The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 19, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 14, 1998
David Marrs, Syracuse, NY (US);
Louis Bruno, Auburn, NY (US);
Joseph Guszcza, Jordan, NY (US);
Timothy Meier, Marcellus, NY (US);
Matthew Pankow, Marcellus, NY (US);
James A Parker, Liverpool, NY (US);
John Pettinelli, Rome, NY (US);
Bradley Randolph, Syracuse, NY (US);
Andrew Reynolds, Bothell, WA (US);
Thomas Ruhlman, Skaneateles, NY (US);
Welch Allyn Data Collection, Inc., Skaneateles Falls, NY (US);
Abstract
The invention is a multiterminal data collection network including a plurality of terminals and a base station configured so that each data collection terminal can be programmed in accordance with one of a predetermined number of available application. When a data collection terminal such as a bar code reader is programmed to operate in accordance with a particular application, the reader operates according to a data collection protocol that is the same as the data collection protocol of each other reader in the network programmed to operate in accordance with that same application. In another aspect of the invention, a base station normally transmits messages received from different readers according to different transmission protocols if the readers are programmed to operate in accordance with different applications, and transmits messages received from different readers according to the same protocol if the readers are programmed in accordance with the same application. A reader of the network can be associated with a new application group by reading of a specially designed application selector symbol.