A barcode scanner, or barcode reader, is an optical scanner that reads printed barcodes and sends the data they encode to a computer, working much like a flatbed scanner by shining a light source onto the barcode, focusing the reflected light through a lens onto a light sensor, and decoding the resulting electrical signal into the barcodes information. Barcode scanners take several technical forms, including pen-type readers, laser scanners, and CCD or camera-based readers, and are used at retail checkouts, in warehouses and in shipping and inventory systems worldwide to read the Universal Product Code and other barcode formats quickly and reliably. By automating the identification of products and packages, the barcode scanner replaced manual price entry and record keeping across retail and logistics.
Facts
Patent or First-Use DateUS Patent 2,612,994, 'Classifying Apparatus and Method,' filed 20 October 1949 by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver and issued 7 October 1952; covers the barcode pattern and its optical reading method jointly. SignificanceCommercial barcode scanning began at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio in June 1974 and went on to become the near-universal method of automating checkout and inventory tracking in retail. 1 Sources
1. Barcode (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHistory section (commercial adoption)
In June 1974, Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio used a scanner made by Photographic Sciences Corporation to scan the Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode on a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum.
History section
The patent was issued on 7 October 1952, as US Patent 2,612,994.
Lead section
Barcodes became commercially successful after they were adopted to automate supermarket checkout systems, a task for which they have become almost universal.
View the Source Barcode (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIn Group: Automatic Identification and Data Capture, lead states a barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodesView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.