Patent · US Expired

Automatic hand-supportable laser scanner with flickering laser scanning beam to improve visibility thereof and beam-symbol alignment during bar code symbol presence detection

US5484992A · kind A · utility

48Cited by
41References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 24, 1993
Grant dateJan 16, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 24, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06K2207/1018
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Disclosed is a fully automatic bar code symbol reading system having an hand-supportable laser bar code reading device. The system has a number of operative states including, an object detection state, bar code presence detection state and a bar code symbol decoding state. During bar code symbol presence detection state, the visible laser scanning beam produced from the hand-supportable device flickers at a rate which improves the visual conspicuousness of the laser scanning beam in the scan field. The flicker characteristics of the laser scanning beam makes it substantially easier for the user to visually align the laser scanning beam with the bar code symbol on the detected object. Consequently, reading bar code symbols is made substantially easier using the automatic laser bar code symbol reading device of the present invention.

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