Patent ID: 8537005

Claim:
A checkout system, comprising: a workstation supported by a support surface and operative for processing products bearing indicia, the workstation including a raised housing extending upwardly away from the support surface, a window supported by the workstation, and a main reader supported by the workstation for electro-optically reading the indicia through the window; an auxiliary cordless reader for electro-optically reading the indicia in a handheld mode when the main reader is not operated to read the indicia; a cradle supported by the raised housing above and remote from, and out of direct contact with, the support surface to form a zero-footprint therewith, the cradle bounding a compartment in which the auxiliary cordless reader is removably received when not in the handheld mode; wherein the workstation is configured as a bi-optical workstation, wherein the window is supported by the raised housing, and wherein the workstation includes another generally horizontal window through which the indicia is readable by the main reader; wherein the main reader in the workstation includes a plurality of imaging readers, one for each window, for capturing light passing through either or both windows over intersecting fields of view from the indicia; wherein the auxiliary cordless reader includes a laser-based reader for emitting a laser beam to the indicia, or a solid-state imager-based reader for capturing return light from the indicia; and wherein the auxiliary cordless reader includes a sensor contact for connection to a mating sensor contact in the cradle when the auxiliary cordless reader is received in the compartment; and wherein the workstation has a controller inside the workstation for detecting the auxiliary cordless reader in the cradle via the sensor contacts, for disabling the main reader when the auxiliary cordless reader is not in the cradle, and for not enabling the main reader until the auxiliary cordless reader is back in the cradle.