Claims
- 1. A computing device comprising:
a first imaging engine having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a first plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; a second imaging engine having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a second plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; switching circuitry for operatively switching between the first and second imaging engines; and a processor for controlling the switching circuitry for receiving one of the first and second plurality of signals.
- 2. The computing device according to claim 1, further comprising interface circuitry coupled to the switching circuitry and the processor for receiving the first and second plurality of signals from the switching circuitry and transmitting the signals to the processor.
- 3. The computing device according to claim 1, further comprising an automatically focusing lens assembly for automatically controlling movement of at least one lens of a lens assembly of at least one of the imaging engines.
- 4. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the first imaging engine has a near-to-mid imaging range and the second imaging engine has a mid-to-far imaging range.
- 5. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging engines have at least one different depth of field and field of view.
- 6. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the image sensors is a color image sensor.
- 7. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the first image sensor includes a higher resolution photo detector array than the second image sensor.
- 8. The computing device according to claim 1, further comprising an aiming and illumination assembly controlled by the processor.
- 9. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the switching circuitry includes a multiplexer.
- 10. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second imaging engines are configured and dimensioned to fit within a predetermined form factor.
- 11. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor includes a set of programmable instructions for processing the plurality of signals to recognize and analyze data provided therein.
- 12. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the computing device is selected from the group consisting of an optical code reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a pager, a video telephone, a cellular telephone, a hand held computer, and a hand held data capture device.
- 13. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second imaging engines are supported by a housing.
- 14. The computing device according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the imaging engines is movably mounted to the housing.
- 15. The computing device according to claim 14, wherein at least one of the imaging engines is removably mounted to the housing.
- 16. The computing device according to claim 1, further comprising a user selection assembly having a first control for manually selecting at least one operating mode of the computing device, and a second control for manually selecting either the first or second imaging engine.
- 17. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second imaging engines are one of two individual imaging engines and one integrated imaging engine.
- 18. A computing device comprising:
at least two imaging engines each having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; switching circuitry for operatively switching between the at least two imaging engines; and a processor for controlling the switching circuitry and for processing the plurality of signals.
- 19. The computing device according to claim 18, further comprising interface circuitry coupled to the switching circuitry and the processor for receiving the plurality of signals from the switching circuitry and transmitting the signals to the processor.
- 20. The computing device according to claim 18, further comprising an automatically focusing lens assembly for controlling movement of at least one lens of a lens assembly of at least one of the at least two imaging engines.
- 21. The computing device according to claim 18, at least one of the at least two imaging engines has one of a near-to-mid imaging range and a mid-to-far imaging range.
- 22. The computing device according to claim 18, wherein the at least two imaging engines have at least one different depth of field and field of view.
- 23. The computing device according to claim 18, wherein at least one of the at least two imaging engines includes a color image sensor.
- 24. The computing device according to claim 18, further comprising an aiming and illumination assembly controlled by the processor.
- 25. The computing device according to claim 18, wherein at least one of the at least two imaging engines is configured and dimensioned to fit within a predetermined form factor.
- 26. The computing device according to claim 18, wherein the at least two imaging engines are supported by a housing.
- 28. The computing device according to claim 26, wherein at least one of the at least two imaging engines is movably mounted to the housing.
- 29. The computing device according to claim 26, wherein at least one of the at least two imaging engines is removably mounted to the housing.
- 30. The computing device according to claim 18, further comprising a user selection assembly having a first control for manually selecting at least one operating mode of the computing device, and a second control for manually selecting at least one of the at least two imaging engines.
- 31. The computing device according to claim 18, wherein the computing device is selected from the group consisting of an optical code reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a pager, a video telephone, a cellular telephone, a hand held computer, and a hand held data capture device.
- 32. A computing device comprising:
a first imaging engine having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a first plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; a second imaging engine having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a second plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; and a processor for receiving at least one of the first and second plurality of signals.
- 33. The computing device according to claim 32, further comprising switching circuitry for operatively switching between the first and second imaging engines.
- 34. The computing device according to claim 33, further comprising interface circuitry coupled to the switching circuitry and the processor for receiving the first and second plurality of signals from the switching circuitry and transmitting the signals to the processor.
- 35. The computing device according to claim 32, further comprising an automatically focusing lens assembly for controlling movement of at least one lens of a lens assembly of at least one of the imaging engines.
- 36. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the first imaging engine has a near-to-mid imaging range and the second imaging engine has a mid-to-far imaging range.
- 37. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the imaging engines have at least one different depth of field and field of view.
- 38. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein at least one of the image sensors is a color image sensor.
- 39. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the first image sensor includes a higher resolution photo detector array than the second image sensor.
- 40. The computing device according to claim 32, further comprising an aiming and illumination assembly controlled by the processor.
- 41. The computing device according to claim 33, wherein the switching circuitry includes a multiplexer.
- 42. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the first and second imaging engines are configured and dimensioned to fit within a predetermined form factor.
- 43. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the processor includes a set of programmable instructions for processing the plurality of signals to recognize and analyze data provided therein.
- 44. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the computing device is selected from the group consisting of an optical code reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a pager, a video telephone, a cellular telephone, a hand held computer, and a hand held data capture device.
- 45. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the first and second imaging engines are supported by a housing.
- 46. The computing device according to claim 45, wherein at least one of the imaging engines is movably mounted to the housing.
- 47. The computing device according to claim 45, wherein at least one of the imaging engines is removably mounted to the housing.
- 48. The computing device according to claim 32, further comprising a user selection assembly having a first control for manually selecting at least one operating mode of the computing device, and a second control for manually selecting either the first or second imaging engine.
- 49. The computing device according to claim 32, wherein the first and second imaging engines are one of two individual imaging engines and one integrated imaging engine.
- 50. A method for performing digital imaging, the method comprising the steps of:
providing at least two imaging engines each having an image sensor for sensing light and outputting a plurality of signals corresponding to the sensed light; selecting at least one of the at least two imaging engines; and processing the plurality of signals corresponding to the at least one selected imaging engine.
- 51. The method according to claim 50, wherein the step of selecting is performed either automatically or manually.
- 52. The method according to claim 50, further comprising the step of automatically controlling movement of a lens assembly of at least one of the at least two imaging engines.
- 53. The method according to claim 50, wherein the step of providing at least two imaging engines includes the step of providing at least one imaging engine configured and dimensioned to fit within a predetermined form factor.
- 54. The method according to claim 50, wherein the step of processing includes the step of decoding at least one optical code provided by the plurality of signals.
PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority to a U.S. Provisional Application filed on Jan. 3, 2003 and assigned U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/437,959, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60437959 |
Jan 2003 |
US |