Patent ID: 7324132

Claim:
An imaging system, comprising: a light source operable to generate a beam of light directed along a beam path; an optical element operable to rotate about a rotational axis and having first and second optical faces respectively positionable to intersect the beam path over first and second non-overlapping ranges of rotational positions of the optical element, wherein during rotation of the optical element through the first non-overlapping range of rotational positions in which the first optical face intersects the beam path, the light beam sweeps across a first scan plane, and during rotation of the optical element through the second non-overlapping range of rotational positions in which the second optical face intersects the beam path, the light beam sweeps across a second scan plane different from the first scan plane; and a camera operable to generate image data from the light beam reflecting from different first and second scan lines along which an object respectively intersects the first and second scan planes, wherein the first scan line is traced across the object during rotation the first optical face through the beam path and the second scan line is traced across the object during rotation of the second optical face through the beam path.