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. 10, 2012
Filed:
Jan. 23, 2007
Alan K. Sefton, Knoxville, TN (US);
Kent A. Rinehart, Knoxville, TN (US);
Alan K. Sefton, Knoxville, TN (US);
Kent A. Rinehart, Knoxville, TN (US);
Pips Technology, Inc., Knoxville, TN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus processes video signals containing video information related to a scene which may contain a vehicle license plate. The apparatus includes a video camera having a video imaging device for viewing the scene and generating a first video signal. A character detector in the video camera processes the first video signal to detect a license plate within the scene and to generate location information indicating the location of the license plate. A line detector in the camera determines a particular video line of the first video signal into which the location information is to be embedded. An insertion circuit in the camera embeds the location information into the particular video line of the first video signal to form a second video signal. The apparatus may also include a video capture device for receiving the second video signal from the video camera and converting the second video signal into digital image data. A processor extracts the location information from the digital image data, determines the location of the license plate characters within the scene based on the location information, and processes the digital image data to read the license plate characters.