Hybrid-type bioptical laser scanning and digital imaging system supporting automatic object motion detection at the edges of a 3D scanning volume

A method of operating a hybrid-type bi-optical symbol reading system, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hybrid-type bi-optical symbol reading system at a point of sale (POS) station, wherein said hybrid-type bi-optical symbol reading includes:
• a system housing having a vertical housing section with a vertical scanning window, and a horizontal housing section with a horizontal scanning window adjacent said vertical scanning window and having first, second and third edges;
• (ii) a laser a laser scanning subsystem disposed in said system housing for generating and projecting a plurality of laser scanning planes through said vertical and horizontal scanning windows, and into a 3D scanning volume defined between said vertical and horizontal scanning windows, so as to produce a laser scanning pattern within said 3D scanning volume;
• and
• a digital imaging subsystem, disposed within said vertical section of said system housing, for automatically projecting a field of view (FOV) into said 3D scanning volume, and capturing and processing one or more digital images of an object present in the FOV;
• and
• an automatic object edge-motion detection subsystem for automatically detecting the entering of objects into the edge of said 3D scanning volume and exiting of objects from the edge of said 3D scanning volume during system operation and generating control signals indicative of said detected object motions, said automatic object edge-motion detection subsystem projecting a pair of detection beams substantially normal to the horizontal scanning window;
• processing said scan data produced by said laser scanning subsystem in effort to read a symbol on each object passed through said 3D scanning volume, and generating symbol character data representative of each said read symbol;
• using said automatic object edge-motion detection subsystem to automatically detect objects entering into the edge of said 3D scanning volume and exiting from the edge of said 3D scanning volume during system operation and generating said control signals indicative of said detected object motions;
• automatically activating said digital imaging subsystem in response to the generation of said control signals and timing conditions attained in said system and forming one or more digital images of said one or more objects within the FOV of said digital imaging subsystem, for decode processing;
• and
• processing said one or more digital images produced by said digital imaging subsystem in effort to read a symbol on each object passed through said FOV, and generate symbol character data representative of each said read symbol.

A hybrid-type bi-optical symbol reading system comprising:

• a system housing having a vertical housing section having a vertical scanning window, and a horizontal housing section with a horizontal scanning window adjacent said vertical scanning window and having first, second and third edges;
• a laser scanning subsystem disposed in said system housing for generating and projecting a plurality of laser scanning planes through said vertical and horizontal scanning windows, which intersect within a 3D scanning volume defined between said vertical and horizontal scanning windows and provide a laser scanning pattern within said 3D scanning volume, for scanning one or more objects within said 3D scanning volume and producing scan data for decode processing,
• a scan data processor for processing said scan data produced by said laser scanning subsystem in effort to read a symbol on each object passed through said 3D scanning volume and generate symbol character data representative of each said read symbol;
• a digital imaging subsystem, disposed within said vertical section of said system housing, for automatically projecting a field of view (FOV) into said 3D scanning volume, and capturing and processing one or more digital images of an object present in said FOV;
• a digital image processor for processing said one or more digital images produced by said digital imaging subsystem in effort to read a symbol on each object passed through said FOV, and generate symbol character data representative of each said read symbol;
• an automatic edge-motion object detection subsystem for automatically detecting multiple types of object motion through said 3D scanning volume during system operation and generating control signals indicative of said types of detected object motion, said automatic object edge-motion detection subsystem projecting a pair of detection beams substantially normal to the horizontal scanning window;
• wherein said multiple types of object motion include a presentation-type object motion through said 3D scanning volume, a pass-through-type of object motion through said 3D scanning volume, and a hybrid-type object motion through 3D scanning volume;
• and
• a system controller for automatically controlling the operation of said laser scanning subsystem and said digital imaging subsystem in response to said control signals.