Portable laser scanning system and scanning methods

摘要

An entirely field-portable laser scanning system for reading bar code symbols includes a light-weight and small-sized laser scanning head. The laser source, power supply component, optics, scanning elements, sensor circuit, and signal processing circuitry are specially designed for minimal size and weight and volume such that they can all be mounted in the head. The head can be bracket-mounted or hand-held. The housing for the head can be provided with a handle grip, or can be gun-shaped. Highspeed oscillating scanning motors and/or penta-bimorph scanners are used as scanning elements. A trigger initiates repetitive scanning of each object bearing a symbol, and an indicator indicates when the scanning of that particular object has been terminated. A body harness supports the remaining scanner system circuitry. A non-bulky, freely-movable cable interconnects the head to the body harness. Methods of scanning the symbol and of operating the system are also disclosed.