The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 07, 1978
Filed:
Oct. 10, 1975
Joseph Wilder, Princeton, NJ (US);
Sangamo Weston, Inc., Springfield, IL (US);
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for inspecting and identifying workpieces in an industrial environment. Workpieces such as metal parts with markings that are punch-stamped or engraved are successively registered with a device which derives an electrical signal corresponding to each marking. The markings can be serial numbers or any other markings of arbitrary shape. Each electrical signal is extensively modified to minimize the effect of irrelevant and confusing characteristics such as the surface roughness of the workpiece, rust spots, depth of the stamping or engraving, and the like, and to make the electrical signal more representative of the important characteristics of the marking, such as the overall shape of the marking and the differences of the marking from other markings which have different meanings. The resulting modified electrical signal is combined with prototype electrical signals to find out which of the prototype signals most closely corresonds to the modified electrical signal, and to thereby identify the marking from which the modified electrical signal is derived. The prototype electrical signals are generated through training the system by exposing it to sample markings that are of the general type of the markings on the workpieces that will be ultimately inspected. The training of the system is similar to the normal, inspecting operation of the system, and can be done by relatively unskilled operators. This system can be retrained, again by relatively unskilled operators, for inspection of different types of markings or of different types of workpieces.