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 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 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.

Abstract: A hand-supportable automatic digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an automatic object presence detection subsystem; an area-type image formation and detection subsystem having a narrow-area image-capture mode of operation; a LED-based illumination subsystem having narrow-area illumination mode of operation; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; and an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem. The automatic object presence detection subsystem automatically detects an object, and the LED-based illumination subsystem automatically illuminates the detected object in a field of narrow-area narrow-band illumination, while the area-type image formation and detection subsystem captures a narrow-area image thereof.

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 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 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 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 method of determining the lower limit of decoding resolution in a digital imaging-based bar code symbol reader. A software-based optical design program is used to generate the composite DOF chart of image formation optics employed in the digital imaging-based bar code symbol reader. The modulation transfer function (MTF) of the object image is used to determine the smallest mil size code that can be decoded, at a given object distance, to produce an optical performance curve. The program calculates the size of the field of view (FOV) of a single sensor pixel, when projected through the image formation optics and out into object space. For both the 1.4 and 1.6 sampling limit pixel rules, the calculated FOV values are plotted on the same axes as the optical performance curve. Using graphical solution techniques, the sampling limit line of choice determines the lower limit of the decoding resolution in the imaging-based bar code symbol reader.

Abstract: A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: a 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 hand-supportable semi-automatic Digital Imaging-Based Bar Code Symbol Reading Device comprises: a Multi-Mode Area-type Image Formation and Detection (IFD) 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 Image Capturing and Buffering Subsystem; a Multi-Mode Image-Processing Bar Code Symbol Reading Subsystem; a manually-activatable trigger switch.

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 hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprises: an automatic object presence and range detection subsystem; an area-type image formation and detection subsystem having a CMOS area-type image detection array, and narrow-area and wide area image capture modes of operation; an LED-based illumination subsystem having LED arrays, and narrow-area and wide area illumination modes of operation; an automatic light exposure measurement and illumination control subsystem; an image capturing and buffering subsystem; and an image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem.

Abstract: Methods of and systems for illuminating objects using planar laser illumination beams having substantially-planar spatial distribution characteristics that extend through the field of view (FOV) of image formation and detection modules employed in such systems. Each planar laser illumination beam is produced from a planar laser illumination beam array (PLIA) comprising an plurality of planar laser illumination modules (PLIMs). Each PLIM comprises a visible laser diode (VLD, a focusing lens, and a cylindrical optical element arranged therewith. The individual planar laser illumination beam components produced from each PLIM are optically combined to produce a composite substantially planar laser illumination beam having substantially uniform power density characteristics over the entire spatial extend thereof and thus the working range of the system.

Abstract: Methods of and systems for illuminating objects using planar laser illumination beams having substantially-planar spatial distribution characteristics that extend through the field of view (FOV) of image formation and detection modules employed in such systems. Each planar laser illumination beam is produced from a planar laser illumination beam array (PLIA) comprising an plurality of planar laser illumination modules (PLIMs). Each PLIM comprises a visible laser diode (VLD, a focusing lens, and a cylindrical optical element arranged therewith. The individual planar laser illumination beam components produced from each PLIM are optically combined to produce a composite substantially planar laser illumination beam having substantially uniform power density characteristics over the entire spatial extend thereof and thus the working range of the system.

Abstract: A fully automated package identification and measuring system, in which an omni-directional holographic scanning tunnel is used to read bar codes on packages entering the tunnel, while a package dimensioning subsystem is used to capture information about the package prior to entry into the tunnel. Mathematical models are created on a real-time basis for the geometry of the package and the position of the laser scanning beam used to read the bar code symbol thereon. The mathematical models are analyzed to determine if collected and queued package identification data is spatially and/or temporally correlated with package measurement data using vector-based ray-tracing methods, homogeneous transformations, and object-oriented decision logic so as to enable simultaneous tracking of multiple packages being transported through the scanning tunnel.

Abstract: A fully automated package identification and measuring system, in which an omni-directional holographic scanning tunnel is used to read bar codes on packages entering the tunnel, while a package dimensioning subsystem is used to capture information about the package prior to entry into the tunnel. Mathematical models are created on a real-time basis for the geometry of the package and the position of the laser scanning beam used to read the bar code symbol thereon. The mathematical models are analyzed to determine if collected and queued package identification data is spatially and/or temporally correlated with package measurement data using vector-based ray-tracing methods, homogeneous transformations, and object-oriented decision logic so as to enable simultaneous tracking of multiple packages being transported through the scanning tunnel.

Abstract: A fully automated package identification and measuring system, in which an omni-directional holographic scanning tunnel is used to read bar codes on packages entering the tunnel, while a package dimensioning subsystem is used to capture information about the package prior to entry into the tunnel. Mathematical models are created on a real-time basis for the geometry of the package and the position of the laser scanning beam used to read the bar code symbol thereon. The mathematical models are analyzed to determine if collected and queued package identification data is spatially and/or temporally correlated with package measurement data using vector-based ray-tracing methods, homogeneous transformations, and object-oriented decision logic so as to enable simultaneous tracking of multiple packages being transported through the scanning tunnel.