Patent ID: 7845563

Claim:
A digital image capture and processing system comprising: a housing having a light transmission window; a digital image formation and detection subsystem, disposed within said housing, and having (i) image formation optics for projecting a field of view (FOV) from an area-type image detection array, and upon an object to be illuminated and imaged during object illumination and imaging operations, and (ii) said area-type image detection array detecting one or more digital images of the object during object illumination and imaging operations; an illumination subsystem, disposed in said housing, and including an illumination board (i) disposed adjacent to said light transmission window, (ii) configured substantially within a plane, (iii) having a central aperture mounted adjacent to said imaging window, and (iv) supporting an array of illumination sources mounted around at least a portion of said central aperture, for producing a field of illumination within the FOV of said digital image formation and detection subsystem during object illumination and imaging operations; wherein said area-type image detection array is disposed below the plane of said illumination board and outside of said light transmission window; a FOV folding mirror mounted within said housing and beneath said illumination board, folding the path of said FOV beneath said light transmission aperture and directing and projecting said FOV out through said central aperture and said light transmission window; an automatic illumination control subsystem, disposed within said housing, for controlling said array of illumination sources during object illumination and imaging operations; and an image capturing and buffering subsystem, embodied within said housing, for capturing and buffering one or more digital images detected by said area-type image detection array.