United Parcel Service of America, Inc.

Quartz Timing Corporation

Robert H Esslinger

Joseph P Mulligan

Steven L Smith

Gregory P Skinger

William D Hess

Mark B Braginsky

Peter R Gluege

Stephen Anthony Roth

Lance Gordon Garland

Paul Roth

George Keyko

The present invention reveals a sorting system for use in manual sorting, which presents a detached ephemeral display moving in a manner corresponding to the movement of the article, by which an article to be sorted can be quickly and easily identified. To accomplish its purpose, the device comprises: feed conveyors; a switching unit; optical readers positioned to capture destination indicia affixed to each article; a detached moving display which remains close to the article to be sorted and presents information representative of the article's destination location; a destination location which signals when a related article is approaching; and a controller capable of assigning destination locations and controlling display devices.

Synchronous semi-automatic parallel sorting

An apparatus and method for illuminating articles, such as parcels, moving beneath a camera on a conveyor belt. Multiple light sources are positioned alongside the conveyor to direct light angled downwardly and from the side of the conveyor. Each light source has an elongated lamp angled with respect to the surface of the article and a light directing device, preferably a Fresnel lens, positioned to receive light from the lamp and to direct the light toward the surface at an angle equal to or greater than forty degrees from an optical axis of the camera.

Illumination system for use in imaging moving articles

The system has an optical scanning device formed of a plurality of pixel elements for providing a scan output signal representative of a scanned region of an object. The system has a reflector, an illumination source, a light compensator, and an object positioner. The reflector defines an ellipse. The object positioner disposes the object substantially near the major axis of the ellipse. The illumination source emits and applies light energy to the object disposed at a first focus of the ellipse. The light compensator, which varies the light energy emitted from the illumination source, has one or more dedicated pixels of the optical scanning device. The light compensator also has fiber optical transmitters that receive light transmitted from the illumination source and couple to the dedicated pixels, which are unavailable for receiving reflected light from the scanned region of the object.

System and method for optical scanning using one or more dedicated

The camera system of the present invention simultaneously searches for a number of differing optical acquisition targets. This system may decode, for example, both bar codes and concentric rings. The scan signal is constantly adjusted according to both a dark reference for correcting offset and a white reference for correcting gain. The gain is also corrected according to the scanning rate as well as the amount of illumination present. A measure of this illumination may be applied directly to the optical scanning device by way of a fiber optic cable which transmits light from the illumination source. Optical calibration is eliminated by fixed optics wherein all optical elements are rigidly mounted at very close tolerances. The illumination source is disposed on one focus of an ellipse wherein the other focus is disposed at the maximum scanning distance and the reflector is formed to define the illumination ellipse to maximize the light applied to the object. The various heat producing elements are disposed in sealed compartments which are cooled by forced air which is circulated through a heat exchanger. A real time focusing system is provided wherein the distance from the scanning device to an opposing surface is constantly monitored and the system is constantly focused according to the distance.

Camera system optics

An apparatus for focusing an image onto an image receptor is disclosed. The apparatus includes a stationary lens, a rotatable frame that is rigidly connected to the image receptor, and a base. The base is pivotally connected to the rotatable frame about a rotational axis. The image is focused by the stationary lens onto the image receptor by pivoting the rotatable frame about the rotational axis. In an alternate embodiment, an apparatus for focusing an image onto an image receptor includes a stationary lens, a voice coil actuator, a servo loop for driving the voice coil actuator, and an electromechanical transducer for measuring the position of the image receptor. The electromechanical transducer is electrically connected to the servo loop. Connecting means for rigidly connecting the image receptor to the voice coil actuator are also provided. The image is focused by the stationary lens onto the image receptor by driving the voice coil actuator. A method for focusing an image onto an image receptor pivotally connected to a base about a rotational axis is disclosed. The method includes detecting information representative of the distance between a stationary lens and an object being imaged, and pivoting the image receptor about the rotational axis in accordance with the detected information.

Growing community of inventors

Wilton, CT, United States of America

Robert H Esslinger