Patent ID: 7252238

Claim:
A method of reading bar code symbols on an object using a band-supportable automatic code symbol reading device having an automatic object detection mechanism for automatically detecting the presence of objects within a scanning field, an automatic code symbol reading mechanism for laser scanning detected objects in the scanning field, and a data transmission switch for activating a data transmission mechanism and selectively transmitting symbol character data to a host system, said method comprising the steps of: (a) using said automatic object detection mechanism to automatically detect the presence of an object bearing one or more code symbols in said scanning field; (b) in response to the automatic detection of the object in said scanning field, using said automatic code symbol reading mechanism to automatically and repeatedly read one or more code symbols on the object within a predetermined time period, and in response to each new successfully read of one of said code symbols within said predetermined time period, automatically producing a new symbol character data string representative of said read code symbol; (c) a manually-actuating said data transmission switch within said predetermined time period; and (d) in response to the manual actuation of said data transmission switch, automatically selecting one of said produced symbol character data strings and transmitting the selected symbol character data string from said data transmission mechanism to said host system operably connected to said hand-supportable automatic code symbol reading device.