Patent ID: 8174384

Claim:
A portable terminal for an RFID operation comprising: a housing including a handle shaped for gripping by a user's hand, the handle having a recess extending toward the inside of the handle; an RFID reader for reading an RFID tag; a trigger system for operating the read range of the RFID reader, the trigger system including: a mechanical actuator having a plurality of notches manually movable in the recess and locatable in a plurality of positions by the user gripping the handle, each position being associated with one of the plurality of notches and a different read range of the RFID reader, the RFID reader and the mechanical actuator being mounted in the housing such that the user gripping the handle is capable of locating the mechanical actuator at the plurality of positions to change the read range of the RFID reader and aiming the RFID reader; and a sensor system for sensing the position of the actuator to change the read range of the RFID reader based on the position of the actuator, the sensor system including: a plurality of mechanical switches formed in the recess and aligned substantially in the longitudinal axis of the recess, the plurality of mechanical switches being associated with the plurality of notches of the actuator such that the switch is activated by mechanical pressure from the actuator when the notch is substantially at least at one of the plurality of positions.