Apparatus and method for examining key plates

A key plate examination apparatus for comparing an object key plate formed from a key blank with one of a plurality of reference key plate to determine a degree of conformity between said object key plate and said reference key plate, said examination apparatus comprising:

• means for recognizing a form of said object key plate by imaging said object key plate along a lengthwise side profile thereof so that relative locations of peaks and valleys along a length of said object key plate are established;
• means for generating object key form information based on form information output from said recognizing means;
• memory means for storing reference key form information including reference key form information associated with said reference key plate and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information for each reference key in said plurality of reference key plates;
• means for retrieving predetermined reference key form information and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information from said memory means in response to said object key form information generated by said object key form information generating means;
• means for comparing said object key form information with said reference key form information retrieved by said form retrieval means to determine said degree of conformity therebetween based on said peaks and valleys along said length of said object key plate and associated features of one of said reference key plates in order to establish whether said object key plate has been manufactured from said key blank with a sufficient level of precision so as to be substantially identical to an associated reference key plate;
• and
• means for communicating a result of said determination means.

A key plate examination apparatus for comparing an object key plate formed from a key blank with one of a plurality of reference key plates to determine a degree of conformity between said object key plate and said reference key plate, said examination apparatus comprising:

• means for recognizing a form of said object key plate by imaging said object key plate along a lengthwise side profile thereof so that relative locations of peaks and valleys along a length of said object key plate are established;
• memory means for storing reference key feature information associated with each reference key plate type;
• another memory means for storing reference key form information including reference key form information associated with each reference key plate and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information;
• means for determining a type of said object key plate based on object key form information output by said recognizing means;
• means responsive to a result of said determining means for retrieving feature information corresponding to said object key plate from said memory means;
• means for generating feature form information from said feature information retrieved by said retrieving means and an output of said recognizing means;
• means for retrieving predetermined reference key form information and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information from said another memory means in response to said feature form information generated by said feature form information generating means;
• determining means for comparing said feature form information generated by said feature form information generating means with said reference key form information retrieved by said feature form retrieval means to determine said degree of conformity therebetween based on said peaks and valleys along said length of said object key plate and associated features of one of said reference key plates in Order to establish whether said object key plate has been manufactured from said key blank with a sufficient level of precision so as to be substantially identical to an associated reference key plate;
• and
• means for communicating a determination result of said feature determination means.

A key plate examination method for comparing an object key plate formed from one of a plurality of key blanks with one of a plurality of reference key plates to determine a degree of conformity between said object key plate and said reference key plate, said method comprising the steps of:

• recognizing a form of said object key plate by imaging said object key plate along a lengthwise side profile thereof so that relative locations of peaks and valleys along a length of said object key plate are established;
• generating object key form information based on image information output from said recognizing step;
• retrieving, responsive to a key number input externally, reference key form information corresponding to an input key number from a memory means which stores key information including reference key form information associated with each reference key plate and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information;
• comparing said object key form information generated in said object key form information generating step with reference key form information retrieved in said reference key form information retrieving step to determine said degree of conformity therebetween based on said peaks and valleys along said length of said object key plate and associated features of one of said reference key plates in order to establish whether said object key plate has been manufactured from said key blank with a sufficient level of precision so as to be substantially identical to an associated reference key plate.

A key plate examination method for comparing an object key plate formed from one of a plurality of key blanks with one of a plurality of reference key plates to determine a degree of conformity between said object key plate and said reference key plate, said method comprising the steps of:

• recognizing a form of said object key plate by imaging said object key plate along a lengthwise side profile thereof so that relative locations of peaks and valleys along a length of said object key plate are established;
• generating object key form information in response to said object key plate form recognized in said form recognizing step;
• retrieving, from a memory in response to said object key plate form information generated in said object key form information generating step, predetermined reference key form information and a key number corresponding to to said reference key form information, said memory storing reference key information including reference key form information associated with each reference key plate and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information for each reference key plate in said plurality of reference key plates;
• and
• comparing said object key form information generated in said object key form information generating step with said reference key form information retrieved in said reference key form information retrieving step to determine said degree of conformity therebetween based on said peaks and valleys along said length of said object key plate and associated features of one of said reference key plates in order to establish whether said object key plate has been manufactured from said key blank with a sufficient level of precision so as to be substantially identical to an associated reference key plate.

A key plate examination method for comparing an object key plate formed from one of a plurality of key blanks with one of a plurality of reference key plates to determine a degree of conformity between said object key plate and said reference key plate, said method comprising the steps of:

• recognizing a form of said object key plate by imaging said object key plate along a lengthwise side profile thereof so that relative locations of peaks and valleys along a length of said object key plate are established;
• determining a type of said object key plate based on object key form information generated in said recognizing step;
• retrieving, responsive to a result in said determining step, feature information corresponding to said object key plate from a first memory means which stores feature information associated with each reference key plate type;
• generating feature form information based on said feature information retrieved in said retrieving step and said known key form information recognized in said recognizing step;
• retrieving, in response to said feature form information generated in said generating step, predetermined reference key form information and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information from a second memory means which stores key information including reference key form information associated with each reference key plate and a key number corresponding to said reference key form information;
• and
• comparing said feature form information generated in said generating step with reference key form information retrieved in said reference key form information retrieving step to determine said degree of conformity therebetween based on said peaks and valleys along said length of said object key plate and associated features of one of said reference key plates in order to establish whether said object key plate has been manufactured from said key blank with a sufficient level of precision so as to be substantially identical to an associated reference key plate.