APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING A VARIABLE DATA CAPTURE PROCESS

• US 20150323997A1
• Filed: 05/06/2014
• Published: 11/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Haist, Paul D., ARNOLD, SCOTT A., MARSHALL, GRAHAM G., TSIOPANOS, KONSTANTINOS D
• Granted Patent: US 10,365,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1091 means to wake up the scanner from a sleep mode, e.g. using an acceleration sensor indicating that the scanner is being picked up by a user

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing a variable data capture process at a data capture device comprising a data capture module and a trigger mechanism is provided. In operation, the data capture device detects an initial activation of the trigger mechanism. In response to the activation, data capture is initiated at the data capture module. A continued activation of the trigger mechanism subsequent to the initial activation is also detected. Following the detection of the continued activation of the trigger mechanism, the device identifies an obtained gesture and performs a data capture operation based on the identified gesture.

Claims

1. A method of performing a variable data capture process at a data capture device comprising a data capture module and a trigger mechanism, the method comprising:

detecting, by the device, an initial activation of the trigger mechanism;

initiating a data capture, by the data capture module, in response to the initial activation;

detecting a continued activation of the trigger mechanism subsequent to the initial activation; and

performing, by the device, a data capture operation based on identifying an obtained gesture following the detection of the continued activation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the trigger mechanism is at least one of a physical trigger mechanism, a virtual trigger mechanism.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the continued activation of the trigger mechanism further comprises:

detecting a continued activation of the trigger mechanism for a predetermined duration subsequent to the initial activation of the trigger mechanism.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication that data capture is complete; and

wherein detecting the continued activation of the trigger mechanism further comprises;

detecting a continued activation of the trigger mechanism for a predetermined duration subsequent to receiving the data capture complete indication.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein monitoring for a gesture is performed for a predetermined duration.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving captured data in response to initiating the data capture; and

wherein performing the operation further comprises performing the operation based on the captured data.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the obtained gesture includes at least one of a pressure, a spatial and a temporal pattern.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein identifying the obtained gesture further comprises:

maintaining, in a memory of the device, at least one predefined gesture pattern;

obtaining, at the device, a gesture pattern; and

matching the obtained gesture pattern to at least one of the at least one predefined gesture pattern.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

obtaining the gesture pattern when the trigger mechanism continues to be activated.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

obtaining the gesture pattern for a predetermined time period.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the initial activation of the trigger mechanism comprises an initial part of the variable data capture process and performing the data capture operation further comprises varying a remaining portion of the variable data capture process.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the initial activation of the trigger mechanism is performed as a step of a workflow and performing the data capture operation further comprises varying a next step of the workflow.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the initial activation of the trigger mechanism is performed as a current step of a workflow and performing the data capture operation further comprises varying the current step of the workflow.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

completing a data capture by the data capture module; and

providing a context to the data capture operation based on the data captured by the data capture module.

15. A data capture device comprising:

a processor;

a data capture module and a trigger mechanism connected to the processor, the processor operating to;

detect an initial activation of the trigger mechanism;

initiate a data capture, by the data capture module, in response to the initial activation;

detect a continued activation of the trigger mechanism subsequent to the initial activation; and

perform, a data capture operation based on identifying an obtained gesture following the detection of the continued activation.

16. The device of claim 15 wherein detecting the continued activation of the trigger mechanism further comprises:

detecting a continued activation of the trigger mechanism for a predetermined duration subsequent to the initial activation of the trigger mechanism.

17. The device of claim 15 wherein the processor further operates to:

receive an indication that data capture is complete; and

wherein detecting the continued activation of the trigger mechanism further comprises;

detecting a continued activation of the trigger mechanism for a predetermined duration subsequent to receiving the data capture complete indication.

18. The device of claim 15 wherein detecting the initial activation of the trigger mechanism comprises an initial part of the variable data capture process and performing the data capture operation further comprises varying a remaining portion of the variable data capture process.

19. The device of claim 15 wherein detecting the initial activation of the trigger mechanism is performed as a step of a workflow and performing the data capture operation further comprises varying a next step of the workflow.

20. A method of performing a variable data capture process at a data capture device comprising a data capture module and a trigger mechanism, the method comprising:

detecting, by the device, an initial activation of the trigger mechanism;

initiating a data capture, by the data capture module, in response to the initial activation;

detecting a gesture for a predetermined period subsequent to one of the initial activation and a completion of the data capture; and

performing, by the device, a data capture operation based on identifying an obtained gesture following the detection of the gesture.