US Patent 7147162 Housing for an optical reader

A body portion of an optical reader has an elastomeric skirt surrounding the lateral edges thereof. The laterally spaced front edges of the skirt, which are on either side of a window through which the light is emitted and received along an optical axis, are angled rearwardly from a plane normal to the axis. The front edges extend downwardly and forwardly from a front edge of the bottom wall of a body, and also extend forwardly from a front edge of the top wall of the body. These features allow the lower ends of the front edges of the skirt to be placed on a surface near the target to act as a fulcrum in rotating the handle of the scanner to selectively place the reader in close proximity to the target, while at the same time allowing the operator to view the target. An elastomeric collar is applied to the lower end of the handle such that when the scanning device is placed at rest in an unused condition, no matter what the rotational position with respect to the axis of the handle, the device will be supported at one elastomeric covered position on each of the handle and the skirt. Other features of the scanning device provide for a stable parking of the scanner when not in use and a substantial recessing of the front window to thereby protect it from contact with objects that may tend to scratch or damage the window.