Bioptical laser scanning system providing 360 degree of omnidirectional bar code symbol scanning coverage at point of sale station

• US 20040016813A1
• Filed: 02/28/2003
• Published: 01/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Good, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 6,814,292 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.39
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/10 Scanning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/106 having diffraction gratings as scanning elements, e.g. holographic scanners holographic optical elements G02B5/32, holography G03H
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0022 arrangements or provisious for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device "transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1012 Special detection of object
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1013 Multi-focal
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1016 Motor control or optical moving unit control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1017 Programmable
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2207/1018 Source control
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
• 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 7/109 : adaptations to make the hand-held scanner useable as a fixed scanner
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 : using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 : with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 : with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles

Abstract

A bioptical laser scanning system employing a plurality of laser scanning stations about a two independently controlled rotating polygonal mirrors. The system has an ultra-compact construction, ideally suited for space-constrained retail scanning environments, and generates a 3-D omnidirectional laser scanning pattern between the bottom and side-scanning windows during system operation. The laser scanning pattern of the present invention comprises a complex of quasi-orthogonal laser scanning planes, including a plurality of substantially-vertical laser scanning planes for reading bar code symbols having bar code elements (i.e. ladder type bar code symbols) that are oriented substantially horizontal with respect to the bottom-scanning window, and a plurality of substantially-horizontal laser scanning planes for reading bar code symbols having bar code elements (i.e. picket-fence type bar code symbols) that are oriented substantially vertical with respect to the bottom-scanning window.

Claims

1. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality a horizontal scanning planes that project from exterior portions of the side-scanning window at a characteristic propagation direction whose non-vertical component is greater than thirty-five degrees from normal of the side-scanning window.

2. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of horizontal scanning planes include at least one group of horizontal scanning planes that project from the exterior left portion of the side-scanning window and include at least one group of horizontal scanning planes that project from the exterior right portion of the side-scanning window.

4. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 1, wherein the vertical scanning planes project from back-left and back-right corners of the bottom-scanning window that are proximate to the bottom of the side-scanning window.

3. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality a vertical scanning planes that project from portions of the bottom-scanning window proximate to the back of the bottom-scanning window and the bottom of the side-scanning window.

5. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window, wherein the bottom-scanning window has four corners;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality a vertical scanning planes that project from each one of the four corners of the bottom-scanning window.

6. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality of groups of vertical scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window, wherein said plurality of groups include first and second groups of vertical scanning planes that project from opposing portions of the bottom-scanning window, and said plurality of groups include third and fourth groups of vertical scanning planes, different from said first and second groups, that project from opposing portions of the bottom-scanning window.

7. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 6, wherein the first and second groups project from the back-left and front-right corners, respectively, of the bottom-scanning window, and wherein the third and fourth groups project from the back-right and front-left corners, respectively, of the bottom-scanning window.

8. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 6, wherein the first and second groups of vertical scanning planes are substantially co-planar, and wherein the third and fourth groups of vertical scanning plane are substantially co-planar.

9. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 6, wherein the first and second groups of vertical scanning planes are substantially orthogonal to the third and fourth groups of scanning planes.

10. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of groups of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality a vertical scanning planes projecting from the bottom-scanning window that are capable of reading bar-code symbols on the bottom surface and all four sides of a four-sided article.

11. A laser scanning device comprising

at least one window;

and

at least one laser beam production module that cooperates with a rotating polygonal mirror and a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality of scanning planes that project through the window, wherein the incidence angle of the laser beam produced by the laser beam production module is offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotating polygonal mirror.

12. The laser scanning device of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of laser beam production modules that cooperate with the rotating polygonal mirror and the plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce a plurality of scanning planes that project the window, wherein the incidence angle of the laser beam produced by each laser beam production module is offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotating polygonal mirror to produce overlapping scanning ray patterns that are incident on at least one common mirror to provide a dense scanning pattern projecting therefrom.

13. The laser scanning device of claim 12, wherein the window comprises one of a bottom-scanning window and a side-scanning window of a bioptical laser scanner.

14. The laser scanning device of claim 13, wherein the common mirror redirects the dense scanning pattern incident thereon to form a plurality of horizontal scan planes that project from the front side of the bottom-scanning window diagonally upward toward the side-scanning window.

15. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least eight different vertical scanning planes that project from the side-scanning window.

16. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 15, wherein the side-scanning window with a square area less than 37,500 sq. mm.

17. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 13 different horizontal scanning planes that project from the side-scanning window.

18. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 17, wherein the at least one scanning element cooperates with said plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 20 different horizontal scanning planes that project from the side-scanning window.

19. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 17, wherein the side-scanning window with a square area less than 37,500 sq. mm.

20. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 21 different scanning planes that project from the side-scanning window.

21. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 20, wherein the at least one scanning element cooperates with said plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 28 different scanning planes that project from the side-scanning window.

22. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 20, wherein the side-scanning window with a square area less than 37,500 sq. mm.

23. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least seven different vertical scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window.

24. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 23, wherein the bottom-scanning window with a square area less than 15,000 sq. mm

25. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 21 different horizontal scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window.

26. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 25, wherein the at least one scanning element cooperates with said plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 24 different horizontal scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window.

27. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 25, wherein the bottom-scanning window with a square area less than 15,000 sq. mm.

28. A bioptical laser scanning device comprising:

a bottom-scanning window substantially orthogonal to a side-scanning window;

at least one scanning element that cooperates with a plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 25 different scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window.

29. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 28, wherein the at least one scanning element cooperates with said plurality of laser beam folding mirrors to produce at least 40 different scanning planes that project from the bottom-scanning window.

30. The bioptical laser scanning device of claim 28, wherein the bottom-scanning window with a square area less than 15,000 sq. mm.