Patent ID: 7273180
Filing Date: 2007-09-25
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device supporting narrow-area and wide-area modes of illumination and image capture, said hand-supportable digital imaging-based bar code symbol reading device comprising: a hand-supportable housing; a multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem having image formation optics for producing a field of view (FOV) upon an object to be imaged and an area-type image sensing array for detecting imaged light reflected off the object during illumination operations in either (i) a narrow-area image capture mode in which a few central rows of pixels on said area-type image sensing array are enabled, or (ii) a wide-area image capture mode in which substantially all rows of said area-type image sensing array are enabled; a multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem for producing narrow-area and wide-area fields of narrow-band illumination within the FOV of said multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem during narrow-area and wide-area modes of image capture, respectively; an image capturing and buffering subsystem for capturing and buffering 2D images detected by said multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem; a multimode image-processing based bar code symbol reading subsystem for automatically processing images captured and buffered by said image capturing and buffering subsystem and reading 1D and 2D bar code symbols represented therein; an input/output subsystem for outputting processed image data to an external host system or other information receiving or responding device; and a system control subsystem for controlling and coordinating each said subsystem component described above in accordance with a method of controlled subsystem operation including the steps of, (i) said multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem producing the narrow-area field of narrow-band illumination within the FOV of said multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem, (ii) said multi-mode area-type image capturing and buffering subsystem automatically capturing and buffering a 1D digital image during the narrow-area image capture mode of said multi-mode area-type image capturing and buffering subsystem, (iii) said multi-mode image processing bar code symbol reading subsystem processing said 1D digital image to read a 1D bar code symbol represented in said 1D digital image, but upon said multi-mode image-processing bar code symbol reading subsystem failing to successfully read a 1D bar code symbol represented in said 1D digital image, (iv) said multi-mode LED-based illumination subsystem automatically producing the wide-area field of narrow-band illumination within the FOV of said multi-mode area-type image formation and detection subsystem, (v) said image capturing and buffering subsystem capturing and buffering a 2D digital image during the wide-area image capture mode of said image capturing and buffering subsystem, and (vi) said multi-mode image processing bar code symbol reading subsystem being dynamically reconfigured in real-time to process said 2D digital image to read a 1D or 2D bar code symbol represented in said 2D digital image.