Patent ID: 6840452

Claim:
A scanning apparatus comprising: a light source module including a laser diode for emitting a laser beam, a circuit board comprising said laser diode, a driving circuit for said laser diode, and a connector for receiving a power supply for driving said laser diode from an electric power source, means for shaping the laser beam emitted by said laser diode and a first housing made of electrically insulating material for containing said beam shaping means and said circuit board except for a portion of said circuit board where the connector is mounted; an optical unit including a second housing sealingly containing therein means for receiving a beam from the light source module and reflecting the beam to provide the scanning beam, means for reflecting the scanning beam to provide a plurality of scanning lines outside of the second housing, means for receiving a return beam reflected by an article; and the first housing being removably mounted to the exterior of the second housing and the first and second housings having respective windowed apertures through which the beam passes, from the interior of the first housing to the interior of the second housing.