Registered 3-D optical thinfilm for remote identification

• US 20090295585A1
• Filed: 06/03/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Dunlap, Philip
• Granted Patent: US 7,920,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0776 the adhering arrangement being a layer of adhesive, so that the record carrier can function as a sticker

Abstract

A system and method for determining encoded information borne by transportation modalities. The system includes substrates carried by the modalities and an optical interrogation device capable of remotely acquiring the information and comparing it with a database of acceptable information incorporated into or proximal to the system. The encoded information is provided on the substrate in a matrix of zones exhibiting different optical properties. The matrix of zones and the associated properties constitute a code which is interrogated and read by the system.

Claims

1. A system for determining the registry of transportation modalities, comprising:

a substrate carried by a transportation modality, said substrate having plural regions exhibiting plural light reflection properties,

a scanning device for interrogating a transportation modality by directing an optical beam at the transportation modality, receiving reflected light from the substrate on said transportation modality, and determining coded values associated with said reflected light,

a library of stored known values that represent known coded values,

said coded values associated with said reflected light being compared with said library of values to determine if the scanned transportation modality is registered.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transportation modality is one of a sea-going vessel, an air vehicle, a land vehicle, or a container, and the substrate comprises a registration decal and at least one covering layer having at least one optical reflective frequency.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the transportation modality is one of a sea-going vessel, an air vehicle, a land vehicle, or a container, and the substrate comprises a decal carried by, and incorporated into the structure of, the modality.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the decal is incorporated into the structure of the modality during manufacture thereof.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of regions having different light reflection properties defining a collection of values, and said regions are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises a decal bearing information and at least one layer covering said decal and having zones on one major surface thereof, said zones being arranged on said surface in a matrix, and each of said zones in said matrix having a value correlated to at least one material property associated with said zone.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein each of said zones exhibits a different property from an adjacent zone.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said decal comprises a plurality of layers, each of said layers having zones exhibiting differing properties.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein each of said zones comprises a material that generates one or more optical properties.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said optical properties comprise one or more optical reflective frequencies.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein said optical properties represent values in a binary code.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein each of said zones is chemically doped.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein each of said zones is chemically doped.

14. The system of claim 6, wherein said at least one layer covering said decal comprises at least two layers, each said layer being optically reflective at a unique optical frequency, and said scanning device simultaneously reads the coded matrix of values on each said layer.

15. A method of providing item identification comprising:

providing a layer of material having an array of zones thereon, each of the zones having a unique optical reflection frequency,

interrogating said coded information provided by said array of zones on said layer with a transmitted optical light beam,

receiving light reflected by said array of zones, said light being reflected in a pattern that represents a code, and

determining the values of the coded information provided by the reflected light frequencies.

16. The method of claim 15, and further including providing a database of values representing known information, wherein the step of determining the values of the coded information comprises comparing said coded information with the database of values.

17. A method of making an encoded decal, comprising:

providing a first layer of material bearing printed information, said layer of material being optically reflective at all optical frequencies,

providing at least one other layer of material for disposition atop the first layer of material, said at least one other layer of material being optically reflective at a first specific wavelength,

treating selected areas of said surface such that only said selected areas reflect light at a specific frequency.

18. The method of claim 17, and further comprising the step of arranging said areas of light reflecting surface in a matrix.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said treating step comprises the step of doping said selected areas with chemicals that reflect light at said frequency.

20. An encoded substrate, comprising:

a first layer of material bearing printed information, said first layer being optically reflective at all optical frequencies,

at least one other layer of material disposed atop said first layer and having a matrix of zones arranged on a major face thereof, selected ones of said zones being optically reflective at a selected optical frequency, said matrix of zones exhibiting coded information when interrogated by an optical scanner.

21. The encoded substrate of claim 20, wherein said matrix of zones comprises N rows and M columns, where N and M have a value of two or greater, and said selected ones of said zones are chemically doped with a chemical element having said selected optical frequency.

22. The encoded substrate of claim 20, wherein said coded information is binary in nature.

23. The encoded substrate of claim 20, wherein said at least one other layer comprises at least two layers, N and M each have a value of three or greater, and said selected ones of said zones are treated with a chemical composition having said selected optical frequency.