Reflected light detecting apparatus and method
DCFirst Claim
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1. A system for counting the number of randomly positioned high light reflective areas of a scanned area, comprising:
- a plurality of spaced light detectors,means for monitoring the intensity of light detected by each light detector,means for converting each monitored light intensity to a digital signal corresponding to the degree of intensity of the monitored light,memory means for storing each converted digital signal,means for repeatedly performing said monitoring, converting and storing functions for all of said light detectors, andmeans for generating a count signal when a light level digital signal, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD, decreases by a predefined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD.
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Abstract
Device and method for detecting the contour or shape of one or more articles by projecting multiple light beams on a different portions of an atricle, and measuring the level of light reflected from the article. The amount of light reflected indicates the distance of the light emitter/detector from the article. Readings from multiple light emitter/detector pairs provide an indication of the contour of the object. The readings may be processed to provide an indication of the number and size of articles passing by the sensors. The device may be placed over a conveyor carrying objects to be counted and/or sized.
37 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for counting the number of randomly positioned high light reflective areas of a scanned area, comprising:
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a plurality of spaced light detectors, means for monitoring the intensity of light detected by each light detector, means for converting each monitored light intensity to a digital signal corresponding to the degree of intensity of the monitored light, memory means for storing each converted digital signal, means for repeatedly performing said monitoring, converting and storing functions for all of said light detectors, and means for generating a count signal when a light level digital signal, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD, decreases by a predefined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a system for counting randomly positioned high light reflective sections of scanned area, in which the high light reflective sections are separated by areas that reflect less light,
and wherein said system includes means for repeatedly generating sets of reflected light intensity readings, each such set representing the intensity of light reflected by discrete, linearly-adjusted portions of the scanned area, and wherein the distance between each discrete, linearly-adjacent portion is less than the minimum width of any less-reflective light area of the scanned area, the method of: enabling a light level reading to generate a count signal when the light level reading, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD and falling by a predetermined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD, but not below the PRESENCE THRESHOLD, rises by a predefined NEW OBJECT THRESHOLD. - View Dependent Claims (22, 28, 29, 30)
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13. In a system for counting randomly positioned high light reflective sections of a scanned area in which the high light reflective sections are separated by areas that reflect less light,
and wherein said system includes means for repeatedly generating sets of reflected light intensity readings, each such set representing the intensity of light reflected by discrete, linearly-adjacent portions of the scanned area, and wherein the distance between each discrete, linearly-adjacent portion is less than the minimum width of any less-reflective light area of the scanned area, the method of: disabling a light level reading from generating a count signal until the light intensity level, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD, decreases by a predefined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In a system for counting randomly positioned high light reflective sections of a scanned area in which the high light reflective sections are separated by areas that reflect less light,
and wherein said system includes means for repeatedly generating sets of reflected light intensity readings, each such set representing the intensity of light reflected by discrete, linearly-adjacent portions of the scanned area, and wherein the distance between each discrete, linearly-adjacent portion is less than the minimum width of any less-reflective light area of the scanned area, the method of: generating a count signal when a light level reading, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD, decreases by a predefined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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23. In a system for counting randomly positioned high light reflective sections of a scanned area, in which the high light reflective sections are separated by areas that reflect less light,
and wherein said system includes means for repeatedly generating sets of reflected light intensity readings, each such set representing the intensity of light reflected by discrete, linearly-adjusted portions of the scanned area, and wherein the distance between each discrete, linearly-adjacent portion is less than the minimum width of any less-reflective light area of the scanned area, and wherein said system includes means for disabling a light intensity reading from generating a count signal, the method of: - always disabling from generating a count signal, whenever an individual light level reading is so disabled, all light intensity readings that are above a PRESENCE THRESHOLD and are from light detectors contiguous to the light detector from which said first light intensity reading was taken.
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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31. A system for counting the number of randomly positioned high light reflective areas of a scanned area, comprising:
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a plurality of spaced light detectors, means for monitoring the intensity of light detected by each light detector, means for converting each monitored light intensity to a digital signal corresponding to the degree of intensity of the monitored light, memory means for storing each converted digital signal, means for repeatedly performing said monitoring, converting and storing functions for all of said light detectors, and means for enabling a converted digital signal to generate a count signal when it, after being above a predefined PRESENCE THRESHOLD and falling by a predefined PEAK DETECTION THRESHOLD, but not below the PRESENCE THRESHOLD, rises by a predefined NEW OBJECT THRESHOLD.
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32. A system for counting the number of randomly positioned high light reflective areas of a scanned area, comprising:
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a plurality of spaced light detectors, means for monitoring the intensity of light detected by each light detector, means for converting each monitored light intensity to a digital signal corresponding to the degree of intensity of the monitored light, memory means for storing each converted digital signal, means for repeatedly performing said monitoring, converting and storing functions for all of said light detectors, means for disabling a converted digital signal from generating a count signal, and means for always disabling from generating a count signal, whenever an individual first converted digital signal is so diabled, all light intensity readings that are above a PRESENCE THRESHOLD and are generated by light detectors contiguous to the light detector that generated said first converted digital signal.
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Specification