Device and method for data capture aiming assistance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10956694-B2
Application number	US-201916376081-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 5, 2019
Priority date	Apr 5, 2019
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

A data capture device includes: a display, a primary image sensor having a primary field of view centered on a primary optical axis; an auxiliary image sensor having an auxiliary field of view centered on an auxiliary optical axis, wherein the auxiliary field of view is larger than the primary field of view; a memory storing offset data defining an offset between the primary field of view and the auxiliary field of view; a data capture controller connected to the primary image sensor, the auxiliary image sensor and the memory; wherein the data capture controller is configured to: responsive to activation of an aiming mode, control the auxiliary image sensor to capture a video stream; select, according to the offset data, a portion of the video stream corresponding to the primary field of view; and present the selected portion of the video stream on the display.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A data capture device, comprising:
a housing;
a display supported by the housing;
a primary image sensor supported by the housing and having a primary field of view centered on a primary optical axis;
an auxiliary image sensor supported by the housing and having an auxiliary field of view centered on an auxiliary optical axis, wherein the auxiliary field of view is larger than the primary field of view;
a memory storing offset data defining an offset between the primary field of view and the auxiliary field of view;
a data capture controller connected to the primary image sensor, the auxiliary image sensor and the memory, wherein the data capture controller is configured to:
responsive to activation of an aiming mode, control the auxiliary image sensor to capture a video stream,
select, according to the offset data, a portion of the video stream corresponding to the primary field of view,
present the selected portion of the video stream on the display, and
responsive to presenting the selected portion of the video stream on the display:

determine that a data capture operation has been initiated, control the primary image sensor to capture an image, detect an indicium in the captured image, and decode data from the indicium.

2. The data capture device of claim 1 , wherein the data capture controller is further configured to present, with the selected portion of the video stream, a boundary indicating the primary field of view.

3. The data capture device of claim 1 , wherein the data capture controller is further configured to:
obtain offset update data; and
update the offset data according to the offset update data.

4. The data capture device of claim 3 , further comprising:
an emitter configured to project a dot along the primary optical axis;
wherein the data capture controller is further configured, in order to obtain the offset update data, to detect a location of the dot in the video stream; and
wherein the data capture controller is further configured to update the offset data based on a distance between the location of the dot and a center of the selected portion of the video stream.

5. The data capture device of claim 3 , wherein the data capture controller is further configured, in order to obtain the offset update data, to retrieve for each of a plurality of previous data capture operations: (i) a decode time, and (ii) an indicium location within the primary field of view; and
wherein the data capture controller is further configured, to update the offset data, to select a subset of the decode times and generate an offset adjustment based on the indicium locations corresponding to the selected subset of decode times.

6. The data capture device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a primary input, wherein the data capture controller is configured to determine that the data capture operation has been initiated responsive to activation of the primary input; and
an auxiliary input, wherein the data capture controller is configured to activate the aiming mode responsive to activation of the auxiliary input.

7. The data capture device of claim 1 , wherein the primary image sensor and the auxiliary image sensor are supported by the housing within an image sensor plane.

8. The data capture device of claim 7 , wherein the offset data defines a distance between the primary image sensor and the auxiliary image sensor within the image sensor plane.

9. The data capture device of claim 7 , wherein the offset data defines a plurality of distances within the image sensor plane, each of the plurality of distances corresponding to a range.

10. The data capture device of claim 1 , wherein the data capture controller is configured to present the selected portion of the video stream centered on the display.

11. A method in a data capture device, the method comprising:
storing offset data in a memory of the data capture device, the offset data defining an offset between a primary field of view of a primary image sensor and an auxiliary field of view of an auxiliary image sensor;
responsive to activation of an aiming mode, controlling the auxiliary image sensor to capture a video stream;
selecting, according to the offset data, a portion of the video stream corresponding to the primary field of view;
presenting the selected portion of the video stream on a display of the data capture device; and
responsive to presenting the selected portion of the video stream on the display:

determining that a data capture operation has been initiated, controlling the primary image sensor to capture an image, detecting an indicium in the captured image, and decoding data from the indicium.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: presenting on the display, with the selected portion of the video stream, a boundary indicating the primary field of view.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
obtaining offset update data; and
updating the offset data according to the offset update data.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
obtaining the offset update data by detecting a location of a dot in the video stream projected by an emitter of the data capture device; and
updating the offset data based on a distance between the location of the dot and a center of the selected portion of the video stream.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising obtaining the offset update data by:
retrieving, for each of a plurality of previous data capture operations, (i) a decode time and (ii) an indicium location within the primary field of view; and
updating the offset data by selecting a subset of the decode times and generating an offset adjustment based on the indicium locations corresponding to the selected subset of decode times.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining that the data capture operation has been initiated responsive to detecting activation of a primary input of the data capture device; and
activating the aiming mode responsive to activation of an auxiliary input of the data capture device.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the primary image sensor and the auxiliary image sensor are supported within an image sensor plane by a housing of the data capture device.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the offset data defines a distance between the primary image sensor and the auxiliary image sensor within the image sensor plane.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the offset data defines a plurality of distances within the image sensor plane, each of the plurality of distances corresponding to a range.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein presenting the selected portion of the video stream comprises presenting the selected portion centered on the display.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions executable by a controller of a data capture device to cause the data capture device to:
store offset data in a memory of the data capture device, the offset data defining an offset between a primary field of view of a primary image sensor and an auxiliary field of view of an auxiliary image sensor;
responsive to activation of an aiming mode, control the auxiliary image sensor to capture a video stream;
select, according to the offset data, a portion of the video stream corresponding to the primary field of view; and
present, on a display of the data capture device, the selected portion of the video stream and a boundary indicating the primary field of view.

Assignees

• Zebra Tech Corp

Inventors

• Stagg Adrian J
• Evans Gregory John
• Maddigan Steven William
• Ingold John Louis
• Wong Michael

Classifications

• H04N23/635

  Region indicators; Field of view indicators · CPC title

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• G06K7/10722 Primary

  Photodetector array or CCD scanning · CPC title

• G06K2207/1011

  Aiming · CPC title