U.S. patent application number 14/087007 was filed with the patent office on 2014-03-13 for scanner with wake-up mode.
This patent application is currently assigned to Metrologic Instruments, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Metrologic Instruments, Inc.. Invention is credited to Thomas Amundsen, John Beiler, James A. Cairns, Glenn Alan Cavanaugh, Shane Michael Edmonds, Dwight Franz, Sarah Gloeckner, Mark Hernandez, Mark Meagher, James Nahill, David Wilz.
Application Number | 20140070005 14/087007 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47828930 |
Filed Date | 2014-03-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140070005 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nahill; James ; et
al. |
March 13, 2014 |
SCANNER WITH WAKE-UP MODE
Abstract
An indicia reader system includes an indicia reader provided at
a point of transaction; a controller for controlling power to the
indicia reader; a detector for detecting a customer, item or
shopping cart at the point of transaction and providing an
indication signal to the controller of the presence of customer,
item or shopping cart at the point of transaction; wherein the
controller interrupts power to the indicia reader during a power
save mode and resumes power to the indicia reader upon receiving
the indication signal.
Inventors: |
Nahill; James;
(Turnersville, NJ) ; Wilz; David; (Sewell, NJ)
; Amundsen; Thomas; (Turnersville, NJ) ; Franz;
Dwight; (Haddonfield, NJ) ; Hernandez; Mark;
(Bridgeton, NJ) ; Edmonds; Shane Michael;
(Monroeville, NJ) ; Gloeckner; Sarah; (Mount
Royal, NJ) ; Beiler; John; (Lancaster, PA) ;
Meagher; Mark; (Woodbury, NJ) ; Cairns; James A.;
(Victor, NY) ; Cavanaugh; Glenn Alan; (New Egypt,
NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Metrologic Instruments, Inc. |
Blackwood |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Metrologic Instruments,
Inc.
Blackwood
NJ
|
Family ID: |
47828930 |
Appl. No.: |
14/087007 |
Filed: |
November 22, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13232081 |
Sep 14, 2011 |
8590789 |
|
|
14087007 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
235/439 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K 7/1091 20130101;
G06K 7/01 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
235/439 |
International
Class: |
G06K 7/01 20060101
G06K007/01 |
Claims
1. An indicia reader system comprising: an indicia reader provided
at a point of transaction; a controller for controlling power to
the indicia reader; and a detector for detecting a customer, item
or shopping cart at the point of transaction and providing an
indication signal to the controller of the presence of customer,
item or shopping cart at the point of transaction; wherein the
controller interrupts power to the indicia reader during a power
save mode and resumes power to the indicia reader upon receiving
the indication signal.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises a
vibration detector.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector detects weight.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector detects
movement.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector detects voltage on a
conveyor utilized for moving items towards the indicia reader.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed on a side of the scanner facing the
customer.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed at the entrance of a point of
transaction checkout lane.
8. A method of operating an indicia reader system, comprising:
providing an indicia reader at a point of transaction; controlling
power to the indicia reader to interrupt power to the indicia
reader; detecting a customer, item, or shopping cart at the point
of transaction and providing an indication signal to the controller
of the presence of the customer, item or shopping cart at the point
of transaction; and resuming power to the indicia reader upon the
controller receiving the indication signal.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector comprises a
vibration detector.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector detects weight.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector detects
movement.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector detects voltage on
a conveyor utilized for moving items towards the indicia
reader.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed on a side of the scanner facing the
customer.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed at the entrance of a point of
transaction checkout lane.
15. An indicia reader system comprising: an indicia reader provided
at a point of transaction; a controller for controlling power to
the indicia reader; a first detector for detecting a customer, item
or shopping cart at the point of transaction and providing an
indication signal to the controller of the presence of customer,
item or shopping cart at the point of transaction; and a second
detector for sensing items on the bottom of a shopping cart and
providing an indication signal in response to the existence of
items on the bottom of the cart; wherein the controller interrupts
power to the indicia reader during a power save mode and resumes
power to the indicia reader upon receiving the indication
signal.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first detector comprises a
vibration detector.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first detector detects
weight.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the first detector detects
movement.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the first detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed on a side of the scanner facing the
customer.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein the first detector comprises an
infrared detector disposed at the entrance of a point of
transaction checkout lane.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/232,081 for a Scanner with Wake-up Mode,
filed Sep. 14, 2011 (and published Mar. 14, 2013 as U.S. Patent
Application Publication No. 2013/0062409), now U.S. Pat. No.
8,590,789. Each of the foregoing patent application, patent
publication, and patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to indicia reading devices,
and more particularly to an indicia reader with improved wake-up
mode.
[0003] An exemplary information reading device for reading
information bearing devices (IBDs) or information data carriers
(IDC) that have data encoded or provided therein. An IDC may
provide data from a number of sources, such as "flash" type memory,
(e.g. a memory device sometimes known as "Multimedia MMC," "Smart
Media," "Compact Flash," and "Memory Stick.", memory stick or
drive; a command entered from the point of transaction system; a
command from the local host or server; a magnetic stripe; a RFID
device; wireless transmission device such as a BLUETOOTH.TM., a
biometric from a person, etc. An exemplary reader may be an indicia
bearing information (IBI) reader (also referred to as scanners,
laser scanners, bi-optic reader, indicia readers, etc.) that reads
data represented by printed or displayed IBI, (also referred to as
symbols, symbology, bar codes, etc.) For instance one type of a
symbol is an array of rectangular bars and spaces that are arranged
in a specific way to represent elements of data in machine readable
form. Indicia reading devices typically transmit light onto a
symbol and receive light scattered and/or reflected back from a bar
code symbol or indicia. The received light is interpreted by a
processor which performs signal and/or image processing to extract
the data represented by the symbol. Indicia reading devices
typically utilize visible or infrared light. Laser indicia reading
devices typically utilize transmitted laser light.
[0004] Exemplary readers used in a high-throughput point of
transaction (POT) application typically falls into a category of
scanners or indicia readers known as bi-optic scanners.
[0005] Efforts regarding such systems have led to continuing
developments to improve their versatility, practicality and
efficiency.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary indicia reader
system.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic block diagram of an
exemplary indicia reader system.
[0008] FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart for operating an indicia
reader system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments which
are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments may
be in various forms and the exemplary embodiments should not be
construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,
these representative embodiments are described in detail so that
this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully
convey the scope, structure, operation, functionality, and
potential applicability to those skilled in the art. Wherever
possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the
drawings to refer to the same or like parts. The term "scan" or
"scanning" used herein refers to reading or extracting data from an
information bearing indicia (or symbol). The term imaging used
herein refers to the taking or creation of an electronic image.
[0010] Referring to the figures, an exemplary reader system
configuration comprises an indicia reader 112 operated by an
establishment operator or cashier and utilized where information
bearing indicia (IBI) are present. The indicia reader may be
stationary and may be either laser indicia reading devices (or
bi-optic or laser scanners) utilizing transmitted laser light for
extracting data from IBIs.
[0011] An operator may pass a target containing an IBI, dataform,
text, or other data to be collected passed the indicia reading
device. An IBI or dataform may be an originally machine generated
symbology that is also machine readable, such as a 1-D barcode, a
2-D barcode, a 1-D stacked barcode, a logo, glyphs, color-codes,
and the like.
[0012] Exemplary indicia readers may be in communication (wired or
wireless) to a local transaction processing system 140, such as a
cash register, customer station or employee station or local
host/server 122 directly or through a charging station or base 138.
An exemplary local server 122 or indicia reader 112 may be in
communication with network 120 and or a remote/web server 134.
[0013] An exemplary indicia reader 112 may be used in an
establishment such as a store at a point of transaction. An
exemplary indicia reader may be of a bi-optic laser scanning system
which includes a centrally-positioned double-sided rotating mirror
or central spinner, a first and second deflector or directional
mirror, a first and second wobbling mirror, and a plurality of
pattern mirrors. The scanning system may be mounted in stationary
or fixed housings 80, wherein patterns mirrors may be positioned
and aligned to direct the two scanning patterns in different
directions towards a common scanning field. Exemplary stationary or
fixed-mount retail scanners may combine both vertical and
horizontal laser output windows 81, 83 respectively that view a
single common scanning field or region for reading IBI targets on
products that may be located on the bottom or sides of the
products.
[0014] An exemplary use of the exemplary indicia reader is as the
primary or sole scanner at a customer point of transaction (POT) in
an establishment. Primary may mean the scanner at a POT is used to
scan or image items more often than any other scanner or imager at
the POT. A transaction may be any of a number of events that occur
between a customer and an establishment, such as a store. The
events may involve such things as exchange of monetary funds,
payment for merchandise or service, return of merchandise, picking
up merchandise that has already been paid for, or contracting for a
service (such as leasing or renting).
[0015] As the primary scanner, merchandise with indicia can be read
by it so that data decoded therefrom may be used for a stock
keeping system (such as SKU) functionality such as sales, price
look up, inventory, etc..
[0016] Exemplary indicia reader may be in communication (wired or
wireless) to a local transaction processing system 140, such as a
cash register, customer station or employee station or local
host/server 122 directly or through a charging station or base 138.
An exemplary local server 122 or indicia reader 112 may be in
communication with network 120 and or a remote/web server 134.
[0017] An exemplary indicia reader 112 may comprise a number of
exemplary subsystems, such as laser scan engine 380 or laser
scanning reader system for reading indicia on a target T. The laser
scanning reader system may comprise a laser controller 384 for
controlling a laser generator 388 for generating a laser light beam
which may be directed onto a folding mirror 390 which then directs
the laser light beam to an oscillating or rotating scan mirror 392
to project a scanning pattern onto target T. The laser scanning
pattern may be reflected off of the target and redirected by scan
mirror 392 into a receive path comprising a laser light pass filter
396, a photodiode 400, an amplifier 404 and a digitizer 408.
[0018] Exemplary laser scanners use a laser beam as the light
source and employ either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism
to scan the laser beam back and forth across the IBI. One or more
photodiodes are used to measure the intensity of the light
reflected back from the bar code. The light emitted by the reader
is rapidly varied in brightness with a data pattern and the
photodiode receive circuit is designed to detect only signals with
the same modulated pattern.
[0019] An exemplary photodetector or photosensor may be comprised
of one or more photodiodes that converts incident light energy into
electric charge that is an output signal representative of light
reflected off an IBI. The output of the photodetector may be
processed utilizing one or more functions or algorithms to
condition the signal appropriately for use in further processing
downstream.
[0020] An exemplary image sensor converts light or other
electromagnetic energy reflected off of a target and provides an
output signal representative thereof. Image sensors may be an array
of pixels adapted to operate in a global shutter or full frame
shutter, mode or alternately operate in a rolling shutter mode. It
may be a color or monochrome 2D solid state image sensor
implemented in any of CCD, CMOS, NMOS, PMOS, CID, CMD,
back-illuminated technologies. The imager may be either a
progressive or interleaved imager. The image sensor may contain an
array of light sensitive photodiodes (or pixels) that convert
incident light energy into electric charge. Many solid state image
sensors also allow regions of a full frame of image data to be
addressed.
[0021] An exemplary photo detector or image sensor may use a
monocolor image sensor that may include a filter element defining
color sensitive pixel elements dispersed throughout an array of
monochrome pixels. Operation of the monocolor image sensor is to
subsample color images (monochrome or full color) utilizing
associated optimal sensor settings for image capture or symbology
scanning. Exemplary monocolor image sensors are described in U.S.
Patent Publication Number 20060274171 entitled DIGITAL PICTURE
TAKING OPTICAL READER HAVING HYBRID MONOCHROME AND COLOR IMAGE
SENSOR ARRAY the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by
reference.
[0022] Laser light may be described as a spatially coherent, narrow
low-divergence beam of light. The output signal of the
photodetector may be processed utilizing one or more functions or
algorithms to condition the signal appropriately for use in further
processing downstream, including decoding of IBIs.
[0023] Other exemplary subsystems or components for the scanner
system may include one or more processor(s) or controllers 170,
local memory 172, a display 116, a key pad 214, a communications
module 180, a beeper 158 for providing audio feedback or a speaker
and speaker driver 160 for providing audio feedback, one or more
detectors 162 and a power controller 174. The subsystems may
communicate via one or more bus 168, data lines or other signal or
data communication form. The scanner may communicate with one or
more host processor(s) 118, a local host/server 122, local memory
166, network 120 or remote server host/server 134 utilizing a
communications module 180.
[0024] Exemplary detectors may be proximity detectors to detect the
presence of a person or item, imagers for taking images of events
or persons, motion detectors, audio detectors for detecting audio
signals such as voice messages, etc.
[0025] The particulars of the functionality of the processor(s) and
the reader may be determined by or based upon certain configuration
settings or data which may be stored in firmware, remote or local
memory.
[0026] An exemplary processor may be a mixed-signal array with
on-chip controller devices designed to replace multiple traditional
MCU-based system components with one single-chip programmable
device. It may include configurable blocks of analog and digital
logic, as well as programmable interconnects.
[0027] Exemplary functions of the processor(s) may be controlling
operation of the scan engine, decoding functions and operator
interface functions. Operating software may be utilized to operate
the processor(s) for such functions seemingly simultaneously or in
a multitasking role. An exemplary image reader operating software
architecture may be organized into processes or threads of
execution.
[0028] Processor(s), memory and associated circuitry which perform
or control the exemplary scan and decoding functions may be
provided in the scan engine or on associated circuit boards which
are located within the housing of the reader. Decoding is a term
used to describe the interpretation of a machine readable code.
[0029] The motors on a bi-optic scanner can take seconds to reach
designed scanning speed when the scanner comes out of a sleep mode.
This time is wasted if the cashier or operator has to wait to start
scanning.
[0030] Bi-optic scanners may have a controller programmed to go
into a power save or sleep mode by interrupting or turning off
power to the lasers and motors to conserve energy. Once asleep, it
is important to for the motors on a bi-optic scanner to reach
designed scanning speed when the scanner comes out of a sleep mode
(to wake up). Operator or cashier interaction with the scanner is
currently the method to wake up the scanner utilizing infrared (IR)
detection, photo detection, switch depression or host commands.
[0031] Sometimes however, a customer arrives at the scanner prior
to the cashier. Providing a method to detect the presence of a
customer and trigger the scanner to wake up, it gives the scanner
additional time to reach full motor speed so it is ready to scan by
the time the cashier arrives. One or more detectors 162 may be
utilized to detect the presence of a customer.
[0032] An exemplary system for detecting the presence of a customer
may be detecting vibration such as at the start of a conveyor belt
176 using a vibration detector disposed on the scanner to provide a
signal to a controller to wake-up the scanner. The conveyor belt
for moves items towards the scanner.
[0033] In an exemplary embodiment, a conveyor may be a separate
piece from the scanner housing in which case the vibration detector
may be disposed on the conveyor to provide a signal to a controller
to wake-up the scanner.
[0034] In an exemplary embodiment, the detector may detect the
placement of items on the belt itself by sensing weight or vertical
pressure or movement of items placed onto the belt or platform or
motion of the conveyor belt to provide a signal to a controller to
wake-up the scanner.
[0035] In an exemplary embodiment, the conveyor is grounded because
it is a voltage generator while moving. A voltage detector may
detect high voltage generated on the belt before it reaches
grounded potential and provide an indication signal to a controller
to wake-up the scanner.
[0036] In an exemplary embodiment, a photo or IR detector may be
disposed on the customer's side (or rear) of the scanner, or it may
be disposed under the conveyor to the entrance of the checkout
lane.
[0037] In an exemplary embodiment, a photo or IR detector may be
disposed on the side of the scanner facing the conveyor belt and
may detect items placed on the conveyor and/or customer motion.
[0038] In an exemplary embodiment the photo detector may also be
used to sense or image items on the bottom of a shopping cart in
order to prevent an operator from missing scanning items stored
there. The image may be displayed for the operator to see or an
indication signal may alert the operator of the existence of items
on the bottom of the cart.
[0039] A flowchart of an exemplary of operating a scanning system
is illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein a customer, item or cart is
detected in a step 510. Upon detection, a signal is sent to a
controller in a step 514 to wake-up the scanner in a step 518.
[0040] It should be understood that the programs, processes,
methods and apparatus described herein are not related or limited
to any particular type of computer or network apparatus (hardware
or software). Various types of general purpose or specialized
computer apparatus may be used with or perform operations in
accordance with the teachings described herein. While various
elements of the preferred embodiments have been described as being
implemented in software, in other embodiments hardware or firmware
implementations may alternatively be used, and vice-versa. The
illustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken
as limiting the scope of the present invention. For example, the
steps of the flow diagrams may be taken in sequences other than
those described, and more, fewer or other elements may be used in
the block diagrams. Also, unless applicants have expressly
disavowed any subject matter within this application, no particular
embodiment or subject matter is considered to be disavowed
herein.
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