Hand held symbology reader illumination diffuser
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for imaging a symbol on an object, the apparatus comprising:
- a hand held portable imaging system having an imager;
a lens disposed between the imager and a region of interest, the region of interest being the intended position of the symbol on the object, the lens and imager defining a field of view and an optical axis;
an illuminator adjacent to the lens, directing illumination towards the region of interest;
a tapered translucent diffuser concentrically aligned with the optical axis, having a first distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the lens, and a second distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the region of interest;
a dark field illuminating light pipe concentrically aligned with the optical axis and surrounding the tapered translucent diffuser; and
a dark field illuminator directing illumination into the dark field illuminating light pipe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hand held industrial identification symbol reader projects diffuse illumination onto a region of interest to produce high contrast images of symbols. The diffuse illumination is particularly well suited for producing images of symbols that are marked directly on objects. The diffuse illumination is created through the use of an optically translucent diffuser having a generally tapered shape that distributes diffuse illumination throughout the field of view of the reader. The diffuse illumination can be supplemented with dark field illumination using selectively actuated illumination sources.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. An apparatus for imaging a symbol on an object, the apparatus comprising:
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a hand held portable imaging system having an imager; a lens disposed between the imager and a region of interest, the region of interest being the intended position of the symbol on the object, the lens and imager defining a field of view and an optical axis; an illuminator adjacent to the lens, directing illumination towards the region of interest; a tapered translucent diffuser concentrically aligned with the optical axis, having a first distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the lens, and a second distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the region of interest; a dark field illuminating light pipe concentrically aligned with the optical axis and surrounding the tapered translucent diffuser; and a dark field illuminator directing illumination into the dark field illuminating light pipe. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for imaging a symbol on an object, the apparatus comprising:
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a hand held portable imaging system having an imager; a lens disposed between the imager and a region of interest, the region of interest being the intended position of the symbol on the object, the lens and imager defining a field of view and an optical axis; an illuminator adjacent to the lens, directing illumination towards the region of interest; a dark field illuminating light pipe having a first distal end surrounding the lens and the illuminator, and a second distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the region of interest, the second distal end configured to emit a dark field illumination toward the object at a low angle; and a tapered translucent diffuser concentrically aligned with the optical axis and disposed within the dark field illuminating light pipe, the diffuser having a first distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the lens, and a second distal end surrounding the field of view proximate to the object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification