Planar laser illumination and imaging (PLIIM) systems with integrated despeckling mechanisms provided therein

• Main Authors: KOLIS GEORGE, AMUNDSEN THOMAS, JANKEVICS ANDREW, DEFONEY SHAWN, VATAN PIROOZ, WILZ, SR. DAVID W, TASSELL JON VAN, GIORDANO PATRICK A, WIRTH ALLAN, TSIKOS CONSTANTINE J, COLAVITO STEPHEN J, KNOWLES C. HARRY, ZHU XIAOXUN, SKYPALA EDWARD, SCHNEE MICHAEL D, SCHWARTZ BARRY E, KIM STEVEN Y, GOOD TIMOTHY A, SVEDAS WILLIAM, GHOSH SANKAR, AU KA MAN, BLAKE ROBERT, FISHER DALE, SCHMIDT MARK C, NAYLOR CHARLES A, YORSZ JEFFERY, DOBBS RUSSELL JOSEPH
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 05.05.2009
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CALCULATING; CHECKING-DEVICES; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION; DIGITAL COMPUTERS IN WHICH ALL THE COMPUTATION IS EFFECTEDMECHANICALLY; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; ELECTRICITY; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS; OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS; OPTICS; PHYSICS; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECOGNITION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS

A hand-supportable planar laser illumination and imaging (PLIIM) based device having hand-supportable housing with a light transmission aperture. A linear image formation and detection (IFD) module is mounted within the housing, and has a linear array of image detection elements and also image formation optics with a field of view (FOV). When an object is presented within the FOV, the FOV focuses a linear image of the object onto the linear array. At least one planar laser illumination module (PLIM) is mounted on the support platform, with the linear IFD module, and produces a planar laser illumination beam (PLIB) spatially aligned with respect to the FOV and arranged in a coplanar relationship with at least a portion of the FOV. A laser beam despeckling mechanism is integrated in the device, for reducing speckle-pattern noise observed the linear digital images formed and detected at the linear array of image detection elements.