Coded records, method of making same and method and an apparatus for reading coded records

• US 3,891,829 A
• Filed: 08/29/1973
• Issued: 06/24/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bruce W. Dobras
• Original Assignee: Bruce W. Dobras
• Inventors: Dobras, Bruce W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cook, Daryl W.
• Application Number:
  US05/392,413
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• Field of Search: 235/61.11E,61.12R,61.12N 250/555,566
• US Class Current: 235/462.04
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/08 using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0166 by means of clock-signals derived from the code marks, e.g. self-clocking code

Abstract

Uniformly-spaced timing marks having an optical characteristic are printed on record material. Bar-coded characters having a different optical characteristic are also printed on the record material in superimposed relationship to the timing marks. The bar-code characters may be randomly positioned with respect to the timing marks and to each other. Both the timing marks, which may be called clock bars, and the data bars which comprise the coded characters are then optically scanned with a single scanning stylus. The clock bars provide a time-base reference for the scanning of the data bars and can compensate for the speed at which the record is manually scanned. More specifically, the presence or absence of a data bar is determined at selected leading and trailing edges of the clock bars. The thickness of the bar-code elements may vary considerably as a result of nonuniform printing without causing errors in the scanning.

Claims

1. A machine readable record which may be scanned by means of a manually held scanning instrument, said record comprising:

a base material;

a first set of uniformly spaced and parallel bars printed upon said base material and containing a material which, when stimulated by electromagnetic radiation, strongly emits or reflects electroMagnetic radiation within a first frequency range; and

a second set of bars printed upon said base material on top of and parallel to said first set of bars having a minimum width which is at least twice the width of said first set of bars and which, when stimulated by electromagnetic radiation, strongly emits or reflects electromagnetic radiation within a second frequency range, the spacing and/or width of said second set of bars being varied in such a manner as to convey information.

2. A record in accordance with claim 1 wherein the bars in said second set of bars are of uniform width, wherein subsets of the bars in said second set are spaced basically uniform distances from one another, and wherein selected bars other than the first bar in said subsets are omitted at different positions such that the presence of a bar at a location indicates a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'one'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' data bit while the absence of a bar at a location indicates a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'zero'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' data bit, or vice versa.

3. A system for conveying information from a coded record to a utilization device comprising:

a first bar code comprising uniformly-spaced clock bars printed upon said record;

a second bar code comprising data bars whose width and spacing is at least twice that of the bars in said first bar code printed upon said record such that said clock and data bars are parallel to one another and superimposed upon one another, said first and second bar codes having light emission or reflection properties which differ substantially from one another in the wavelength of the light emitted or reflected, and said second bar code having width and/or position characteristics which vary to convey information in accordance with a predetermined coding scheme;

means for scanning said bar codes along a path which traverses the elements of said bar codes and for capturing illumination emitted or reflected from said bar codes;

means for separating out of the captured illumination a first digital light signal whose wavelength corresponds to light emitted or reflected by the first bar code and a second digital light signal whose wavelength corresponds to light emitted or reflected by the second bar code;

means for converting said first and second light signals into correspondingly fluctuating first and second digital electrical signals; and

means for sampling the data content of the second electrical signal at times which correspond to the fluctuations of the first electrical signal, whereby the data content of said data bars may be systematically retrieved from the manually-scanned record.

4. A system in accordance with claim 3 which further includes means responsive to the scanning of a first data bar on a record, as indicated by a first fluctuation of the second electrical signal, for determining which fluctuations of the first electrical signal occur during the scanning of the first data bar as indicated by said second electrical signal, and additional means for checking for the presence of data bars at times corresponding to fluctuations of said first electrical signal which occur at multiples of four fluctuations away from said fluctuations occurring during the scanning of the first data bar.

5. A system in accordance with claim 4 wherein, when only a single fluctuation of said first electrical signal occurs during the scanning of a first data bar as indicated by fluctuations of said second electrical signal, means are provided for checking for the presence of a bar not only at multiples of four fluctuations away from the one fluctuation of said first electrical signal which occurred during the scanning of the bar but also at multiples of four fluctuations away from the fluctuations which preceed and follow said one fluctuation.

6. A system in accordance with claim 3 wherein at least one additional set of data bars is printed upon said record, said additional data bars having properties which reflect or emit light within a third wavelength region, and wherein additional optical and electroNic logic is provided for extracting data from the additional set of data bars in the same manner that data is extracted from the first set of data bars using the same clock bars for synchronizing the retrieval of data from all sets of data bars upon the record.

7. A system in accordance with claim 6 wherein three different sets of data bars are superimposed upon a single set of clock bars upon a single record, whereby three simultaneous sets of data may be retrieved from a single record during a single manual scanning operation.

8. A method of transmitting coded data using a printed record member and an optical scanning device comprising the steps of:

pre-printing a plurality of evenly-spaced invisible timing marks having a first optical characteristic which optically distinguishes the marks from the record member upon the record members;

printing groups of plural data marks having a different optical characteristic than said timing marks which optically distinguishes the data marks from the record member and spaced from one another to represent coded information upon the record member superimposed over and parallel to said timing marks;

optically scanning the record to generate a composite optical signal;

separating first and second optical signals from said composite optical signal corresponding respectively to emissions or reflections from said timing marks and said data marks; and

sampling the state of said second optical signal corresponding to said data marks at times when said first optical signal corresponding to said timing marks fluctuates to recover from said second optical signal data corresponding to the information carried by the record.

9. A method of printing a scannable code on a sheet of material comprising the steps of:

pre-printing upon a sheet a plurality of evenly-spaced, parallel, invisible timing marks having one characteristic which distinguishes the timing marks from the sheet; and

printing at least one group of coded data marks having a different characteristic from the timing marks and from the sheet superimposed over the timing marks on said sheet, spacing the data marks from one another by at least twice the spacing between said timing marks.

10. A method of making record members from an elongated web comprising the steps of:

providing a web of material;

pre-printing a plurality of evenly-spaced timing marks having one characteristic differing from the characteristic of the web over the length of the web;

printing a plurality of groups of coded data marks having a different characteristic than the timing marks on the web superimposed over the timing marks on said web; and

separating the web into individual record members each bearing the timing marks and at least one group of coded data marks.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10 which includes the additional step of spacing the most closely spaced of said coded data marks at least twice as far from one another as said timing marks are spaced from one another, and spacing other of said coded data marks integer multiples of twice the distance between said timing marks from one another.

12. A method of making records, comprising the steps of:

providing record material;

pre-printing a plurality of evenly-spaced timing marks having one characteristic different from the record material characteristic on the record material; and

printing a plurality of coded data marks having a different characteristic from the timing marks on the record material superimposed over the timing marks on the record material.

13. A method in accordance with claim 12 which includes the additional step of spacing the most closely spaced of said coded data marks at least twice as far from one another as said timing marks are spaced from one another, and spacing other of said coded data marks integer multiples of twice the distance between said timing marks from one another.

14. A method in accordance with claim 12 which incLudes the additional step of printing each group of coded data marks representing an individual character in a single operation, printing several such groups upon each record, and spacing the coded data marks within each group integer multiples of at least twice the distance between said timing marks from one another.

15. A method of making record members comprising the steps of:

providing a web of record members;

pre-printing a plurality of evenly-spaced parallel timing marks having one characteristic differing from the characteristics of said record members on all of the record members in the web;

printing upon each separate record member groups of plural data marks having a different characteristic from said timing marks and said record members and representing characters and/or numbers parallel to said timing marks, and spacing the data marks within each group from one another by integer multiples of at least twice the distance between said evenly-spaced timing marks; and

separating individual records from the web one-at-a-time.

16. A record comprising:

a record member;

a first uniformly-spaced array of parallel bars positioned on one side of said record member and formed of a material that is reflective or that can be stimulated to emit light within a first light frequency range; and

a second array of bars positioned on said one side of said record member parallel to and superimposed upon said first array of bars, said second array of bars formed of a material that is reflective or that can be stimulated to emit light within a second light frequency range that differs from said first light frequency range.

17. The arrangement of claim 16 wherein said first and second arrays are printed on said one side of said record member.

18. The arrangement of claim 16 wherein said first array consists of uniformly-spaced parallel timing bars and said second array consists of data bars superimposed upon said first array.

19. A method of interpreting coded data which is represented by data bars having one optical characteristic superimposed over uniformly-spaced clock bars having a second optical characteristic all of which bars are carried by a record having a third optical characteristic, said method comprising the steps of:

optically scanning the record to generate a composite optical signal;

separating first and second optical signals from said composite optical signal corresponding respectively to light emissions from said clock bars and from said data bars; and

sampling the state of said second optical signal corresponding to said data bars at times when said first optical signal corresponding to said clock bars fluctuates to recover from said second optical signal data corresponding to the information represented by said data bars.