Registers – Coded record sensors – Particular sensor structure
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-24
2004-01-20
Evans, F. L. (Department: 2877)
Registers
Coded record sensors
Particular sensor structure
C235S462360
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679429
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-019643, filed Jan. 28, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bar code scanning device that irradiates a mark of symbol to be read with a scanning beam to read described information from light reflected therefrom, and in particular, to a small, light, and thin bar code scanning device that can be easily installed in a standard computer terminal connector (what is called a card slot) for a card standardized as defined by PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), a compact flash card, or the like.
Conventional scanning systems using a laser have a portable of fixed type scan device mounted therein to read information described in a mark or symbol having portions with different reflectances, for example, a bar code when the laser is passed in front of the device.
The scan device generates a laser beam or the like, which is then collected and emitted to a position to be read or over a distance to be read in such a manner a beam spot of a predetermined diameter is formed at that position or over that distance. A beam emitted to a bar code is scanned so as to traverse the bar code, and a photodetector receives light reflected from the bar code and photoelectrically converts it to generate a detection signal. The detection signal is decoded as data described in the bar code.
A scanning mechanism for scanning the beam may be arranged in a housing, and the beam may be scanned so as to traverse the bar code or may be scanned over a detecting surface of the photodetector, or both of these scans may simultaneously be executed. In general, these scans are mechanically executed by a drive motor connected to a reflector. Additionally, some scanning mechanisms use a charge coupled device (CCD) to electrically detect a signal.
Each industry has been using unique bar codes to manage sales or stocks, and various bar code readers and laser scanning systems for decoding these bar code patterns as a display of a plurality of digits have been developed and used.
In addition, the PCMCIA, which is organized by manufacturers of many types of memory cards and related peripheral equipment, specifies three types of card standards for all circuit boards used in computers of reduced sizes, depending on the vertical and horizontal widths and thickness of the card.
(a) Type 1 memory cards are of the same size as normal credit cards, which are about 54 mm in vertical width and 85.6 mm in horizontal width. These memory cards, however, have a thickness of 3.3 mm, which is larger than that of the credit cards.
(b) Type 2 memory cards can provide higher performance and thus have a memory constituting site that cannot be housed in the type 1 memory card. These memory cards are equivalent to the above credit cards in vertical and horizontal lengths, but have a total thickness of 5.0 mm due to the presence of a raised portion. A substrate portion of these memory cards has a horizontal length of 48 mm.
(c) Type 3 memory cards have been developed under the sponsorship of the Small Form Factor Committee and can be connected to a 1.8-inch small-form-factor disk drive via a memory card connector for a small-sized portable computer.
The type 3 memory cards are equivalent to the type 1 and 2 memory cards in vertical and horizontal lengths but have a thickness of 10.5 mm in a total thickness. Further, these memory cards accommodate a horizontally significantly raised substrate portion and thus have a card guide opening of 51 mm width on a head connector.
In addition to the above described memory cards, various cards (hereafter referred to as “PC cards”) are used which correspond to interfaces (SCSI cards) to modems, disk drives, and host computers depending on the type of a circuit built into the card.
These PC cards conform to a specified standard connector size and are thus compatible with most portable computers (notebook computers). They are also designed so as to be easily mounted in and removed from a computer and have recently been commonly used because they can easily and inexpensively improve the capabilities of the computer.
A device having the above described scanning mechanism integrated inside a housing of such a PC card to scan bar code information has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,789 (first publication) or the like, but no specific scanning mechanism has been disclosed.
Thus, based on the above described conventional techniques, the applicant has proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,262 (second publication) a bar code scanning device having a specific scanning mechanism integrated into a PC card in order to provide a compact and light bar code scanning device that can be easily adapted to peripheral equipment for processing and that can apply scanning beams in desired directions. The second publication, however, discloses the specific structure of the scanning mechanism integrated into the housing of the PC card but does not disclose specific numerical values such as the size of the scanning mechanism which are required for actual production.
That is, the second publication does not indicate whether the scanning mechanism is built into a housing of 3.3 mm thickness according to the type 1, a housing of 5.0 mm thickness according to the type 2, or a housing of 10.5 mm thickness according to the type 3, and still has room for improvement in terms of the reduced size, weight, and thickness of the bar code scanning device which are appropriate for building the device into the PC card housing.
In particular, the second publication does not refer to the point that the scanning mechanism is integrated into a card housing of a size corresponding to compact flash (CF) cards, which are new interfaces recently employed for small-sized portable terminals such as electronic handbooks, handy terminals, mail terminals, or cellular telephones, or miniature PC cards.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bar code scanning device with a scanning mechanism integrated thereinto which can be adapted to equipment for processing bar code information, such as a notebook computer or small-sized portable terminal, and which allows its own size, weight, and thickness to be reduced.
To attain this object, the present invention provides a bar code scanning device comprising a light source for generating a laser beam, a laser beam scanning section for applying the laser beam generated by the light source to a target bar code via a window portion as a scanning beam, a sensor for obtaining reflected light provided when the scanning beam is reflected from the bar code, to generate a detection signal based on an intensity of the reflected light, a signal processing section for controlling driving of the laser beam scanning section and generating bar code information from the detection signal generated by the sensor, and an external connection terminal for transmitting and receiving the bar code information generated by the signal processing section to and from a bar code data processing device, wherein (a center line of) a longitudinal direction of the window portion of the laser beam scanning section through which the scanning beam is emitted crosses, at a predetermined angle, a parallel line (an axial principal ray or an extension of an optical axis) of an optical axis of the laser beam generated by the light source.
Alternatively, the present invention provides a bar code scanning device comprising a light source for generating a laser beam, a laser beam scanning section for applying the laser beam generated by the light source to a target bar code via a window portion as a scanning beam, a sensor for obtaining reflected light provided when the scanning beam is reflected from the bar code, to generate a detection signal based on an intensity of the reflected light, a signal processing section for controlling driving
Aoki Hiroshi
Fujii Masayuki
Kabeya Akifumi
Miyajima Hiroshi
Shiratori Kazutoshi
Evans F. L.
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Olympus Optical Co,. Ltd.
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