Method and apparatus for reading decodable indicia
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A portable bar code reading device for reading a bar code symbol disposed on a substrate, said device comprising:
- a solid state image sensor;
optics focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor;
a trigger for driving said device into an active reading state;
wherein said bar code reading device is configured to read either of a 1D bar code symbol or a 2D bar code symbol, and wherein said portable bar code reading device is responsive to a manually input selection by a user specifying whether 1D bar code symbols or 2D bar code symbols are to be read utilizing the device;
wherein said bar code reading device, when 1D bar code symbols are specified, obtains an electronic representation of a symbol in a first format subsequently to said trigger being actuated and attempts symbol decoding using a 1D decoding algorithm; and
wherein said bar code reading device, when 2D bar code symbols are specified, obtains an electronic representation of a symbol in a second format subsequently to said trigger being actuated and attempts symbol decoding using a 2D decoding algorithm, wherein said second format is different from said first format.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a bar code reading device for reading 1D or 2D bar code symbols. The bar code reading device, in one embodiment, can receive a command to disable symbology reading. In another embodiment, a bar code reading device can have a timercount and an image memory. In one embodiment, a bar code reading device can be configured to read bar code symbols of more than one bar code symbology.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A portable bar code reading device for reading a bar code symbol disposed on a substrate, said device comprising:
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a solid state image sensor; optics focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor; a trigger for driving said device into an active reading state; wherein said bar code reading device is configured to read either of a 1D bar code symbol or a 2D bar code symbol, and wherein said portable bar code reading device is responsive to a manually input selection by a user specifying whether 1D bar code symbols or 2D bar code symbols are to be read utilizing the device; wherein said bar code reading device, when 1D bar code symbols are specified, obtains an electronic representation of a symbol in a first format subsequently to said trigger being actuated and attempts symbol decoding using a 1D decoding algorithm; and wherein said bar code reading device, when 2D bar code symbols are specified, obtains an electronic representation of a symbol in a second format subsequently to said trigger being actuated and attempts symbol decoding using a 2D decoding algorithm, wherein said second format is different from said first format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for operating an optical reader, said method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a video signal of a 1D slice of symbol; converting said video signal into a timercount representation by examining said video signal for occurrences of transitions; utilizing said timercount representation to determine a bit image representation of said video signal; examining said timercount representation to determine if a 1D bar code symbol is represented therein; attempting to decode said timercount represention if it is determined that said timercount representation includes a representation of a 1D symbol; examining said bit representation to determine whether said bit representation includes a representation of a 2D symbol finder pattern; and determining an additional set of bit representations corresponding to additional video signals of 1D slices of said symbol, the additional set of bit representations being of sufficient number to permit decoding of a 2D symbol. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A portable bar code reading device for reading a bar code symbol disposed on a substrate, said portable bar code reading device comprising:
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a solid state image sensor; optics focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor; and a trigger for driving said device into an active reading state; wherein said bar code reading device is capable of obtaining a processable electronic representation representing a two dimensional area of said substrate; wherein said bar code reading device is configured so that, subsequently to said trigger being actuated, said bar code reader device attempts to decode said bar code symbol using a 1D bar code symbol decoding algorithm; and wherein said bar code reading device is further configured so said portable bar code reading device is permitted to obtain a processable electronic representation representing a portion of said substrate large enough to permit decoding of a 2D bar code symbol conditionally on the condition that said bar code decoding device is unsuccessful in said attempt to decode a 1D symbol using said 1D bar code symbol decoding algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A method for decoding a bar code symbol disposed on a substrate utilizing a portable bar code reading device that is capable of obtaining a processable two dimensional representation of a substrate, said bar code reading device having an image sensor and optics focusing an image onto said image sensor, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining a processable electronic representation of a substrate representing a portion of said symbol that is of sufficient height so as to permit decoding of said bar code symbol if said bar code symbol is a 1D bar code symbol; (b) attempting to decode said bar code symbol utilizing said electronic representation obtained in step (a); (c) obtaining a processable electronic representation of said substrate representing a portion of said symbol that is of sufficient height so as to permit decoding of said bar code symbol if said bar code symbol is a 2D bar code symbol; and (d) attempting to decode said bar code symbol utilizing said electronic representation obtained in step (c) conditionally on the condition that said attempting to decode step (b) is not successful. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A bar code reading device for reading an indicia disposed on a target, said bar code reading device comprising:
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a two dimensional image sensor; optics projecting an image of an indicia to be read onto said two dimensional image sensor; a manual trigger; and a microprocessor in communication with said two dimensional image sensor and said manual trigger; wherein said bar code reading device is configured so that responsively to said manual trigger being actuated said bar code reading device obtains a first electronic representation representing said target, subjects said first electronic representation to a decode attempt, and subsequently to obtaining said first electronic representation obtains a subsequent electronic representation representing said target; and wherein said bar code reading device is further configured so that an initiation time at which said bar code reading device initiates obtaining of said subsequent electronic representation is responsive to a completion time at which said bar code reading device ceases attempting to decode said first electronic representation. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A bar code reading device for reading an indicia disposed on a target, said bar code reading device comprising:
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a two dimensional image sensor; optics projecting an image of an indicia to be read onto said two dimensional image sensor; a manual trigger; and a microprocessor in communication with said two dimensional image sensor and said manual trigger; wherein said bar code reading device is configured so that responsively to said manual trigger being actuated said bar code reading device obtains a first electronic representation representing said target, subjects said first electronic representation to a decode attempt, and subsequently to obtaining said first electronic representation obtains a subsequent electronic representation representing said target; and wherein said bar code reading device is further configured so that an initiation time at which said bar code reading device initiates obtaining of said subsequent electronic representation is responsive to a completion time at which said bar code reading device ceases attempting to decode said first electronic representation. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification