Automatically-activated hand-supportable laser scanning bar code symbol reading system with data transmission activation switch

An automatically-activated code symbol reading system for automatically and repeatedly generating symbol character data strings, representative of a repetitively read code symbol on an object, and transmitting a selected one of said symbol character data strings to a host system operably connected to said automatically-activated code symbol reading system, said automatically-activated code symbol reading system comprising:

• a hand-supportable housing;
• an automatic object detection mechanism, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for automatically detecting the presence of an object in a scanning field definable relative to said hand-supportable housing;
• an automatic code symbol reading mechanism, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for automatically generating, in response to the automatic detection of the object in said scanning field by said automatic object detection mechanism, a visible laser scanning pattern for repeatedly reading one or more code symbols on the object during a code symbol reading cycle, and automatically generating a new symbol character data string in response to each code symbol read by said automatic code symbol reading mechanism;
• a data transmission mechanism, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for transmitting a selected one of said symbol character data strings to a host system;
• a manually-activatable data transmission switch integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for selecting one of said symbol character data strings for transmission to the host system by said data transmission mechanism;
• wherein during system operation,
• (i) the user visually aligns a visible laser scanning pattern generated by said automatic code symbol reading mechanism, with a particular code symbol on an object so that at least one said code symbol is scanned, detected and decoded in a cyclical manner, and each time the scanned code symbol is successfully read during said code symbol reading cycle, a new bar code symbol character string is produced, and
• (ii) when the user manually actuates said data transmission switch during said code symbol reading cycle, a subsequently produced symbol character data string is automatically selected, and transmitted to said host system by said data transmission mechanism.

A method for repeatedly generating symbol character data strings, representative of a repetitively read code symbol on an object, and transmitting a selected symbol character data string to a host system for storage and/or processing, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) supporting a hand-supportable automatic code symbol reading device adjacent an object bearing one or more code symbols to be read, said hand-supportable code symbol reading device having an automatic object detection mechanism for automatically detecting the presence of an object within a scanning field, an automatic code symbol reading mechanism for laser scanning detected objects in the scanning field, and a data transmission switch for activating a data transmission mechanism and transmitting selected symbol character data to the host system;
• (b) automatically detecting the object in said scanning field using said automatic object detection mechanism;
• (c) in response to the detection of the object by said automatic object detection mechanism, automatically generating a visible laser scanning pattern from said automatic code symbol reading mechanism;
• (d) visually aligning said visible laser scanning pattern with one said code symbol on said object so that one said code symbol is scanned, detected and decoded in a cyclical manner, and each time said scanned code symbol is successfully read during a code symbol reading cycle, a new bar code symbol character string is automatically produced by said automatic code symbol reading mechanism;
• and
• (e) within one said code symbol reading cycle, manually actuating said data transmission switch and, in response thereto, causing a currently or subsequently produced symbol character data string to be automatically selected, and transmitted to said host system by said data transmission mechanism, for storage and/or processing.

An automatically-activated code symbol reading system comprising:

• a hand-supportable housing;
• a bar code symbol reading engine, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, and including
• (i) an automatic object detection mechanism for automatically detecting the presence of an object in a scanning field definable relative to said hand-supportable housing,
• (ii) an automatic code symbol reading mechanism, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for automatically generating, in response to the automatic detection of the object in said scanning field by said automatic object detection mechanism, a visible laser scanning pattern for repeatedly reading one or more code symbols on an object during a code symbol reading cycle, and automatically generating a new symbol character data string in response to each code symbol read thereby, and
• (iii) a data transmission mechanism, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, for transmitting a selected one of said symbol character data strings to a host system;
• a data transmission switch integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for selecting one of said symbol character data strings for transmission to the host system by said data transmission mechanism;
• wherein, in response to manual actuation of said data transmission switch, one of said produced symbol character data strings automatically is selected, and automatically transmitted by said data transmission mechanism to said host system in operable communication with said automatically-activated code symbol reading system.