Patent ID: 7537165

Claim:
An omni-directional image capturing and processing system for use in a POS environment, comprising: a system housing having an imaging window; a plurality of coplanar illumination and imaging stations, disposed in said system housing, for generating and projecting a group of coplanar illumination and imaging planes through said imaging window; and at least one area-type illumination and imaging station disposed in said system housing, for generating and projecting an area-type illumination and imaging zone through said imaging window, which intersects with said complex of coplanar illumination and imaging planes within a 3D imaging volume definable relative to said imaging window, for omni-directional digital imaging of an object passing through said 3D imaging volume, and generating digital linear (1D) images of said object as said object intersects with said coplanar illumination and imaging planes, and generating digital (2D) area-type images of said object as said object intersects with said area-type illumination and imaging zone within the 3D imaging volume.