Patent ID: 7240840

Claim:
An optical reader for reading an optically encoded symbol, the reader comprising: a housing having an opening; a radiant energy source contained within said housing for illuminating a target region with a beam of radiant energy through said opening when said opening is disposed proximate the target region; a photodetector contained within said housing for detecting the radiant energy incident received thereby; an optical system contained within said housing having: a projection portion for directing the output of the radiant energy source as a beam along a projection path at a predetermined fixed angle to the opening and thus to the surface of the target region extending from the radiant energy source to the target region through said opening in said housing, wherein said housing is operable to be placed in close proximity to the target region; a collection portion for collecting the radiant energy reflected from a symbol when the symbol occupies at least a portion of the target region and directing the collected radiant energy along a collection path extending from the target region through said opening to the photodetector, the collection portion including: one pinhole aperture disposed upstream on the collection path from the photodetector, and one magnifying lens disposed upstream on the collection path from the pinhole aperture wherein the pinhole aperture and photodetector comprise a discrete detector; and a decoder for decoding the output of the photodetector to provide an indication of the information contained in the symbol.