SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND METHODS FOR READING MACHINE-READABLE CHARACTERS AND HUMAN-READABLE CHARACTERS

• US 20090272812A1
• Filed: 05/11/2009
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ackley H. Sprague, Daniel Dean, William A. Marty
• Original Assignee: Ackley H. Sprague, Daniel Dean, William A. Marty
• Inventors: Marty, William A., Ackley, H. Sprague, Dean, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,857,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/470
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10544 by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1448 based on markings or identifiers characterising the document or the area

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods for automatic data collection. An automatic data collection system includes an image capture subsystem and a processor subsystem. The automatic data collection system is operable to decode machine-readable symbols in a machine-readable symbol reading mode, and to automatically switch from a machine-readable symbol reading mode to an optical character recognition mode in response to information encoded in a machine-readable symbol. In some embodiments, the automatic data collection system is further operable to perform optical character recognition on human-readable symbols in a human-readable symbol reading mode.

Claims

1-29. -29. (canceled)

30. A method of automatic data collection, the method comprising:

reading a machine-readable symbol; and

automatically changing from a machine-readable symbol mode to a character recognition mode in response to information encoded in the machine-readable symbol.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

determining a location of a first number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol;

determining a location of a second number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, the location of the second number of human-readable symbols spaced from the location of the first number of human-readable symbols;

automatically reading the first number of human-readable symbols; and

automatically reading the second number of human-readable symbols.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein determining a location of a first number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol includes determining a location of the first number of human-readable symbols in an image from the information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, and wherein determining a location of a second number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol includes determining a location of the second number of human-readable symbols in the image from the information encoded in the machine-readable symbol.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

verifying information read from the first number of human-readable symbols based at least in part on information read from the second number of human-readable symbols.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

performing error detection and/or correction on the information read from the first number of human-readable symbols using error correction information encoded in the second number of human-readable symbols.

35. An automatic data collection system, comprising:

an image capture subsystem operable to capture images; and

a processor subsystem configured to decode machine-readable symbols in a machine-readable symbol reading mode, to perform optical character recognition on human-readable symbols in a human-readable symbol reading mode, and to automatically switch from the machine-readable symbol reading mode to the optical character recognition mode in response to information encoded in a machine-readable symbol captured in an image by the image capture system.

36. The automatic data collection system of claim 35 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to determine a location of a first number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, and to read the first number of human-readable symbols from the location.

37. The automatic data collection system of claim 36 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to determine a location of a second number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, the location of the second number of human-readable symbols spaced from the location of the first number of human-readable symbols, and to read the second number of human-readable symbols.

38. The automatic data collection system of claim 37 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to verify information read from the first number of human-readable symbols based at least in part on information read from the second number of human-readable symbols.

39. The automatic data collection system of claim 37 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to perform error correction on the information read from the first number of human-readable symbols using error correction information encoded in the second number of human-readable symbols.

40. The automatic data collection system of claim 35 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to determine a location in an image of a first number of human-readable symbols from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, and to determine a location of a second number of human-readable symbols in the image from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol.

41. The automatic data collection system of claim 35 wherein the processor subsystem is further configured to determine a location in an image of a first number of human-readable symbols with respect to the machine-readable symbol from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, and to determine a location in the image of a second number of human-readable symbols with respect to the machine-readable symbol from information encoded in the machine-readable symbol, the location of the second number of human-readable characters spaced from the location of the first number of human-readable characters.

42. A printer system, comprising:

a controller subsystem that converts a plurality of machine-readable symbology codes to a machine-readable symbol, converts a plurality of human-readable symbology codes to a first number of human-readable symbols, and converts a plurality of human-readable symbology codes to a second number of human-readable symbols; and

a print head communicatively coupled to the controller subsystem, the print head operable to print the machine-readable symbol, and the first and the second number of human-readable symbols.

43. The printer system of claim 42, the machine-readable symbol includes a number of machine-readable symbol characters from a machine-readable symbology selected from the group consisting of UPC/EAN, PDF417, CODE 39, CODE 49, CODE 93, CODE 93i, CODE 128, CODE ONE, CODEABAR, DATE MATRIX, MAXICODE, and wherein the first and the second number of human-readable symbols includes human-readable symbols from an alphabet selected from the group consisting of English, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese, Kanji, Arabic, and Farsi.

44-47. -47. (canceled)

48. A method of operation for a data collection, the method comprising:

reading a machine-readable symbol;

automatically changing from a machine-readable symbol mode to a character recognition mode in response to information encoded in the read machine-readable symbol;

automatically reading a first number of human-readable symbols at a first location identified by information encoded in the read machine-readable symbol; and

verifying information encoded by the first number of human-readable symbols based at least in part on information encoded in the machine-readable symbol.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein verifying information read from the first number of human-readable symbols based at least in part on information read from the machine-readable symbol includes performing error detection and/or correction on the information read from the first number of human-readable symbols using Reed-Solomon code information encoded in the machine-readable symbol.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein the Reed-Solomon code information is based on a Galois Field (GF) selected from GF (37), GF (41), or GF (53).