Bar Code Scanners
Bar codes are basically arrangements of some thick and thin lines that have some piece of information stored in them. This information cannot be understood by a layman. You would see barcodes on much stuff, like a new t-shirt will have a barcode that has, which can be scanned to prize the shirt. Thus we need special scanners that can understand these codes. Thus we have bar code scanners for this purpose. Barcode Scanners are portable or motionless devices that are frequently used to understand writing information enclosed in a barcode.
The working mechanism of these devices is really simple. First of all these devices are connected to home PC. Then the scanner captures the barcode written into letters or numeric numbers. Then this information is fed to the computer where software processes the information and we get the code read.
A barcode scanner consists of two parts one is the code reader and the other is the code decoder. The reader uses a light source to illuminate the bar code. The amount of light reflected back by the code is important in reading the code. This light energy is converted back into electrical signals with the help pf photo converters. This electrically energy can be converted back to data with the help of transponders.
There are various types of barcode readers or scanners available in the market. They can be portable, handheld devices with laser or digital source. The most common type of handheld scanners is the Pen-wand scanners. These scanners need to be kept in direct contact with the barcode at a particular reading angle. Then the scanner is moved around the barcode to read it. These types of scanners are popular in malls where people shop and pay with the help of credit cards. Other places where they can be utilized include investigate counters and sanatoriums and are also used to procedure recognition ID. These scanners are also used in companies where every employee has an ID card which needs to be scanned before the employee enters the company premises.
Technically there are two kinds of barcode scanners. These are the image scanner and a laser scanner. Image scanner has an embedded camera in it, which captures the barcode images, which are scanned later. Laser scanners on the other hand use laser technique to read barcodes. The advantage of laser scanner is that there is no specific angle where it should be placed to read the code.
by Camila 19 years ago