Appeal No. 1999-0236
Application 08/624,173
This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from
the final rejection of claims 1, 2, 4-6, 8-16, 18, and 19.
Claims 3, 7, and 17 have been canceled.
We reverse.
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a method and device for imaging
low contrast symbols. It was known to form two-dimensional
bar code symbols directly onto the ceramic or plastic package
of electronic components by laser etching or other precision
machining processes. A drawback of etched or machined symbols
is that they have very low contrast because there is little
color difference between the characters and the uncut surface
and, to compound this problem, electronic components often
have a dull black finish that tends to obscure the symbol
characters. As a result, symbols are difficult to read.
In Appellant's invention, a pair of laser diodes 34 on
the scanner 10 are oriented at an angle so they produce beams
that intersect at a point directly in front of a window 24 and
within the field of view of a CCD element 36. The operator
may pull the trigger 14 to a first position for focusing,
which illuminates the laser diodes 34 at a first (or lower)
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