Bar code scanning system

Abstract: A portable bar code scanner includes a base member (20,22) and a overhanging scanning housing (24) secured to the base member (20,22). A laser power supply (48) mounted in the housing (24) outputs a laser beam (38) along a horizontal light path to a routing mirror (54) which directs the laser beam horizontally onto a rotating polyground mirror (56) mounted at an angle to the horizontal, whereby scanning beams are directed upwardly to a 3-mirror assembly (60) which directs the scanning beams downwardly through an aperture (66) in the housing (24) to provide a scan pattern for scanning a coded label positioned below the scanning housing (24). A collection lens (70) mounted in the housing (24) collects and directs the reflected light from the coded label to a detector (72) which generates electrical signals for transmission over a cable (32) to a processor.

Description: This invention relates to scanning systems as defined in the preamble of claim 1. A scanning system of the kind specified is known from US-A-4 097729 which discloses a scanning system for reading coded indicia carried on containers etc. The system located in a housing produces a first and second light pattern focused at a window in the housing over which the containers etc. are passed. Scanning of the light, which emanates from a light source remote from the window, is enabled by a mirrored polygon which is rotatably mounted in the path of the light produced by the light source. Light reflected from the mirrored polygon is transmitted to the window in the housing via a plurality of mirrors located throughout the housing. US-A-4 369 361, discloses an alternative scanning system comprising a portable, stand-along laser scanning workstation including a laser scanning head mounted above a support base, wherein objects bearing bar code symbols to be scanned are passed underneath the head. It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanning system of the kind specified which is of compact construction. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a scanning system for scanning coded symbols including: a support member adapted for mounting on a supporting surface; a housing member secured to said support member and adapted to be located above said supporting surface, said housing member having an aperture adopted to face said supporting surface; light projecting means mounted in said housing member adjacent said aperture and adapted to project a scanning light beam along a first path within said housing member; and scanning means mounted in said housing member and in said first light path for cyclically sweeping the light beam along a plurality of second light paths which are generally opposite to and at an angle to the direction of the light beam projected along said first light path, an optical means mounted above said first light path and said scanning means and in said plurality of second light paths for directing the received light beam along a plurality of third light paths generally perpendicular to said first light path and through said aperture for scanning a coded label positioned adjacent said aperture, characterized in that said optical means comprises a plurality of mirrors being connected to one another. One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the portable overhead bar code scanning device of the present invention positioned on a checkout counter showing the multiline scanning pattern generated by the scanning device together with the location of the electronic box within the counter which is used to control the operation of the scanning device; Fig. 2 is a partial top view of the scanning device taken on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing a portion of the laser tube located in the neck portion and the optics located in the head portion of the scanning device for generating a scanning pattern in a downward direction through an aperture in the floor of the head portion; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the direction of the scanning light beams as they are reflected off the spinner member and the pattern mirrors; and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the checkout system of the present invention. Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a perspective view of the bar code scanning device generally indicated by the numeral 18 of the present invention which includes a portable base member 20 supporting a post member 22 from which extends a scanning head member generally indicated by the numeral 24. The head member 24 includes a neck portion 26 and a scanning head portion 28 secured thereto within which is located the scanning optics for the scanning device. The bar code scanning device 18 may be positioned on any supporting surface such as the top surface of a checkout counter 30 and has an electrical cable member 32 extending from the bottom of the post member 22 to a electronics box member 34 containing electronics associated with the scanning device for use in processing information generated by the scanning device. As shown in Fig. 1, projecting from the lower side of the head portion 28 are a plurality of scanning light beams 38 which form a bar x scanning pattern represented by the numeral 40 which includes six intersecting scan lines 42, forming the pattern 40. Located in the side wall 43 of the head portion 28 and facing the checkout operator is an indicator light fixture 44 which may include two light members 45 (Fig. 4)(red) and 47 (green) indicating whether the scanning device has successfully read (green) the bar code label or not (red). In addition to the indicator light 44, a loudspeaker 46 mounted in the side wall 43 will generate a tone indicating whether a good read has occurred. The electronics box 34 may be mounted within the checkout counter 30 or positioned adjacent the base member 20 on top of the counter 30. Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown a partial top view of the head portion 28 with a portion of the cover member 49 of the head portion removed showing a laser tube member 48 mounted in the neck portion 26 of the scanning head member 24. Mounted within the head portion 28 in line with the laser tube 48 is a collimator lens member 52 which receives the diverging laser light beam 38 and focuses the light beam at a specific distance below the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. In the present embodiment, the scanning light beam is focused at a depth of more than 254mm (ten inches) below the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. The collimated light beam outputted by the lens member 52, which would appear as a point in Fig. 3, is directed at a routing mirror 54 (Figs. 2 and 3) which deflects the received light beam along a horizontal axis to a six-sided polygon spinner member 56 which is rotatably secured to a motor member 58 mounted on the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. As shown in Fig. 2, the routing mirror 54 deflects the light beam 38 ninety degrees from its original light path towards the spinner member 56 which in turn is tilted at an acute angle such as twenty degrees with respect to the axis of the path of the received light beam. The rotating spinner member 56 will deflect the received light beam to a pattern mirror assembly 60 which is secured to the cover member 49 of the head portion 28 by the support member 63. The mirror assembly 60 comprises three pattern mirrors 64a-64c inclusive (Fig. 2), which are mounted above and between the spinner member 56 and the routing mirror 54. The mirrors in the pattern mirror assembly 60 are offset with respect to each other and to the floor member 50 to generate the individual scan lines 42 (Fig. 1) which comprise the scanning pattern 40 (Fig. 1). The mirror assembly 60 is also mounted at an angle such as twenty-five degrees with respect to the path of the received light beams to deflect the received scanning light beams in a downward direction as viewed in Fig. 3 through an aperture 66 (Figs. 2 and 3) in the floor member 50 containing a window member 67 to form the scanning pattern 40 (Fig.1) at a predetermined distance below the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. The path of the light beams deflected from the pattern mirror assembly 60 is generally perpendicular to the path of travel of the light beam deflected from the routing mirror 54. Because the pattern mirror assembly 60 is mounted above the routing mirror 54 and the spinner member 56, a very compact and simple optical scanning system is provided. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the head portion 28 is less than 76mm (three inches). The scanning optical system of the present invention generates the three-cross-lines scanning pattern 40 (Fig. 1) which increases the reading capability of the scanning device because the size of the scanning pattern 40 changes as a bar code label (not shown) is positioned by the checkout operator at different distances from the head portion 28 enabling the scanning device to read large size bar code labels and small size bar code labels. The light reflected from the scanned bar code label (not shown) is redirected back to the pattern mirror assembly 60 which deflects the light beams to the spinner member 56 which in turn deflects the received light beams to the routing mirror 54. The light reflected from the scanned bar code label is in a scattered condition which is collected by a collection lens 70 mounted between the cover member 49 and the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. The collection lens 70, which supports the routing mirror 54, will focus the received scattered light beams at a detector 72 (Fig. 2) which is mounted to the floor member 50 of the head portion 28. As is well known in the art, the detector member 72 to which the cable 32 (Fig. 1) is connected will generate electrical signals in accordance with the intensity of the received light beams. The electrical signals are transmitted to a microprocessor 76 (Fig. 4) located in the electronics box 34 (Fig. 1) for processing. Referring now to Fig. 4, there is shown a block diagram of the data processing system employed in the present invention. Included in the data processing system is a scanning assembly and detection logic unit 74 which includes the bar code scanning device 18 (Fig. 1) for converting scanned bar codes into electrical signals. Further included in the processing system is a microprocessor 76 for checking and decoding the signals read by the detecting logic unit 74 and for generating control signals to the bad read indicator 45, the good read indicator 47 and the loudspeaker 46, to indicate the validity of a scanning operation by the scanning device 18, as previously described. Also included in the data processing system is a conventional storage unit 78 and an output buffer 80 for transmitting the data signals read by the detecting logic 74 over line 82 to a remote processor for obtaining the price of the item associated with the coded label read in a manner that is well known in the art. It will be seen that the portable overhead bar code scanner of the present invention is ideal for small checkout areas because it takes up minimal counter space. The overhead scanner is also easier to use than a hand-held scanner because both hands of the checkout operator are free to move the purchased merchandise on the checkout counter 30. The present bar code scanner is more productive than a hand-held scanner because it generates a multiple line scanning pattern rather than a single line pattern. The bar X scanning pattern 40 (Fig. 1) generated by the scanning device of the present invention requires no item orientation in the horizontal plane with respect to the scanning aperture 66. Since there is no direct contact between the scanned objects and the scanning window member 67, such as is present in a stationary optical scanner, there is no need for window replacement due to wear. Because the scanning beams are directed downward towards the bar code label to be scanned, it is easy for the checkout operator to observe the scan pattern and to move the bar code label through the observed pattern. Additionally,since the scanning beams are directed downward towards the counter top of the checkout counter, the operator is not in a position of looking into the emitted scanning beams such as is now the case with conventional stationary scanners. The scanning indicators such as the good/bad read indicator 44 (Fig. 1) and the loudspeaker 46 are located in the head portion 28 at approximately the height of the operator's head, enabling such indicators to be more discernible by the operator.

Claims: A scanning system for scanning coded symbols including: a support member (20,22) adapted for mounting on a supporting surface(30); a housing member (24) secured to said support member (20,22) and adapted to be located above said supporting surface (30), said housing member (24) having an aperture (66) adopted to face said supporting surface (30); light projecting means (48,52,54) mounted in said housing member (24) adjacent said aperture (66) and adapted to project a scanning light beam along a first path within said housing member (24); and scanning means (56) mounted in said housing member (24) and in said first light path for cyclically sweeping the light beam along a plurality of second light paths which are generally opposite to and at an angle to the direction of the light beam projected along said first light path, an optical means (60) mounted above said first light path and said scanning means (56) and in said plurality of second light paths for directing the received light beam along a plurality of third light paths generally perpendicular to said first light path and through said aperture (66) for scanning a coded label positioned adjacent said aperture (66), characterized in that said optical means (60) comprises a plurality of mirrors (64a-64c) being connected to one another. A scanning system according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing member (24) includes a neck portion (26) secured to said support member (20,22), said light projecting means (48,52) including a source (48) of laser light beam mounted in said neck portion (26) and adapted to project a laser light beam along a fourth light path in said housing member (24) and a first mirror member (54) mounted in said housing member (24) and in said fourth light path for deflecting the laser light beam along said first light path. A scanning system according to claim 2, characterized in that said first mirror member (54) deflects the light beam horizontally in a direction ninety degrees from said fourth light path. A scanning system according to claim 1, characterized by light collecting means (70) mounted in said housing member (24) adjacent said first light path and adapted to collect and transmit the light beams reflected from the coded label and detector means (72) mounted in said housing member (24) and positioned downstream from said collecting means (70) and adapted to receive the reflected light beams collected by said collecting means (70) and generate electrical signals in response to receiving the collected light beams from said collecting means (70). A scanning system according to claim 1 characterized in that said scanning means comprises a rotating hexagon member (56) mounted at an acute angle to said first light path for deflecting the received light beam along said second light paths which extend in an upward direction above the first light path and in the opposite direction to the received light beam. A scanning system according to claim 5, characterized in that said optical means (60) is mounted at an acute angle to said second paths for deflecting the received light beams in a downward direction with respect to said first light path and through said aperture to scan a coded label positioned adjacent the aperture. A scanning system according to claim 4, characterized in that said support member (20,22) comprises a hollow vertically extending post portion (22) secured to a base member (20), said scanning system further including processing means (34) adapted to process electrical signals generated by said detector means (72) and a cable member (32) positioned within said post portion (22) and connected to said detector means (72) and said processing means (34), enabling said processing means (34) to be remotely located from said base member (20). A scanning system according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing member (24) has a side wall portion (43) in which is mounted light indicating means (44) adapted to indicate a good or bad read operation of the coded label by the scanning member, and a loudspeaker member (46) adapted to generate a tone signal indicating the occurrence of a good read operation.

Inventors: CHI CHEN, KING RONALD JOE, MCCLAIN HERBERT DON, CHI, CHEN, KING, RONALD JOE, MCCLAIN, HERBERT DON
Applicants: AT & T GLOBAL INF SOLUTION, AT&T GLOBAL INFORMATION SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G06K7
IPC codes: G06K7