Metrologic Instruments, Inc.

Hand Held Products, Inc.

Honeywell International Inc.

Metrologic Instruemtns, Inc.

John A Furlong

Timothy A Good

Xiaoxun Zhu

C Harry Knowles

Mark Hernandez

Mark C Schmidt

Anatoly Kotlarsky

Tao Xian

Michael L Veksland

Patrick Anthony Giordano

Yong Liu

Xi Tao

Jie Ren

Duane Ellis

Steven Essinger

JiBin Liu

Sean Phillip Kearney

John Gardner

Ming Zhuo

Nicholas Ciarlante

Sean Philip Kearney

Nicola Ciarlante

David M Wilz

Ka Man Au

Donald T Hudrick

Thomas Merritt Haggerty

Carl Harry Knowles

Erik Van Horn

Benjamin Hejl

David Wilz, Sr

Joseph A Walczyk

James Rosetti

Larry Coyle

Chandler Dickinson

George Kolis

James C Nahill

Thomas A Amundsen

Taylor Smith

Charles Joseph Cunningham, Iv

Dwight Linwood Franz

Ian A Scott

Shane Michael Edmonds

Mikhail L Veksland

James A Cairns

Craig S Koch

Sarah Gloeckner

John Beiler

Glenn Alan Cavanaugh

Mark Jose Antonio Hernandez

Sr David Wilz

A point of sale system capable of operating in an indicia-reading mode or a verification mode is disclosed. In the indicia-reading mode, the point of sale system configures its illumination, imaging, and processing to read indicia as part of a normal checkout process. If triggered by a user or by an event, the point of sale system may operate in a verification mode. In the verification mode, the point of sale system enables the necessary illumination, imaging, and processing to verify an item. This verification includes illuminating the item in a way that causes a noticeable response from a security mark (or marks) on the item. An image of the response may be captured and processed to authenticate/verify the item. The point of sale system may then respond to the verification and/or may store the image/results as a record of the verification.

Multifunction point of sale system

Indicia readers may be configured with two illumination light sources: a primary light source for illuminating primary indicia (e.g., a barcode) and a secondary ultraviolet (UV) light source for revealing secondary indicia (e.g., UV fluorescent watermarks) that are used to protect against counterfeit and fraud. Ultraviolet light can be harmful. The present invention embraces methods and a device for controlling the secondary UV light source to limit UV exposure. When an exposure risks is detected, the UV light source is deactivated.

Indicia reader safety

A barcode scanner should output one scanned result per scanned item at checkout. Scanners with large scan areas and multiple scan lines may scan an item more than once as it is dragged through the scan area during the checkout process. A timeout period, during which duplicate scans are ignored, may prevent duplicate scans from being transmitted. Scanners with integrated weight scales may require the use of the scan area for a weight measurement. As a result, weighed items may linger in the scan area longer than the regular timeout period and may be re-scanned. The invention embraces a method and system for mitigating this problem by using information from the scanned barcode and information from the scale to affect how duplicate barcode scans are handled for items requiring a weight measurement and not adversely affected with speed of input as may result with gating and virtual gating with disable/enable scanning commands.

Method and system for improving barcode scanner performance

A system in one embodiment is operative to attempt to decode decodable indicia. The system can include an imaging assembly and a display. The display can be operative to display image data output utilizing the imaging assembly.

System having imaging assembly for use in output of image data

A method of operating a reader system includes: providing a reader for reading information data carriers; an operator loading a configuration overlay onto the configuration settings of the reader upon successful logging, wherein the configuration overlay is specific to the operator; and reading information data carriers utilizing the configuration overlay.

Individualized scanner

A multi-stage laser beam despeckling device including a first laser beam despeckling module for optically multiplexing an input laser beam into a temporal/spatial coherence-reduced output laser beam; and a second laser beam despeckling module, optically coupled to the first laser beam despeckling module, for receiving the temporal/spatial coherence-reduced as an input laser beam to the second despeckling module and producing a further temporal/spatial coherence-reduced output laser beam.

Laser beam despeckling devices

Digital image capture and processing systems and methods for generating and projecting coplanar illumination and imaging planes and/or coextensive area-type illumination and imaging zones, through one or more imaging windows, and into a 3D imaging volume in a retail POS environments, while employing automatic object motion and/or velocity detection, real-time image analysis and other techniques to capture and processing high-quality digital images of objects passing through the 3D imaging volume, and intelligently controlling and/or managing the use of visible and invisible forms of illumination, during object illumination and imaging operations, that might otherwise annoy or disturb human operators and/or customers working and/or shopping in such retail environments.

Method of reading bar code symbols on objects at a point-of-sale station by passing said objects through a complex of stationary coplanar illumination and imaging planes projected into a 3D imaging volume

A POS-based digital image capturing and processing system for illuminating objects using automatic object detection and spectral-mixing illumination technique. The system comprises an area-type illumination and imaging station for projecting a coextensive area-type illumination and imaging field (i.e. zone) into a 3D imaging volume during object illumination and imaging operations. The area-type illumination and imaging station includes an illumination subsystem for producing a first field of visible illumination from an array of visible LEDs, and producing a second field of invisible illumination from an array of infrared (IR) LEDs. wherein the first and second fields of illumination spatially overlap and intermix with each other and are substantially coextensive with the FOV of the image sensing array. An automatic object motion detection subsystem automatically detects the motion of an object moving through the 3D imaging volume, while an illumination control subsystem controls the relative power ratio (VIS/IR) of visible illumination and invisible illumination during system operation so as to minimize the amount of visible illumination energy required to capture sufficiently high-contrast images of said objects and successfully process the same.

POS-based digital image capturing and processing system employing automatic object motion detection and spectral-mixing based illumination techniques

A method of and system for returning a consumer product in a retail environment and preventing or reducing employee theft of returned merchandise in retail store environments and providing greater accountability for returned merchandise in retail store environments. The method comprises providing an image capturing and processing system at the retail environment, including a system housing having an imaging window and generating and projecting a field of view through the imaging window, and into a 3D imaging volume definable relative to the imaging window. The digital image capturing and processing system produces one or more digital images of consumer goods (i.e. products) passing within the 3D imaging volume. Identification (ID) data for the consumer returning the purchased goods is entered into a host system connected to the digital image capturing and processing system, as well as identification data for the employee to whom the goods are being returned. The digital image capturing engine captures one or more digital images of returned products and these digital images are provided to the host system. The host system generates an electronic document containing identification data for the customer and employee along with the one or more digital images of the returned product or merchandise. The electronic document is then transmitted from the host system to a database server associated with the retail store environment, for storage and subsequent processing. By virtue of the present invention, it is now possible to prevent or reduce employee theft of returned merchandise in retail store environments and provide greater accountability for returned merchandise in such store environments.

Method of and system for returning a consumer product in a retail environment so as to prevent or reduce employee theft, as well as provide greater accountability for returned merchandise in retail store environments

A digital image capturing and processing system for automatically recognizing objects in a POS environment. The system includes a system housing having an imaging window; illumination and imaging stations for generating and projecting illumination and imaging planes or zones through the imaging window, and into a 3D imaging volume definable relative to the imaging window, for digital imaging an object passing through the 3D imaging volume, and generating digital linear images of the object as the object intersects the illumination and imaging planes or zones during system operation. A digital image processor processes the digital images and automatically recognizes the object, such as produce and fruit, graphically represented by the digital images.

Digital image capturing and processing system for automatically recognizing objects in a POS environment

A laser beam generation system having an integrated coherence reduction mechanism. The system includes: a flexible circuit having a first end portion and a second end portion; a laser diode mounted on the first end portion of the flexible circuit, for producing a laser beam having a central characteristic wavelength; diode current drive circuitry for producing a diode drive current to drive the laser diode and produce said laser beam; and high frequency modulation (HFM) circuitry also mounted on the first end portion of the flexible circuit, for modulating the diode drive current at a sufficiently high frequency to cause the laser diode to produce a laser beam having a spectral side-band components about the central characteristic wavelength, and thereby reducing the coherence as well as coherence length of the laser beam.

Laser beam generation system employing a laser diode and high-frequency modulation circuitry mounted on a flexible circuit

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Woodbury, NJ, United States of America

John A Furlong