Patent ID: 7397057

Claim:
An optical information readout apparatus comprising: a readout device including a photodetector and an image forming optical section having first and second lenses disposed in front of the photodetector along a light receiving optical axis; a focus shift device operative to move the first and second lenses in linearly different positions to change a focusing zone for an information code present in a readout object; and a controller operative to control the focus shift device in the occurrence of a failure in reading out the information code from image data, picked up by the photodetector, so as to linearly move the first and second lenses in the different positions along the light receiving optical axis to automatically change a focal position of the image forming optical section, wherein the focus shift device includes drive means, associated with the first and second lenses, respectively, which are operative to independently move the first and second lenses in the different positions along the light receiving optical axis, wherein the focus shift device further includes lens holder means operative to hold the first and second lenses in the different positions, respectively, under a nonconductive state of the drive means.