Indicia-reader having unitary-construction
A hand-held indicia-reading device includes a housing and a cable having a unitary-construction. The indicia-reader has a head portion with an indicia-reading system including a printed circuit board. The entire handle portion of the reader is typically over-molded onto a host-connector cable. The host-connector cable includes a circuit board connector on one end and a connector for connecting to a host at an opposite end extending from a base portion of the handle.
1. An indicia-reading device, comprising:
an indicia-capturing subsystem for acquiring information about indicia within the indicia-capturing subsystem's field of view;
an indicia-decoding subsystem configured for decoding indicia information acquired by the indicia-capturing subsystem; and
a hand-supportable housing comprising a head portion an adjacent handle portion, and a host-connector cable having at least one connector end wherein (i) the head portion substantially encloses the indicia-capturing subsystem and the indicia-decoding subsystem, (ii) the handle is formed as a unitary-construction; (iii) the handle directly integrates and surrounds a portion of the host-connector cable, and (iv) the at least one connector end of the host-connector cable extends from the upper portion of the handle.
2. The indicia-reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the host-connector cable has a first end connector at an upper portion of the handle and a second end connector at a base portion of the handle.
3. The indicia-reading device according to claim 2 , wherein the indicia-capturing subsystem comprises a printed circuit board operatively connected to electro-optical components.
4. The indicia-reading device according to claim 3 , wherein the first end connector is operatively connected to the printed circuit board.
5. The indicia-reading device according to claim 4 , wherein the second end connector is operatively connected to a host.
6. The indicia-reading device according to claim 5 , wherein the host is a computer.
7. The indicia-reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the hand-supportable housing's head portion is removably connected to the hand-supportable housing's unitary-construction handle.
8. The indicia-reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the hand-supportable housing's unitary-construction handle is an injection-molded handle.
9. The indicia-reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the hand-supportable housing's unitary-construction handle is a blow-molded handle.
10. An indicia-reading device, comprising:
a hand-supportable housing, comprising a head portion and an adjacent handle portion;
wherein the head portion at least partially encloses an indicia-capturing system, the indicia-capturing system comprising (i) an indicia-capturing subsystem for acquiring information about indicia within the indicia-capturing subsystem's field of view, and (ii) an indicia-decoding subsystem configured for decoding indicia information acquired by the indicia-capturing subsystem;
wherein the handle portion physically and directly integrates and surrounds a portion of a host-connector cable forming a single part, the host-connector cable having at least one connector end;
wherein the at least one connector end of the host-connector cable extends from the upper portion of the handle.
11. The indicia-reading device according to claim 10 , wherein the host-connector cable has a first end connector at an upper portion of the handle and a second end connector at a base portion of the handle.
12. The indicia-reading device according to claim 11 , wherein the indicia-capturing system comprises a printed circuit board operatively connected to electro-optical components.
13. The indicia-reading device according to claim 12 , wherein the first end connector is operatively connected to the printed circuit board.
14. The indicia-reading device according to claim 13 , wherein the second end connector is operatively connected to a host.
15. The indicia-reading device according to claim 14 , wherein the host is a handheld computer.
16. The indicia-reading device according to claim 10 , wherein the head portion is removably attached to the handle portion.
17. The indicia-reading device according to claim 16 , wherein the head portion is removably attached to the handle portion by fasteners.
18. A method for reading indicia, comprising:
providing an indicia-reading device that includes (i) an indicia-capturing subsystem for acquiring information about indicia within the indicia-capturing subsystem's field of view, (ii) an indicia-decoding subsystem configured for decoding indicia information acquired by the indicia-capturing subsystem, (iii) a hand-supportable housing having a head portion and an adjacent handle portion, wherein the head portion substantially encloses the indicia-capturing subsystem and the indicia-decoding subsystem and the handle is formed as a unitary-construction, and (iv) a host-connector cable having at least one connector end, a portion of the host-connector cable being directly integrated into and surrounded by the hand-supportable housing's unitary-construction handle, and the at least one connector end extending from the upper portion of the handle;
operatively connecting the host-connector cable to a host; and
using the indicia-reading device to acquire indicia information.
19. A method for reading indicia according to claim 18 , comprising communicating the indicia information from the indicia-reading device to the host via the host-connector cable.