Patent ID: 6415980
Filing Date: 2002-07-09
Classification: B82Y,G02B,G06K,G07F,G07G

Abstract:
A holographic laser scanning system for producing a highly defined 3-D scanning volume for laser scanning bar code symbols therein having a minimum element width on the order of about 0.017 inches or less, said holographic laser scanning system comprising:a housing; a plurality of laser sources disposed within said housing, for producing a plurality of laser beams; holographic scanning disc disposed within said housing, rotating about an axis of rotation, and having a plurality of holographic optical elements for scanning said plurality of laser beams and producing a plurality of laser scanning planes for scanning a code symbol, each said laser scanning plane having predefined beam characteristics and being spatially confined within a highly defined 3-D scanning volume having at least three focal zones, a depth of field of at least 10 inches, and a scanning volume of at least 1,440 cubic inches; a plurality of photodetectors disposed within said housing, each said photodetector being associated with one said laser source and being capable of detecting laser light reflected off a code symbol scanned by the laser beam produced by said associated laser source; wherein said plurality of laser scanning planes intersect within said highly defined 3-D scanning volume and said predefined beam characteristics of said laser scanning planes cooperate within said 3-D scanning volume so as to produce a laser scanning pattern for scanning therewithin, code symbols having a minimum element width on the order of about 0.017 inches or less.