Two camera system for locating and storing indicia on conveyed items

• US 6,236,735 B1
• Filed: 11/07/1997
• Issued: 05/22/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Recktenwalt, James V., Morton, James S., Bjorner, Johannes A. S., Lais, Kenneth Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, JAYANTI K
• Application Number:
  US08/967,287
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100-102, 382/139-140, 382/181, 382/306, 382/318, 382/297, 382/163, 382/190, 382/216, 382/312, 235/375, 235/462, 235/462.32, 235/462.42, 347/100, 348/33, 348/162, 348/86, 348/91, 348/92, 348/94, 348/95, 348/262, 250/559.44, 705/406, 350/435
• US Class Current: 382/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/245 by locating a pattern; Special marks for positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1429 Identifying or ignoring parts by sensing at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/424 Postal images, e.g. labels or addresses on parcels or postal envelopes

Abstract

A two camera over-the-belt optical character recognition (OCR) system for reading the destination addresses on parcels carried on a conveyor belt. The parcels bear an orientation defining fluorescent ink fiduciary mark that is typically stamped on the parcel in the same area as the destination address. The fiduciary mark is located approximately in the center of the destination address block and oriented in the same direction as the underlying destination address. The first camera, a low resolution CCD camera, captures an image of the fiduciary mark. A host computer stores an image of the fiduciary mark, determines the position and orientation of the fiduciary mark, and defines a region of interest about the fiduciary mark. The second camera, a high resolution CCD camera, captures a grey-scale image of the conveyor and the parcels carried on the conveyor. The host computer extracts and stores the portion of the high resolution image that is within the region of interest including the text defining the destination address of the parcel. The host computer then rotates and displays the text image and/or transmits the text image to a text reader.

Claims

1. A method of capturing an image of readable indicia on an object, comprising the steps of:

affixing a mark to the object such that the mark and the readable indicia are superimposed one upon the other, the mark being configured such that its location and orientation are capable of being determined by a camera having a resolution of 16 pixels per inch;

capturing an image of the mark by exposing a side of the object to a first low resolution camera;

creating a matrix defining a coordinate system corresponding to the image;

translating a set of pixel values corresponding to the image of the mark into the matrix;

determining the position and orientation of the mark with respect to the coordinate system from the image of the mark;

defining a region about the position of the mark; and

capturing an image of the readable indicia within the region by exposing the same side of the object to a second high resolution camera that is relatively unresponsive to the mark such that the readable indicia is readable within the image captured by the second camera despite the superimposition of the mark and the readable indicia.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of rotating the readable indicia by an angle defined with respect to the orientation of the mark.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mark comprises fluorescent ink.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the indicia comprises text.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the object comprises a parcel to be shipped and the indicia comprises the destination address for the parcel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first camera comprises a low resolution CCD camera.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second camera comprises a high resolution CCD camera.

8. A system for capturing an image of readable indicia on an object comprising:

a conveying system for moving an object adjacent to a low resolution first camera and a high resolution second camera;

a mark and readable indicia superimposed one upon the other on the object, the mark being configured such that its location and orientation are capable of being determined by a camera having a resolution of 16 pixels per inch;

the first camera operable for capturing an image of the mark by exposing a side of the object to the first camera;

second camera operable for capturing an image of the readable indicia by exposing the same side of the object to the second camera, which is relatively unresponsive to the mark such that the readable indicia is readable within the image captured by the second camera despite the superimposition of the mark and the readable indicia; and

a computer configured to,

process the image of the mark to determine the position and orientation of the mark,

define a region about the position of the mark, and

trigger the second camera to capture an image of the readable indicia by capturing an image of the region.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer is further configured to process the image of the region to rotate the image of the readable indicia by an angle defined with respect to the orientation of the mark.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the mark comprises fluorescent ink.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the indicia comprises text.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the object comprises a parcel to be shipped and the indicia comprises the destination address for the parcel.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the first camera comprises a low resolution CCD camera.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second camera comprises a high resolution CCD camera.