Hand-supportable code symbol reader employing coplanar laser illumination and linear imaging

A hand-supportable planar laser illumination and imaging (PLIIM) based code symbol reader comprising:

• a hand-supportable housing having light transmission aperture;
• a linear image formation and detection module, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, and having a linear image detection array and image formation optics with a field of view (FOV) extending from said linear image detection array, through said light transmission aperture and onto an object moving relative to said hand-supportable housing during object illumination and imaging operations;
• a planar laser illumination beam (PLIB) producing device, disposed in said hand-supportable housing, and having at least one visible laser diode (VLD) arranged in relation to said linear image formation and detection module, for producing a planar light illumination beam (PLIB), and projecting said PLIB through said light transmission aperture and oriented such that the plane of said planar light illumination beam is coplanar with said FOV of said linear image formation and detection module so that the object can be simultaneously illuminated by said PLIB and imaged within said FOV and onto said linear image detection array for detection as a digital linear image of the object;
• an image grabber, disposed on said hand-supportable housing, for grabbing digital linear images formed and detected by said linear image formation and detection module;
• an image data buffer, disposed on said hand-supportable housing, for buffering said digital linear images grabbed by said image grabber;
• a digital image processor, disposed on said hand-supportable housing, and operably associated with said image data buffer, for processing said buffered digital linear images so as to read code symbols graphically represented in said digital linear images;
• and
• a controller for automatically controlling one or more of said linear image formation and detection module, said PLIB producing device, said image frame grabber, said image data buffer and said digital image processor.