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:
Sep. 28, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 20, 1997
Michael John Cyr, Kingsport, TN (US);
James John Krutak, Sr, Kingsport, TN (US);
Horst Clauberg, Kingsport, TN (US);
Randy Barnett Meade, Kingsport, TN (US);
James Edward Moore, Kingsport, TN (US);
Gabor Patonay, Conyers, GA (US);
Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, TN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for detecting an invisible, near infrared fluorescing mark disposed on a background comprises: includes an excitation source for exciting the mark, having sufficient power to excite the mark and provide a fluorescent signal the mark from a; a signal detector for detecting the fluorescent signal from the mark; a and power modulator means for varying the power if the excitation source between zero and the maximum power level to produce a decodable fluorescent signal from the mark disposed on the background. A process for decoding an invisible mark having a near infrared fluorescing material includes the steps of: providing at least one invisible, near infrared fluorescing mark disposed on at least one portion of a background; exciting the mark with a laser having a maximum power level sufficient to provide a fluorescent signal from the mark; detecting the fluorescent signal and concurrently varying the power of the laser between zero and its maximum power, to obtain a decodable fluorescent signal.