fig2 shows a back panel of a scanner housing 100 with a power cord receptacle 102 and a power cord lock - out 104 in the locked position , covering the access to the power cord receptacle 102 . accordingly , power cord 106 cannot be plugged into the power cord receptacle 102 , and thus , power to the scanner cannot be turned on while power cord lock - out 104 is in the locked position . power cord lock - out 104 is integral with carriage latch 110 . when the power cord lock - out 104 is in the locked position , the carriage latch 110 projects through hole 108 in wall 124 of the scanner housing 100 and latches the optical carriage assembly ( shown in fig3 and 5 ) against movement . locking member 112 is also integral with carriage latch 110 and power cord lock - out 104 . locking member 112 is locked into hole 122 in wall 120 of the scanner housing 100 when the power cord lock - out 104 is in the locked position and the carriage latch 110 is in the latched position , shown in fig3 and 4 . fig3 shows the scanner housing 100 with a cut - away view of inside the scanner housing 100 in order to show the optical carriage assembly 118 with a slot 116 for receiving the carriage latch 110 . when carriage latch 110 is projected through hole 108 in wall 124 of the scanner housing 100 and through slot 116 of the optical carriage assembly 118 , the optical assembly 118 is in the latched position and is substantially prevented from moving inside the scanner housing . fig2 and 3 show the locking member 112 locked in hole 122 in wall 120 of the scanner housing 100 . to unlock the power cord lock - out 104 so that power cord receptacle 102 can receive power cord 106 and to unlatch carriage latch 110 so that the optical carriage assembly may move as intended during scanner operation , the end user may simply push power cord lock - out 104 to the left as indicated by arrow u . the locking member 112 is equipped with ramps 126 so that it will easily clear hole 122 , slide to the left , and engage hole 114 when the optical carriage reaches the unlocked position . fig4 shows the back panel of a scanner housing 100 with a power cord receptacle 102 and a power cord lock - out 104 in the unlocked position with the access to the power cord receptacle 102 accessible to power cord 106 . accordingly , power cord 106 can be readily plugged into the power cord receptacle 102 , and thus , power to the scanner can be turned on . when the power cord lock - out 104 is in the unlocked position , the carriage latch 110 does not project through hole 108 in wall 124 of the scanner housing 100 and does not reach the optical carriage assembly slot 116 ( shown in fig5 ) to latch the optical carriage assembly against movement . accordingly , when the power cord receptacle 102 is accessible to the power cord 106 , the optical carriage assembly 118 ( shown in fig5 ) is unlatched and free to move within the scanner housing 100 as intended during scanner operation . locking member 112 is locked into hole 114 in wall 120 of the scanner housing 100 when the power cord lock - out 104 is in the unlocked position and the carriage latch 110 is in the unlatched position . fig5 shows the scanner housing 100 with a cut - away view of inside the scanner housing 100 in order to show the optical carriage assembly 118 with a slot 116 for receiving the carriage latch 110 . when the power cord lock - out 104 is in the unlocked position , the carriage latch 110 does not project through hole 108 in wall 124 of the scanner housing 100 and does not extend through slot 116 of the optical carriage assembly 118 . thus , the optical assembly 118 is in the unlatched position and is permitted to move inside the scanner housing 100 as intended during scanner operation . fig4 and 5 show the locking member 112 locked in hole 114 in wall 120 of the scanner housing 100 . to move the power lock - out 104 from the unlocked to the locked position , so that power cord receptacle 102 is blocked from receiving power cord 106 and the optical carriage assembly is substantially prevented from moving within the scanner housing 100 , the end user may simply push power cord lock - out 104 to the right as indicated by arrow l . the locking member 112 is equipped with ramps so that it will easily clear hole 114 , slide to the right , and engage hole 122 when the optical carriage assembly reaches the locked position . the integral element of the power cord lock - out 104 , the carriage latch 110 and the locking member 112 may be made of any spring - hard material , such as plastic or metal . preferably it is all one unit of plastic , such as an abs - pc blend , but may be different materials fastened into one integral unit . another embodiment may have the integral locking element including the power cord lock - out 104 and the carriage latch 110 spring loaded , such that whenever the power cord 106 is not in the power cord receptacle 102 , the integral locking element comprising the power cord lock - out 104 and the carriage latch 110 are automatically in the locked / latched position . such an embodiment may require the scanner to return the optical carriage 118 to the latchable position whenever power is turned off , such that the optical carriage latch 110 is capable of latching the carriage if the power cord 106 is removed from the power cord receptacle 102 . accordingly , if the end user needs to move or ship the scanner to a new location , when the power cord 106 is removed from the power cord receptacle 102 , the optical carriage assembly 118 will automatically be prevented from moving within the scanner housing 100 . accordingly , the optical carriage assembly will be prevented from damaging or jostling optical components or electrical components within the scanner housing 100 whenever the scanner is moved . the foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings . for example , the integral locking element comprising the power cord lock - out 104 and the carriage latch 110 do not need to lock into place using locking member 112 , but rather could lock by some other means , such as using an edge of the power cord receptacle , an edge of the optical carriage assembly 118 , slot 116 in optical carriage assembly 118 , hole 108 in the scanner housing 100 , by some spring force , or by some other known means . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art .