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:
Aug. 05, 2014
Filed:
Aug. 30, 2012
Erich Guenter, Hofheim, DE;
Mark E. Maresh, Cave Creek, AZ (US);
Thomas S. Mazzeo, Durham, NC (US);
Colm Nolan, Navan, IE;
Juan F. Vargas, Rochester, MN (US);
Erich Guenter, Hofheim, DE;
Mark E. Maresh, Cave Creek, AZ (US);
Thomas S. Mazzeo, Durham, NC (US);
Colm Nolan, Navan, IE;
Juan F. Vargas, Rochester, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An additional layer of encoding is provided using conventional one-dimensional ('1-D') bar code symbology. Dark bars of at least 2 heights are used (where the dark bars may be narrow or wide, and may be separated by a space that is narrow or wide) for 2-dimensional ('2-D') encoding. Whereas the width of the dark bars is significant in the 1-D encoding, the height of the dark bars is significant for the 2-D encoding. In one approach, dark bars of a shortest height are used for encoding conventional 1-D data, while dark bars of other heights encode additional data in a 2-D portion of a bar code. In another approach, consecutive dark bars are used in combination, according to a mapping which correlates the various combinations of bar heights to respective characters. The 2-D encoding rules may be proprietary, providing a type of data privacy.