Optical Authentication
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus may be provided for determining a signature from an article in a reading volume of the apparatus. The apparatus can comprise a source operable to generate a coherent beam and a beam directing member operable to direct the coherent beam into the reading volume. The apparatus may also comprise a detector arrangement for collecting signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, the detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than a predetermined minimum and a processor operable to determine a signature for an article in the reading volume from the collected signals. Use of such apparatus can be repeated whenever required to test authenticity of the article. Using this system, it has been discovered that it is essentially pointless to go to the effort and expense of making specially prepared tokens, since unique characteristics are measurable in a straightforward manner from a wide variety of every day articles.
134 Citations
85 Claims
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1-65. -65. (canceled)
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66. A system for obtaining a signature from an article, the article having a scan area on a surface of the article from which a signature of the article may be read, the system comprising:
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a signature generator arranged to generate a signature from the article by directing coherent radiation onto a plurality of regions in the scan area;
collecting a set comprising groups of data points from signals obtained when the coherent radiation scatters from the regions in the scan area wherein different ones of the groups of data points relate to scatter from the respective different regions of the scan area; and
determining a signature of the article from the set of data points;
the signature generator including a scan head comprising an optical source operable to direct coherent radiation onto the scan area and a detector arrangement operable to collect the data points by detecting the scattered coherent radiation;a camera operable to capture an image of the surface of the article; an image comparator arranged to compare the captured image with a reference image of an article of the same class which includes the scan area of that article, to determine the location and orientation of the scan area on the said article; and a drive assembly arranged to translate and/or rotate the scan head into alignment with the detected scan area on the article, in response to the determination of the location and orientation of the scan area. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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79. A method of obtaining a signature from an article, the article having a scan area on a surface of the article from which a signature of the article may be read, the method comprising:
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capturing an image of the surface of the article; comparing the captured image with a reference image of an article of the same class which includes the scan area of that article, to determine the location and orientation of the scan area on the said article; and generating a signature from the article by directing coherent radiation onto a plurality of regions in the scan area;
collecting a set comprising groups of data points from signals obtained when the coherent radiation scatters from the regions in the scan area wherein different ones of the groups of data points relate to scatter from the respective different regions of the scan area; and
determining a signature of the article from the set of data points;
the signature being generated using a scan head comprising an optical source arranged to direct coherent radiation onto the scan area and a detector arrangement arranged to collect the data points by detecting the scattered coherent radiation;
wherein the scan head is translated and/or rotated into alignment with the detected scan area on the article in response to the determination of the location and orientation of the scan area. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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Specification