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. 07, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 06, 1995
Lingnan Liu, Mill Creek, WA (US);
Mark Yukio Shimizu, Seattle, WA (US);
Intermec Corporation, Everett, WA (US);
Abstract
A bar code imaging system capable of accurately and efficiently reading a printed bar code that is partially damaged, distorted, or erased. The bar code imaging system comprises an imaging element adapted to receive light reflected from a bar code symbol and provide a two-dimensional image of the bar code symbol. The two-dimensional image is decoded into data representative of the bar code symbol. More particularly, code words in the bar code pattern are decoded along a path beginning at the start of the bar code and moving toward the end of the bar code. As each code word is decoded, the decoded data is stored in a memory. When an invalid code word is encountered, decoding continues along a path beginning at the end of the bar code and moving toward the beginning of the bar code, and the decoded data is stored in the memory with the previously decoded data. When an invalid code word is encountered, the scan path is moved, and decoding continues along the new scan path beginning at the last valid code word decoded while moving toward the end of the bar code.