Wireless bar code symbol reading system employing a base station with a cradle having a hinged support hooks for enabling vertical and horizontal installations

• US 7,048,192 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2003
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhu, Xiaoxun, Knowles, C. Harry, Au, Ka Man, Giordano, Patrick, Schmidt, Mark, Colavito, Stephen J., Xu, Congwei, Wang, Lin, Jiang, Min, Hudrick, Donald T., Russell, Garrett, Shi, Shamei, Jin, Hongjian, Hu, Meng, Byun, Sung, Blake, Robert, Bonanno, John, Rockstein, George, Ji, MingQing, Witz, David M. Sr.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US10/613,758
• Publication Number:
  US 20050274810A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,055 Days
• Field of Search: 23546201-46247, 235/472.01, 235/472.02, 235/472.03, 235/454, 235/455, 235/470, 235/494
• US Class Current: 235/462.43
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 15/00 Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing or actuating, e.g. quantum dots as markers in protein assays or molecular motors
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1012 Special detection of object
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10544 by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10564 Light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10584 Source control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10594 Beam path
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10603 Basic scanning using moving elements
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10663 using hologram
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10673 Parallel lines
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10693 for omnidirectional scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10702 Particularities of propagating elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors G06K7/10831 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10792 Special measures in relation to the object to be scanned
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10801 Multidistance reading
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10811 Focalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10861 sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10871 randomly oriented data-fields, code-marks therefore, e.g. concentric circles-code
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10891 the scanner to be worn on a finger or on a wrist
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 : using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed is an automatically-activated wireless code symbol reading system comprising a bar code symbol reading mechanism contained within a hand-supportable housing having a manually-activatable data transmission switch. During symbol reading operations, the bar code symbol reading mechanism automatically generates a visible laser scanning pattern for repeatedly reading one or more bar code symbols on an object during a bar code symbol reading cycle, and automatically generating a new symbol character data string in response to each bar code symbol read thereby. During system operation, the user visually aligns the visible laser scanning pattern with a particular bar code symbol on an object (e.g. product, bar code menu, etc.) so that the bar code symbol is scanned, detected and decoded in a cyclical manner. Each time the scanned bar code symbol is successfully read during a bar code symbol reading cycle, a new bar code symbol character string is produced, while an indicator light on the hand-supportable housing is actively driven. During the bar code symbol reading cycle, the user actuates the data transmission switch producing a data transmission control activation signal and enabling a currently or subsequently produced symbol character data string to be automatically selected and transmitted to the host system. By virtue of the present invention, automatically-activated hand-supportable bar code symbol readers are now able to accurately read, in an unprecedented manner, bar code symbols on bar code menus, consumer products positioned in crowded point-of-sale environments, and other objects requiring automatic identification and/or information access.

Claims

1. A wireless bar code symbol reading system for use in both vertical and horizontal orientations in a work environment, said system comprising:

(A) a wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reading device in two-way RF communication with a base station operably connected to a host system, by way of an RF-based wireless data communication link over which two-way communication of data packets can occur, said wireless hand-supportable bar code reading device including a hand-supportable housing; and

(B) said base station installable within a work environment and including a base station housing having a cradle portion provided with a pair of hinged support hooks for supporting said hand-supportable housing of said reading device in both vertical and horizontal orientations in said work environment;

wherein said pair of hinged support hooks are arrangeable in a protracted position within said cradle portion so as to support said hand-supportable housing in said cradle portion mounted in a vertical orientation in said work environment; and

wherein said pair of hinged support hooks are arrangeable in a retracted position within said cradle portion so as to suppose said hand-supportable housing in said cradle portion mounted in a horizontal orientation in said work environment.

2. The wireless bar code symbol reading system of claim 1, wherein said wireless hand-supportable bar code reading device further includes:

a bar code symbol reading mechanism disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for optically scanning and reading a bar code symbol on an object, and producing a symbol character data string representative of said read bar code symbol;

a first RF-based transceiver circuit, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for transmitting to said base station, a group of data packets associated with said produced symbol character data strings; and

a device controller, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for controlling the operation of said wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reading device.

3. The wireless bar code symbol reading system of claim 2, wherein said base station further includes:

a second RF-based transceiver circuit, disposed within said base station housing, for receiving said group of data packets transmitted from said first RF-based transceiver circuit, and

a base station controller mounted in said base station housing, for controlling the operation of said base station;

wherein said first and second RF-based transceiver circuits enable said RF-based wireless data communication link between said wireless hand-supportable bar code reading device and said base station; and

wherein said first and second RF-based transceiver circuits cooperate to enable the communication of data packets between said wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reading device and said base station, over said RF-based wireless data communication link.

4. The wireless bar code symbol reading system of claim 1, wherein said cradle portion includes a radio antenna.

5. The wireless bar code symbol reading system of claim 4, wherein said first RP-based transceiver circuit and said device controller are realized as a first RF-based chipset disposed within said hand-supportable housing.

6. The wireless bar code symbol reading system of claim 4, wherein said second RF-based transceiver circuit and said base station controller are realized as a second RF-based chipset disposed within said base station housing.