Appeal No. 1999-0236
Application 08/624,173
THE PRIOR ART
The Examiner relies on the following prior art:
Honda 5,463,213 October 31, 1995
Hanson 5,468,950 November 21, 1995
Sherman 5,502,297 March 26, 1996
Sherman discloses a handheld bar code scanner which
reduces electrical power consumption during periods of nonuse
while maintaining the scanner immediately ready for use. The
scanner has a light emitting diode (LED) source 80 of a series
of light pulses having a certain duty cycle, an optical system
to transmit the pulses in a predetermined direction, and a
circuit to detect any light pulses reflected from the surface.
One of the greatest power consuming elements in a handheld bar
code scanner is the illumination beam source. The
illumination beam is only needed when the scanner is
sufficiently close to a surface which may carry a bar code
symbol that it can be used. Sherman discloses detecting the
presence of a surface by sensing reflections from the surface
and changing between a normal operating mode and a standby
(low power) mode. In normal operating mode, the LED 80 is
pulsed (e.g., chopped on and off at a 40 kHz rate) at a peak
current of up to 80 mA with a 50% duty cycle (col. 4,
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