Patent ID: 8870074

Claim:
An indicia-reading device, comprising: an indicia-capturing subsystem for acquiring information about indicia within the indicia-capturing subsystem's field of view; an indicia-decoding module configured for decoding indicia information within the indicia-capturing subsystem's field of view, the indicia-decoding module comprising a signal processor; and a hand-supportable housing substantially enclosing the indicia-capturing subsystem and the indicia-decoding module, the hand-supportable housing including (i) an integral battery compartment, (ii) an end cap removably engaging the battery compartment, the end cap defining a recessed portion and a keyhole within the end cap's recessed portion, and (iii) a rotatable locking mechanism for securing the end cap to the battery compartment; wherein the rotatable locking mechanism comprises (i) a longitudinal blade for engaging the end cap's keyhole, the longitudinal blade defining an axis, (ii) a head bow for positioning the rotatable locking mechanism's blade within the end cap's keyhole, the head bow contiguously positioned atop the rotatable locking mechanism's longitudinal blade, and (iii) a clip for rotatably restricting rotation of the rotatable locking mechanism within the end cap's recessed portion when the clip is in a locked position and permitting rotation of the rotatable locking mechanism within the end cap's recessed portion when the clip is in a unlocked position, the clip affixed to the rotatable locking mechanism's head bow; wherein, when the rotatable locking mechanism is engaged in the end cap to thereby secure the end cap to the battery compartment, the end cap's recessed portion is configured to accommodate the rotatable locking mechanism's clip in its locked position; wherein, as measured from the center of the end cap's keyhole, the end cap's recessed portion has a minimum radius r recess-min ; wherein, as measured with respect to the axis defined by the rotatable locking mechanism's blade, the rotatable locking mechanism's clip has a radius r up-max when unlocked and a radius r down-max when locked; and wherein r up-max <r recess-min <r down-max .