System for reading two-dimensional images using ambient and/or projected light

An optical scanning device for reading a two-dimensional image having a first width wherein an ambient light impinges upon said two-dimensional image, said optical scanning device comprising:

• a sensor for capturing said two-dimensional image, said sensor including:
• a printed circuit board having a front edge with a second width;
• a light source mounted on said printed circuit board, said light source for projecting an emitted beam of light onto said two-dimensional image, said emitted beam of light having substantially said second width at said front edge of said printed circuit board and a first height and a third width at said two-dimensional image, said third width being greater than said second width and at least as large as said first width;
• a framing means disposed on said printed circuit board for framing said two-dimensional image to identify an area to be scanned by said sensor, wherein said framing means comprises at least one laser diode for emitting a laser beam and at least one diffractive optic for transforming said laser beam into a plurality of diverging beamlets, said diverging beamlets having a beam edge and a beamlet spacing at said two-dimensional image at least as large as said first width;
• an optical assembly disposed on said printed circuit board along an optical path for focussing light reflected from said framed two-dimensional image to obtain a focussed light, said reflected light comprising at least one of said ambient light and said emitted beam of light;
• a detector disposed on said printed circuit board along said optical path behind said optical assembly for detecting at least a portion of said focussed light within a field of view of said detector, said field of view having said first height and said third width, said detector for sensing said focussed light to obtain a sensed two-dimensional image;
• a controller for generating a plurality of control signals for controlling activation of said light source and said detector;
• a processor for processing said sensed two-dimensional image to obtain an electrical image signal;
• a compressor for compressing said electrical image signal, said compressor employing a compression algorithm to obtain a compressed image signal;
• and
• a decoder for decoding said compressed image signal to obtain image data representative of said two-dimensional image.