IRDA converter tag

Abstract

An infrared converter tag device is disclosed. A housing contains an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. A display or a radio transmitter is provided and a processor is programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image or provide a signal that is transmitted as an RF signal.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to infrared communications and translation of same to visual display or radio frequency communication.

BACKGROUND

Generally speaking, many legacy systems utilize IrDA ports to convey information (e.g., utility meters, mailing drop boxes, vending machines, etc.). However, many newer computing platforms do not have the ports or drivers necessary to add support for an IrDA interface. Or, sometimes size limitations on the device restrict that.

Therefore, a need exists to convert the infrared ports to a better format.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention embraces n infrared converter tag device. A housing contains an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. A display or a radio transmitter is provided and a processor is programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image or provide a signal that is transmitted as an RF signal.

In an example embodiment, a housing contains: an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. A display is provided. A processor is programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image.

In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certain implementations, a radio transmitter is provided and the processor is further programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter. In certain implementations, the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers. In certain implementations, an attachment mechanism is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver. In certain implementations, an infrared pass-through permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader. In certain implementations, a battery powers the infrared receiver, the display, and the processor.

In another exemplary embodiment, a housing contains: an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. A radio transmitter is provided. A processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter.

In certain implementations, the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers. In certain implementations, an attachment mechanism is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver. In certain implementations, an infrared pass-through permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader. In certain implementations, the processor is further programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image. In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certain implementations, a battery powers the infrared receiver, the radio transmitter, and the processor.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a housing contains: an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output. Both a radio frequency transmitter and a display are provided. An attachment mechanism is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver. A processor is programmed to: receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver, convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image, and convert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter. In certain cases, a battery or other power source powers the infrared receiver, the transmitter, the display and the processor.

In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code. In certain implementations, the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as alphanumeric characters. In certain implementations, the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers. In certain implementations, an infrared pass-through permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.

The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplary objectives and/or advantages of the invention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished, are further explained within the following detailed description and its accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically depicts an example of an IrDA tag consistent with certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention embraces a device—a “tag”—used to convert infrared communication signals to another format such as radio frequency or visual display.

This invention attempts to solve this problem by providing a low cost “tag” that could be adhered over the legacy IR port, and convert that signal into another format that could be accepted by the mobile device. Such formats may include: Bluetooth, WIFI, NFC, bar code, etc.

A battery operated IrDA tag accepts signals from the IR transmitting port which further encodes and transmits the signal over a wireless medium such as NFC/RFID tag, BT/WLAN/WWAN or updates an electronic display to present the data in human or machine readable form.

The “tag” would have an IrDA receiver to accept the signal from the transmitting port. It would then have processing capabilities to process the signal and either encode the data for transmission over a wireless medium (Bluetooth, Cellular, WIFI, NFC, RFD UHF, etc.) or to update an electronic display to present the data in human or machine readable form.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example legacy device 10 is depicted. Legacy device (e.g., a water meter) has an infrared transmitter port 14 that is used to convey a meter reading encoded into infrared light rays 18 to a compatible receiver device.

As noted above, there may be disadvantages to directly using the IR signal in connection with more modern communication devices. It may also be too expensive to fully replace the Legacy devices that are already field deployed. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an easily adapted interface that can be affixed to the legacy device and convert the legacy infrared signal to either a radio signal or a visual signal. Tag 40 provides such a converter in device that can be affixed (e.g., by epoxy or other adhesive or other mechanical attachment mechanism) to the legacy device in order to provide for more modern communication.

Tag 40 is, in one embodiment, powered by a battery 44, but may also be hardwired to a convenient power source in other embodiments. The tag 40 includes an infrared receiver 48 which is ported to a face of an enclosure 52 so as to permit receipt of the infrared signals 18 transmitted from the legacy device 10. The infrared signals received by receiver 48 are converted to electrical signals that are provided to a processor 60 for interpretation.

In one embodiment, the processor 60 translates the signal received from IrDA receiver 48 to a signal that is retransmitted by a radio transmitter 64 as, for example, a BlueTooth™ compatible signal (or as a near field communication (NFC), WiFi, Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN), Wireless Wide Area Networking (WWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), etc.) which can then be readily received by a compatible radio receiver. This enables more modern communication devices to be deployed without need for replacement of legacy devices.

In another embodiment, processor 60 translates the signal received from the IrDA receiver 48 into a signal that can be represented on a display 68 such as an e-Ink display. In one example, the display can display alphanumeric characters or other characters that can be human or machine read. In another example, the display can be made to display a 2D or 3D bar code that can be machine read by a bar code reader device. Other variations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the present teachings.

In other embodiments, as depicted in FIG. 1, both a radio transmitter and a display may be provided, but in generally most applications will only utilize one or the other. Hence, either the display or the transmitter can be omitted in most applications to minimize cost. Many variations will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the present teachings.

In use, this tag 40 would be placed directly over the IrDA port of the legacy device to now have a more modern interface. It could further be adapted to pass through the IrDA signal via an IR pass-through 74 for reading to remain compatible with other IrDA reading devices without departing from the present teachings.

To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporates entirely by reference the following commonly assigned patents, patent application publications, and patent applications:

• U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,832,725; 7,128,266;
• 7,159,783; 7,413,127;
• 7,726,575; 8,294,969;
• 8,317,105; 8,322,622;
• 8,366,005; 8,371,507;
• 8,376,233; 8,381,979;
• 8,390,909; 8,408,464;
• 8,408,468; 8,408,469;
• 8,424,768; 8,448,863;
• 8,457,013; 8,459,557;
• 8,469,272; 8,474,712;
• 8,479,992; 8,490,877;
• 8,517,271; 8,523,076;
• 8,528,818; 8,544,737;
• 8,548,242; 8,548,420;
• 8,550,335; 8,550,354;
• 8,550,357; 8,556,174;
• 8,556,176; 8,556,177;
• 8,559,767; 8,599,957;
• 8,561,895; 8,561,903;
• 8,561,905; 8,565,107;
• 8,571,307; 8,579,200;
• 8,583,924; 8,584,945;
• 8,587,595; 8,587,697;
• 8,588,869; 8,590,789;
• 8,596,539; 8,596,542;
• 8,596,543; 8,599,271;
• 8,599,957; 8,600,158;
• 8,600,167; 8,602,309;
• 8,608,053; 8,608,071;
• 8,611,309; 8,615,487;
• 8,616,454; 8,621,123;
• 8,622,303; 8,628,013;
• 8,628,015; 8,628,016;
• 8,629,926; 8,630,491;
• 8,635,309; 8,636,200;
• 8,636,212; 8,636,215;
• 8,636,224; 8,638,806;
• 8,640,958; 8,640,960;
• 8,643,717; 8,646,692;
• 8,646,694; 8,657,200;
• 8,659,397; 8,668,149;
• 8,678,285; 8,678,286;
• 8,682,077; 8,687,282;
• 8,692,927; 8,695,880;
• 8,698,949; 8,717,494;
• 8,717,494; 8,720,783;
• 8,723,804; 8,723,904;
• 8,727,223; 702,237;
• 8,740,082; 8,740,085;
• 8,746,563; 8,750,445;
• 8,752,766; 8,756,059;
• 8,757,495; 8,760,563;
• 8,763,909; 8,777,108;
• 8,777,109; 8,779,898;
• 8,781,520; 8,783,573;
• 8,789,757; 8,789,758;
• 8,789,759; 8,794,520;
• 8,794,522; 8,794,525;
• 8,794,526; 8,798,367;
• 8,807,431; 8,807,432;
• 8,820,630; 8,822,848;
• 8,824,692; 8,824,696;
• 8,842,849; 8,844,822;
• 8,844,823; 8,849,019;
• 8,851,383; 8,854,633;
• 8,866,963; 8,868,421;
• 8,868,519; 8,868,802;
• 8,868,803; 8,870,074;
• 8,879,639; 8,880,426;
• 8,881,983; 8,881,987;
• 8,903,172; 8,908,995;
• 8,910,870; 8,910,875;
• 8,914,290; 8,914,788;
• 8,915,439; 8,915,444;
• 8,916,789; 8,918,250;
• 8,918,564; 8,925,818;
• 8,939,374; 8,942,480;
• 8,944,313; 8,944,327;
• 8,944,332; 8,950,678;
• 8,967,468; 8,971,346;
• 8,976,030; 8,976,368;
• 8,978,981; 8,978,983;
• 8,978,984; 8,985,456;
• 8,985,457; 8,985,459;
• 8,985,461; 8,988,578;
• 8,988,590; 8,991,704;
• 8,996,194; 8,996,384;
• 9,002,641; 9,007,368;
• 9,010,641; 9,015,513;
• 9,016,576; 9,022,288;
• 9,030,964; 9,033,240;
• 9,033,242; 9,036,054;
• 9,037,344; 9,038,911;
• 9,038,915; 9,047,098;
• 9,047,359; 9,047,420;
• 9,047,525; 9,047,531;
• 9,053,055; 9,053,378;
• 9,053,380; 9,058,526;
• 9,064,165; 9,064,167;
• 9,064,168; 9,064,254;
• 9,066,032; 9,070,032;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D716,285;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D723,560;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D730,357;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D730,901;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D730,902;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D733,112;
• U.S. Design Pat. No. D734,339;
• International Publication No. 2013/163789;
• International Publication No. 2013/173985;
• International Publication No. 2014/019130;
• International Publication No. 2014/110495;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0185432;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0134221;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0177080;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0177076;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0177707;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0177749;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0265880;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0202554;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0111946;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0168511;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0168512;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0193423;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0203647;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0223141;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0228382;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0248188;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0043312;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0082104;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0175341;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0175343;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0257744;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0257759;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0270346;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0287258;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0292475;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0292477;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0293539;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0293540;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0306728;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0306731;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0307964;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0308625;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0313324;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0313325;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0342717;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0001267;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0008439;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0025584;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0034734;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0036848;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0039693;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0042814;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0049120;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0049635;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0061306;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0063289;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0066136;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0067692;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0070005;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0071840;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0074746;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0076974;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0078341;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0078345;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0097249;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0098792;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0100813;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0103115;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0104413;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0104414;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0104416;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0104451;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0106594;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0106725;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0108010;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0108402;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0110485;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0114530;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0124577;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0124579;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0125842;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0125853;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0125999;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0129378;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131438;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131441;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131443;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131444;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131445;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0131448;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0133379;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0136208;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0140585;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0151453;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0152882;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0158770;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0159869;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0166755;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0166759;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0168787;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0175165;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0175172;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0191644;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0191913;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0197238;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0197239;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0197304;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0214631;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0217166;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0217180;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0231500;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0232930;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0247315;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0263493;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0263645;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0267609;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0270196;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0270229;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0278387;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0278391;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0282210;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0284384;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0288933;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0297058;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0299665;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0312121;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0319220;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0319221;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0326787;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0332590;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0344943;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0346233;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0351317;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0353373;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0361073;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0361082;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0362184;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0363015;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0369511;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0374483;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0374485;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0001301;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0001304;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0003673;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0009338;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0009610;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0014416;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0021397;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0028102;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0028103;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0028104;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0029002;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0032709;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0039309;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0039878;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0040378;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0048168;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0049347;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0051992;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0053766;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0053768;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0053769;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0060544;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0062366;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0063215;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0063676;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0069130;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0071819;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0083800;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0086114;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0088522;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0096872;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0099557;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0100196;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0102109;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0115035;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0127791;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0128116;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0129659;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0133047;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0134470;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0136851;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0136854;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0142492;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0144692;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0144698;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0144701;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0149946;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0161429;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0169925;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0169929;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178523;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178534;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178535;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178536;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178537;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0181093;
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0181109;
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/367,978 for a Laser Scanning Module Employing an Elastomeric U-Hinge Based Laser Scanning Assembly, filed Feb. 7, 2012 (Feng et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/458,405 for an Electronic Device, filed Jun. 19, 2013 (Fitch et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/459,620 for an Electronic Device Enclosure, filed Jul. 2, 2013 (London et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/468,118 for an Electronic Device Case, filed Sep. 26, 2013 (Oberpriller et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/150,393 for Indicia-reader Having Unitary Construction Scanner, filed Jan. 8, 2014 (Colavito et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/200,405 for Indicia Reader for Size-Limited Applications filed Mar. 7, 2014 (Feng et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/231,898 for Hand-Mounted Indicia-Reading Device with Finger Motion Triggering filed Apr. 1, 2014 (Van Horn et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/486,759 for an Imaging Terminal, filed Apr. 2, 2014 (Oberpriller et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/257,364 for Docking System and Method Using Near Field Communication filed Apr. 21, 2014 (Showering);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/264,173 for Autofocus Lens System for Indicia Readers filed Apr. 29, 2014 (Ackley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/277,337 for MULTIPURPOSE OPTICAL READER, filed May 14, 2014 (Jovanovski et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/283,282 for TERMINAL HAVING ILLUMINATION AND FOCUS CONTROL filed May 21, 2014 (Liu et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/327,827 for a MOBILE-PHONE ADAPTER FOR ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS, filed Jul. 10, 2014 (Hejl);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/334,934 for a SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INDICIA VERIFICATION, filed Jul. 18, 2014 (Hejl);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/339,708 for LASER SCANNING CODE SYMBOL READING SYSTEM, filed Jul. 24, 2014 (Xian et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/340,627 for an AXIALLY REINFORCED FLEXIBLE SCAN ELEMENT, filed Jul. 25, 2014 (Rueblinger et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/446,391 for MULTIFUNCTION POINT OF SALE APPARATUS WITH OPTICAL SIGNATURE CAPTURE filed Jul. 30, 2014 (Good et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/452,697 for INTERACTIVE INDICIA READER, filed Aug. 6, 2014 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/453,019 for DIMENSIONING SYSTEM WITH GUIDED ALIGNMENT, filed Aug. 6, 2014 (Li et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/462,801 for MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICE WITH DATA COGNITION SOFTWARE, filed on Aug. 19, 2014 (Todeschini et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/483,056 for VARIABLE DEPTH OF FIELD BARCODE SCANNER filed Sep. 10, 2014 (McCloskey et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/513,808 for IDENTIFYING INVENTORY ITEMS IN A STORAGE FACILITY filed Oct. 14, 2014 (Singel et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,195 for HANDHELD DIMENSIONING SYSTEM WITH FEEDBACK filed Oct. 21, 2014 (Laffargue et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,179 for DIMENSIONING SYSTEM WITH MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE MITIGATION filed Oct. 21, 2014 (Thuries et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,211 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIMENSIONING filed Oct. 21, 2014 (Ackley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,233 for HANDHELD DIMENSIONER WITH DATA-QUALITY INDICATION filed Oct. 21, 2014 (Laffargue et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,249 for HANDHELD DIMENSIONING SYSTEM WITH MEASUREMENT-CONFORMANCE FEEDBACK filed Oct. 21, 2014 (Ackley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/527,191 for METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOGNIZING SPEECH USING WILDCARDS IN AN EXPECTED RESPONSE filed Oct. 29, 2014 (Braho et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/529,563 for ADAPTABLE INTERFACE FOR A MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICE filed Oct. 31, 2014 (Schoon et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/529,857 for BARCODE READER WITH SECURITY FEATURES filed Oct. 31, 2014 (Todeschini et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/398,542 for PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES HAVING A SEPARATE LOCATION TRIGGER UNIT FOR USE IN CONTROLLING AN APPLICATION UNIT filed Nov. 3, 2014 (Bian et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/531,154 for DIRECTING AN INSPECTOR THROUGH AN INSPECTION filed Nov. 3, 2014 (Miller et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/533,319 for BARCODE SCANNING SYSTEM USING WEARABLE DEVICE WITH EMBEDDED CAMERA filed Nov. 5, 2014 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/535,764 for CONCATENATED EXPECTED RESPONSES FOR SPEECH RECOGNITION filed Nov. 7, 2014 (Braho et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/568,305 for AUTO-CONTRAST VIEWFINDER FOR AN INDICIA READER filed Dec. 12, 2014 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/573,022 for DYNAMIC DIAGNOSTIC INDICATOR GENERATION filed Dec. 17, 2014 (Goldsmith);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/578,627 for SAFETY SYSTEM AND METHOD filed Dec. 22, 2014 (Ackley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/580,262 for MEDIA GATE FOR THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTERS filed Dec. 23, 2014 (Bowles);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/590,024 for SHELVING AND PACKAGE LOCATING SYSTEMS FOR DELIVERY VEHICLES filed Jan. 6, 2015 (Payne);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/596,757 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING BARCODE PRINTING ERRORS filed Jan. 14, 2015 (Ackley);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/416,147 for OPTICAL READING APPARATUS HAVING VARIABLE SETTINGS filed Jan. 21, 2015 (Chen et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/614,706 for DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AN ELECTRONIC TOOL ON A USER'S HAND filed Feb. 5, 2015 (Oberpriller et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/614,796 for CARGO APPORTIONMENT TECHNIQUES filed Feb. 5, 2015 (Morton et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/516,892 for TABLE COMPUTER filed Feb. 6, 2015 (Bidwell et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/619,093 for METHODS FOR TRAINING A SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM filed Feb. 11, 2015 (Pecorari);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/628,708 for DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE STATUS OF CHECKOUT LANES filed Feb. 23, 2015 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/630,841 for TERMINAL INCLUDING IMAGING ASSEMBLY filed Feb. 25, 2015 (Gomez et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/635,346 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RELIABLE STORE-AND-FORWARD DATA HANDLING BY ENCODED INFORMATION READING TERMINALS filed Mar. 2, 2015 (Sevier);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/519,017 for SCANNER filed Mar. 2, 2015 (Zhou et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/405,278 for DESIGN PATTERN FOR SECURE STORE filed Mar. 9, 2015 (Zhu et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/660,970 for DECODABLE INDICIA READING TERMINAL WITH COMBINED ILLUMINATION filed Mar. 18, 2015 (Kearney et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/661,013 for REPROGRAMMING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEVICES INCLUDING PROGRAMMING SYMBOL filed Mar. 18, 2015 (Soule et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/662,922 for MULTIFUNCTION POINT OF SALE SYSTEM filed Mar. 19, 2015 (Van Horn et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/663,638 for VEHICLE MOUNT COMPUTER WITH CONFIGURABLE IGNITION SWITCH BEHAVIOR filed Mar. 20, 2015 (Davis et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/664,063 for METHOD AND APPLICATION FOR SCANNING A BARCODE WITH A SMART DEVICE WHILE CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING AND DISPLAYING AN APPLICATION ON THE SMART DEVICE DISPLAY filed Mar. 20, 2015 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/669,280 for TRANSFORMING COMPONENTS OF A WEB PAGE TO VOICE PROMPTS filed Mar. 26, 2015 (Funyak et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/674,329 for AIMER FOR BARCODE SCANNING filed Mar. 31, 2015 (Bidwell);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/676,109 for INDICIA READER filed Apr. 1, 2015 (Huck);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/676,327 for DEVICE MANAGEMENT PROXY FOR SECURE DEVICES filed Apr. 1, 2015 (Yeakley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/676,898 for NAVIGATION SYSTEM CONFIGURED TO INTEGRATE MOTION SENSING DEVICE INPUTS filed Apr. 2, 2015 (Showering);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/679,275 for DIMENSIONING SYSTEM CALIBRATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS filed Apr. 6, 2015 (Laffargue et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/523,098 for HANDLE FOR A TABLET COMPUTER filed Apr. 7, 2015 (Bidwell et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/682,615 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POWER MANAGEMENT OF MOBILE DEVICES filed Apr. 9, 2015 (Murawski et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/686,822 for MULTIPLE PLATFORM SUPPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD filed Apr. 15, 2015 (Qu et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/687,289 for SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATION VIA A PERIPHERAL HUB filed Apr. 15, 2015 (Kohtz et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/524,186 for SCANNER filed Apr. 17, 2015 (Zhou et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/695,364 for MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM filed Apr. 24, 2015 (Sewell et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/695,923 for SECURE UNATTENDED NETWORK AUTHENTICATION filed Apr. 24, 2015 (Kubler et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/525,068 for TABLET COMPUTER WITH REMOVABLE SCANNING DEVICE filed Apr. 27, 2015 (Schulte et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/699,436 for SYMBOL READING SYSTEM HAVING PREDICTIVE DIAGNOSTICS filed Apr. 29, 2015 (Nahill et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/702,110 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REGULATING BARCODE DATA INJECTION INTO A RUNNING APPLICATION ON A SMART DEVICE filed May 1, 2015 (Todeschini et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/702,979 for TRACKING BATTERY CONDITIONS filed May 4, 2015 (Young et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/704,050 for INTERMEDIATE LINEAR POSITIONING filed May 5, 2015 (Charpentier et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/705,012 for HANDS-FREE HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE RESPONSIVE TO A DRIVER OF A VEHICLE filed May 6, 2015 (Fitch et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/705,407 for METHOD AND SYSTEM TO PROTECT SOFTWARE-BASED NETWORK-CONNECTED DEVICES FROM ADVANCED PERSISTENT THREAT filed May 6, 2015 (Hussey et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/707,037 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAY OF INFORMATION USING A VEHICLE-MOUNT COMPUTER filed May 8, 2015 (Chamberlin);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/707,123 for APPLICATION INDEPENDENT DEX/UCS INTERFACE filed May 8, 2015 (Pape);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/707,492 for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR READING OPTICAL INDICIA USING A PLURALITY OF DATA SOURCES filed May 8, 2015 (Smith et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/710,666 for PRE-PAID USAGE SYSTEM FOR ENCODED INFORMATION READING TERMINALS filed May 13, 2015 (Smith);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/526,918 for CHARGING BASE filed May 14, 2015 (Fitch et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/715,672 for AUGUMENTED REALITY ENABLED HAZARD DISPLAY filed May 19, 2015 (Venkatesha et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/715,916 for EVALUATING IMAGE VALUES filed May 19, 2015 (Ackley);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/722,608 for INTERACTIVE USER INTERFACE FOR CAPTURING A DOCUMENT IN AN IMAGE SIGNAL filed May 27, 2015 (Showering et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/528,165 for IN-COUNTER BARCODE SCANNER filed May 27, 2015 (Oberpriller et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/724,134 for ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH WIRELESS PATH SELECTION CAPABILITY filed May 28, 2015 (Wang et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/724,849 for METHOD OF PROGRAMMING THE DEFAULT CABLE INTERFACE SOFTWARE IN AN INDICIA READING DEVICE filed May 29, 2015 (Barten);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/724,908 for IMAGING APPARATUS HAVING IMAGING ASSEMBLY filed May 29, 2015 (Barber et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/725,352 for APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING ONE OR MORE PORTABLE DATA TERMINALS (Caballero et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/528,590 for ELECTRONIC DEVICE filed May 29, 2015 (Fitch et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/528,890 for MOBILE COMPUTER HOUSING filed Jun. 2, 2015 (Fitch et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/728,397 for DEVICE MANAGEMENT USING VIRTUAL INTERFACES CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS filed Jun. 2, 2015 (Caballero);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/732,870 for DATA COLLECTION MODULE AND SYSTEM filed Jun. 8, 2015 (Powilleit);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/529,441 for INDICIA READING DEVICE filed Jun. 8, 2015 (Zhou et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/735,717 for INDICIA-READING SYSTEMS HAVING AN INTERFACE WITH A USER'S NERVOUS SYSTEM filed Jun. 10, 2015 (Todeschini);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/738,038 for METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING OBJECT WEIGHING INTERFERENCES filed Jun. 12, 2015 (Amundsen et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/740,320 for TACTILE SWITCH FOR A MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICE filed Jun. 16, 2015 (Bandringa);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/740,373 for CALIBRATING A VOLUME DIMENSIONER filed Jun. 16, 2015 (Ackley et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/742,818 for INDICIA READING SYSTEM EMPLOYING DIGITAL GAIN CONTROL filed Jun. 18, 2015 (Xian et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/743,257 for WIRELESS MESH POINT PORTABLE DATA TERMINAL filed Jun. 18, 2015 (Wang et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/530,600 for CYCLONE filed Jun. 18, 2015 (Vargo et al);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/744,633 for IMAGING APPARATUS COMPRISING IMAGE SENSOR ARRAY HAVING SHARED GLOBAL SHUTTER CIRCUITRY filed Jun. 19, 2015 (Wang);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/744,836 for CLOUD-BASED SYSTEM FOR READING OF DECODABLE INDICIA filed Jun. 19, 2015 (Todeschini et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/745,006 for SELECTIVE OUTPUT OF DECODED MESSAGE DATA filed Jun. 19, 2015 (Todeschini et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/747,197 for OPTICAL PATTERN PROJECTOR filed Jun. 23, 2015 (Thuries et al.);
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/747,490 for DUAL-PROJECTOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCANNER filed Jun. 23, 2015 (Jovanovski et al.); and
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/748,446 for CORDLESS INDICIA READER WITH A MULTIFUNCTION COIL FOR WIRELESS CHARGING AND EAS DEACTIVATION, filed Jun. 24, 2015 (Xie et al.).

In the specification and/or figures, typical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed. The present invention is not limited to such exemplary embodiments. The use of the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The figures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawn to scale. Unless otherwise noted, specific terms have been used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. A device, comprising: a housing containing:an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output;a display; anda processor that is programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image.

2. The device according to claim 1, where the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code.

3. The device according to claim 1, where the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as alphanumeric characters.

4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a radio transmitter; and where the processor is further programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter.

5. The device according to claim 4, where the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers.

6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an attachment mechanism that is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver.

7. The device according to claim 6, further comprising an infrared pass-through that permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.

8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising a battery that powers the infrared receiver, the display and the processor.

9. The device according to claim 8, further comprising a battery that powers the infrared receiver, the display and the processor.

10. A device, comprising: a housing containing:an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output;a radio transmitter; anda processor that is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter.

11. The device according to claim 10, where the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers.

12. The device according to claim 10, where the processor is further programmed to receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver and convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image.

13. The device according to claim 12, where the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code.

14. The device according to claim 12, where the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as alphanumeric characters.

15. The device according to claim 10, further comprising an attachment mechanism that is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver.

16. The device according to claim 10, further comprising an infrared pass-through that permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.

17. A device, comprising: a housing containing:an infrared receiver that is ported through the housing to receive infrared encoded data and provide an electrical signal representing the encoded infrared data as an output;a radio frequency transmitter;a display;an attachment mechanism that is used to attach the housing to a legacy device so as to permit infrared signals to pass to the infrared receiver;a processor that is programmed to:receive the electrical signal output from the infrared receiver,convert the output to a signal that is provided to the display where the display represents the signal as a visual image, andconvert the electrical signal to a signal that is transmitted by the radio transmitter; anda battery that powers the infrared receiver, the radio frequency transmitter, the display, and the processor.

18. The device according to claim 17, where the processor is programmed to convert the electrical signal to a signal that is represented on the display as a visual image of a bar code or of alphanumeric characters.

19. The device according to claim 17, where the radio transmitter transmits radio signals that are compliant with at least one of BlueTooth standard, Near Field Communications, Wireless Local Area Network; Wireless Wide Area Networks and Radio Frequency Identifiers.

20. The device according to claim 17, further comprising an infrared pass-through that permits the infrared signal to pass through the housing so that the infrared signal can be read by an infrared reader.