Optical scanning system

Abstract: A self-contained optical scanning unit for use in a compact, hand-held bar code scanner includes a motor driven hollow drive shaft (28) through which is projected a laser light beam from a laser source (34) positioned adjacent one end of the drive shaft. Mounted on the other end of the drive shaft (28) is an optical transceiver (42) which includes a deflecting portion (44) which deflects the laser light beam outwardly towards a ring of mirrors (40) which form a scanning pattern for scanning coded indicia, and a collection portion (46) which collects the reflected light beams from the coded indicia and directs the light beams at a detecting member (56). The collection portion (46) of the transceiver (42) is orientated obliquely across the spin axis (60) of the drive shaft (28) while the deflection portion (44) is orientated obliquely to the spin axis (60) and to the face of the collection portion (46). The detection member (56) is located on the spin axis (60) between the transceiver (42) and the coded indicia. In a second embodiment, the optical transceiver (67) directs the light. beam directly to the coded indicia and directs the collected light to a plane mirror (130) for reflection to a detection member (132) located off the spin axis.

Description: This invention relates to optical scanning systems for scanning coded indicia, of the kind including light beam projection means adapted to project a light beam along a projection axis in a projection direction. In present-day merchandising point-of-sale checkout systems, data pertaining to the purchase of a merchandise item is obtained by reading data encoded indicia such as a bar code label printed on or attached to the purchased merchandise item. In order to standardize the bar codes used in various point-of-sale checkout systems, the grocery industry has adopted a uniform product code (UPC) which is in the form of a bar code. Reading systems which have been constructed to read this type of bar code include stationary optical scanning systems normally located within the cabinet structure of a checkout counter. The bar code is read when a purchased merchandise item is moved across a window in the counter constituting the scanning area of the counter. Other reading systems employ hand-held laser scanners which emit a single or multiple line scan pattern and which are manually moved past the bar code label that is to be read. It is desirable that hand-held laser scanners should provide a high performance scanning operation and have a light weight, compact and balanced hand-held construction. The construction should further provide for ease of movement and reduced hand fatigue in the handling of the scanner and be easily disassembled for testing and for replacement of parts. It is further desirable to have a compact scanner assembly which combines the performance of a stationary scanner with the size, weight, portability, ruggedness and ease of operation of a hand-held scanner. U.S. Patent No. 4,825,057 discloses a hand-held laser scanner wherein a laser beam is projected towards a plane scanning mirror which is formed as a unitary construction module with a spherical collecting mirror. The mirror module is oscillated about an axis which is generally perpendicular to the laser beam projection axis. U.S. 4,699,447, discloses an optical beam scanner with rotating mirror suitable for use in a bar code reader. The scanner comprises an optical source positioned behind the rotating mirror and arranged to project light along the axis of rotation prior to being directed to the bar code. However U.S. 4,699,447 is silent with regard to any optical detector for detecting the light reflected from the bar code. WO 89/05512 discloses a rotating scanner with a mirror housing, the scanner comprising a peripheral mirror for collecting the light reflected from a bar code and directing the light through the rotating scanner, which is in the form of a prism, to an imaging lens which focuses the reflected light onto a detector, positioned on the same side of the rotating scanner as the light source. EP-A-0144-224 discloses a scanner similar in basic construction to that of WO 89/05512 in which the prism rotating scanner is replaced with a hologram scanner. In this scanner as in that of WO 89/05512 the reflected light is transmitted through the scanner before being detected by an optical detector. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical scanning system of the kind specified which is of compact construction. Therefore according to the present invention, there is provided an optical scanning system having light beam projection means for projecting a light beam towards an optical transceiver device enroute to being projected upon and reflected from coded indicia, characterized in that the optical transceiver device is arranged to rotate around a spin axis, the projection means being arranged to project said light beam substantially along said spin axis towards said transceiver device, said transceiver device incorporating a deflection element and a collection element for collecting light beams reflected from said coded indicia and reflecting said light beams back generally in the direction of the coded indicia on the opposite side of the transceiver device from the projection means, for detection by light detection means. Two embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a scanning unit used in one embodiment of a bar code scanner of the present invention showing the elements which generate a scanning pattern including an optical transceiver for collecting the reflected light beams from the scanned coded label and a photodetector which receives the reflected light beams from a transceiver; Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the scanning unit shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front view of the optical transceiver utilized in the scanning unit of Fig. 1 showing the location of an aperture in which is located the deflecting mirror portion of the transceiver; Fig. 4 is a top view of the optical transceiver of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the design parameters for developing the aspherical light collecting surface of the optical transceivers found in both embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the location of the spin axis and the photodetector with respect to the focal points of the aspherical light collecting surface of the optical transceivers of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a partial side view of one embodiment of a hand-held bar code scanner of the present invention employing the scanning unit of Fig. 1 with a portion of the body portion removed showing the location of the scanning elements within the body portion of the scanner; Fig. 8 is a sectional side view of a second embodiment of a hand-held bar code scanner in which the optical transceiver deflects the scanning light beam through a limited rotation of the optical transceiver; Figs. 9A-9D inclusive show various optical arrangements for collecting on the spin axis the reflected light beams from a scanned bar code label and for directing the reflected light beams towards a photodetector; Fig. 10 shows the scan pattern generated by both embodiments of the bar code scanner unit of the present invention when only the pattern mirrors are rotated or the optical transceiver is rotated less than 360 degrees; Fig. 11 illustrates the scan pattern generated by one embodiment of the hand-held bar code scanner of the present invention when the optical transceiver is rotated while the ring of pattern mirrors is stationary; Fig. 12 illustrates the scan pattern generated when the ring of mirrors and the optical transceiver are both rotated but in opposite directions; Fig. 13 is a diagram showing the amount of gain generated by the scanning unit of the present invention as the bar code label is moved relative to the bar code scanner; Figs. 14A-14D inclusive are diagrams illustrating how the optical transceivers of the present invention provide the photodetector with a self-limiting dynamic range; and Fig. 15 is a diagram of an optical transceiver illustrating the path of the light beams as they strike the recessed internal deflecting surface of the optical transceiver of Fig. 8. Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the scanning unit in which the presently preferred embodiment of the invention is incorporated while Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the assembled scanning unit. As shown in those figures, the scanning unit generally indicated by the numeral 20 includes a molded frame support member 22 having a plurality of latching portions 23. The frame support member 22 may be molded of any type of shock resistant plastic material such as polycarbonate. Mounted within the support member 22 is a motor 24. Journaled within the motor by bearings 26 (Fig. 2) is a hollow drive shaft 28 extending through the motor 24. Mounted within a rear extension portion 30 of the frame support member 22 is a brass laser diode support member 32 supporting a laser diode 34 (Fig. 2) and a collimating and focusing lens member 35 both of which are in alignment with the spin axis 60 of the drive shaft 28. The diode 34 outputs a diverging light beam which is collimated and projected along a projection axis. A circular aperture stop 36 (Fig. 2) positioned adjacent the lens member 35 has a cross-section which is smaller than the lens member 35 for controlling the size of the laser light beam projected at the reference plane in a manner that is well known in the art. Slidably mounted within the frame support member 22 is a molded mirror support member 38 constructed of any type of polycarbonate plastic which includes a plurality of acrylic turning or pattern mirrors 40, each of which extends outwardly from the support member 38 at an angle of approximately thirty-three degrees and in which each mirror is offset to each of the other mirrors 40 by approximately three degrees. The number of mirrors employed is controlled by the number of scan lines required for the scan pattern. In the scanning unit 20, there are eight turning mirrors. The mirrors have their reflecting surfaces coated with gold. The support member 38 includes a rearwardly extending key rib portion 39 which is positioned within a key slot 41 (Fig. 2) located in the frame support member 22 for snap fitting the support member 38 within the support member 22. Secured to the front end of the drive shaft 28 is one embodiment of an optical transceiver 42 of the present invention comprising a flat deflecting mirror portion 44 which, as shown in Fig. 2, extends obliquely across the spin axis 60 of the drive shaft 28, which coincides with the projection axis of the laser beam, and a collection mirror portion 46 which, as will be described more fully hereinafter, comprises a sloping aspheric concave surface 47 for collecting the scanning light beams reflected from a scanned bar code label. The optical transceiver 42 may be snap fitted over the shaft 28 and may be molded of any type of transparent material such as a polycarbonate plastic material. The reflecting surfaces of the transceiver 42 are coated with gold which reflects the red light band while allowing all other bands of light to pass through the surface of the transceiver. In order to reduce the noise generated by the stray light passing through the transceiver, the rear surfaces of the transceiver may be coated with silicon oxide which absorbes the light. As seen in Figs. 1-4 inclusive, the deflecting mirror portion 44 extends through a slot 64 in the collecting surface 47 of the collection mirror portion 46. The mirror portion is orientated at an oblique angle to the surface 47. The transceiver 42 includes a rear portion 49 which includes a plurality of depending rib portions 45 which provides a balance to the transceiver when rotated about the spin axis. Mounted to the front portion of the mirror support member 38 is a transparent acrylic photodetector support member 50, having a plurality of flexible finger members 52 which snap over the latching portions 23 of the frame support member 22 for holding the photodetector support member 50 to the mirror support member 38. Coating the reflecting surfaces of the mirrors 40 and the transceiver 42 with gold together with the use of the acrylic support member 50 provides high reflectivity and transmission of light. Mounted within a protruding housing portion 54 of the support member 50 is a detector assembly generally indicated by the numeral 51 (Fig. 1) comprising a support member 53 having a limiting aperture 55 (Fig. 2) and a photodetector 56 secured to the member 53 and mounted within a holder 58 secured to the inside end portion of the housing portion 54. The operation of the laser diode 34 will output a narrow laser light beam along the spin axis 60 of the scanning unit 20 (Fig. 2). The laser light beam will travel through the bore 62 located in the drive shaft 28 where it impacts on the rotating deflecting mirror portion 44 of the optical transceiver 42. The light beam designated as 61 (Fig. 11) will be deflected radially outwardly by the deflecting mirror portion 44 to impact on the turning mirrors 40 which in turn deflect the light beam in a forward direction through the acrylic support member 50 forming a scanning pattern 71 (Fig. 11) for scanning a coded bar code label(not shown). The scattered light beams reflected from the scanned bar code label are redirected by the turning mirrors 40 towards the collection mirror portion 46 whose concave surface 47 reflects the light beams at the photodetector 56 positioned on the spin axis 60, which converts the received light beams into electrical signals in a manner that is well known in the art. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the collection portion 46 of the optical transceiver 42 is molded in a trapezoidal shape having a concave configuration along its shortest axis and an aspherical concave configuration along its longest axis (Fig. 1). In order to provide a highly efficient bar code code scanner having a small configuration, the surface area of the collection mirror portion 46 is greater than the reflecting surface of each of the mirrors 40 making the mirrors the limiting aperture of the scanner. In the present embodiment, the reflecting surface area of the collection portion 46 of the transceiver is approximately twice the area of each of the turning mirrors 40 enabling the mirror portion 46 to collect the majority of the reflected light beams deflected from the mirrors 40 at the end of the scan pattern. Referring to Fig. 5, there is shown a diagram illustrating the design parameters for developing the aspherical light collecting surface of the optical transceivers disclosed in the described embodiments. To generate the aspherical surface 63 (Fig. 6), the following equations are used. (1) S(sag) = 1/K+1 R - R² - (x² + Ky² + y² + Ky² ) (2) S(sag) = 1/K+1 [R- R² -(K+1) S² ] where R = V(K+1) / ( 1 - -K) K(conic constant) = -E² V = (2A-G)/2 E(eccentricity) = A² - B² /A β = A² -(G/2)² A = (O-F) /2 G = (O-F cos β) / cos α y = F cos ϑ ϑ = 90 - β - α α = tan⁻¹ (F sin β/0 - (F cos β) In the present embodiment, F(focal point) is 19 millimetres (0.75 inches), O(object distance) is 300 millimetres (12 inches) and β is 70 degree. Referring to Fig. 6, there is shown a diagram of a second embodiment 67 of the optical transceiver 42 (Figs. 1 and 2) illustrating the location of the focal points of the aspherical light collecting surface of both optical transceivers. The transceiver 67 has a aspherical concave surface 63 along its longest axis the same as the surface 47 of the transceiver 42 and comprises the collection portion of the transceiver. The transceiver 67 has a recessed surface portion 69 comprising the deflection portion. The concave surface 63 has two focal points, A and B, with the B focal point being on the spin axis 60 of the bar code scanner while the A focal point locates the focal plane at which the recessed portion 69 will deflect the light beams. The turning mirrors 40 (Fig.1) may be located at any location along the line to the focal point A from the transceiver. Referring now to Fig. 7, there is shown a side view of one embodiment of a hand-held laser scanner incorporating the scanning unit 20 (Figs. 1 and 2) of the present invention with a portion of the body portion removed for clarity. As shown, the hand-held scanner generally indicated by the numeral 70 comprises a handle portion 72 and a main body portion 74. The scanning unit 20 is mounted within the main body portion 74 by means of a support ring 76 which in addition to supporting the scanning unit 20 also supports a cover member 78 having an opening 81 in which is positioned the housing portion 54 of the support member 50 containing the photodetector 56 and the holder 58 (Figs. 1 and 2). The cover member 78 may be constructed of a transparent material such as acrylic and is shock mounted with respect to the support member 50 by means of a ring of elastic form material 83. Slidably mounted on the extension portion member 30 is a bracket member 79 supporting a printed circuit board 80 which contains the video circuits associated with the operation of the scanning unit. The bracket member 79 may be constructed of a hard plastic material such as polycarbonate. Positioned on the extension portion 30 is a printed circuit board 82 containing the laser drive circuits for the laser diode 34 (Fig. 2). The board is secured to the laser support member 32 which, when inserted into the extension portion 30 of the support member 22 (Fig. 1), is supported thereby. Mounted along the lower edge of the main body portion 74 is a printed circuit board 84 which contains the digital interface logic circuits for controlling the processing of digital signals generated as a result of the operation of the scanning unit. Secured to the printed circuit board 84 is a light emitting diode 86 for use in indicating the occurrence of a good read operation by the scanning unit in a manner that is well known in the art. The diode 86 can be viewed through a transparent member 87 mounted in the rear surface of the main body portion 74. A depressible button member 88 located in the rear edge of the main body portion 74 controls the operation of the laser diode 34 (Fig. 1) to output light beams designated as 61 (Fig. 11) to generate a scan pattern similar to the scan pattern designated as 125 in Fig. 10 composed of parallel scan lines 123. This operation utilizes Hall sensors (not shown) similar to the Hall sensors 122 shown in Fig. 8 for generating signals indicating the position of the shaft 28 (Fig. 2) in a manner that is well known in the art. Also secured to the printed circuit board 84 is a circuit board 90 located in the handle portion 72 of the scanner and which controls the power supplied to the scanning unit 20. A button mechanism 92 located along the forward edge of the handle portion 72 is connected to the printed circuit board 90 to provide an on/off operation of the scanning unit. Located in the lower edge of the handle portion 72 is a recessed plug portion 94 for receiving a cable (not shown) which supplies power to the scanner and also transmits electrical signals outputted by a microprocessor (not shown) located on the printed circuit board 84, representing the data signals generated as a result of scanning the bar code label. Referring now to Fig. 8, there is shown a second embodiment of a hand-held scanner generally indicated by the numeral 100 comprising an elongated body portion 102 having an angled front portion 104 with an transparent area 106 located therein. Mounted within the body portion is a motor 108 rotating a hollow drive shaft 110 which extends through the motor 108 and has mounted on its front end the optical transceiver 67 (Fig. 6). Positioned adjacent the rear end of the drive shaft 110 is a collimated and focusing lens member 112 which receives a laser light beam 114 from a laser diode 116. The lens member 112 will collimate and focus the received laser light beam 114 and project the collimated light beam through the hollow shaft member 110. The light beam 114 transmitted through the shaft member 110 will strike the inclined surface 69 of the transceiver 67 which deflects the light beam out through the opening 106 forming a single scan line 120 through which a coded label (not shown) is positioned. The second embodiment includes a number of Hall sensors 122 (Fig. 8) whose output signals are used to control the operation of the laser diode 116 to turn on the diode only during selected ranges of rotation of the motor 108. The Hall sensors may also be used to control the length of rotation of the motor 108 producing a dithering operation of the scanning unit which, when used with the turning mirrors 40 (Fig. 2) generates a series of parallel scan lines similar to the lines 123 shown in Fig. 10. The light beams 124 (Fig. 8) reflected from the scanned bar code label (not shown) will be collected by the aspherical concave collection surface 63 of the optical transceiver 67 and directed at a mirrored surface 130, which surface deflects the received light beams at a photodetector 132 mounted on a support member 134. The support member 134 extends lengthwise of the body portion 102 to the rear portion of the body portion where a printed circuit board 136 containing the processing circuits of the scanning system is mounted. Mounted in the rear edge 138 of the body portion 102 is a plug member 140 within which is mounted one end of a cable 142 for supplying power to the printed circuit board 136 and for receiving signals from the processing circuits of the scanning unit for transmission to a remote processor for processing the electrical signals generated by the scanning operation. It is obvious that if the bar code scanner is to be truly portable, a rechargeable battery pack may be mounted within the handle portion of the scanners shown in Figs. 7 and 8. In Figs. 9A-9D inclusive, there are shown a number of collection mirror-photodetector arrangements, which can be utilized to implement the present invention where the optical transceiver is mounted on the spin axis to collect the reflected light. As shown in Fig. 9A, the single element concave collection mirror 142 rotating about the spin axis 144 directs the received reflected light beams 146 at a photodetector 148, also located on the spin axis. In Fig. 9B, a lens member 150 is positioned on the spin axis 144 and receives the reflected light beams 146 from a rotating flat collection mirror 142, the lens member 150 focusing the received reflected light beams on photodetector 148 located on the spin axis. In Fig. 9C, a single deflecting mirror 152 mounted on the spin axis 144 for receiving the reflected light beams from the flat collection mirror 142 directs the reflected light beams 146 at the photodetector 148 which is mounted offset to the spin axis 144. In Fig. 9D, a flat collecting mirror 142 and a flat deflecting mirror 154 mounted on the spin axis 144 reflect the reflected light beams 146 to a photodetector 148 which is mounted offset to the spin axis 144. Referring to Figs. 10-12 inclusive, there are shown various scanning patterns generated by the scanning unit 20 (Fig. 1) of the present invention. In Fig. 10, the ring of mirrors 40 rotate while the transceiver 42 remains stationary thereby generating a plurality of parallel scan lines 123 comprising the scan pattern 125. In Fig. 11, the ring of mirrors 40 is stationary while the transceiver 42 is rotated 360 degrees generating the scan pattern 71. By utilizing the Hall sensors 122 (Fig. 8) in the manner previously described, actuation of the button 88 (Fig. 7) can select any single scan line of the scan pattern 71a to be generated. In Fig. 12, there is shown the mirror support member 38 having a ring of gear teeth 160 on its inside peripheral surface. A pinon gear member 162 engages the gear teeth 160 and engages a ring of gear teeth 164 secured to the drive shaft 28 resulting in the rotation of the mirror support member 38 in a direction which is opposite to the rotational movement of the drive shaft 28. The scan pattern 68 generated by the light beams 61 of this arrangement is shown in Fig. 12 and comprises a highly dense multiple line scan pattern which increases the efficiency of the scanning operation. One advantage of the configuration of the optical transceivers is that they provide an automatic dynamic range control of the light energy transmitted to the photodetector as the distance between the scanning unit and the bar code label is varied. As shown in Fig. 13, as the distance between the scanning unit and the bar code label decreases, the amount of reflected light received by the photodetector increases, resulting in an increase in the gain of the photodetector. This sequence is illustrated in Figs. 14A-14D inclusive in which the point 168 represents the location of the coded label and also by the slope of the curve 156 (Fig. 13). As the distance decreases (Figs. 14A and 14B), the output of the photodetector 56 will increase until it reaches point A on the curve 156. As the distance further decreases, the amount of light 166 reflected from the optical transceiver 42 will start to overfill the detector 56, thus limiting the amount of reflected light that is impinging on the photodetector. This condition is illustrated in Fig. 14C by moving the focal point of the reflected light beams to a point 57 behind the photodetector 56, thus reducing the amount of light impinging on the photodetector 56. As the distance further decreases (Fig. 14D), the effect of the deflection mirror portion 44 of the transceiver 42 located in the aperture 64 (Figs. 3 and 4) casting a shadow on the photodetector 56 will become evident thus reducing the gain as illustrated in the curve between points B and C. Referring now to Fig. 15, there is shown a diagram of the path of the light beams reflected off the recessed surface 69 of the optical transceiver 67 (Figs. 6 and 8) showing the total internal reflection of the light beams. The surface 69 deflects the received light beams at an angle of 90 degrees from the path of the received light beams when the angle of incidence (Ic) exceeds the arc sin of N/N where N is the index of refraction of the low index material which in the present example is air and N is the index of refraction of the incidence material which is the material from which the transceiver 67 is formed. While there has been disclosed a mirror surface for collecting, deflecting and directing the light beams, it is obvious that other types of image forming surfaces may be used such as an optical prism, a diffraction surface forming a holographic image on a focal plane or any type of conic surfaces such as a parabolic surface.

Claims: An optical scanning system having light beam projection means (34-36;112,116) for projecting a light beam towards an optical transceiver device (42-44;63,67,69) en route to being projected upon and reflected from coded indicia, characterized in that the optical transceiver device (42-44;63,67,69) is arranged to rotate around a spin axis, the projection means (34-36;112,116) being arranged to project said light beam substantially along said spin axis towards said transceiver device (42-44;63,67,69), said transceiver device (42-44;63,67,69) incorporating a deflection element (44,69), and a collection element (46,63) for collecting light beams reflected from said coded indicia and reflecting said light beams back generally in the direction of the coded indicia on the opposite side of the transceiver device (42-44;63,67,69) from the projection means (34-36;112,116), for detection by light detection means (56, 132). An optical scanning system according to claim 1, characterized in that said light collection means (47,63) includes a concave, ashpherical mirrored surface in an aperture portion (64) of which is mounted a plane reflecting surface forming said light deflection means (44,69). An optical scanning system according to claim 2, characterized in that said concave aspherical mirrored surface has an elliptical configuration with a first focal point thereof being located on said projection axis and a second focal point thereof located in the path of the light beam deflected by said light deflection means (44,69). An optical scanning system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said projection axis lies within a hollow shaft on which said optical transceiver device (42,67) is mounted. An optical scanning system according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that said optical transceiver device (42,67) is rotatable about said projection axis. An optical scanning system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by a plurality of plane mirrors (40) arranged around said projection axis and adapted to intercept said light beam deflected by said light deflection means (44) to provide a scanning pattern for scanning said coded indicia. A scanning system according to claim 6, characterized in that the surface area of said light collection means (46,63) is greater than the reflection surface of each of said plane mirrors (40). A scanning system according to claim 6 or claim 7, characterized in that said plurality of plane mirrors (40) are rotatable about said projection axis. A scanning system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said optical transceiver device (42,67) provides a self-limiting range where the intensity of detected light beams reflected by said coded indicia remains generally constant over a range of working distances from said coded indicia, said light collection means (46,63) being adapted to direct a lower proportion of the received light beams for interception by said light detection means (56,132) as the distance between said coded indicia and said light collection means (46,63) decreases.

Inventors: ALESHIRE REX ALLEN, WIKE CHARLES KENNETH JR, ALESHIRE, REX ALLEN, WIKE, CHARLES KENNETH, JR.
Applicants: AT & T GLOBAL INF SOLUTION, AT&T GLOBAL INFORMATION SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G06K7
IPC codes: G06K7