Patent Abstract:
A composite image device having image capturing, laser pointing, lighting and related functions in one includes a first perspective window, a second perspective window, a third perspective window, an image capturing module, laser source module, a light source module and a switchable light modulating module. The image capturing module captures ambient light through the first perspective window to generate digital image data. The laser source module emits a laser through the second perspective window. The light source module emits illuminating light through the third perspective window. The switchable light modulating module includes at least a light modulating gate and a switching device for moving the at least a light modulating gate to a position relatively parallel to the second or third perspective window to modulate the emitted laser or the emitted illuminating light.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an image device and related electronic device, and more particularly to a composite image device combined with digital photographing, laser pointing and bar-code scan and related portable electronic device. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Nowadays, consumption electronic products gradually evolve into “All in one” feature. Therefore, for portable electronic product development, manufactures attempts to integrate various daily demands into one model. Consumers can choose a composite electronic product to decrease inconvenience caused by too many products in hand. So far, the products which consumers have used the most in daily lives are digital cameras, laser pointers and quick response (QR) code scanners. 
     In general, a mobile phone is provided with functionality of wireless communication, simple image capturing and music listening. A higher level multi-function camera-mobile phone even has a flash. In the camera mode, the mobile phone with a QR code scan function displays a scanning area calibration pattern on the monitor. A user calibrates a QR code on captured image within coverage of the scanning area calibration pattern for decoding. Please refer to  FIG. 8 , which is a schematic diagram of a QR code scanning area calibration pattern  80  generated from a mobile phone  900  according to the prior art. In  FIG. 8 , when the mobile phone  900  enters the camera mode, a monitor  910  displays a captured image and a scanning area calibration pattern  90 . The user must restrict a QR code image  920  of the captured image within the scanning area calibration pattern  90 . However, the use can have problem with calibration if the captured image is unclear or the resolution is low. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a composite image device and related portable electronic device for providing functions of image capturing, laser pointing and bar code scanning and generating an aimed pattern on a desired bar code in order to increase convenience of bar code scanning. 
     The present invention discloses a composite image device including a first perspective window, a second perspective window, a third perspective window, an image capturing module, laser source module, a light source module and a switchable light modulating module. The image capturing module includes a light-sensing device for capturing ambient light through the first perspective window to generate digital image data. The laser source module emits a laser through the second perspective window. The light source module emits illuminating light through the third perspective window. The switchable light modulating module includes at least a light modulating gate and a switching device for moving the at least a light modulating gate to a position relatively parallel to the second or third perspective window to modulate the emitted laser or the emitted illuminating light. 
     The present invention further discloses a portable electronic device. The portable electronic device includes a housing, a display panel, a digital signal processor, a connecting device and a composite image device. The digital signal processor is coupled to the display panel and used for processing a digital image data and outputting the processed digital image data to the display panel and generating a first controlling signal, a second controlling signal and a third controlling signal. The composite device is coupled to the connecting device and includes a first perspective window, a second perspective window, a third perspective window, an image capturing module, laser source module, a light source module and a switchable light modulating module. The image capturing module includes a light-sensing device for capturing ambient light through the first perspective window to generate digital image data. The laser source module emits a laser through the second perspective window. The light source module emits illuminating light through the third perspective window. The switchable light modulating module includes at least a light modulating gate and a switching device for moving the at least a light modulating gate to a position relatively parallel to the second or third perspective window to modulate the emitted laser or the emitted illuminating light. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a composite image device according the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an external view of a composite image device according to  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a bar code scanning area calibration pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a switchable light modulating module according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an external view of a composite image device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is an external view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of the mobile phone in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of a bar code scanning area calibration pattern according to the prior art. 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram of a bar code scanning area calibration pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of internal structure of a composite image device  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is an external view of the composite image device  10 . The composite image device  10  has image capturing, bar code scan, laser pointing, lighting and related functions and includes a housing  100 , a first perspective window  110 , a second perspective window  120 , a third perspective window  130 , an image capturing module  140 , laser source module  150 , a light source module  160  and a switchable light modulating module  170 . The lenses  112 ,  122  and  132  are mounted on the first perspective window  110 , the second perspective window  120 , and the third perspective window  130 . The image capturing module  140  includes a light-sensing device  142  and an optical lens set  144  and is used for capturing ambient light through the first perspective window  110 . The light-sensing device  142  could be a Charge Couple Device (CCD) or Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) light-sensing device. The optical lens set  144  could be a variable focus or fixed focus lens set. Besides, the image capturing module  140  includes signal processing components, such as amplifiers, analog to digital converters (ADCs) and image sensors, for processing the ambient light captured by the light-sensing device  142  and thereby generating an digital image data. The laser source module  150  includes a red laser diode  152  and is used for emitting a laser through the second perspective window  120 . The light source module  160  includes a white laser diode matrix  162  and is used for emitting illuminating light through the third perspective window  130 . The switchable light modulating module  170  includes a light modulating gate  172  and a switching device  174 . As known in  FIG. 2 , the housing  100  has a rectangular gap  102  and the switching device  174  is bulged out of the housing  100 . Consequently, by adjusting the position of the switching device  174 , the user can move the light modulating gate  172  to a position relatively parallel to the second perspective window  120  or the third perspective window  130 . The light modulating gate  172  is a diffraction gate including a diffraction lens which generates a scanning area calibration pattern and has diffraction effect only upon laser. When the light modulating gate  172  is located between the second perspective window  120  and the laser source module  150 , the point light source is diffracted to a scanning area calibration pattern  30  as shown in  FIG. 3  after passing through the light modulating gate  172 . 
     When the composite image device  10  works for capturing image, the image capturing module  140  is used for capturing image, the light source module  160  is used as a flash, and the laser source module  150  is suspended. 
     When the composite image device  10  works for scanning a bar code with one or two dimension, the laser source module  150  projects the scanning area calibration pattern  30  through the light modulating gate  172  for calibration of bar code reception area. The image capturing module  140  is used for capturing a bar code image. The light source module  160  can be an illuminating light in the dim surroundings for enhancement of brightness and clearness. 
     When the composite image device  10  is used as a laser pointer, the light modulating gate  172  needs to be moved to a position relatively parallel to the third perspective window  130  in order to allow the laser emission to pass throughout the second perspective window  120  without diffraction. 
     As known above, the user can use functions such as image capturing, code scanning, laser pointing and illuminating by use of the composition device  10 . 
     Please note that, the laser source module  150  can emit green laser or others, and red laser is preferable. The light source module  160  can emit green light and others, and white light is preferable. Besides, the scanning area calibration pattern  30  is just an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can design appropriate patterns based on different bar code types. 
     Especially, according to an embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art can adjust functions or the number of the switchable light modulating module  170  according to product requirements and accordingly modify the shape or position of the related devices. For example, please refer to  FIG. 4 , which is a schematic diagram of a switchable light modulating module  470  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The switchable light modulating module  470  includes light modulating gates  472 ,  476 , and a switching device  474 . The light modulating gate  472  and the switching device  474  are identical to the light modulating gate  172  and the switching device  1474  in  FIG. 1  respectively. The light modulating gate  476  is a light filtering gate and includes a filtering lens. Please refer to  FIG. 5 , which is an external view of a composite image device  50  using the switchable light modulating module  470  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The external and internal structures of the composite image device  50  are similar to those of the composite image device  10 . Compared with  FIG. 1 , a rectangular gap  502  in  FIG. 5  is obtained by adjusting the size and position of that rectangular gap  102  in  FIG. 1 . The distance between the first perspective window  110  and the second perspective window  120  is increased from L to L 1 . Correspondingly, the distance between the image capturing module  140  and the laser source module  150  is increased. Thus, by shifting the switching device  474 , the users can move the light modulating gate  476  to the position corresponding to the first perspective window  110  for light filtering or move the light modulating gate  472  to the position corresponding to the second perspective window  120  for diffraction pattern generation. 
     Preferably, the composite image device  10  is applied to portable electronic device such as a mobile phone, a laptop or a digital camera. In the case of the mobile phone, please refer to  FIG. 6 , which is an external view of the mobile phone  60  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile phone  60  includes a housing  600 , a display panel  610 , a connecting device  620  and a composite image device  630 . As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , the housing  600  has a cylindrical notch  602 . The connecting device  620  has a cylindrical body housing that is able to be embedded into the cylindrical notch  602  for rotating the composition image device  630 . In addiction, the connecting device  620  transmits the controlling signals and digital image data between the composite image device  630  and the main part of the mobile phone  60 . The composite image device  630  could be the composite image device  10  in  FIG. 1 , the composite image device  50  in  FIG. 5  or any other composite device that is properly modified by those skilled in the art. The detailed structure and functions has been described above, and thus are not narrated herein. Consequently, the user can adjust a light emitting angle for code scanning, laser pointing and illuminating by rotation of the composite image device  630  rotated by the connecting device  620 . 
     Note that, the connecting device  620  of the mobile phone  60  is just an embodiment of the present invention. Besides rotating the composite image device, the connecting device  620  is used for mounting the composite image device  630  on the housing  600 . Those skilled in the art can modify the structure and shape of the connecting device  620 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 7 , which is a block diagram of the mobile phone  60  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile phone  60  includes a core processor system  700 , an image capturing module  710 , a laser source module  720  and a light source module  730 . The core processor system  700  includes a panel controller  702 , memory  704  and a digital signal processor  706 . The digital signal processor  706  is used for processing digital image data DID generated by the image capturing module  710  and thereby outputting a display data DSD to the display panel  610  through the panel controller  702 . The memory  704  is used for storing processed or unprocessed digital image data DID. Moreover, the digital signal processor  706  generates a first controlling signal SC 1 , a second controlling signal SC 2  and a third controlling signal SC 3  which are all transmitted to the composite image device  630  via the connecting device  620  in  FIG. 6  for controlling the image capturing module  710 , the laser source module  720  and the light source module  730  through respectively. The image capturing module  710  includes a lens subsystem  800  and a sensor subsystem  810 . The lens subsystem  800  includes an optical lens set  802  and a focus adjusting device  804 . The sensor subsystem  810  includes a light-sensing device matrix  812 , an amplifier  814 , an analog to digital converter (ADC)  816 , an image processor  818  and a controlling interface  820 . The first controlling signal SC 1  is used for opening or closing the image capturing module  710  or instructing the controlling interface  820  to perform related image capturing mode. The controlling interface  820  generates corresponding parameters to control the optical lens set  802 , the light-sensing device matrix  812 , the amplifier  814 , the ADC  816  and the image processor  818 . The amplifier  814  and the ADC  816  are responsible for adjusting and converting light sensing signals outputted from the light sensing device matrix  812 . The image processor  818  generates digital image data DID for the digital signal processor  706 . The laser source module  720  includes a laser diode driver unit  722  and a laser diode matrix  724 . The light source  730  includes a light emitting diode (LED) driver unit  732  and an LED matrix  734 . The laser diode driver unit  722  and LED driver unit  732  drive the laser diode matrix  724  and the LED matrix  734  according to the second controlling signal SC 2  and the third controlling signal SC 3 , respectively. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 9 , which is a schematic diagram of a scanning area calibration pattern  1000  according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 9  illustrates a laser source module  1100  projecting a scanning area calibration pattern  1000  on a bar code  1300  through a diffraction lens  1210  of a diffraction gate  1200 . The scanning area calibration pattern  1000  is identical to the scanning area calibration pattern  30  in  FIG. 3 . The laser source module  1100  and diffraction gate  1200  can be realized by the laser source module  150  and the light modulating gate  172  in  FIG. 1  and thus not narrated herein. 
     In conclusion, the embodiments of the present invention provide a image device with image capturing, code scanning, laser pointing and illuminating functions in one and related portable electronic product for meeting users&#39; requirement. In addiction, in the code scanning function, the scanning area calibration pattern is directly projected on the target code to eliminate the use of screen image during capturing calibration of the bar code. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7