Omnidirectional bar code label scanner
US5464972A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 29, 1993 |
| Grant date | Nov 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 29, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K7/10693
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An omnidirectional bar code label scanner includes a conventional deviator comprising a mirror rotating about a main axis at the center of a ring of reflective facets. A thin beam directed along the axis is deviated by 90.degree. to scan the successive facets and form a star pattern with 13 segments in a scanning plane. A light collector aimed at the scanning plane passes light reflected from a bar code label centered at a scanning center to a photosensor. To reduce the accuracy with which the label needs to be centered, a laser beam emitter directs a beam onto a rotating mirror a normal to which is at a small angle of inclination to the rotation axis. The reflected beam traces out a narrow aperture cone and is reflected 90.degree. by the fixed mirror towards the rotating mirror. As a result, the center of the star pattern traces out an ellipse around the scanning center.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.