Patents by Inventor John Baird Keys

John Baird Keys has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Methods and apparatus for obtaining and maintaining position information for a rotating optical element in a bar code scanner
    Patent number: 6651889
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a position for a rotating optical element, or spinner, of a bar code scanner are described. A diffractive element is positioned so as to be struck by a laser beam produced by a laser source and reflected from the spinner when the spinner is in a reference position. The diffractive element diffracts the reflected beam to produce a diffracted line which strikes a reference position photodetector, thereby causing the reference position photodetector to produce a reference position photosignal. The reference position photosignal can be read by a controller to determine when the spinner is in the reference position, and the position of a Hall sensor can be read at the same time in order to calibrate the reading of the Hall sensor with the reference position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventors: William Martin Belknap, John Baird Keys
  • Methods and apparatus for obtaining and maintaining position information for a rotating optical element in a bar code scanner
    Publication number: 20020185539
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a position for a rotating optical element, or spinner, of a bar code scanner are described. A diffractive element is positioned so as to be struck by a laser beam produced by a laser source and reflected from the spinner when the spinner is in a reference position. The diffractive element diffracts the reflected beam to produce a diffracted line which strikes a reference position photodetector, thereby causing the reference position photodetector to produce a reference position photosignal. The reference position photosignal can be read by a controller to determine when the spinner is in the reference position, and the position of a Hall sensor can be read at the same time in order to calibrate the reading of the Hall sensor with the reference position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2002
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventors: William Martin Belknap, John Baird Keys
  • Methods and apparatus for obtaining and maintaining position information for a rotating optical element in a bar code scanner
    Patent number: 6454169
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a position for a rotating optical element, or spinner, of a bar code scanner are described. A diffractive element is positioned so as to be struck by a laser beam produced by a laser source and reflected from the spinner when the spinner is in a reference position. The diffractive element diffracts the reflected beam to produce a diffracted line which strikes a reference position photodetector, thereby causing the reference position photodetector to produce a reference position photosignal. The reference position photosignal can be read by a controller to determine when the spinner is in the reference position, and the position of a Hall sensor can be read at the same time in order to calibrate the reading of the Hall sensor with the reference position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2002
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventors: William Martin Belknap, John Baird Keys