Imaging barcode scanner with multiple independent fields of view
AssigneeNCR Corporation
InventorSteven J. Hammer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A barcode scanner which uses different wavelengths of light to produce different fields of view. An example barcode scanner includes a plurality of light devices each having a different wavelength of light and each associated with a different field of view for illuminating an item with a barcode, a plurality of waveband mirrors each reflecting one of the different wavelengths of light from the light devices and transmitting other wavelengths of light, an imager for receiving the different wavelengths of light reflected from the waveband mirrors and for producing corresponding images, and a controller configured to sequentially activate the light devices and the imager and to decode the barcode in an at least one of the images received from the imager.
Claims18
An image capture device comprising:
- a plurality of waveband mirrors each reflecting a different wavelength of light associated with a different unique field of view and each transmitting wavelengths of light other than the different wavelength of light;
- and
- an imager for receiving the different wavelengths of light reflected from the waveband mirrors, wherein the imager receives each wavelength for each field of view individually at a particular instant in time from a particular light device that is pulsing at a given frame rate recognized by the imager.
A barcode scanner comprising:
- a plurality of light devices each having a different wavelength of light and each associated with a different field of view for illuminating an item with a barcode;
- a plurality of waveband mirrors each reflecting one of the different wavelengths of light from the light devices and each transmitting wavelengths of light other than the different wavelength of light;
- an imager for receiving the different wavelengths of light reflected from the waveband mirrors and for producing corresponding images;
- and
- a controller configured to sequentially activate the light devices and the imager and to decode the barcode in an at least one of the images received from the imager, and wherein the controller is further configured to synchronize activation of the light devices with a frame rate of the imager and the controller configured to pulse the light devices sequentially in a repeatable order for ensuring that the imager only receives light from a single one of the light devices and a corresponding field of view for the item at any given instant in time.
A scanning method comprising:
- sequentially activating a plurality of light devices each having a different wavelength of light and each associated with a different field of view to illuminate an item with a barcode, wherein sequentially activating further includes synchronizing activation of the light devices at a frame rate of an imager ensuring that the imager receives light from a single light device at a given instant in time;
- reflecting at least one of the different wavelengths of light towards an imager by a waveband mirror;
- producing an image from the at least one wavelength of light by the imager;
- and
- decoding the barcode in the image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.