Patent · US Expired

Bar code decoder with changeable working ranges

US5324924A · kind A · utility

80Cited by
13References
30Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 11, 1992
Grant dateJun 28, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 11, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06K2207/1017
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An arrangement for decoding a bar code symbol in which the data resulting from scanning a bar code symbol with a bar code scanner is evaluated to determine if the scanned bar code symbol is within the working range of the scanner. The data acquired by the bar code scanner is evaluated to determine if the detected widths of the bars and spaces of the scanned bar code symbol are too small, less than a threshold value, which indicates that the bar code symbol is too far and outside of the working range of the scanner. Moreover, the working range of the bar code scanner can be selectively changed by changing the threshold value, which can be easily implemented by having the bar code scanner scan a menu bar code which instructs the decoder to change the threshold value to a selected new value which may be pre-established for the particular operation. The arrangement preferably includes software to process the data acquired by the bar code scanner, and if the data indicates that the scanning distance to the bar code is too far, a flag is set in the software which prevents a new decode result from being recorded. However, the intermediate decode result is retained in memory to indicate th…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.