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:
Jan. 10, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 04, 2001
Applicants:
Qing Shan, Leicestershire, GB;
David Paul Ullathorne, Nottingham, GB;
Stephen William Flowers, Leicestershire, GB;
Inventors:
Qing Shan, Leicestershire, GB;
David Paul Ullathorne, Nottingham, GB;
Stephen William Flowers, Leicestershire, GB;
Assignee:
Lattice Intellectual Property Ltd., London, GB;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 7/18 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A method and apparatus for obtaining information from a utility meter. A digital camera is used to take a digital image of information displayed on the utility meter. The digital image is passed to a computer that is arranged to extract information displayed on the utility meter from the image. The information may be used for a variety of purposes such as updating databases with details of utility meters and for billing purposes.