System and method for converting bar code scan line data into

Abstract

A bar code conversion system and method identifies good data in the scan data array and analyzes that data to generate machine-interpretable code. A vision system optically scans bar code labels and places the resulting digital camera data into a two dimensional line scan data array of pixels. A process.sub.-- line function then searches the scan data array for three lines that intersect the initial bars and spaces of the bar code (called starting lines) and 3 lines that intersect the last bars and spaces (called ending lines). For each pair of starting and ending lines, a build.sub.-- composite generates a composite line using pixels in positions between the first pixel of a starting line and the last pixel of a corresponding ending line. A run.sub.-- length decode function is then invoked on each composite line to create a run length array of width values, each of which indicates the width (in pixels) of a bar or space of the bar code. Using statistical analysis, a convert.sub.-- bars.sub.-- and.sub.-- spaces function converts the run length array to a bar and space array of binary width values. The three resulting bar and space arrays are synthesized by a vote.sub.-- bars.sub.-- and.sub.-- spaces function. Finally, a build.sub.-- bar.sub.-- code function identifies machine-interpretable values (e.g., ASCII codes) represented by the width values in the synthesized bar and space array.