Patent ID: 9672400
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: G06K

Claim:
1. An image enhancer device for use with an associated mobile electronic device having a digital camera, the image enhancer device comprising: a housing removably attachable to the mobile electronic device; an image manipulator coupled to a first region of the housing configured to receive incoming light from an object of interest along a first axis and to modify an optical path of the digital camera; an aimer having an aiming element configured to direct at least one aiming light beam towards the object of interest along the first axis, wherein the aiming element comprises an aiming light source, a light pipe, a pinhole element defining a pinhole and a lens each centrally aligned with one another, wherein the aiming light source emits diffuse light that is captured by the light pipe and concentrated from a first beam profile that is wider than the pinhole to a second beam profile that is sized for passage through the pinhole towards the lens; an illuminator having an illumination element configured to direct at least one illumination light beam from the housing towards the object of interest; and electronics allowing for communication between the image enhancer device and the associated mobile electronic device, wherein the image enhancer device forms a scan angle relative to a field of view of the digital camera of the mobile electronic device to enable the mobile electronic device to perform native image processing including bar code decoding with the digital camera of the mobile electronic device.