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:
Jun. 03, 2014
Filed:
Sep. 20, 2012
Carl W. Gerst, Iii, Clifton Park, NY (US);
William H. Equitz, Brookline, MA (US);
Justin Testa, Wellesley, MA (US);
Sateesha Nadabar, Framingham, MA (US);
Carl W. Gerst, III, Clifton Park, NY (US);
William H. Equitz, Brookline, MA (US);
Justin Testa, Wellesley, MA (US);
Sateesha Nadabar, Framingham, MA (US);
Cognex Technology and Investment Corporation, Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for selectively controlling the illumination, and particularly dark field illumination, applied to a symbol to be decoded, and for determining a suitable or optimized level of lighting for decoding the symbol. A method includes providing a light source comprising a plurality of individually-controllable lighting elements for providing low angle dark field illumination; activating an image sensor for detecting image data reflected from an encoded data symbol when the encoded data symbol is illuminated by the light source; and providing a controller connected to each of the individually-controllable lighting elements, the controller being programmed for: selectively activating the individually-controllable lighting elements to vary the direction of the low angle dark field illumination provided by the light source; and processing the image data detected by the image.