Barcode-reading system that requires an accessory for enhanced operation of a barcode reading application

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11263413-B2
Application number	US-202017013801-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 7, 2020
Priority date	Sep 19, 2016
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

A barcode-reading system for a mobile device may include a camera assembly. The barcode-reading system may include a barcode-reading enhancement accessory and a barcode-reading application. The barcode-reading enhancement accessory may be securable to the mobile device and may be configured to provide an indication of license entitlement to the mobile device. The barcode-reading application may be stored in memory of the mobile device and executable by a processor of the mobile device. The barcode-reading application may also be configured to enable an enhanced mode of operation of the barcode-reading application conditional upon determining obtaining the license entitlement from the accessory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for enabling enhanced operation of a barcode-reading system, the method comprising:
securing a mobile device having a camera assembly to a barcode-reading enhancement accessory, the barcode-reading enhancement accessory including an indication of license entitlement;
while the mobile device is secured to the barcode-reading enhancement accessory, detecting the indication of license entitlement using the camera assembly; and
after detecting the indication of license entitlement, enabling at least a portion of the enhanced operation of a barcode-reading application stored in memory of the mobile device and executable by a processor of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the indication of license entitlement includes determining that an image captured by the camera assembly includes the indication of license entitlement.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the image captured is a license image, and wherein the license image is a different image than a barcode image captured by the camera assembly to decode a barcode.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the indication of license entitlement using a target-generating structure on the barcode-reading enhancement accessory.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the indication of license entitlement includes at least one of shaping or filtering at least one light source of the camera assembly.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein detecting the indication of license entitlement includes searching for a shape of the indication of license entitlement generated by the target-generating structure in an image captured by the camera assembly.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of license entitlement is positioned within a field of view of the camera assembly when barcode-reading assembly is secured to the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of license entitlement is printed on a reflective surface that folds a field of view of the camera assembly toward a target area located beyond a top side of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising continuing the enhanced operation of the barcode-reading application for at least a defined number of barcode reads after detecting the indication of license entitlement.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising continuing the enhanced operation of the barcode-reading application for at least a defined period of time after detecting the indication of license entitlement.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein detecting the indication of license entitlement includes adjusting a focus of the camera assembly to bring the indication of license entitlement into focus.

12. A barcode-reading system for a mobile device, the mobile device comprising a camera assembly, the barcode-reading system comprising:
a barcode-reading enhancement accessory securable to the mobile device, the barcode-reading enhancement accessory comprising an indication of license entitlement detectable by the camera assembly; and
a processor and memory in the mobile device, the memory including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
detect the indication of license entitlement using the camera assembly; and
enable an enhanced mode of operation for a barcode-reading application based on the indication of license entitlement.

13. The barcode-reading system of claim 12 , wherein the barcode-reading enhancement accessory further includes an optics module, and wherein the indication of license entitlement is associated with the optics module.

14. The barcode-reading system of claim 13 , wherein the indication of license entitlement is a targeting pattern generated using a target-generating structure in the optics module.

15. The barcode-reading system of claim 14 , wherein the target-generating structure performs at least one of shaping or filtering at least one light source to produce the targeting pattern.

16. The barcode-reading system of claim 13 , wherein the indication of license entitlement is printed on a reflective surface in the optics module that folds a field of view of the camera assembly toward a target area located beyond a top side of the mobile device.

17. A barcode-reading enhancement accessory for a mobile device, the mobile device comprising a camera assembly, the barcode-reading enhancement accessory comprising:
an optics module; and
an indication of license entitlement detectable by the camera assembly, wherein the indication of license entitlement, when detected by the camera assembly, enables an enhanced mode of operation of a barcode-reading application stored in memory of the mobile device and executable by a processor of the mobile device.

18. The barcode-reading enhancement accessory of claim 17 , wherein the optics module includes a target-generating structure configured to generate a targeting pattern, the targeting pattern being recognizable by the barcode-reading application as the indication of license entitlement.

19. The barcode-reading enhancement accessory of claim 17 , wherein the optics module includes a reflective surface that is positioned so as to fold a portion of a field of view of the camera assembly towards a target area beyond a top side of the mobile device when the barcode-reading enhancement accessory is secured to the mobile device.

20. The barcode-reading enhancement accessory of claim 19 , wherein the indication of license entitlement is printed on the reflective surface.

Assignees

• Code Corp

Inventors

• Powell George
• Hoobler Ryan

Classifications

• G06K7/10881 Primary

  constructional details of hand-held scanners · CPC title

• H04N23/667

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/56

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• G06K7/10722

  Photodetector array or CCD scanning · CPC title

• G06K19/06028

  using bar codes · CPC title