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:
Jul. 18, 1995
Filed:
Mar. 23, 1994
Israel Amir, Princeton, NJ (US);
Frank P Higgins, Ewing, NJ (US);
John B Macdonald, Princeton Junction, NJ (US);
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
A bar code (14) on an object (12) is read a distance from the object by a television camera. The output signal of the camera is thresholded to obtain a binary signal indicative of the image information associated with at least one scan line. This binary signal is written into a FIFO storage device (28) at a rate corresponding to the rate at which the camera images the bar code. Once the binary signal is fully written into the FIFO storage device, the binary signal is read from the FIFO at a second, much slower rate for decoding by a bar code decoder (36). In this way, the image of the bar code can be obtained by a television camera which is capable of imaging the bar code at a distance, while the image information can be decoded by a bar code decoder that operates to perform decoding at a rate much slower than the rate at which the camera acquires information.