Patent · US Expired

Conveyor-belt mounted bar code symbol reading system employing a steerable bar code symbol scanner to automatically scan bar code symbols detected by a holographic-based bar code position detector

US6439462B1 · kind B1 · utility

19Cited by
33References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 18, 1999
Grant dateAug 27, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 16, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06K2207/1018
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An automatic bar code symbol reading system for automatically reading bar code symbols on packages transported along a conveyor belt through a 3-D scanning volume. The system includes a holographic-based bar code symbol detector and a bar code symbol scanner mounted above the conveyor belt. The holographic-based bar code position detector produces a first laser scanning pattern within the 3-D scanning volume, and scans each transported package, detects the position of the bar code symbol therein, and automatically produces bar code position data specifying the position of the detected bar code symbol. In automatic response to the produced bar code position data, the bar code symbol scanner is steered so as to collect light reflected off the detected bar code symbol, and produce scan data indicative of the detected bar code symbol. A scan data processor automatically processes the produced scan data so as to automatically read the detected bar code symbol and produce symbol character data representative thereof. By virtue of the present invention, it is now possible automatically detect the position of high-resolution bar code symbols on packages transported through a large 3-D scan…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.