Patent ID: 8864036

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an aiming pattern generating element; an aiming light source configured to project visible light through the aiming pattern generating element to generate an extended aiming pattern on a target object, the extended aiming pattern including at least one line of visible illumination; an illumination source operative to generate an illumination light projected towards a barcode on the target object; an imaging lens arrangement that has variable focuses; an imaging sensor having photosensitive elements for detecting light from the target object through the imaging lens arrangement to create first pixel data during a first time period when the extended aiming pattern is projected on the target object, and for detecting light from the barcode through the imaging lens arrangement to create second pixel data during a second time period when the barcode is illuminated by the illumination light; and a controller for processing the first pixel data to estimate a feature-size measuring the at least one line of visible illumination in an image of the target object when the imaging lens arrangement is at a predetermined focus length, and further processing the feature-size along with the predetermined focus length to determine a distance characterizing the separation between the target object and the imaging lens arrangement.