Abstract:
A handheld scanner comprises a body including a scanner head portion and a grip portion, with a trigger for activating a scan operation provided on said grip portion. A trigger guard member is provided to form a loop together with the body surrounding the trigger, thereby preventing the trigger being accidentally or inadvertently activated.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to symbol reading devices, and more particularly, to a handheld scanner with a trigger guard.  
         [0002]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a conventional handheld barcode reader or scanner  10  comprises a grip portion  1  and a scanner head portion  2  forming an L-shaped body. A trigger  3  is provided on the grip portion  1  for activating a scan operation. However, sometimes the trigger  3  may be accidentally or inadvertently activated, e.g., when the scanner  10  accidentally drops or a user inadvertently presses on the trigger  3 .  
         [0003]     Therefore, there exists a need for a more reliable handheld scanner which can prevent the trigger from an accidental or inadvertent activation.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     To realize the above object, a handheld scanner of the present invention is provided which comprises a body, a trigger provided on the body for activating scan operations, and a trigger guard member having a first end and a second end. At least one of the two ends of the trigger guard member is connected to the body and extends from the body such that the trigger is located between the body and the guard member so as to prevent the trigger from accidental or inadvertent activation.  
         [0005]     In a preferred embodiment, the body comprises a grip portion and a scanner head portion, and the trigger is provided on the grip portion. Preferably, the first end of the guard member is connected to the grip portion, and the second end of the guard member is connected to the scanner head portion, thus forming a protection loop surrounding the trigger. This also increases the mechanical strength of the scanner. In addition, when needed, a user can hold the scanner by the loop with only a single finger, thus freeing both hands to handle other things.  
         [0006]     Preferably, the first end of the guard member is connected to the grip portion at a location close to the trigger, so that the user can easily locate the trigger during the scanning operation. Preferably, the second end of the guard member is connected to the head portion at a location close to a front end of the head portion. This may maximize the mechanical strength of the scanner to prevent damage if the scanner accidentally drops.  
         [0007]     Preferably, an antenna for wireless communications is installed in the trigger guard member. Thus, the wireless communications will not be interfered with by the user&#39;s hand. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The above and other features and advantages will be clearer after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a front view (normally called side view) schematically illustrating a handheld scanner in the prior art;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a front view (normally called side view) schematically illustrating an embodiment of a handheld scanner according to the present invention; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a side view (normally called front view) of the embodiment in  FIG. 2 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     A preferred embodiment of a handheld scanner  10  according to the present invention is schematically illustrated in  FIGS. 2-3 . Similar to the prior art as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the handheld scanner  10  in this embodiment comprises a handle or grip portion  1  and a scanner head portion  2  connected or molded as an integral body. In scanning operations, the scan light beam comes from a front end  2   a  of the head portion  2 . Reflected light from the barcodes is also received by the scanner  10  through the front end  2   a . A display, such as an LCD display opposite scan window  4 , may be provided at the rear end opposite of the front end  2   a  for showing information decoded from the read barcodes. A trigger  3  is provided on the grip portion  1  for activating the scanning operations. A pair of release buttons  8  may be provided on the grip portion  1  for releasing a bottom cover  9 , e.g., to install or replace batteries.  
         [0013]     According to the teaching of the present invention, the scanner  10  further comprises a guard member  5  for preventing the trigger  3  from accidental or inadvertent activation as well as from physical damage, which may happen, e.g., when the scanner  10  accidentally drops to the ground or the trigger  3  accidentally hits something or is inadvertently pressed by a user.  
         [0014]     In addition, when needed, the user may hold the scanner  10  by the loop with only a single finger so as to free both hands to handle things, e.g., to carry goods. Moreover, the guard member  3  also increases the mechanical strength of the scanner  10 .  
         [0015]     More specifically, the guard member  5  comprises a lower end  5   a  and an upper end  5   b , which are detachably connected to the grip portion  1  and the head portion  2  respectively, forming with them a loop surrounding the trigger  3 . Preferably, the guard member  5  is connected to the grip portion  1  and the head portion  2  by screws or bolts  6 , or sliding or fixing mechanism with lock.  
         [0016]     Preferably, the lower end  5   a  is connected to the grip portion  1  just below the trigger  3 . Thus, the user can easily locate the trigger  3  simply by moving his or her finger down along the guard member  5 . Preferably, a bottom of the trigger  3  and the lower end  5   a  of guard member  5  have matching contours.  
         [0017]     Preferably, the upper end  5   b  is connected to the scanner head portion  2  at a location approximate to the front end  2   a . This may maximize the mechanical strength of the scanner  10 , especially that of the front end  2   a  where the scanning window  4  is located.  
         [0018]     Alternative, the guard member  5  may be integrally molded with the body of the scanner  10 .  
         [0019]     If the scanner  10  is equipped with an antenna  7  for wireless communications, e.g., for RFID scanning operations, the antenna  7  is preferably installed in the guard member  5 . This prevents the wireless communications signals being interfered with by the hand of the user. The antenna  7  may be internally wired or may work in an inductive manner.  
         [0020]     Though the above has described the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it shall be understood that numerous adaptations, modifications and variations are possible to those skilled in the art without departing the gist of the present invention. For example, the body of the scanner  10  does not need to be L-shaped, but may be of any proper shape. Instead of being connected to the head portion  2 , the upper end  5   b  of the guard member  5  may be connected to the grip portion  1 . Therefore, the scope of the present invention is solely intended to be defined by the accompanying claims.