Optical reader having reduced specular reflection read failures
DCFirst Claim
1. A hand held bar code reading device for reading bar code symbols under specular reflection read conditions, said hand held bar code reading device comprising:
- (a) a solid state image sensor array having a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels being formed in a plurality of rows of pixels, wherein a first subset of pixels include monochrome pixels without light polarizing filter elements and a second subset of said pixels are light polarizing pixels that include light polarizing filter elements that attenuate incident light rays;
(b) an imaging lens focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor array;
(c) a hand held housing encapsulating said imaging lens;
(d) a control circuit communicatively coupled to said solid state image sensor array;
(e) wherein said hand held bar code reading device operates in a first mode of operation wherein said control circuit selectively reads out image data from said light polarizing pixels and, wherein said control circuit is configured to be at least one of manually or automatically driven into said first mode of operation.
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Abstract
There is provided in one embodiment an optical reader having an image sensor array. In one embodiment, the image sensor array can include a first subset of pixels and a second subset of pixels. The first subset of pixels can be devoid of light polarizing filter elements, and the second subset of pixels can be light polarizing pixels including light polarizing filter elements. An optical reader can be configured to selectively read out image data from an image sensor array'"'"'s light polarizing pixels. In one embodiment there is provided a portable apparatus having a first image sensor array and a second image sensor array.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A hand held bar code reading device for reading bar code symbols under specular reflection read conditions, said hand held bar code reading device comprising:
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(a) a solid state image sensor array having a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels being formed in a plurality of rows of pixels, wherein a first subset of pixels include monochrome pixels without light polarizing filter elements and a second subset of said pixels are light polarizing pixels that include light polarizing filter elements that attenuate incident light rays; (b) an imaging lens focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor array; (c) a hand held housing encapsulating said imaging lens; (d) a control circuit communicatively coupled to said solid state image sensor array; (e) wherein said hand held bar code reading device operates in a first mode of operation wherein said control circuit selectively reads out image data from said light polarizing pixels and, wherein said control circuit is configured to be at least one of manually or automatically driven into said first mode of operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method in support of reading a bar code symbol in specular reflection read conditions, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) including in a subset of pixels of an image sensor array light polarizing pixels, said light polarizing pixels having light polarizing filter elements which attenuate incident light rays so that the subset of pixels include light polarizing filter elements, and a remainder of pixels of the image sensor array are without light polarizing filter elements; (b) incorporating said image sensor array in a hand held bar code reader housing in combination with an imaging lens such that an image of said bar code symbol is projected onto said image sensor array; (c) actuating said image sensor array to read out image data from said array; (d) processing said image data read out at step (c) to determine whether a saturation condition is present; and (e) if a saturation condition is determined to be present at step (d) transferring image data selectively corresponding to said light polarizing pixels to a decode circuit. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A hand held bar code reading device for reading bar code symbols under specular reflection read conditions, said hand held bar code reading device comprising:
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(a) a solid state image sensor array having a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels being formed in a plurality of rows of pixels, wherein a first subset of pixels include pixels without light polarizing filter elements and a second subset of said pixels are light polarizing pixels that include light polarizing filter elements that attenuate incident light rays; (b) an imaging lens focusing an image onto said solid state image sensor array; (c) a hand held housing encapsulating said solid state image sensor array; (d) a control circuit communicatively coupled to said solid state image sensor array; (e) wherein said hand held bar code reading device is configured to operate in a decode mode of operation in which said control circuit (1) selectively extracts image data corresponding to said light polarizing pixels from a frame of image data including image data corresponding to said pixels without light polarizing elements and image data corresponding to said light polarizing pixels, and (2) transfers said extracted image data corresponding to said light polarizing to a bar code decode circuit. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A portable apparatus for use in processing of image data, the portable apparatus comprising:
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(a) a first image sensor array, the first image sensor array being a two dimensional color pixel array having a plurality of pixels and color filter elements disposed over the plurality of pixels; (b) a first imaging lens associated with the first image sensor array; (c) a first illumination block including a flash illumination light source associated with the first image sensor array; (d) a second image sensor array, the second image sensor array being a monochrome pixel array having a plurality of monochrome pixels; (e) a second imaging lens associated with the second image sensor array; (f) a second illumination block associated with the second image sensor array; (g) wherein the apparatus is operative to obtain first color image data with use of the first image sensor array and second monochrome image data with use of the second image sensor array; (h) a demosaicing circuit for processing the first color image data for output of a visual display color frame of image data; (i) wherein the apparatus is operative to attempt to decode a decodable symbol utilizing the second monochrome image data; and (j) a hand held housing supportably incorporating the components of the apparatus therein. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A portable apparatus for use in processing image data, the apparatus comprising:
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(a) a first image sensor integrated circuit having a first image sensor array, the first image sensor array comprising a plurality of color pixels each having an associated color filter; (b) a first imaging lens associated with the first image sensor integrated circuit; (c) a second image sensor integrated circuit having a second image sensor array, the second image sensor array comprising an array of monochrome pixels; (d) a second imaging lens associated with the second image sensor integrated circuit; (e) a first circuit board having disposed thereon the first image sensor integrated circuit; (f) a second circuit board having disposed thereon the second image sensor integrated circuit; (g) wherein the apparatus is operative to obtain first color image data with use of the first image sensor array and second monochrome image data with use the second image sensor array; (h) a demosaicing circuit for processing the first color image data for output of a visual display color frame of image data; (i) wherein the apparatus is operative to attempt to decode a decodable symbol utilizing the second monochrome image data; (j) a hand held housing in surrounding relation to the first circuit board and the second circuit board, the hand held housing carrying a keyboard and display on a top portion of the housing; and (k) wherein the first circuit board is disposed at a front lower region of the housing and the second circuit board is disposed at a front upper region of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for obtaining and transmitting data related to an item having a decodable indicia disposed thereon, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a hand held apparatus including a hand held housing, a first image sensor array, and a second image sensor array the first image sensor array being a two dimensional color pixel array having a plurality of pixels and a color filter elements disposed over the plurality of pixels, the second image sensor array being a monochrome pixel array having a plurality of monochrome pixels, the providing step including the step of providing the first image sensor array at a lower front region of the hand held housing and including the second image sensor array at a front upper region of the hand held housing; (b) obtaining color image data representing the item utilizing the first image sensor array; (c) processing the color image data obtained utilizing the first image sensor array for outputting a visual display color frame of image data, the processing including demosaicing color image data; (d) obtaining monochrome image data representing the decodable indicia utilizing the second image sensor array; (e) decoding the decodable indicia by processing of the monochrome image data to output a decoded message; (f) associating the decoded message to the visual display color frame of image data; and (g) transmitting the associated decoded message and the visual display color frame of image data from the hand held apparatus to a remote server. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification