Machine-readable color symbology and method and apparatus for reading same with standard readers such as laser scanners

An apparatus for decoding a machine-readable symbol representing encoded information, the machine-readable symbol including a plurality of relatively spaced shapes, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor that senses the machine-readable symbol and produces an output signal therefrom that represents shapes comprising the symbol, wherein some of the shapes have at least first and second colors, and other shapes have at least a third color;
• a receiving and processing circuit that receives the output signal and identifies shapes of the first and second colors in the output signal as identified peaks and valleys in the output signal and shapes of the third color as intermediate portions of the output signal, measures distances between the identified peaks and valleys, and produces a signal indicative of the information encoded in the machine-readable symbol based on the shapes of the first and second color and a number and size of shapes of the third color.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, and wherein the low, intermediate and high optical states are differing portions formed in a holographic substrate.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, wherein the low and high optical states are respective first and second colors complementary with respect to a color wheel, and wherein each symbol in the symbology is selected from a single industry standard symbology with the second size greater than the first size.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, wherein the elements have only first and second sizes, and wherein the second size is greater than the first size.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, and wherein at least one of the optical states is a color red.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, wherein the low and high optical states are respective first and second primary colors, and wherein the intermediate optical state is a color adjacent to the first and second primary colors.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, and wherein the low and high optical states are matched and unmatched, respectively, with respect to a color of a light source for automatically reading the symbology.

A machine-readable symbology having machine-readable symbols representing information encoded under an industry symbology standard, wherein each symbol in the machine-readable symbology includes a plurality of relatively spaced two-dimensional geometric elements, wherein the elements have at least first and second sizes, wherein the elements of the second size have at least low and high optical states, wherein the elements of the first size have an intermediate optical state, wherein the low and high optical states are matte and smooth surfaces, respectively, and wherein the intermediate optical state is a semi-smooth surface having an optical state between the matte and smooth surfaces.