Abstract: A wireless hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprising: an automatic object presence and range detection subsystem; a multi-mode image formation and detection subsystem having narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; a multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; a manually-actuatable trigger switch; and a system control subsystem for controlling these subsystems.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading system comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem having an area-type image sensing array with a field of view (FOV); a LED-based illumination subsystem having an LED illumination array for producing a field of narrow-band illumination within the FOV; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. The image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem has a mode of image processing, wherein a captured digital image is automatically processed along a set of parallel virtual scan lines spaced-apart by a number of pixel-offset distances proportional to the maximum pixel height of the region of interest (ROI) in the captured digital image containing a bar code symbol.

Abstract: A hand-supportable semi-automatic digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading system comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; a multi-mode image formation and detection subsystem having narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; a multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; a manually-actuatable trigger switch; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. The digital imaging-based bar code reading system employs a three-tier modular software architecture for carrying out its image-processing based bar code symbol reading operations. The three-tier software architecture comprises an application layer, a system core layer, and an operating system (OS) layer.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reader comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; a multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem having narrow-area and wide-area image-capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having independently controllable LED illumination arrays; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. The hand-supportable imaging-based bar code reader employs a method of intelligently illuminating objects during image capture, wherein the LED illumination arrays are independently controlled during particular moments of object illumination to generate digital images of objects which, through digital image analysis, are determined to be substantially free of noise (i.e.

Abstract: A wireless automatically-activated bar code symbol reading system having a wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reader in two-way RF communication with a base station, by way of an RF-based wireless data communication link having a predetermined RF communication range. A manually-operated data transmission activation switch is integrated with the hand-supportable housing, for generating a data transmission control activation signal in response to the activation of the data transmission switch within a first predetermined time period. A device controller is programmed to automatically detect when the wireless reader is located inside of the predetermined RF communication range, and thereuponautomatically transmit to a first RF-based transceiver, the symbol character data string produced at substantially the same time when the data transmission control activation signal is generated while the wireless reader is located inside of the predetermined RF communication range.

Abstract: Disclosed is an automatically-activated wireless code symbol reading system comprising a bar code symbol reading mechanism contained within a hand-supportable housing having a manually-activatable data transmission switch. During symbol reading operations, the bar code symbol reading mechanism automatically generates a visible laser scanning pattern for repeatedly reading one or more bar code symbols on an object during a bar code symbol reading cycle, and automatically generating a new symbol character data string in response to each bar code symbol read thereby. During system operation, the user visually aligns the visible laser scanning pattern with a particular bar code symbol on an object (e.g. product, bar code menu, etc.) so that the bar code symbol is scanned, detected and decoded in a cyclical manner.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reader comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem; a LED-based illumination subsystem having a wide area illumination mode of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling each of the above-described subsystems. The image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem performs helically-sweeping feature-extraction analysis on a captured digital image of an object referenced from the center thereof, so as to enable the rapid reading of a bar code symbol graphically represented therein, using advanced image-processing based bar code reading techniques.

Abstract: A hand-supportable Digital Imaging-Based Bar Code Symbol Reading Device comprises: an IR-based Object Presence and Range Detection Subsystem; a Multi-Mode Area-type Image Formation and Detection Subsystem having narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a Multi-Mode LED-based Illumination Subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an Automatic Light Exposure Measurement and Illumination Control Subsystem; an Image Capturing and Buffering Subsystem; a Multi-Mode Image-Processing Bar Code Symbol Reading Subsystem; an Input/Output Subsystem; a manually-activatable trigger switch; a System Mode Configuration Parameter Table; and a System Control Subsystem integrated with each of the above-described subsystems. The digital imaging-based bar code reading device employs a multi-mode bar code symbol image processor that is dynamically reconfigurable in response to real-time image processing operations carried out on captured digital images.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading system comprises: an automatic object presence and range detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having an LED illumination array; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; a multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem having a first mode and a second mode of operation; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. The multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem automatically switches its modes of image-processing during a single bar code symbol reading cycle, and within each mode of image-processing based bar code symbol reading a different image-processing based bar code symbol reading methodology is automatically applied.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reader comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem employing a CMOS area-type image detection array; an LED-based illumination subsystem employing an LED illumination array to generate a field of narrow-band LED-based illumination within the FOV; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem employing LED illumination driver circuitry; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: image formation and detection subsystem; a LED-based illumination subsystem; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. During each image capture cycle, a single frame of pixel data is automatically detected by the CMOS area-type image sensing array when substantially all rows of pixels therein are in a state of integration and have a common integration time, and then the single frame of pixel data is transmitted from the CMOS area-type image sensing array into a FIFO buffer, and then mapped into memory, for subsequent image processing.

Abstract: A digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem employing a CMOS area-type image sensing array; an LED-based illumination subsystem; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems. The LED-based illumination subsystem is automatically driven by the automatic light exposure measurement and control subsystem responsive to the generation of control activation signals by the image sensing array and the automatic object presence detection subsystem during object illumination and image capture operations.

Abstract: 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 cod

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading system comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an image formation and detection subsystem employing a CMOS area-type image detection array; an LED-based illumination subsystem employing a LED illumination array for generating a field of narrow-band LED illumination; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem employing LED illumination driver circuitry; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; a narrow-band transmission-type optical filter subsystem; and a system control subsystem for controlling the subsystems.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an IR-based object presence and range detection subsystem; a multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem having narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; a multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; a manually-activatable trigger switch; and a system control subsystem integrated with each of the above-described subsystems. The multi-mode image-processing based bar code reading subsystem has a modular image-processing architecture constructed from four major image processing modules, namely: a tracker module, a finder module, a marker module, and a decoder module.

Abstract: A wireless automatically-activated bar code symbol reading system for use in a work environment, the system including a device controller programmed to automatically detect when a wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reader is located inside of a predetermined RF communication range based on measuring the strength of a detected reference signal, and thereupon to automatically transmit to a first RF-based transceiver, the symbol character data string produced while the wireless hand-supportable bar code symbol reader is located inside of the predetermined RF communication range.

Abstract: A digital-imaging based code symbol reading system having a hands-on mode operation and a hands-free presentation mode of operation, and supporting automatic programming of system parameters for automatic configuration of the system in hands-on and hands-free modes of operation. The system comprises: an image formation and detection subsystem; an illumination subsystem; a digital image processing subsystem; a system control subsystem for managing system parameters, and controlling and/or coordinating operations of the system; and a configuration detection mechanism. The image formation and detection subsystem has the area-type image sensing array for detecting digital images of objects formed thereon by image formation optics providing a field of view (FOV) for the system.

Abstract: Method of performing autodiscrimination of 1D/2D bar code symbologies in a semi-automatic hand-supportable imaging-based bar code symbol reader having narrow-area and wide-area image capture modes of operation. The hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an automatic object presence and range detection subsystem; a multi-mode image formation and detection subsystem having narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; a multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; a manually-activatable trigger switch; and a system control subsystem integrated with each of the above-described subsystems.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an ir-based object presence and range detection subsystem; a multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem having a field of view (FOV) and narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; and a system control subsystem. The LED-based multi-mode illumination subsystem produces three different fields of LED-based illumination in automatic response to the detection of different conditions within the FOV, by the automatic object presence and range detection subsystem.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; a multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem having a field of view (FOV), and narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem; an input/output subsystem; and a system control subsystem.