Imager reader with hand gesture interface
Contents
1. b Patent Application Publication Sep 6 2012 Sheet 1 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al 1010 FIG 1 Patent Application Publication Sep 6 2012 Sheet 2 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al 2028 ye 2054 2062 2052 FIG 2 Sep 6 2012 Sheet 3 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al Patent Application Publication 090 9ELE L d A 8606 pele 17606 960 OPLE vd 060 Nv Woyda 3908019 H zele 4 OCLE 01023 o CLE 890 7 8ELE H LINIUID 9116 JOYNLNOD TOULNOD Alawassy 81 16 ATANISSY 2806 LLS SN NOILYNIANTII amp i 080 H 7806 Ey 901 SOLE 1 cLLE We 1980 920 0E 8206 soie 2 2206 OOLE OLLE en een 020 u Patent Application Publication Sep 6 2012 Sheet 4 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al 3070 FIG 4 Patent Application Publication Sep 6 2012 Sheet 5 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al 5148 wen FIG 5 Patent Application Publication Sep 6 2012 Sheet 6 of 6 US 2012 0224040 Al MICROPROCESSOR 6152 MODULATOR 6154 AMPLIFIER 6150 6156 TUNER 6158 DEMODULATOR 6162 CONVERTER 6164 Ee ee FIG 6 US 2012 0224040 Al IMAGER READER WITH HAND GESTURE INTERFACE FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 Thi2. if the captured image correlates with one of the stored hand gesture attribute images executing the mode of opera tion associated with the hand gesture attribute image 19 The method of claim 18 wherein the stored hand ges ture attribute image comprises a distress signal and the mode of operation associated with the distress hand signal is send ing a distress communication to a device 20 The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of providing feedback to indicate the terminal is prepared to execute the mode of operation associated with the hand ges ture attribute image 21 The method of claim 19 wherein the step of providing feedback comprises visually indicating on a display that a match has been achieved 22 The method of claim 21 wherein the display shows the new mode of operation 23 The method of claim 19 wherein the step of providing feedback comprises illuminating a light 24 The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of requiring a confirmation before executing the mode of opera tion 25 The method of claim 24 wherein the confirmation is a hand gesture
3. For instance the user could gesture number two to revert back to the original mode of operation 0036 Inanother embodiment the indicia reading terminal 4028 may include one or more feedback indicators to indicate the terminal is prepared to switch modes The terminal 4028 may also require confirmation from the user prior to continu ing The terminal 4028 may include a display 4130 that visu ally indicates a match has been achieved and shows the new mode of operation The terminal 4028 may require a confir mation before proceeding such as the okay gesture illus trated in FIG 4 b Alternately the terminal may require the user to press the trigger 4060 to continue or some other affirmative action If the terminal 4028 does not detect an affirmative action in a predetermined period of time such as two seconds no action is taken If the terminal 4028 errone ously detects a hand gesture and the user does not wish to switch modes of operation a hand gesture indicating denial may be initiated such as the back and forth no gesture shown in FIG 4 c In one example the feedback indicator is an audible feedback indicator such as a beep tone or syn thesized voice indicating the command has been executed 0037 In another embodiment visual indicators such as lights may be utilized to indicate the terminal is prepared to switch modes For example the indicia reading terminal 4028 may include one or more light emittin
4. an emergency the user simply gestures the distress signal to the terminal 5028 Upon correlating the image of the distress signal to that in the library 5144 the terminal 5028 is adapted to execute a mode of operation wherein a distress call is placed through the wireless transceiver via the I O interface The call which may be transmitted in a predetermined fre quency may be received by local police private security companies the in store alarm or the like 5168 In one embodiment the terminal 5028 does not execute any audio or visual feedback e g a silent alarm 0048 Alternately the terminal 5028 shown in FIG 5 may be connected via a wired connection to an external device such as modem not shown for communication of the distress signal Other embodiments may include the bioptic scanner illustrated in FIG 1 so long as the scanner includes an imager based terminal 0049 Oneofthe improvements of the present disclosure is that cumbersome steps to switch modes of operation for an imager based indicia reading terminal are alleviated Rather than search through an Operation Manual which may be over 50 pages to find the correct barcode to switch a mode of operation or connecting a companion device to the terminal the user simply performs a hand gesture 0050 While the present invention has been described with reference to a number of specific embodiments it will be understood that the true spirit and scope of the invention
5. or more scan sources Although in some constructions the scan sources can be similar in embodiments of the inven tion disclosed herein at least one of the scan sources is an imager based terminal For example in addition to the imager based terminal e g multiple pixel image sensor array alternate scan sources can include the previously noted laser based terminal a radio frequency identification device RFID or a weight scale A second imager based terminal can be in the horizontal plane Or the imager based terminal can be in the horizontal plane and a laser based terminal can be in the vertical plane The image array sensor may be distinguished by the operating software and include 1 D imagers 2 imagers optical character recognition read ers pattern recognition devices and color recognition devices for example 0023 In some constructions the workstation 1010 may further include a radio frequency identification RFID reader 1034 a credit card reader 1036 a wide area wireless WIFI interface 1038 including RF transceiver and antenna 1040 for connecting to the TCP IP layer of the Internet as well as one or more storing and processing relational database manage ment system RDBMS server 1042 a Bluetooth 2 way com munication interface 1044 including RF transceivers and antenna 1046 for connecting to Bluetooth enabled hand held scanners imagers PDAs portable computers and the like 1048 for control management applica
6. second after button release and five seconds after button release Also within presentation mode pass through settings may be enabled or disabled or a pass through timeout may be set to 100 or 300 milliseconds for example 0042 The modes of operation that may be configured to execute with a hand gesture for imager based indicia reading terminals having a hand held form factor may include but are not limited to inventory modes An inventory mode may be enabled or disabled for example When enabled records scanned from barcodes are stored in internal memory and a hand gesture may execute a command to transmit all records to a local host computer Hand gestures could also be utilized to identify quantities of items for example by gesturing the number one the number two and the like 0043 The image sensor assembly 3070 may be utilized to capture a series of images to detect motion as well as still gestures For example the back and forth motion depicted in FIG 4 b may be deciphered by comparing a sequential series of captured images with a like set in the hand gesture attribute library In another embodiment a lack of motion for a prede termined period may indicate a request for a change in the mode of operation For example the imager based indicia reading terminal may be adapted such that when an objects stops in the scan volume for a predetermined time e g 2 seconds the terminal can switch to a camera mode 0044 Turning
7. should be determined only with respect to claims that can be supported by the present specification Further while in numerous cases herein wherein systems and apparatuses and methods are described as having a certain number of elements it will be understood that such systems apparatuses and methods can be practiced with fewer than the mentioned certain number of elements Also while a number of particu lar embodiments have been described it will be understood that features and aspects that have been described with refer ence to each particular embodiment can be used with each remaining particularly described embodiment What is claimed is 1 A system for decoding an encoded symbol character associated with a product the system comprising US 2012 0224040 Al an imager based indicia reading terminal comprising a housing and a two dimensional image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image on the two di mensional image sensor array the two dimensional image sensor array having a plurality of pixels formed in a plurality of rows and columns of pixels the terminal adapted to read an encoded symbol character and further adapted to image a hand gesture the terminal having a digital link to transmit the image of the hand gesture one or more memories coupled to the indicia reading ter minal via a digital connection at least one of the memo ries comprising a hand gesture attribute library to asso ciate predefined hand ge
8. to FIG 5 an imager based indicia reading terminal 5028 may be utilized to interpret a hand gesture and send a distress communication to a device in the event of an emergency such as a store robbery In one embodiment the imager based indicia reading terminal 5028 is a hand held device which may be secured in a base 5148 on a store countertop As described in other embodiments of the inven tion the terminal 5028 includes hand gesture attribute library 5144 that includes a distress signal such as that shown in FIG 5 The particular hand gesture to denote an emergency may be any convenient image such as a user generated image and is not limited to the illustration When a user displays the hand gesture to the terminal 5028 and the image correlates with that in the library 5144 the terminal may be adapted to call local police or 911 for example 0045 In one embodiment shown in FIG 6 the I O inter face 3140 may be coupled to a wireless transceiver 6150 The wireless transceiver includes a variety of components that perform various tasks or functions For example the compo nents may include a radio frequency RF signal modulator 6152 an RF signal amplifier 6154 an RF signal tuner 6156 and an RF signal demodulator 6158 The RF signal modulator 6152 may include any suitable structure for modulating data onto an outgoing RF signal for transmission The RF signal amplifier 6154 may include any suitable structure for ampli fying RF si
9. US 20120224040A1 09 United States a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2012 0224040 Al Wang 43 Pub Date Sep 6 2012 54 IMAGER READER WITH HAND GESTURE 57 ABSTRACT INTERFACE A system for decoding an encoded symbol character associ 15 Inventor Ynjiun P Wang Cupertino CA ated with a product is providedherein The system includes an US imager based indicia reading terminal comprising a housing gt image gs s and an eee ens for focusing an image on the two dimensional image 73 Assignee Hand Held Products Inc sensor array The nal is adapted to read an isde Skaneateles Falls NY US symbol character and further adapted to image a hand ges ture The terminal includes a digital link to transmit the image 21 Appl No 13 039 920 of the hand gesture The system further includes a memory coupled to the indicia reading terminal via a digital connec 22 Filed Mar 3 2011 tion The memory includes a hand gesture attribute library to associate predefined hand gestures with a terminal mode of Publication Classification operation The system further includes a central processing 51 Int CI unit connected to the digital link to receive the image of the HOAN gt 18 2006 01 hand gesture correlate the image with the predefined hand gestures in the hand gesture attribute library and execute the 52 US Clt sat nee 348 77 348 E07 085 associated terminal mode of operation 3070
10. an image on the two dimensional image sensor array The terminal is adapted to read an encoded symbol character and further adapted to image a hand ges ture The terminal includes a digital link to transmit the image of the hand gesture The system further includes a memory coupled to the indicia reading terminal via a digital connec tion The memory includes a hand gesture attribute library to associate predefined hand gestures with a terminal mode of operation The system further includes a central processing unit connected to the digital link to receive the image of the hand gesture correlate the image with the predefined hand gestures in the hand gesture attribute library and execute the associated terminal mode of operation 0009 Inanother aspect of the invention provided herein is a method for changing the mode of operation for an indicia reading terminal The method includes the step of providing an imager based terminal having a housing and a two dimen sional image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image on the two dimensional image sensor array The two dimensional image sensor array has a plurality of pixels formed in a plurality of rows and columns of pixels The method further includes the step of providing a memory coupled to the terminal The memory stores a hand gesture attribute library comprising a plurality of hand gesture attribute images Each of the images are associated with a mode of operation for the t
11. aspect image sensor assembly 3070 can include one more I O interfaces 3140 3142 for providing communication with external devices e g a cash register server a store server an inventory facility server a image sensor assembly 3070 a local area network base station a cellular base station I O interfaces 3140 3142 can be inter faces of any combination of known computer interfaces e g Ethernet IEEE 802 3 USB IEEE 802 11 Bluetooth CDMA and GSM and may couple with processors such as interface microcontrollers and memories to carry out some or all the functions described herein 0034 Referring now to FIGS 3 and 4 in one embodiment an imager based indicia reading terminal 4028 not only reads and decodes a barcode but also monitors a user s behavior in the form of hand gestures to execute a specific mode of operation for the terminal The memory 3092 may include a hand gesture attribute library 3144 to associate predefined hand gestures with a terminal mode of operation In one example the hand gesture attribute library 3144 is stored in RAM 3090 and includes a group of images depicting a vari ety of hand gestures Each depiction of a hand gesture is paired with a mode of operation for the terminal The pairing may be in a lookup table for example The processor 3088 may be adapted to compare the captured image from the image sensor 3072 with the group of depictions or images stored in the hand gesture attribute lib
12. attern light source bank 3108 can be controlled with use of illumination assembly control circuit 3116 Filter module 3110 can be controlled with use of a filter module control circuit 3118 which can be coupled to the actuator assembly 3112 Lens assembly con trol circuit 3114 can send signals to lens assembly 3100 e g for changing a focal length and or a best focus distance of lens assembly 3100 Illumination assembly control circuit 3116 can send signals to illumination pattern light source bank 3106 e g for changing a level of illumination output 0032 Image sensor assembly 3070 can include various interface circuits for coupling several of the peripheral US 2012 0224040 Al devices to system address data bus system bus bus 3120 for communication with processor 3088 also coupled to system bus 3120 Image sensor assembly 3070 can include interface circuit 3122 for coupling image sensor timing and control circuit 3084 to system bus 3120 interface circuit 3124 for coupling the lens assembly control circuit 3114 to system bus 3120 interface circuit 3126 for coupling the illumination assembly control circuit 3116 to system bus 3120 interface circuit 3128 for coupling a display 3130 to system bus 3120 interface circuit 3132 for coupling a keyboard 3134 a point ing device 3136 and trigger 3060 to system bus 3120 and interface circuit 3138 for coupling the filter module control circuit 3118 to system bus 3120 0033 Ina further
13. checkout counter covered by an imaging window protec tion plate 1022 which is provided with a pattern of apertures 10240 These apertures 1024 permit the projection of a plu rality of vertical illumination planes from a first scan source located beneath the horizontal scanning window 1020 0019 The second housing portion 1018 of the bioptic scanner 1014 further includes a vertical scanning window 1026 behind which an imager based indicia reading terminal 1028 is housed That is in contrast to the laser based terminal the imager based terminal comprises a multiple pixel image sensor assembly such as a CCD scanner In general an image sensor array simultaneously illuminates all of the indicia e g bars and spaces of a bar code symbol with light of a specific wavelength in order to capture an image for recogni tion and decoding purposes Such scanners are commonly known as CCD scanners because they use CCD image detec tors to detect images of the bar code symbols being read 0020 A product 1030 having a encoded symbol character 1032 may be scanned by the bioptic scanner 1014 If the encoded symbol character 1032 is located on the bottom of the product 1030 one or more of the scan lines projected through the horizontal scanning window 1020 will traverse the symbol for decoding If the encoded symbol character Sep 6 2012 1032 is located on the side of the product then an image of the character 1032 will be captured by the imager bas
14. ed indicia reading terminal 1028 and sent for decoding 0021 As used herein encoded symbol character is intended to denote a representation of a unit of information in amessage such as the representation in a barcode symbology of a single alphanumeric character One or more encoded symbol characters can be used to convey information such as the identification ofthe source and the model ofa product for example in a UPC barcode that comprises twelve encoded symbol characters representing numerical digits Also an encoded symbol character may be a non alphanumeric char acter that has an agreed upon conventional meaning such as the elements comprising bars and spaces that are used to denote the start the end and the center of a UPC barcode The bars and spaces used to encode a character as an encoded symbol are referred to generally as elements For example an encoded character in a UPC symbol consists of four ele ments two bars and two spaces Similarly encoded symbol characters can be defined for other barcode symbologies such as other one dimensional 1 D barcode systems including Code 39 and Code 128 or for stacked two dimen sional 2 D barcode systems including PDF417 0022 The bioptic scanner configuration just described is exemplary and is not limited to a construction having hori zontal and vertical scan windows A bioptic scanner can include a single scan window but the scan window can have two
15. erminal The method further includes the steps of capturing an image with the imager based terminal accessing the hand gesture attribute library and comparing the captured image to the stored hand gesture attribute images If the captured image correlates with one of the stored hand gesture attribute images the mode of opera tion associated with the hand gesture attribute image is executed BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0010 The features described herein can be better under stood with reference to the drawings described below The drawings are not necessarily to scale emphasis instead gen erally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention In the drawings like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views US 2012 0224040 Al 0011 FIG 1 schematically illustrates an imaging appara tus in accordance with the present invention 0012 FIG 2 schematically illustrates another embodi ment of an imaging apparatus in accordance with the present invention 0013 FIG 3 is a block schematic diagram of the imaging apparatus of FIG 1 or FIG 2 0014 FIG 4 schematically illustrates the imaging appa ratus of FIG 2 according to another embodiment of the inven tion 0015 FIG 5 schematically illustrates the imaging appa ratus of FIG 2 according to yet another embodiment of the invention and 0016 FIG 6 is a block diagram of a wireless transceiver according to an embodiment
16. g diodes LEDs 4146 In one example three different colors are utilized green yellow and red A yellow LED may indicate the terminal 4028 is attempting to decipher a hand gesture A green LED may indicate the hand gesture has been accepted A red LED may indicate the hand gesture has not been deciphered 0038 The bioptic scanner 1014 illustrated in FIG 1 may be configured to rapidly and conveniently switch between often used modes of operation For example a user may present the product 1030 in front of the vertical scanning window 1026 and remain motionless for one second indicat ing the user would like to take a picture of the object In another example waving the hand left and right may indicate to delete a previous barcode entry In other examples a pre determined hand gesture can change the mode of operation from barcode scanning to optical character recognition OCR RFID mode weight scale mode light pen enable disable barcode type e g UPC Code 128 and enable disable in store barcode reading 0039 A wide variety of modes of operation may be con figured for the imager based indicia reading terminal In one example the hand gesture attribute library may be pro grammed at the factory and an included user s manual would provide instructions for use In one example the library could be coded into EPROM 3094 The hand attribute library could for example include sign language to construct an extensive combinatio
17. ge sensor assembly 3070 can include RAM 3090 a nonvolatile memory such as EPROM 3094 and a storage memory device 3096 such as may be provided by a flash memory or a hard drive memory In one embodiment image sensor assembly 3070 can include processor 3088 or CPU which can be adapted to read out image data stored in memory 3092 and subject such image data to various image processing algorithms Image sensor assembly 3070 can include a direct memory access unit DMA 3098 for routing image information read out from image sensor 3072 that has been subject to conversion to RAM 3090 In another embodiment image sensor assembly 3070 can employ a system bus providing for bus arbitration mechanism e g a PCI bus thus eliminating the need for a central DMA controller A skilled artisan would appreciate that other embodiments of the system bus architecture and or direct memory access components providing for efficient data transfer between the image sensor 3072 and RAM 3090 are within the scope of the invention 0029 Referring to further aspects of image sensor assem bly 3070 the sensor assembly can include an imaging lens assembly 3100 for focusing an image of the encoded symbol character 3032 onto image sensor 3072 Imaging light rays can be transmitted about an optical axis 3102 Image sensor assembly 3070 can also include an illumination assembly 3104 or excitation illumination module that comprises one or more of an illumination pattern ligh
18. gnals The RF signal tuner 6156 may include any Sep 6 2012 suitable structure for tuning the wireless transceiver 6150 to a specified RF frequency or frequencies The RF signal demodulator 6158 may include any suitable structure for demodulating data in an incoming RF signal received by the wireless transceiver 6150 The transmission and reception of RF signals could occur using an internal or external antenna 6160 which represents any suitable structure capable of transmitting and receiving RF or other wireless signals 0046 The components in the wireless transceiver 6150 may also include analog to digital A D and digital to ana log D A signal converters 6162 a digital signal processor DSP 6164 and a microprocessor 6166 The signal convert ers 6162 include any suitable structure s for converting ana log signals into digital signals or digital signals into analog signals The digital signal processor 6164 includes any suit able structure for processing signals such as signals to be provided to the RF signal modulator 6152 for transmission or signals received by the RF signal demodulator 6158 The microprocessor 6166 includes any suitable structure for con trolling the overall operation of the wireless transceiver 6150 such as a microprocessor or microcontroller and may further be adapted to the system bus 3120 to control the overall operation of the indicia reading terminal 0047 Turning now back to FIG 5 in the event of
19. ignals The LEDs simultaneously illuminate all of the bars and spaces of a barcode symbol with light of a specific wavelength in order to capture an image for recogni tion and decoding purposes 0004 Digital imagers have the capability to change modes of operation For example an imager may be configured to scan a barcode take a picture or engage in optical character recognition OCR Within the barcode scanning mode the imager may be configured for presentation mode trigger mode or inventory mode for example In presentation mode the imager typically remains stationary in a stand and a prod uct bearing a barcode is swiped by the scanner In trigger mode the scanner is typically grasped by hand and directed to the barcode Many trigger modes may be selected such as single try multi try and continuous In inventory mode a barcode is read and stored in non volatile memory and not transferred to the host until commanded by the user Such configurations may be required to accommodate different types of decodable indicia packages and other items 0005 One current method to configure the imager for each of the different modes of operation is to scan a configuration barcode from the Operating Manual or Configuration Guide The Manual or Guide contains instructions to enter a configu ration mode then scan a printed barcode in the Manual which subsequently changes the configuration of the terminal One drawback to this approach is tha
20. n of gestures 0040 In another example the hand gesture attribute library could be user programmable In such an embodiment any of the ordinary modes of operation provided in the Con figuration Guide could be reprogrammed to execute with a user selected hand gesture In this manner any of the modes of operation currently configurable by scanning a barcode or inputting coded text via a companion device could be replaced by a desired hand gesture The user could enter a programming or learning mode scan the barcode for the particular mode of operation then furnish a hand gesture to replace or supplement the barcode Then instead of obtaining a Configuration Guide searching for the correct barcode to US 2012 0224040 Al change the mode of operation and scanning the barcode the user simply uses the hand gesture and the new mode of operation is executed 0041 The modes of operation that may be configured to execute with a hand gesture for imager based indicia reading terminals having a hand held form factor may include but are not limited to scanning modes Examples of scanning modes include presentation mode multi try trigger mode continu ous trigger mode and single trigger mode Any of these modes may be separately configured for in stand and out of stand operation Examples of modes of operation config urable with hand gestures within the presentation mode may include presentation mode immediately after button release one
21. ng pixels arranged in rows and columns of pixels column circuitry 3076 and row circuitry 3078 Asso ciated with the image sensor 3072 can be amplifier circuitry 3080 and an analog to digital A D converter 3082 which converts image information in the form of analog signals read out of multiple pixel image sensor array 3074 into image information in the form of digital signals Image sensor 3072 can also have an associated timing and control circuit 3084 for use in controlling e g the exposure period of image sensor 3072 and or gain applied to the amplifier 3080 The noted circuit components 3072 3080 3082 and 3084 can be packaged into a common image sensor integrated circuit 3086 In one example image sensor integrated circuit 3086 can be provided by an MT10V022 image sensor integrated circuit available from Micron Technology Inc In another example image sensor integrated circuit 3086 can incorpo rate a Bayer pattern filter In such an embodiment prior to subjecting a frame to further processing processor 3088 can interpolate pixel values intermediate of green pixel values for development of a monochrome frame of image data In other embodiments red and or blue pixel values can be utilized for the image data 0028 In the course of operation of the image sensor assembly 3070 image signals can be read out of image sensor Sep 6 2012 3072 converted and stored into one or more memories such as RAM 3090 A memory 3092 of ima
22. of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0017 FIG 1 illustrates a point of sale workstation 1010 used by retailers to process transactions involving the pur chase of products bearing an encoded symbol character typi cally a UPC symbol The workstation 1010 includes a hori zontal countertop 1012 for placement of products to be scanned A bioptic scanner 1014 mounted within the coun tertop 1012 includes a first housing portion 1016 and a second housing portion 1018 which projects from one end of the first housing portion in a substantially orthogonal manner When the bioptic scanner 1014 is installed within the countertop surface the first housing portion 1016 is oriented horizon tally whereas the second housing portion 1018 is oriented vertically with respect to the point of sale POS station Thus as referred to herein the terms first housing portion and horizontally disposed housing portion may be used interchangeably but refer to the same structure Likewise the terms second housing portion and vertically disposed housing portion may be used interchangeably but refer to the same structure 0018 Inone embodiment first housing portion 1016 com prises a laser based indicia scanning terminal and the second housing portion 1018 comprises an imager based terminal The countertop 1012 includes an optically transparent e g glass horizontal scanning window 1020 mounted flush with the
23. rary 3144 Upon finding a match the processor 3088 looks up the associated mode of operation and switches to or executes the new mode The new mode of operation may be executed for a predetermined time period a user defined time period or until a new mode of operation is commanded 0035 In one embodiment the new mode of operation is executed for a single frame capture and the terminal then reverts to its original setting For example the default mode of operation for the imager based indicia reading terminal 4028 illustrated in FIG 4 may be out of stand multi try trigger mode In this configuration the imager 4028 will capture and attempt to decode barcode images only when the trigger 4060 is depressed Otherwise the imager 4028 is in a continuous scan mode comparing the images on the image sensor array 3074 to the images in the hand gesture attribute library 3144 In one example the user gestures number one as shown in FIG 4 a Using pattern recognition software or other image processing algorithms the processor 3088 finds a match in the library 3144 looks up the associated mode of operation and executes the new mode In one example the new mode could be a digital frame capture wherein the terminal 4028 takes a picture when the trigger 3060 is depressed Other modes of operation could be associated with the user gestur 55 ing number two number three or number four for Sep 6 2012 example
24. s disclosure relates generally to imager based indicia reading terminals and more specifically to embodi ments of indicia reading terminals that are configured to execute changes in modes of operation using hand gestures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 The use of optical indicia such as barcode symbols for product and article identification is well known in the art Presently various types of indicia reading terminals have been developed such as hand held barcode scanners hands free scanners bioptic in counter scanners and mobile com puters such as personal digital assistants PDAs One com mon type of scan engine found in hand held and retail scanners is the laser based scan engine which uses a focused laser beam to sequentially scan the bars and spaces of a barcode symbol pattern to be read The majority of laser scanners in use today particular in retail environments employ lenses and moving e g rotating or oscillating mir rors and or other optical elements in order to focus and scan laser beams across barcode symbols during code symbol reading operations 0003 Another common type of indicia reading terminal is the digital imager which includes linear imagers and area imagers Digital imagers typically utilize light emitting diodes LEDs and a lens to focus the image of the barcode onto a multiple pixel image sensor assembly which often is a charge coupled device CCD that converts light signals into electric s
25. stures with a terminal mode of operation and one or more processors connected to the digital link to receive the image of the hand gesture correlate the image with the predefined hand gestures in the hand gesture attribute library and execute the associated ter minal mode of operation 2 The system of claim 1 wherein the imager based indicia reading terminal has a hand held form factor 3 The system of claim 1 wherein the imager based indicia reading terminal is a bioptic scanner 4 The system of claim 1 wherein the image of the hand gesture indicates a numeral 5 The system of claim 1 wherein the image of the hand gesture comprises an okay sign 6 The system of claim 1 wherein the imager based indicia reading terminal further comprises an input output interface for providing communication with a device the communica tion responsive to the terminal mode of operation 7 The system of claim 6 wherein the image of the hand gesture comprises a distress signal and the terminal mode of operation comprises sending a distress communication to the device 8 The system of claim 7 wherein the device is a wireless transceiver 9 The system of claim 7 wherein the device is a wired connection 10 The system of claim 1 wherein the image of the hand gesture comprises sign language 11 The system of claim 1 wherein the image of the hand gesture comprises a plurality of images comprising a hand in motion 12 The sys
26. t source bank 3106 for generating an illumination pattern substantially correspond ing to the field of view of image sensor assembly 3070 and an aiming pattern light source bank 3108 for generating an aim ing pattern In use the product 3030 can be presented by an operator to the image sensor assembly 3070 in such manner that the aiming pattern is projected on the encoded symbol character 3032 In the example of FIG 3 the encoded symbol character 3032 is provided by a 1D barcode symbol Encoded symbol characters could also be provided by 2D barcode symbols or optical character recognition OCR characters 0030 The image sensor assembly 3070 can further include a filter module 3110 that comprises one or more optical filters as well as in some embodiments an actuator assembly 3112 that is coupled generally to the filter module such as to the optical filters The filter module 3110 can be located on either side of the imaging lens assembly 3100 Likewise one or more of the optical filters within the filter module 3110 can be disposed on one or more surfaces of the imaging lens assembly 3100 and or the image sensor 3072 0031 Each of illumination pattern light source bank 3106 and aiming pattern light source bank 3108 can include one or more light sources Lens assembly 3100 can be controlled with use of lens assembly control circuit 3114 and the illu mination assembly 3104 comprising illumination pattern light source bank 3106 and aiming p
27. t this method often requires that the end user have available the relevant programming barcodes The end user must search the manual to find the programming barcode for the desired configuration which wastes time may result in erroneous entry and could lead to customer dissatisfaction Sep 6 2012 0006 Another method to configure the imager for a dif ferent mode of operation is to connect it to a companion device such as a computer or register using a wired interface such as a RS 232 or USB cord Often the imager and the computer communicate via a configuration or set up tool which requires the end user to not only have access to the companion device but also to operate simultaneously the terminal and the companion device to implement the desired configuration for the terminal 0007 Inthose circumstances where the end user wishes to change the configuration of the imager for a short duration or one time use the current reconfiguration methods are cum bersome and time consuming SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0008 Accordingly there is a need for an imager that can quickly switch its mode of operation without complicated steps or additional hardware In ones aspect of the invention provided herein is a system for decoding an encoded symbol character associated with a product The system includes an imager based indicia reading terminal comprising a housing and a two dimensional image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing
28. tact type features that do not require wires and or the wired connection 2066 In certain applications of the imager based indicia reading terminal 2028 for example the com panion device 2068 may be a docking station with corre sponding mating contacts and or connectors that are useful to exchange such things as power and data including image data captured by the imaging module 2062 0025 Although not incorporated in the illustrated embodiments the imager based indicia reading terminal 2028 can also include a number of peripheral devices such as a display for displaying such information as image frames captured with use of an image sensor assembly a keyboard and a pointing device 0026 Referring to FIG 3 there is shown a block diagram of an imager based indicia reading terminal 3028 such as that disposed in the second housing portion 3018 of the bioptic scanner 3014 of FIG 1 or in the hand held device illustrated in FIG 2 The terminal 3028 comprises a multiple pixel image sensor assembly 3070 or imaging module such as a CCD scanner As will be explained more fully below FIG 3 shows the basic structures that together comprise the general form of an image sensor array that is suitable for use and is generic to optical readers that use 1D image sensors and to optical readers that use 2D image sensors 0027 The image sensor assembly 3070 can include an image sensor 3072 comprising a multiple pixel image sensor array 3074 havi
29. tem of claim 11 wherein the plurality of images comprises a hand in back and forth motion 13 The system of claim 1 wherein the image of the hand gesture comprises a plurality of images in still motion for a predetermined time period Sep 6 2012 14 The system of claim 1 further comprising a visual feedback indicator 15 The system of claim 14 wherein the visual feedback indicator is a light 16 The system of claim 15 wherein the light comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes 17 The system of claim 16 wherein the light emitting diodes comprise the colors green yellow and red 18 A method for changing the mode of operation for an indicia reading terminal the method comprising the steps of providing an imager based terminal having a housing and a two dimensional image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image on the two dimensional image sensor array the two dimensional image sensor array having a plurality of pixels formed in a plurality of rows and columns of pixels providing one or more memories coupled to the terminal at least one of the memories storing a hand gesture attribute library comprising a plurality of hand gesture attribute images each of the images associated with a mode of operation for the terminal capturing an image with the imager based terminal accessing the hand gesture attribute library and comparing the captured image to the stored hand gesture attribute images and
30. tion and diagnostic purposes The workstation 1010 may further include an elec tronic weight scale module 1050 employing one or more load cells positioned centrally below the system s structurally rigid platform for bearing and measuring substantially all of the weight of objects positioned on the horizontal scanning window 1020 or window protection plate 1022 and generat ing electronic data representative of measured weight of such objects 0024 Other embodiments of the present invention may include a hand held scanner comprising an imager based scan terminal For example referring to FIG 2 an imager US 2012 0224040 Al based indicia reading terminal 2028 has a housing with a form factor 2052 comprising a head portion 2054 and a handle portion 2056 which is configured with a hand grip 2058 and a trigger 2060 The trigger 2060 may be used to make active signals for activating frame readout and or certain decoding processes An imaging module 2062 is disposed in the head portion 2054 The imager based indicia reading terminal 2028 is also configured with a connectivity device 2064 illustrated in the present example as a wired connection 2066 coupled to a companion device 2068 such as might be found in a POS application e g wherein the wired device is coupled to a register and or peripheral data capture devices Other configurations of the connectivity device 2064 how ever may utilize wireless communication technology and or con
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