Omnidirectional laser scanning bar code symbol reader generating a laser scanning pattern with a highly non-uniform scan density with respect to line orientation

A bi-optical laser scanning system comprising:

• a system housing including a vertical housing section having a vertical scanning window, and a horizontal housing section having a horizontal scanning window, wherein said vertical housing section and said horizontal housing section are disposed in a substantially orthogonal relationship;
• a first laser scanning subsystem installed in said vertical housing section, and a second laser scanning subsystem installed in said horizontal housing section;
• a first laser scanning pattern folding mirror array mounted in said vertical housing section, and a second laser scanning pattern folding mirror array mounted in said horizontal housing section;
• a multi-sided irregular scanning polygon mounted between said first and second housing sections, and rotating about an axis of rotation;
• wherein said multi-sided irregular scanning polygon has multiple scanning surfaces and multiple interior angles, wherein said interior angles between said multiple scanning surfaces are not all equal;
• and
• wherein said first laser scanning subsystem includes at least one source for producing a first set of multiple laser beams that are directed off axis to strike said single multi-sided irregular scanning polygon rotating about said axis of rotation, and generate a first non-uniform laser scanning raster pattern in said vertical housing section;
• wherein said second laser scanning subsystem includes at least one source for producing a second set of multiple laser beams that are directed off axis to strike said single irregular multi-sided scanning polygon rotating about said axis of rotation, and generate a second non-uniform laser scanning raster pattern in said horizontal housing section;
• wherein said first non-uniform laser scanning raster pattern are folded in said vertical housing sections by said first laser scanning pattern folding mirror array, and projected as a first group of laser scanning planes through said vertical scanning window;
• wherein said second non-uniform laser scanning raster pattern are folded in said horizontal housing sections by said second laser scanning pattern folding mirror array, and projected as a second laser scanning planes through said horizontal scanning window;
• and
• wherein said first and second groups of laser scanning planes intersect within a 3D scanning volume disposed within said vertical and horizontal scanning windows, to generate an omni-directional laser scanning pattern for supporting robust omni-directional scanning performance.

A symbol reading system, comprising:

• a system housing comprising a vertical housing section having a vertical scanning window and a horizontal housing section having a horizontal scanning window;
• a laser scanning subsystem within the system housing, comprising:
• an irregular, scanning polygon having an axis of rotation, multiple scanning surfaces, and multiple interior angles, wherein the interior angles between the multiple scanning surfaces are not all equal;
• a laser source producing a first set of multiple laser beams directed onto the irregular, scanning polygon;
• and
• wherein the laser scanning subsystem produces a first non-uniform raster pattern over a sweep encompassing an angular range of approximately 180 degrees about the polygon, the first non-uniform raster pattern covering a scanning region such that the scanning region's center has a first plurality of scanning lines, each of the scanning region's two mid sections has a second plurality of scanning lines, and each of the scanning region's left and right sections has a third plurality of scanning lines.