Image acquisition system for sorting packets
First Claim
1. An image acquisition system for reading information formed on top surfaces of a plurality of objects, said plurality of objects being displaced along a conveyor plane, the system comprising.a high resolution camera that is mounted above the conveyor plane to observe the top surface of each of said plurality of objects, the camera including an objective lens system having a motor-driven focusing mechanism;
- a pickup mounted above the conveyor plane to determine a vertical profile of the top surface of each single object relative to the conveyor plane, and to produce a profile signal representative of the vertical profile of the top surface of each object relative to the conveyor plane; and
a means for processing said profile signal output by the pickup to produce a positioning reference signal for the focusing mechanism wherein the positioning reference signal takes into account variations in the vertical profile of the top surface of the single object as said each single object moves beneath the lens system of the camera to adjust the focusing mechanism according to the variations in the vertical profile of said each single object.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The system comprises a high resolution camera (1) mounted above a conveyor plane (4) along which objects are displaced, thereby enabling the top face of each object to be observed. The camera (1) is fitted with an objective lens system (5) having a motor-driven focusing system that operates in association with a pickup (8) that produces a signal (S) representative of the vertical profile of the top face of each object relative to the conveyor plane. The profile signal serves to produce positioning references (C) for the focusing mechanism in order to take account of variations in the height of the top face of each object while that object is moving beneath the objective lens system of the camera. Such an image acquisition system is employed to read addresses automatically from postal packets for the purpose of performing automatic sorting.
26 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An image acquisition system for reading information formed on top surfaces of a plurality of objects, said plurality of objects being displaced along a conveyor plane, the system comprising.
a high resolution camera that is mounted above the conveyor plane to observe the top surface of each of said plurality of objects, the camera including an objective lens system having a motor-driven focusing mechanism; -
a pickup mounted above the conveyor plane to determine a vertical profile of the top surface of each single object relative to the conveyor plane, and to produce a profile signal representative of the vertical profile of the top surface of each object relative to the conveyor plane; and a means for processing said profile signal output by the pickup to produce a positioning reference signal for the focusing mechanism wherein the positioning reference signal takes into account variations in the vertical profile of the top surface of the single object as said each single object moves beneath the lens system of the camera to adjust the focusing mechanism according to the variations in the vertical profile of said each single object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification