Method and apparatus for verifying indicia correctly provided on an object
OwnerMaya R. Barton, Ronald P. Sansone +1inventors
InventorsMaya R. Barton, Ronald P. Sansone, Mark E. Sievel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A technique for verifying that indicia, such as print indicia, are provided at the correct location(s) on an object. Relative movement between the object and a sensor is provided. If sensed indicia are located at an expected position on the object, an indicia-bearing object is vertified. One or more samples of a proper object are scanned to establish a template which defines those locations at which indicia on the samples are located. This template is used subsequently to verify the presence of proper indicia-bearing objects.
Claims31
A system for establishing parameters for use in a verifying the selective presence of indicia in one or more respective zones of an object, said system comprising:
- detecting means for detecting at least a leading edge and a trailing edge of an object;
- sensing means for sensing the presence of indicia on an object;
- motion means for imparting relative movement between the object and at least the detecting means;
- measuring means for measuring the interval between the detected leading edge of the object and the beginning of indicia on the object and for measuring the interval over which said indicia are present, thereby determining a zone in which indicia are expected;
- and
- means responsive to said detecting means and said sensing means for measuring the interval between the sensed end of indicia on the object and the detected trailing edge, thereby determining another zone in which indicia are not expected.
A system for verifying whether indicia are correctly provided on an object, comprising:
- means for detecting the presence of the object by detecting a leading edge of the object;
- means for providing relative movement between the object and the object-detecting means;
- means for determining the location on the object of a zone whereat indicia are expected, said location-determining means comprising means for detecting a trailing edge of the object, means for generating pulses as relative movement between the object and the detectors occur;
- means for counting the generated pulses;
- means for determining when a predetermined number of pulses have been counted prior to detecting a trailing edge of the object;
- and
- means for indicating an error if said predetermined number of pulses have been counter prior to detecting a trailing edge of the object.
A method of determining the size of respective ones on an object and whether indicia are provided in the respective zones, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing relative movement between a sample of the object containing the indicia in the respective zones and indicia
- (b) detecting a leading edge of said object;
- (c) sensing the presence of indicia on said object;
- (d) determining the distance from said leading edge to the location of the indicia on said object;
- (e) sensing the end of indicia on said object;
- (f) determining the distance over which said indicia extend to establish an indicia zone;
- (g) storing information indicating the location of the beginning and the end of said indicia zone on the sample;
- (h) thereafter processing other objects by carrying out steps (a) and (b) and sensing the presence of indicia on said other objects determined by the stored information of step (g);
- (i) and using the sensed information obtained in step (h) to verify whether the indicia are correctly located in a corresponding zone of the object.
The method of claim Il further comprising the step of establishing tolerances for each stored pulse count by subtracting pulses from the pulse count representing the beginning of indicia and adding pulses to the pulse count representing the end of the same indicia and storing these new pulse counts in place of the original stored pulse count, and using these new pulse counts in carrying out steps (h) and (i) in place of the stored information of step (g).
A method of verifying whether indicia are correctly provided on an object, comprising the steps of:
- providing relative movement between the object and a sensor;
- detecting the presence of the object by detecting a leading edge of the object;
- determining the location on the object whereat indicia are expected by detecting a trailing edge of the object;
- generating pulses as relative movement between the object and the sensor is provided, counting the generated pulses, determining if a predetermined number of pulses have been counted prior to detecting a trailing edge of the object;
- and
- indicating an error if said predetermined number of pulses have been counted prior to detecting a trailing edge of the object.
A system for determining the size of respective zones on an object and whether indicia are provided in the respective zones, comprising:
- (a) means for detecting a leading edge of said object;
- (b) means for sensing the presence of indicia on said object;
- (c) means for providing relative movement between a sample of the object containing the indicia in the respective zones and the indicia-sensing means;
- (d) means for determining the distance from said leading edge to the location of the indicia on said object;
- (e) means for sensing the end of indicia on said object;
- (f) means for determining the distance over which said indicia extend to determine an indicia-containing zone;
- (g) means for storing information indicating the location of the beginning and the end of said zone for said indicia on the sample;
- (h) and means for using the stored information with other objects to verify whether the indicia are correctly located in a corresponding zone of the object objects.
A system for verifying whether indicia are correctly provided on an object, comprising:
- means for detecting the presence of the object by detecting a leading edge of the object;
- means for providing relative movement between the object and the object-detecting means;
- means for determining the location on the object whereat indicia are expected, said indicia including plural items with spaces between, said location-determining means comprising means for sensing whether indicia are present by optically scanning the determined location on said object and for producing a signal whose level changes as a function of scanned indicia items and scanned spaces, means for time-averaging the changes in the signal level, and means for comparing the time-averaged changes against a given threshold level.
A method of verifying whether indicia are correctly provided on an object, comprising the steps of:
- providing relative movement between the object and a sensor;
- detecting the presence of the object by detecting a leading edge of the object;
- determining the location on the object whereat indicia are expected, said indicia including plural items with spaces in between;
- and sensing whether indicia are present by optically scanning the determined location on said object to produce a signal whose level changes as a function of scanned indicia items and scanned spaces;
- detecting the time average changes in the signal level;
- and determining that indicia are present when the detected time average changes exceed a given threshold level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.