PORTABLE TRANSACTION TERMINAL FOR OPTICAL AND KEY ENTRY OF DATA WITHOUT KEYBOARDS AND MANUALLY ACTUATED SCANNERS

To increase the efficiency of personnel conducting inventory management operations, including data entry of products and information as to their absence, presence or location, the operator is provided with a glove having finger sheaths and a portion for the posterior or dorsal surface of the hand which covers that surface. A bar code reader is located in a housing on the cover and flexural strain gauge elements are located in the sheaths in the vicinity of the joints of the fingers. Signals from these elements are digitized and provide for manual data entry and also for commands to operate the bar code reader. The glove and the sensors constitute a portable transaction or data entry terminal which does not require manual actuation of a trigger to operate the bar code scanner or a keyboard for manual entry of data concerning the products to be managed. Electronics for processing signals from the sensors, for operating a display to indicate the data entered upon selective movement of the fingers between flexion and extension and from the bar code reading operations, are all contained in a housing which also contains the bar code reader.