Method and arrangement of generating a non-diffractive beam at a location which is remote from optical element and application thereof

Abstract: In order to generate a Bessel beam at a location remote from an optical arrangement, the optical arrangement includes, a first beam converging element (34) which is illuminated by a collimated beam, a second beam converging element (36) which is illuminated by a beam (40) which has passed through the first beam converging element (34). The first (34) and second beam (36) converging elements are arranged in a manner to radiate a ring beam (42) which is parallel with an optical axis (Z). A third beam converging element (38) is further provided which is illuminated by the ring beam (42). The third beam converging element (38) is arranged to generate a non-diffractive beam at a location which is remote therefrom. Further, an arrangement of a bar code reader is disclosed, which includes a laser source for producing a laser beam. A laser beam deflecting member is provided to deflect the laser beam so as to form a scan pattern comprised of two scan lines. The two scan lines are oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to one another. A combination of photo sensor and electric circuitry is provided to detect the beginning of the scan pattern and to discriminate between the two scan lines.

Description: The present invention relates to a bar code reader using an arrangement of generating a non-diffractive beam (viz., so-called Bessel beam) at a location which is remote from a Bessel beam producing optical means. It was recently shown by Durnin that propagation-invariant sharply peaked solutions of the scalar wave equation exists, in an article entitled "Exact solutions for non-diffracting beams. I. The scalar theory", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, Vol. 4, No. 4, April 1987, pages 651-654 (referred to as prior art paper 1). These solutions, called diffraction-free beams or Bessel beams, contain an infinite energy and accordingly, they are not experimentally realizable. It has been, however, shown experimentally, also by Durnin, that finite-aperture approximations of these fields exhibit the main propagation features of true diffraction-free beams over a large depth of field, in an article entitled "Diffraction-Free Beams", Volume 58, April 13, 1987, pages 1499-1501 (referred to as prior art paper 2). On the other hand, Turunen et al have shown a modification of the arrangement in the above mentioned prior art paper 2, in an article entitled "Holographic generation of diffraction-free beams", Applied Optics, Vol. 27, No. 19, October 1, 1988, pages 3959-3962 (referred to as prior art paper 3). Further, Perez et al have disclosed generation of the Bessel beam employing an axicon in an article entitled "Diffraction patterns and zone plates produced by thin linear axicons", Optica Acta, 1986, Vol. 33, No. 9, pages 1161-1176 (referred to as prior art paper 4). Before turning to the present invention it is deemed advantageous to briefly discuss the above mentioned prior art techniques with reference to Figs. 1(a)-1(c) and 2(a)-2(c). Fig. 1(a) shows an optical arrangement for generating a finite-aperture approximation of a Bessel beam, which was shown in the above mentioned prior art papers 1 and 2. In Fig. 1(a), a coherent plane wave depicted by reference numeral 10 illuminates a thin annular slit 12, which is placed in the focal plane of a positive lens 14 ("F" denotes a focal length of the lens 14). The wavefront after the lens 14 is seen to be conical (i.e., the wave vectors are uniformly distributed on a cone). The prior art paper 1 shows that the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 exhibits a Bessel beam over a distance depicted by L1. A character "L" with a numeral is also used to depict a Bessel beam in addition to a distance. Figs. 2(a)-2(c) show the beam intensity profiles at z = 25, 77 and 100 cm (z denotes an optical axis), respectively, with the intensity of the Gaussian profiles (depicted by broken lines) multiplied by a factor of 10. It is understood that the Bessel beam has a remarkably greater depth of field than the Gaussian beam. Turunen et al. disclosed, in the prior art paper 3, an arrangement shown in Fig. 1(b) using a holographic optical element (viz., a cylindrically symmetric hologram) 16. The Fig. 1(b) arrangement exhibits a Bessel beam L2 whose distance is twice Ll in Fig. 1(a). According to Turunen et al, the hologram 16 converts an incident plane wave 18 into a conical wave, which (according to geometrical optics) after the plane, at which the lens 14 is located, is similar to the wavefront in Fig. 1(a). Turunen et al. have shown that the diffraction-free propagation ranges a geometrical optics prediction of L2 = Dρ/λ where D is a radius of the hologram 16, ρ a pitch of the slit of the hologram 16, and λ a wave length of the incoming coherent plane wave. Further, Turunen et al. have described the full width of the bright central lobe (viz., diameter of a Bessel beam) W is represented by W = 0.766ρ Fig. 1(c) shows another arrangement using an axicon 20 for generating a Bessel beam having a length L3, which has been shown in the above mentioned prior art paper 4. For further details regarding the arrangements of Figs. 1(a)-1(c), reference should be made to prior art papers 1-4 respectively. As shown in Fig. 1(a), the Bessel beam exists over a distance L1 starting immediately after the lens 14. This applies to the other arrangements shown in Figs. 1(b) and 1(c). Accordingly, if each of these arrangements is applied to an optical device wherein a beam radius should be very small, each of the above mentioned prior art techniques may encounter the problem that there is insufficient room or space for accommodating an optical member(s) within the range within which the Bessel beam can be generated. In more specific terms, if the diameter of the Bessel beam (W) is 0.2 mm, then the pitch of the hologram slit (p) is about 0.26 mm as will be appreciated from equation (2). Further, if the radius of the hologram 16 is 5 mm, then the Bessel beam length L2 becomes approximately 2 m. Therefore as will be appreciated, if a beam having a very small radius (viz., a Bessel beam) is required to impinge on an object beyond the Bessel beam, each of the above mentioned prior techniques is no longer utilized. Applied Optics, Vol. 30, No. 11, pp 1330 - 1332, A.J. Cox et al.: "Holographic reproduction of a diffraction-free beam" discloses an arrangement for generating a diffraction-free beam immediately after the holographic optical element. The arrangement comprises two beam converging elements for issuing a ring beam which is parallel to an optical axis. The ring beam illuminates said holographic optical element to thereby generate a diffraction-free Bessel beam. US-A-4 999 482 discloses an optical scanning system for a bar code reader with a laser and means for deflecting the laser beam having a star form. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bar code reader with an arrangement of effectively controlling the position at which a Bessel beam is produced along an optical axis of an optical device wherein a very small beam radius is required. This object is solved with the features of the claims. The features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly appreciated from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like elements are denoted by like reference numerals and in which: Figs. 1(a)-1(c) are optical diagrams which schematically depict the prior art techniques discussed in the opening paragraphs of the instant disclosure; Figs. 2(a)-2(c) show beam intensity profiles at z = 25, 77 and 100 cm, respectively, with the intensity of the Gaussian profiles (depicted by broken lines) multiplied by a factor of 10; Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams which show the concept on which the invention is based; Figs. 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams which show arrangements used in the invention; and Figs. 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams which show arrangements used in the present invention; and Figs. 6(a)-6(c) are views showing arrangements which characterize an embodiment of the present invention. A principle underlying the present invention will be discussed with reference to Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). Fig. 3(a) shows an optical arrangement, using a hologram 30, for the generation of a Bessel beam L4 and a diffracted beam whose transverse profile takes the form of a ring-like shape and which is induced after the Bessel beam L4. The arrangement of Fig. 3(a) is essentially identical with that of Fig. 1(b). As in the case described in the opening paragraphs of the instant disclosure, the arrangement of Fig. 3(a) generates the Bessel beam L4 which begins immediately after the hologram 30. However, as will be appreciated, if the hologram 30 is provided at a location away from the Bessel beam by a distance d1 as indicated in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) and if the hologram 30 is illuminated from the right (as seen in Fig. 3(b)) by a ring-like beam 32 which is parallel with the optical axis z, then a Bessel beam L4 can be generated at the distance d1 away from the hologram 30. This therefore renders it possible for a Bessel beam to be generated at a location which is remote from the hologram per se. The above discussion is of course also applicable to the other cases of Figs. 1(a) and 1(c) which utilize the annular slit 12 and the axicon 20, respectively. The first embodiment of the present invention, utilizing the above mentioned principle, will be discussed with reference to Figs. 4(a) and 4(b), As shown, the optical arrangement of Fig. 4(a) includes first to third holograms 34, 36 and 38 provided along an optical axis z. The holograms 34 and 38 correspond to the holograms 16 (Fig. 1(b)) and 30 (Fig. 3(b)) respectively. The second hologram 36 is provided to convert a diverging ring beam 40 into a ring beam 42 parallel with the optical axis z. The hologram 38, which is illuminated by the ring beam 42 from the left, generates a Bessel beam L6 at a location which is remote therefrom by a distance d2. Fig. 4(b) shows the optical arrangement wherein the hologram 36 (Fig. 4(a)) is displaced to the left (as seen in the drawings) by an additional distance d3. As will be noted, the Bessel beam L6 is shifted to the left and separated from the hologram 38 by a distance d4 which is smaller than distance d2. In this instance, the other hologram 38 can be displaced alone or together with the hologram 36. In the above mentioned principle of the first embodiment (see Fig. 3(b)), if the Bessel beam L4 is positioned too remote from the hologram 30, a problem is induced that the ring beam between the hologram 30 and the Bessel beam L4 is liable to diffract to an appreciable extent and, eventually deteriorates the Bessel beam L4. The second embodiment of the present invention is to overcome this difficulty. Fig. 5(a) illustrates another optical arrangement. In Fig. 5(a), hologram 50 corresponds to the hologram 30 of Fig. 3(a). A coherence beam 52 is divided, by a semitransparent mirror 54, so that some of the beam (depicted by numeral 56) passes through the hologram 50 and is then directed to a photographic plate 58, while on the other hand, the other part of the beam 52 (viz., reference beam 57) illuminates the photographic plate 58 after being reflected by a mirror 60. The two beams 56, 57 form interference patterns on the plate 58, which when developed is used as a hologram 58' as shown in Fig. 5(b). More specifically, after the hologram 58' is developed and is illuminated by the original reference beam as shown in Fig. 5(b), a diffraction-free Bessel beam L7 can be obtained at a location which is relatively remote from the hologram 58'. Figs. 6(a) to 6(c) show an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment features the arrangement wherein a laser beam which is generated by a laser source 100, is passed through a first converging element 102, reflected off a first mirror 104, passed through second and third converging elements 106 and 107 and reflected off a second mirror 108 to provide a Bessel beam in the scan field. The beam which is reflected off the second mirror 108 is directed through an apertured mirror 110 to a rotatable polygonal mirror 112. This rotatable polygonal mirror 112 is operatively connected with a motor 114 and an encoder 116 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6(a). Scanning or beam directing mirrors 118, 120 are arranged with respect to the rotatable polygonal mirror 112 so as to enable an X (for example) type scanning pattern to be formed. A first photo sensor 122 is arranged at the edge of the one of the two scanning mirrors 120 and arranged to detect the laser beam impinging thereon. The significance of this detection will become apparent hereinlater. A second photo sensor 124 is arranged with respect to the apertured mirror 110 so that reflections which are reflected off the scanning mirrors 118, 120 impinge onto the apertured mirror 110, are received after having passed through a lens system generally denoted by the numeral 126. The operation of this device is such that the output of the first photo sensor 122 can be used to determine the beginning or end of one complete X scan. That is to say, as shown in the timing chart of Figs. 6(b) and 6(c), by using the output 128 of the first photo sensor 122 (Fig. 6(a)) it is possible to start counting of the output of the encoder 116 and, upon a given number being reached, assume that the first of the two scans which comprise the X scan pattern, has been completed and that the second of the two is initiated. For the sake of explanation, the first of the two scans will be referred to as a first scan while the second of the two will be referred to as a second scan simply for the ease of reference. The first and second scans can be arranged to intersect at any suitable angle. With the ability to distinguish between the first and second scans, it is possible to apply the device to arrangements of the nature wherein closely arranged two bar coded labels (viz., label-carrying items or products) are carried on a conveyor belt (for example). As the label-carrying items move along, one bar coded label is scanned by the first scan (for example) while the next is scanned by the second scan, the third bar coded label scanned by the first scan and so on. Using this technique it is possible to differentiate between two different label-carrying items which are arranged immediately side by side. Hithertofore, it has been necessary to ensure that a suitable spacing has been provided between items which are to undergo a conventional type of bar code scanning. However, with the instant embodiment, it is possible to eliminate this spacing and therefore vastly improve the efficiency with which the procedure can be carried out. In order to allow for items wherein the bar codes are located at different distances from the scanning mechanism, the concept whereby the Bessel beam can be induced to occur at a location remote from the scanning mechanism is advantageously applied to this type of situation to increase the depth of field and ensure accurate bar code readings. In the above discussion of the embodiment, the number of scans is only two. However, it is within the scope of the embodiment to increase the number of scans which exceeds two in order to increase the chances that a randomly oriented label will be properly scanned. It will be understood that the above disclosure is representative of only a few of the possible embodiments of the present invention and that the concept on which the invention is based is not specifically limited thereto.

Claims: A bar code reader comprising : a) means (100) for generating a laser beam, b) a first beam converging element (34,102) which is illuminated by said laser beam; c) a second beam converging element (36,106) which is illuminated by a beam which has passed through said first beam converging element, said first and second beam converging elements being arranged in a manner to issue a ring beam (42) which is parallel with an optical axis; d) a third beam converging element (38,107) which is illuminated by said ring beam, said third beam converging element generating a diffraction-free Bessel beam at a location which is remote from said third beam converging element; e) means (112,118,120) for deflecting said diffraction-free Bessel to form a scan pattern comprised of a plurality of scan lines which are oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to one another; and f) means (116,122) for detecting the beginning of each of said lines and for discriminating between said scan lines. A bar code reader as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second and/or said third beam converging element is displaceable along the optical axis. A bar code reader as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each of said first to third beam converging elements is a hologram. A bar code reader as claimed in claim 1,2, or 3, wherein said first beam converging element is an axicon. A bar code reader as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said first beam converging element is an annular slit. A bar code reader as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said scan pattern is comprised of first and second scan lines being oriented to form a character X.

Inventors: ONO YUZO, SHIRAKABE KAZUHISA, ONO, YUZO, SHIRAKABE, KAZUHISA, ONO, YUZO, C/O NEC CORPORATION, Shirakabe, Kazuhisa, c/o NEC Corporation
Applicants: NIPPON ELECTRIC CO, NEC CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G06K7
IPC codes: G02B5, G06K7