An optical code symbol reading system includes a housing having a light transmission aperture, and at least one sound port formed in the housing. The system includes an optical code symbol reading subsystem for optically reading a code symbol in the field external to the light transmission aperture, and generating symbol character data representative of the read code symbol. An electro-acoustic transducer is disposed in the housing for producing sonic energy. Also, an acoustic-waveguide structure is disposed in the housing, for coupling the sonic energy produced from the electro-acoustic transducer, to the at least sound wave port formed the housing, to audibly signal the reading of a code symbol to the operator of the optical code symbol reading system.

Code symbol reading system

An image capture and processing system supports a multi-tier modular software, and plug-in extendable, architecture. The image capture and processing system can be realized as an image-capturing cell phone, a digital camera, a video camera, mobile computing terminal and portable data terminal (PDT), provided with suitable hardware platform, communication protocols and user interfaces. A third-party customer can write and install a software plug-in into the application layer so as to enhance or modify the behavior of the image capture and processing system without any required knowledge of the hardware platform, communication protocols and/or user interfaces.

Image capture and processing system supporting a multi-tier modular software architecture

A digital image capture and processing system including a housing having an imaging window, and an image formation and detection subsystem, disposed in the housing, having an area-type image detection array supporting a single snap-shot mode of image acquisition and a periodic snap-shot mode of image acquisition during object illumination and imaging operations. The system also includes an illumination subsystem, with an illumination array, for producing a field of illumination within the FOV, and illuminating the object detected in the FOV, so that the illumination reflects off the object and is transmitted back through the light transmission aperture and onto the image detection array to form the 2D digital image of the object. By virtue of its single and periodic snap-shot modes of operation, the digital image capture and processing system of the present invention has the capacity to support pass-through as well as presentation type methods of digital image capture and processing at demanding POS environments without the use of traditional video modes of image acquisition.

Digital image capture and processing system employing an image formation and detection system having an area-type image detection array supporting single snap-shot and periodic snap-shot modes of image acquisition during object illumination and imaging operations

Energy is conserved in a bar code reader by taking bar code samples on demand or as necessary, primarily when a data bearing feature of the bar code is predicted to be proximate A plurality of samples are obtained for a bar code Preferably, an analog to digital converter converts each of the samples into a multi-bit digital value A feature detector is connected to the analog to digital converter for detecting bar code features from the plurality of multi-bit digital values The displacements among the detected data bearing features are compared to thereby determine the width of bars having first and second data values in order to decode the bar code Preferably, a relative scan speed is extracted and kept current during the scan in order to predict code feature locations Preferably the decoding proceeds concurrently with the sampling A controller regulates the execution of sampling based upon the predicted feature locations, and preferably reduces or eliminates sampling when no required feature is predicted

Predictive bar code decoding system and method

A hand-supportable digital-imaging based system for reading bar code symbols involving: automatically detecting the presence of an object within a field of view FOV of the system, and in response thereto, automatically generating an image cropping zone (ICZ) framing pattern and projecting the ICZ framing pattern within the FOV and onto the detected object; visually aligning the code symbol on the detected object, within the ICZ framing pattern; manually actuating a trigger switch when the code symbol on the object is located within the ICZ framing pattern, and while the ICZ framing pattern and a field of illumination are being simultaneously projected onto the object during object illumination operations, forming and capturing a digital image of the code symbol on the detected object; automatically cropping the image pixels contained within the spatial boundaries of the ICZ framing pattern, from the pixels of the digital image; and decode processing the cropped image so as to read one or more 1D and/or 2D code symbols graphically represented therein.

Method of automatically reading code symbols on objects present within the field of view (FOV) of a hand-supportable digital-imaging based code symbol reader, by simultaneously projecting an image cropping zone (ICZ) framing pattern and a field of illumination within the FOV during object illuminationand imaging operations

A portable optical data reader for optically sensing and decoding data, comprising a carrier oscillator (110) for producing a carrier signal at a predetermined frequency, an optical emitter (120) electrically connected to the carrier oscillator for emitting optical radiation in an optical path to an optical data carrier at the predetermined frequency, an optical detector (140) for detect-ing the emitted optical radiation returning from the optical data carrier thereby receiving the optical data and producing a detect-ed electrical signal responsive thereto, and a double balanced demodulator (150) electrically connected to the optical detector and the carrier oscillator for combining the detected radiation signal with the carrier signal to demodulate the optical data with the optical data carrier. A method of sensing and decoding optical data comprising the steps of oscillating a carrier signal, transmit-ting the carrier signal to an optical emitter, thereby illuminating the optical emitter adjacent optical data, reflectively sensing the illumination from the optical emitter, thereby receiving the optical data, and demodulating the optical data by use of the oscillat-ing carrier signal.

David L. Emery

Papers

Method and apparatus for low power optical sensing and decoding of data