Reading method and apparatus for a three-dimensional information carrier
US6992965B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 26, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 26, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B2007/0013
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for reading in a three-dimensional information carrier are presented. The three-dimensional information carrier is formed with a plurality of spaced-apart data regions, each surrounded by surrounding-regions. The data regions are made of a material capable of generating an output excited radiation, when interacting with a predetermined incident exciting radiation, while the surrounding regions are substantially optically transparent. The apparatus comprises an illumination unit, a light directing unit and a detector unit. The illumination unit produces a scanning beam of the incident radiation. The light directing unit projects the incident radiation onto a scan region located in an addressed plane inside the carrier and collects the output radiation. The light directing unit is capable of picking up a predetermined portion of the collected output radiation, so as to provide spatial separation of the output radiation components produced by the data regions located in the addressed plane and the output radiation components produced by the data regions located at any other location inside the carrier.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.