Method and apparatus for determining the vertices of a character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol
First Claim
1. A method of determining the vertices of a character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol image comprising:
- tracing a contour around said character;
examining the contour and determining pixels therealong believed to be vertices of said character;
comparing the relative positions of the determined pixels to determine if they satisfy a threshold;
if the relative positions of the determined pixels satisfy the threshold, designating the determined pixels as the vertices of said character; and
if the relative positions of the determined pixels do not satisfy the threshold, selecting new pixels along said contour using geometric relationships between the determined pixels to replace determined pixels that are not vertices of said character.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of determining the vertices of a character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol image includes tracing a contour around a character. The contour is examined and pixels therealong believed to be vertices of the character are determined. The relative positions of the determined pixels are compared to determine if they satisfy a threshold. If the relative positions of the determined pixels satisfy the threshold, the determined pixels are designated as the vertices of the character. If the relative positions of the determined pixels satisfy the threshold, the determined pixels are designated as the vertices of the character. If the relative positions of the determined pixels do not satisfy the threshold, new pixels along the contour are selected using geometric relationships between the determined pixels to replace determined pixels that are not vertices of the character.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of determining the vertices of a character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol image comprising:
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tracing a contour around said character;
examining the contour and determining pixels therealong believed to be vertices of said character;
comparing the relative positions of the determined pixels to determine if they satisfy a threshold;
if the relative positions of the determined pixels satisfy the threshold, designating the determined pixels as the vertices of said character; and
if the relative positions of the determined pixels do not satisfy the threshold, selecting new pixels along said contour using geometric relationships between the determined pixels to replace determined pixels that are not vertices of said character. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus for determining the vertices of a character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol image comprising:
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a contour tracer for tracing a contour around the character;
a vertices determiner examining the contour and determining pixels along the contour believed to be vertices of the character; and
a vertices corrector comparing the relative positions of the determined pixels to determine if they satisfy a threshold, if the relative positions of the determined pixels satisfy the threshold, said vertices corrector designating the determined pixels as the vertices of the character and if the relative positions of the determined pixels do not satisfy the threshold, the vertices corrector selecting new pixels along the contour using geometric relationships between the determined pixels to replace determined pixels that are not vertices of the character thereby to correct the vertices. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of determining the vertices of a generally rectangular character in a two-dimensional barcode symbol comprising:
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examining said character to determine a first pair of vertices of said character;
using the determined pair of vertices to estimate a second pair of vertices of said character;
comparing the relative positions of the determined and estimated vertices to determine if the estimated vertices are accurate; and
if the estimated vertices are inaccurate, re-estimating the second pair of vertices using geometric relationships between the determined and estimated vertices. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of decoding a two-dimensional barcode symbol in a captured image comprising:
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locating start and stop patterns forming part of the barcode symbol;
tracing a contour around at least a portion of each of the located start and stop patterns;
determining the vertices of the traced contours, said determining comprising;
examining each traced contour to determine a first pair of vertices;
using the determined pair of vertices to estimate a second pair of vertices;
comparing the relative positions of the determined and estimated vertices to determine if the estimated vertices are accurate; and
if the estimated vertices are inaccurate, re-estimating the second pair of vertices using geometric relationships between the determined and estimated vertices;
using the determined vertices to re-orient the barcode symbol; and
reading the re-oriented barcode symbol to extract the data therein. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification