Granted Patent B2

US 7,207,488 · App. 11/163,920 · Granted Apr 24, 2007

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A combined barcode scanner and radio frequency identification (RFID) reader apparatus, comprising:

a microprocessor control unit, wherein the microprocessor control unit utilizes a field interpretation array to parse a continuous string of data into discrete data fields;

an RFID module electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, comprising an antenna, a radio frequency (RF) amplifier and a reader module;

a barcode scanner module electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, comprising a camera module and an image module; and

a host interface electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, permitting the exchange of information between the apparatus and a host computer.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the host interface comprises an RS-232 interface, a USB interface, or a PS/2 interface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the RS-232 interface consists of a transceiver that converts standard RS-232 voltage level signals received from a serial port on the host computer into TTL voltage signals for transmission to a TTL serial interface on the microprocessor control unit.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the USB interface communicates with the host computer through a USB port emulating a serial interface, as well as, a keyboard interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the USB interface converts data from a TTL voltage signal from the microprocessor control unit into a USB compatible voltage signal for transmission to the host computer.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the PS/2 interface is a keyboard switch comprising a hex buffer and an analog switch.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit wherein the user interface comprises a trigger, an LED light, or a beeper.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the trigger has multiple positions, each position instructing the microprocessor control unit to initiate at least one of the following functions: place the apparatus in program mode; operate the barcode scanner module; operate the RFID module; and operate alternately both the barcode scanner module and the RFID module.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the LED light comprises a bi-color LED light.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the LED light comprises two bi-color LED lights.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the reader module selects, reads and writes to RFID tags.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the RF amplifier comprises a power supply, a transmitter and a receiver.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the transmitter comprises first and second signal matching circuits, a signal amplifier, and a passive filter.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the receiver comprises an envelope detector, a passive filter, an active filter, and a comparator circuit.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the field interpretation array comprises data fields corresponding to field number, field address, field length, field header and field trailer.

16. A combined barcode scanner and radio frequency identification (RFID) reader apparatus, comprising:

a microprocessor control unit, wherein the microprocessor control unit utilizes a field interpretation array to parse a continuous string of data into discrete data fields;

an RFID module electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, comprising an antenna, a radio frequency (RF) amplifier and a reader module, wherein the reader module selects, reads and writes RFID tags, wherein the RF amplifier comprises a power supply, a transmitter and a receiver;

a barcode scanner module electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, comprising a camera module and an image module;

a host interface electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, permitting the exchange of information between the apparatus and a host computer, wherein the host interface comprises an RS-232 interface, a USB interface, or a PS/2 interface; and

a user interface electrically connected to the microprocessor control unit, wherein the user interface comprises a trigger, an LED light, or a beeper.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the trigger has multiple positions, each position instructing the microprocessor control unit to initiate at least one of the following functions: place the apparatus in program mode; operate the barcode scanner module; operate the RFID module; and operate alternately both the barcode scanner module and the RFID module.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the LED light comprises a bi-color LED light.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the LED light comprises two bi-color LED lights.

20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the RS-232 interface consists of a transceiver that converts standard RS-232 voltage level signals received from a serial port on the host computer into TTL voltage signals for transmission to a TTL serial interface on the microprocessor control unit.

21. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the USB interface communicates with the host computer through a USB port emulating a serial interface, as well as, a keyboard interface.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the USB interface converts data from a TTL voltage signal from the microprocessor control unit into a USB compatible voltage signal for transmission to the host computer.

23. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the PS/2 interface is a keyboard switch comprising a hex buffer and an analog switch.

24. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the transmitter comprises first and second signal matching circuits, a signal amplifier, and a passive filter.

25. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the receiver comprises an envelope detector, a passive filter, an active filter, and a comparator circuit.

26. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the field interpretation array comprises data fields corresponding to field number, field address, field length, field header and field trailer.

Assignments (16)