light beam to automatically produce a two-dimensional image on the respective target adjacent the indicium associated therewith along the line of sight of the operator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An arrangement for collecting and displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom, each target being identifiable by a machine-readable indicium associated therewith, the arrangement comprising:
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a) a housing mounted on a finger of the operator and aimable by the outstretched finger of the operator at the indicium of a respective target;
b) a reader at least partly supported by the housing, for reading the indicium to obtain image data related thereto; and
c) a projector at least partly supported by the housing, including i) a light source for emitting a light beam, ii) a scanner for sweeping the light beam in a pattern of scan lines on the respective target, each scan line having a number of pixels, and iii) a controller for choosing selected pixels in the pattern based on the image data obtained by the reader, and for causing the selected pixels to be illuminated and rendered visible by the light beam to automatically produce a two-dimensional image on the respective target adjacent the indicium associated therewith along the line of sight of the operator.
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9. An arrangement for collecting and displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom, each target being identifiable by a machine-readable indicium associated therewith, the arrangement comprising:
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a) a housing aimable by the operator at the indicium of a respective target;
b) a reader at least partly supported by the housing, for reading the indicium to obtain image data related thereto;
c) a projector at least partly supported by the housing, including i) a light source for emitting a light beam, ii) a scanner for sweeping the light beam in a pattern of scan lines on the respective target, each scan line having a number of pixels, and iii) a controller for choosing selected pixels in the pattern based on the image data obtained by the reader, and for causing the selected pixels to be illuminated and rendered visible by the light beam to produce a two-dimensional image on the respective target adjacent the indicium associated therewith along the line of sight of the operator, the image having a size extending over mutually orthogonal directions; and
d) a rangefinder supported by the housing for determining a distance of the respective target from the housing, the rangefinder being operatively connected to the controller for controlling the size of the image based on the distance determined by the rangefinder.
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10. A method of collecting and automatically displaying information in real time along a line of sight from a human operator to remote targets located at variable distances therefrom, each target being identifiable by a machine-readable indicium associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) aiming a housing by the operator at the indicium of a respective target;
b) reading the indicium to obtain image data related thereto by operating a reader at least partly supported by the housing; and
c) automatically producing a two-dimensional image on the respective target adjacent the indicium associated therewith along the line of sight of the operator by operating a projector at least partly supported by the housing, including i) emitting a light beam, ii) sweeping the light beam in a pattern of scan lines on the respective target, each scan line having a number of pixels, and iii) automatically choosing selected pixels in the pattern based on the image data obtained by the reader, and automatically causing the selected pixels to be illuminated and rendered visible by the light beam. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification