Compact hand-held RF data terminal
First Claim
1. A compact, hand-held data terminal adapted to communicate data in any of at least two communication modes, the terminal comprising:
- an elongate housing including a battery compartment at a lower end thereof;
means for manually entering data and data display means disposed in a front face of said housing and communicatively coupled to each other;
means including externally disposed electrical contacts mounted in said housing said electrical contacts communicatively coupling the data terminal directly to externally located peripheral devices upon insertion of the data terminal into a data cradle for transferring data in a first, direct data transfer communication mode between the terminal and externally located peripheral devices;
a transceiver module disposed within said housing;
a control circuit including means for storing control sequence instructions, means for storing data and means for selectively communicating data between said data storage means, said data display means, said transceiver and said data transfer means; and
antenna means located within said housing, said antenna means comprising at least one antenna element coupled to the transceiver module and disposed along the side of and within the housing and spaced from the control circuit and the transceiver module, whereby the antenna becomes disposed away from radiation shielding surfaces of the control circuit and the transceiver module and remains within the confines of the housing to permit the insertion of the data terminal into a data cradle of a peripheral device for communication therewith in the first mode while being capable of communicating via the transceiver module and the antenna means in a second RF communication mode with a further external peripheral device.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A compact, hand-held data terminal includes a data display and an alpha-numeric keyboard and a bar code reader provision for manual data entry. The data terminal further includes an RS 232-C data interface for downloading accumulated data into a central computer. The data terminal further includes a transceiver module which provides for an RF communications link to a central computer. An antenna for the transceiver module is contained within the a lower portion of the housing of the data terminal along side walls of a battery compartment. In operation, the data terminal may be inserted into a data transfer cradle coupled to data processing equipment, thereby coupling the data processing equipment via the RF link to the central computer.
244 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A compact, hand-held data terminal adapted to communicate data in any of at least two communication modes, the terminal comprising:
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an elongate housing including a battery compartment at a lower end thereof; means for manually entering data and data display means disposed in a front face of said housing and communicatively coupled to each other;
means including externally disposed electrical contacts mounted in said housing said electrical contacts communicatively coupling the data terminal directly to externally located peripheral devices upon insertion of the data terminal into a data cradle for transferring data in a first, direct data transfer communication mode between the terminal and externally located peripheral devices;a transceiver module disposed within said housing; a control circuit including means for storing control sequence instructions, means for storing data and means for selectively communicating data between said data storage means, said data display means, said transceiver and said data transfer means; and antenna means located within said housing, said antenna means comprising at least one antenna element coupled to the transceiver module and disposed along the side of and within the housing and spaced from the control circuit and the transceiver module, whereby the antenna becomes disposed away from radiation shielding surfaces of the control circuit and the transceiver module and remains within the confines of the housing to permit the insertion of the data terminal into a data cradle of a peripheral device for communication therewith in the first mode while being capable of communicating via the transceiver module and the antenna means in a second RF communication mode with a further external peripheral device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A compact, hand-held data terminal of the type having an elongate housing, a keyboard and an alphanumeric display disposed in a face of the housing, input-output data connector terminations having first externally accessible connector elements for communicatively coupling the data terminal to data interfaces of data handling equipment, data processing and control circuit means located within the housing for receiving data from the input-output connector terminations and from the keyboard and for storing and transferring data to the connector terminations, and self-contained power means located within a power compartment formed as part of the housing of the data terminal and coupled to the control circuit means for providing operating power to the control circuit means, wherein the improvement comprises:
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a transceiver module including an antenna located within the housing, the antenna having at least one radiating element, the radiating element being a helically wound element located along at least one edge of the housing of the data terminal, and a coaxial cable connecting an antenna terminal in the transceiver module with the at least one radiating element of the antenna, such that the data terminal may be inserted without hindrance from an antenna into a data cradle of a peripheral communication device, the data cradle upon insertion of the data terminal therein establishing data communication between the data terminal and a corresponding peripheral communication device, and circuit means including a second connector element terminating externally of the housing for coupling a bar code reader to the data terminal when the data terminal is operated externally of the data cradle, the circuit means adapted to accept data from a bar code reader connected to the bar code reader connector element for transferring such accepted data to the data processing circuits of the data terminal. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18)
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13. A compact hand-held terminal of the type having a housing, a keyboard and an alphanumeric display disposed in a face of the housing, a transceiver module located within the housing, data processing and control circuit means located within the housing and coupled to the transceiver module for receiving data from the transceiver module and from the keyboard and for storing data, circuit means coupled to the data processing and control circuit and including a connector element terminating externally of the housing for coupling a bar code reader to the terminal, the circuit means adapted to accept data from the bar code reader when the bar code reader is connected to the bar code reader connector element for transferring such accepted data to the data processing circuits of the terminal, and self-contained power means located within the housing and coupled to the control circuit means for providing operating power to the control circuit means, wherein the improvement comprises:
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an antenna located within the housing and coupled to the transceiver module, the antenna having at least one radiating element; and input-output connector means terminating externally of the housing and being coupled to the data processing and control circuit for communicatively coupling the terminal to data interfaces of external data handling equipment, the housing of the terminal being of a size to fit a data cradle for coupling the terminal via the connector means to external communication devices, whereby the antenna being within the housing facilitates the terminal being inserted into the data cradle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification