SMART SCAN PERIPHERAL

• US 20180068145A1
• Filed: 09/07/2016
• Published: 03/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2016
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Todeschini, Erik
• Application Number:
  US15/258,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20180068145A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06028 using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/146 the method including quality enhancement steps
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A smart scan peripheral is capable of attaching to a mobile computing device (e.g., a smartphone) allowing the resulting combination to be used like a traditional gun scanner. The scan handle peripheral does not require a power source or any electrical connection to the mobile computing device but can operate to still relay trigger pull information to a running application on the mobile computing device. This scan handle peripheral makes use of a magnetometer found in the mobile computing device by moving a magnet into the vicinity of the electromagnetic field generated by the magnetometer. As the handle magnet enters the magnetic field around the magnetometer, a software application in the processor of the mobile computing device monitoring the magnetometer readings and when a disruption is detected, a trigger event is sent to the processor to trigger an operation such as a barcode scanning event. In an alternative embodiment, a passive near field communication (NFC) tag 600 is mounted on an actuator which slides into a readable position of an NFC reader on the mobile computing device to cause a trigger event.

Claims

1. A peripheral housing shaped to hold a mobile computing device comprising a smartphone or mobile tablet for triggering a magnetometer in the mobile computing device, the peripheral housing comprising:

a trigger attachment shaped to facilitate holding the peripheral housing;

a platform coupled to the trigger attachment, the platform having platform attachments configured to receive the mobile computing device comprising the magnetometer; and

a trigger coupled to the trigger attachment and an actuator, wherein the actuator moves a magnet from a first position to a second position along the platform when the trigger is depressed to alter the electromagnetic field of the magnetometer to signal a plurality of different types of events.

2. The housing of claim 1, wherein the magnet moves from a first position to the second position by sliding along the platform.

3. The housing of claim 1, wherein the second position corresponds to the location of the magnetometer in the mobile computing device when it is mounted on the platform.

4. The housing of claim 1, wherein the actuator is coupled to a fulcrum which is attached to the trigger and a spring, wherein the spring holds the magnet in the first position and the depression of the trigger is configured to move the fulcrum and the actuator to move the magnet to the second position.

5. The housing of claim 1, wherein the angle of the platform may be changed to a plurality of settings by an adjustor located on the handle.

6. The housing of claim 1, wherein the platform is configured to mount a plurality of mobile computing device form factor sizes.

7. The housing of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of different types of events is starting a bar code scan when the mobile computing device is attached to the platform.

8. A system, comprising:

a peripheral housing having a handle with a trigger, a platform coupled to the handle and having attachments configured to receive a mobile computing device comprising a smartphone or mobile tablet, and an actuator coupled to the trigger and capable of responding to the depression of the trigger by moving a magnet from a first position to a second position along the platform; and

the mobile computing device having at least one magnetometer creating a magnetic field near the second position, and a processor configured to detect interruption of the magnetic field to signal a plurality of different types of events in response to the detected interruption of the electromagnetic field.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein one of the plurality of different types of events is starting a bar code scan.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the magnet moves from a first position to the second position by sliding along the platform.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the second position corresponds to the location of a magnetometer in the mobile computing device when it is mounted on the platform.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the actuator is coupled to a fulcrum which is attached to the trigger and a spring, wherein the spring holds the magnet in the first position and the depression of the trigger is configured to move the fulcrum and the actuator to move the magnet to the second position.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the angle of the platform may be changed to a plurality of settings by an adjustor located on the handle.

14. The housing of claim 8, wherein the platform is configured to mount a plurality of mobile computing device form factor sizes.

15-19. -19. (canceled)

20. A method, comprising:

attaching a mobile computing device comprising a smartphone or mobile tablet including a magnetometer to a platform of a peripheral housing;

depressing a trigger on a handle of the peripheral housing at least once to move a magnet from a first position on the peripheral housing to a second position in a vicinity of an electromagnetic field created the magnetometer;

detecting by a processor of the mobile computing device an interruption of the electromagnetic field; and

signaling an event by the processor based upon the detected interruption;

wherein the processor is configured to signal a plurality of different types of events based upon the detected interruption of the electromagnetic field.

21. The method of claim 20, comprising adjusting the angle of the platform via an adjustor.

22. The method of claim 20, comprising detaching the mobile computing device from the platform of the peripheral housing device;

and

attaching a second mobile computing device comprising a magnetometer to the platform of the peripheral housing, wherein the second mobile computing device has a different form factor size than the detached mobile computing device.

23. (canceled)