Method of reading a plurality of bar codes during a scanning motion

• US 20050098632A1
• Filed: 11/10/2003
• Published: 05/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Heske, Theodore III, Turvy, Larry D. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,108,187 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.08
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1443 locating of the code in an image
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1491 the method including a reconstruction step, e.g. stitching two pieces of bar code together to derive the full bar code

Abstract

A method of reading a plurality of bar codes during a scanning motion across a bar code scanner which enhances scanner operation. The method includes the steps of obtaining data from a detector in the bar code scanner, determining position information associated with the data, distinguishing data associated with each bar code using the position information, and assembling the bar codes from the data.

Claims

1. A method of reading a plurality of bar codes during a scanning motion across a bar code scanner comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining data from a detector in the bar code scanner;

b) determining position information associated with the data;

c) distinguishing data associated with each bar code using the position information; and

d) assembling the bar codes from the data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step d) comprises the step of:

d-1) assembling the bar codes in parallel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step d) comprises the step of:

d-1) assembling the bar codes serially.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

e) formatting the bar codes into a format usable by a computer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

e) determining that at least one of the bar codes is unreadable;

f) repeating steps a) through d); and

g) formatting only the one bar code that was unreadable into a format usable by a computer.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

h) providing a single good read indication after all of the bar codes are readable.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of:

e) providing a good read indication after each readable bar code.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step d) comprises the steps of:

d-1) assigning object identifiers to each piece of the data; and

d-2) applying correlation routines for separating the data into groups, for constructing the bar codes from the data in the groups, and for testing constructed bar codes for validity.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

e) storing the position information in a memory; and

f) formatting the bar codes into a format usable by a computer.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

g) repeating steps a) through d) during a rescan of the bar codes;

h) determining that the re-scan has occurred by comparing newly acquired position information with stored position information; and

i) formatting only bar codes that were unreadable into the format usable by the computer.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein step d) comprises the steps of:

d-1) correlating first data for a first bar code on a first item;

d-2) constructing the first bar code from the first data;

d-3) correlating second data for a second bar code on a second item; and

d-4) constructing the second bar code from the second data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein step d) comprises the steps of:

d-5) starting a timer to time a time period; and

d-6) clearing a memory in the bar code scanner if the time period expires.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the time period is short enough to prevent scanning of the second item if the second item is like the first item, but long enough to allow a checker to rescan the first and second items should the scanner fail to read the second bar code.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

d-5) checking for linkage before constructing the first and second bar codes.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

d-5) filtering out the first data before constructing the second bar code.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

e) providing a good read indication after each readable bar code.

17. A method of reading a plurality of bar codes during a scanning motion across a bar code scanner comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining data from a detector in the bar code scanner;

b) determining that pieces of the data are part of the bar codes;

c) determining position information associated with each of the pieces of the data;

d) assigning object identifiers to the pieces of the data based upon the position information;

e) separating the pieces of the data into groups corresponding to the object identifiers;

f) constructing the bar codes in parallel, including combining the pieces of data in each group; and

g) formatting the bar codes into a format usable by a computer.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

h) storing the position information in a memory;

i) repeating steps a) through e) during a rescan of the bar codes;

j) determining that the re-scan has occurred by comparing newly acquired position information with stored position information; and

k) formatting only bar codes that were unreadable into the format usable by the computer.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of:

l) providing a single good read indication after all of the bar codes are readable.

20. A scanning method comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining data from a detector in the bar code scanner following simultaneous movement of a plurality of items bearing a plurality of bar codes across the bar code scanner;

b) determining position information associated with the data;

c) separating the pieces of the data into groups corresponding to the bar codes using the position information; and

d) constructing the bar codes, including combining the pieces of data in each group.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the bar codes are alike.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the bar codes are different.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein step c) comprises the step of:

c-1) assigning a time and a location to each of the pieces of the data;

c-2) computing trajectories from the times and the locations of the pieces of the data; and

c-3) separating the pieces of the data according to the trajectories the pieces are in.