Andrew Zosel

Bruce Scharf

Laura Hoffman

John Agapakis

Kyle O'Brien

Applications Engineering

Jonathan Ludlow

Matt Van Bogart

Tim O'Neel

Hui Fan

John Goss

Steven King

Juan Worle

Bert Moore

Steve Twaddle

Cathy McBeth

Scott Clifford

Michael De Kegel

Juan Pablo Biermayr

Shaina Warner

Ganggang Song

Brian Thompson

Kirsi Rolf

Matt Scrichfield

Mike Messina

Cindy Brown

Kay Groves

Jason Lee

Joe Dziezanowski

Chris Savina

Nico Hooiveld

Marko Olpp

Nancy Lincoln

Microscan's Handheld Barcode Scanner Product Line

by John Goss on April 12, 2011
posted in Product Development

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If you haven’t noticed, Microscan has been gradually growing its line of handheld barcode scanners and readers. The range spreads from the economical (like the HS-2D & HS-1) for reading standard printed labels, to a professional handled scanner (like the Mobile Hawk) for easy reading of difficult-to-decode Direct Part Marking (DPM) symbols.

You may be wondering, “What’s the best scanner to select for my project?” Well it depends on your requirements. Below is a table that highlights their image sensor technologies, lighting and best uses.

¹ Dual focus splits the image sensor into two sections and incorporates two separate focus lenses. One is focused for far field objects and one focuses on near field objects.

There is also a handy comparison chart available in the Handheld Barcode Scanner product section of our website.

What may not be known about some Microscan handheld barcode scanners, is that most of these readers can be programmed to manipulate the output stream. And in some cases can be programmed to do special functions such as match code qualifying. The programming may be done in a simple XML rule and made into a scan code that programs the reader for that special function or setting. Or the programming may need to be more advanced and require Java Script programming.

Below is a short list of some past projects of programming:

by Scott Clifford on April 7, 2011
posted in Product Development

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	.....	Back in May, 2010, Microscan released enhanced versions of our MS-1 CCD Scan Engine and our MS-2 Ultra-compact CCD Reader products. You may have heard them referred to as MS-1+, MS-2+ or 32-bit MS-1 and MS-2. No blaring trumpets or fanfare, just a quiet introduction of more horsepower under the same hood, at the same or even lower cost. The new products offer significantly faster scanning and decoding, along with the convenience of USB connectivity. While we were at it, we added some additional symbol support and even increased the scan angle on the high density versions:

MS-1 CCD Scan Engine, MS-2 Ultra Compact CCD Reader: 32-bit vs. 16-bit

Feature	32-bit MS-1	16-bit MS-1	Significance
Scan Rate Decode Rate	530 / sec 55 / sec	220 / sec 40/sec	Almost 2.5 x faster scan rate Almost 1.4 x faster decode
Scan Angle	Same for LD version, wider HD version		Wider scan angle on HD version
Connectivity	NEW USB RS-232	RS-232	New USB connectivity broadens implementation options
Price	Same or Less		More features, better price
Symbology Support	Most standard 1D Linear / Stacked, plus: PDF 417 and China Post	Most standard 1-D Linear / Stacked	Greater decode capability

by Bruce Scharf on March 10, 2011
posted in Product Development

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Microscan continues to produce patents as well as cutting edge products. Two new patents were issued in February 2011. The first, US 7,886,979, is an expansion of Microscan’s patent portfolio covering off-axis machine vision lighting techniques, which enhance the ability to decode direct part mark symbols. The second, US 7,889,930, is another patent covering Data Matrix reading and enhancing the functionality of Microscan’s verification products. This most recent patent grants Microscan exclusive rights to this method, which helps the user align a symbol in the verifier’s field of view prior to verification, ensuring the most accurate grade is given.

by Bruce Scharf on February 16, 2011
posted in Product Development

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I am pleased to announce that Microscan started out 2011 with a new patent issued in January. US patent 7,877,003 is the second of several patents that protect Microscan’s line of verification products.

Mike Messina’s invention covers different machine vision illumination methods to make sure the proper grade is assigned to a symbol. Without these lighting techniques, inconsistent and inaccurate grading according to ISO and AIM industry standards may result. Accurate grading is essential when generating data matrix and other symbols in order to ensure that the symbol can be decoded throughout the supply chain.

by Bruce Scharf on January 5, 2011
posted in Product Development

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Happy New Year everyone. December closed out a very strong year for Microscan inventors with 3 patents being granted for machine vision lighting technology. Our total for 2010 was 10 patents issued which is over twice as many as our competition.

I would like to congratulate Mike Messina and Brian Thompson for US patent 7,850,338 which covers different methods for controlling diffuse lighting for machine vision inspection. Using these techniques, a single backlight can be controlled to handle a wide variety of different inspection tasks eliminating the need to purchase a different light for each type of part to be inspected.

Mike Messina is also the inventor in US patent 7,852,564 which expands upon our patented Diffuse On Axis Light (DOAL) machine vision lighting technology by adding additional beam splitters at various angles to provide Off-Axis light as well as On-Axis light. With this unique combination, curved surfaces are much easier to inspect.

by Tim O'Neel on December 14, 2010
posted in Product Development

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Hello friends, ESP 5.8 is available in the Microscan Download Center. ESP is our powerful configuration and testing software, for use with Microscan Auto ID products. It supports our extensive product line of scanners and imagers, from the low-cost, high-performance MS-2 32-Bit CCD Reader to high-end, best-in-class QX Hawk Industrial Imager. ESP Software also supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000.

Support for MS-2 32-Bit CCD Reader

ESP 5.8 supports the new 32-bit MS-2 CCD Reader. The 32-bit MS-2 features a CCD image sensor, up to 55 decodes per second, and a 20 mm to 325 mm depth of field. The most visible (and sure to be one of the most welcome) changes to the MS-1 interface is the simplified firmware download process. Updating firmware is now as easy for this product as for our other Auto ID products. MS-2 32-Bit CCD Reader shown on

ESP model menu:

The 32-bit MS-2 also supports China Postal Code and PDF417 symbologies and multi-language keyboard mapping.

by Bruce Scharf on December 8, 2010
posted in Product Development

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Season’s Greetings from Microscan! The Microscan innovation machine continues to roll as evidenced by the recent award of two patents on November 16th. These two patents are in addition to the four already granted in 2010. I am truly thankful for the privilege of working with some of the most creative and innovative people in our industry.

I would like to recognize Jesse Kolstad for his continuing development of ways to decode symbols in out-of-focus and noisy environments. His U.S. patent 7,832,644 builds upon his previous patent 7,743,993 and is used in the QX-830 and QX-870.

I would also like to congratulate Tom Driscoll for his first patent, U.S. patent 7,835,634, titled “Camera Enclosure Sealing System and Method.” As you can see from the figure in the patent, Tom helped develop the VS-1 sealing system technology that enables our smart camera to perform in even the harshest environments.

The inventions keep coming…

by Bruce Scharf on November 11, 2010
posted in Product Development

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I am pleased to report that Microscan was recently awarded United States patent number 7,822,335. This patent is novel in that it covers the combination of a light pipe for machine vision illumination with a sealing system to protect the lens of an imaging system.

The lens cover is made of a clear material which provides the light pipe for the camera lights. The cover can be shaped in various ways to provide bright or dark field illumination. At the same time, the light pipe protects the camera lens from contamination. In harsh environments, a sealing level of IP67 is achievable.

With over 90 patents issued to Microscan, we continue to innovate based upon customer needs.

by Bruce Scharf on October 29, 2010
posted in Product Development

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The Microscan innovation machine continues to produce patented technology. NERLITE Engineer Mike Messina was granted US patent number 7,792,419 in September.

This patented technology covers machine vision illumination systems designs for curved surfaces, especially cylindrical objects. The advantage of using this arch lighting design is that the inspection camera can be placed off axis from the light. By not having a hole in the light for the camera lens, superb illumination uniformity will yield more accurate inspections of the curved objects.

by Tim O'Neel on September 16, 2010
posted in Product Development

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Hello friends, as of September 13th, ESP 5.7 is available in the Microscan Download Center and is now shipping with all Microscan Auto ID orders. As all frequent visitors to our website know, ESP is our powerful configuration and testing software, for use with Microscan Auto ID products. It supports our broad and deep product line of scanners and imagers, from the low-cost, high-performance MS-1 Scan Engine to the high-end, best-in-class QX Hawk CCD Imager. This latest release of ESP Software also supports Windows 7, an operating system that is being adopted widely and rapidly in both clinical environments and factory floors. And, of course, ESP still supports Windows Vista, XP, and 2000.

ESP 5.7 with Windows 7 Operating System:

Now for a closer look at ESP’s new additions and feature enhancements.

Support for QX Hawk CCD

The CCD version of the QX Hawk offers SXGA resolution (1280 x 960), read range of 30 mm to 2 meters and beyond, integrated Ethernet, and up to 20 decodes per second. The CCD sensor offers a higher-quality image than a CMOS sensor, because the pixel “fill factor” (the effective area of each pixel cell) is greater. The pixel size itself is also smaller (3.75um for CCD vs. 6.00um for CMOS), requiring less light collection. The CCD sensor requires a slower exposure or higher gain than a CMOS sensor, but as exposure time decreases, the dynamic range and performance of the CCD sensor negate those requirements.

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