Dense pattern optical scanner

A scanning system for scanning an item being passed through a scan volume, comprising

• a facet wheel containing a plurality of mirror facets and rotating about a rotational axis;
• a light source generating a light beam along a path toward said facet wheel;
• a beam dithering mirror mechanism disposed between said light source and said facet wheel for dithering said light beam over an angle in a plane parallel to said rotational axis of said facet wheel;
• a detector for detecting return light reflecting off the item being scanned;
• a collecting lens for retrodirectively collecting said return light from said facet wheel and focusing said return light toward said detector;
• a beam redirector positioned between said detector and said collection lens for redirecting said return light focused by said collection lens which is focused off-axis from said detector due to dithering said light beam.

A method of scanning an item in a scan volume, comprising the steps of

• generating a first reading beam along first path toward a rotating facet wheel;
• dithering the first reading beam over an angle toward said facet wheel;
• generating a first scan pattern by scanning the dithered first reading beam with said facet wheel across a plurality of pattern mirrors and into the scan volume;
• collecting return light from the first reading beam retrodirectively off the facet wheel and focusing said return light toward a first detector.