Attachment for a smart phone including a targeting optic system that directs illumination from a white light source towards a target area

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10223564-B2
Application number	US-201715804071-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2017
Priority date	Dec 7, 2012
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an attachment for a smartphone. The smartphone may include i) a camera with an image sensor and a focusing lens located on a back side of the smartphone for capturing an image of a target area; and ii) a white light source on the back side of the smartphone. The attachment may include a targeting optic system. When the attachment is secured to the back side of the smartphone, the targeting optic system may receive illumination emitted by the white light source and direct the illumination towards the target area from a location that is not directly in front of the camera's image sensor. The location may be farther from the focusing lens than the white light source when measured parallel to the back side of the smartphone. The attachment may also direct the illumination into the target area via the targeting optic system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An attachment for a smartphone, the smartphone comprising: i) a camera with an image sensor and a focusing lens located on a back side of the smartphone for capturing an image of a target area at the back side of the smartphone; and ii) a white light source on the back side of the smartphone for projecting a field of illumination towards the target area, the attachment comprising:
a targeting optic system which, when the attachment is secured to the back side of the smartphone, receives illumination emitted by the white light source and directs the illumination towards the target area from a position offset from the camera's image sensor in order to prevent glare;
wherein the attachment:
directs the illumination from the white light source to the position offset from the camera's image sensor, the position being at a distance from the camera's image sensor that is greater than a distance between the white light source and the camera's image sensor; and
directs the illumination into the target area via the targeting optic system.

2. The attachment of claim 1 , further including a target generating optic that forms one of a targeting point or targeting pattern within the target area.

3. The attachment of claim 2 , wherein the targeting point or pattern is formed at a center of a field of view of the camera when the camera is at an optical distance from a barcode.

4. The attachment of claim 1 , further including a collimating element collimating the illumination directed towards the target area.

5. The attachment of claim 4 , further including a target generating optic forming one of a targeting point or a targeting pattern within the target area.

6. The attachment of claim 5 , wherein the targeting point or pattern is formed at a center of a field of view of the camera when the camera is at an optical distance from a barcode.

7. The attachment of claim 4 , wherein the illumination is collimated to form a bar, wherein a length of the bar is approximately a width of a field of view of the camera.

Assignees

• Code Corp

Inventors

• Powell George
• Hoobler Ryan
• Lei Ming
• Russell Garrett
• Ashby Mark

Classifications

• A45C2011/002

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• G06K7/10811

  Focalisation · CPC title

• H04M1/0264

  for a camera module assembly · CPC title

• G06K7/10732

  Light sources · CPC title

• G06K7/10831 Primary

  Arrangement of optical elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors, prisms (optical elements per se G02B) · CPC title