Robust machine-readable symbology and method and apparatus for printing and reading same

• US 6,321,986 B1
• Filed: 02/10/1998
• Issued: 11/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Ackley, H. Sprague
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/021,608
• Time in Patent Office: 1,386 Days
• Field of Search: 235/462.1, 235/462.07, 235/462.15, 235/462.13, 235/494, 235/456, 235/432, 235/375, 235/462.09, 235/462.02, 235/462.03
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/121 by printing code marks applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06028 using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06056 the marking comprising a further embedded marking, e.g. a 1D bar code with the black bars containing a smaller sized coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1434 Barcodes with supplemental or add-on codes

Abstract

A new bar code symbology in an exemplary embodiment employs three bars (and spaces) within nine modules, similar to Code 93. Fifty-three data characters are defined, including several special mode characters. By employing these special mode characters, together with certain routines, three symbol characters can represent two 8-bit bytes, or one 16-bit word. As a result, the symbology can efficiently encode 8-bit bytes for use in computer processing, or encode 16-bit character sets such as Unicode. Symbology encodes extended channel interpretation (ECI) numbers, provides multiple numeric compression modes, provides a structured append using a single mode character, as well as other features. Additionally, the symbology includes error correction, with a Special Features Flag character indicating use of error correction in a symbol.

Claims

1. A machine-readable symbology having a plurality of symbol characters wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a symbol, and wherein the machine-readable symbology comprises, as a member of the symbology, a companion symbol present symbol character that indicates that at least one companion symbol is present near to the group of symbol characters forming the symbol.

2. The machine-readable symbology of claim 1 wherein the companion symbol present symbol character is at least a start or stop symbol character in the group of symbol characters.

3. A machine-readable symbology having a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a printable symbol, wherein the machine-readable symbology comprises at least two combinations of start characters and stop characters, wherein at least one combination of start and stop characters selected from the at least two combinations of start and stop characters, when positioned in the printable symbol, indicates that an additional data carrier carries data that is associated with the printable symbol.

4. The machine-readable symbology of claim 3 wherein the combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the additional data carrier carries data to be appended with data carried in the printable symbol.

5. The machine-readable symbology of claim 3 wherein the combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicate that a companion data carrier exists.

6. The machine-readable symbology of claim 3 wherein the combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicate that a companion RF data carrier exists.

7. The machine-readable symbology of claim 3 wherein the combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that a companion machine-readable symbol data carrier exists.

8. The machine-readable symbology of claim 3 wherein the combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that a companion machine-readable symbol data carrier and a companion RF data carrier exist.

9. A reader apparatus for machine-readable symbols, comprising:

an optical receiver that receives light reflected from a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of symbol characters form a printable symbol, wherein the optical receiver produces a signal representing the plurality of symbol characters, and wherein at least some of the plurality of symbol characters are selected from a machine-readable symbology; and

a processor coupled to the optical receiver that receives the signal and converts the plurality of symbol characters to a plurality of symbol values, and wherein the processor is configured to recognize at least one of the plurality of symbol characters as a flag character that indicates that the printable symbol contains data that is to be combined with data in a data carrier.

10. The reader of claim 9 herein the flag comprises a predefined pair of start and stop characters.

11. The reader of claim 9 wherein the flag comprises a flag symbol character positioned relative to the group of symbol characters.

12. The reader of claim 9 wherein the flag comprises a special function flag symbol character positioned at a particular location in the printable symbol.

13. The reader of claim 9 wherein the flag comprises a special function flag symbol character positioned immediately following a start character in the printable symbol.

14. The reader of claim 9 wherein the flag comprises a flag symbol character and a modifier symbol character positioned at a particular location in the printable symbol.

15. The reader of claim 9 wherein the flag comprises a flag symbol character and a modifier symbol character selected from a range of modifier symbol characters positioned immediately following a start character in the printable symbol.

55. The reader of claim 9 wherein the reader is configured, after recognizing the flag, to remain in an active read state to gather data from at least the data carrier.

16. A machine-readable symbol having a plurality of symbol characters, the machine-readable symbol comprising at least one flag symbol character that indicates that data contained in the machine-readable symbol is to be combined with data in at least a second data carrier.

17. The machine-readable symbol of claim 16 wherein the flag comprises a predefined pair of start and stop characters.

18. The machine-readable symbol of claim 16 wherein the flag comprises a flag symbol character and a modifier symbol character selected from a range of modifier symbol characters when positioned immediately following a start character in the machine-readable symbol.

19. The machine-readable symbol of claim 16, further comprising

at least one check character computed based on a number of symbol values corresponding to respective ones of the symbol characters in the machine-readable symbol and the at least second data carrier.

20. The machine-readable symbol of claim 16, further comprising:

a first check character computed as a modulo sum of a number of symbol values corresponding to respective ones of the symbol characters in the machine-readable symbol and the at least second data carrier; and

a second check character computed as a modulo difference of the number of symbol values corresponding to respective ones of the symbol characters in the machine-readable symbol and the at least second data carrier.

21. An alphanumeric machine-readable symbology comprising at least one plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a printable symbol, and wherein the machine-readable symbology further comprises an indication that at least one companion data carrier is associated with the printable symbol.

22. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that defines a relationship between data encoded in the printable symbol and data encoded in the companion data carrier.

23. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that defines a location of a companion data carrier relative to the printable symbol.

24. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that indicates that data encoded in a companion data carrier replaces data encoded in the printable symbol.

25. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that indicates that data encoded in a companion data carrier appends to a beginning of data encoded in the printable symbol.

26. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that indicates that data encoded in a companion data carrier appends to an end of data encoded in the printable symbol.

27. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that indicates that data encoded in the printable symbol is for display on a display screen.

28. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21, further comprising:

at least one indicator value symbol character that provides information for accessing data in a companion data carrier.

29. The machine-readable symbology of claim 21 wherein the printable symbol or the at least one companion data carrier provides an indication to a reader that the reader is to remain in an active read state.

30. A machine-readable symbology comprising a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more of the symbol characters together may form a printable symbol, wherein the machine-readable symbology further comprises a flag symbol character and two or more modifier characters, and wherein the flag symbol character and at least one of the modifier characters, when positioned in the printable symbol, indicate that the printable symbol is one of a set of at least two data carriers each encoding data to be combined.

31. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 wherein one of the modifier symbol characters indicates a relative order of the machine-readable symbol in the set when the modifier symbol character is positioned in the printable symbol.

32. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 wherein one of the modifier symbol character indicates a relative order of the machine-readable symbol in the set of at least two data carriers and indicates the total number of data carriers in the set.

33. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 further comprising a number of indicator symbol values, each of the indicator symbol values indicating membership in a set of symbols, and indicating a pre-determined relationship between data in the printable symbol and data in a companion data carrier, when positioned in the printable symbol.

34. The machine-readable symbology of claim, 30 wherein each of the at least two data characters contain a flag symbol indicating to a symbol imager that the imager is to remain in an active read state.

35. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 further comprising a number of indicator symbol values, each of the indicator symbol values indicating a pre-defined relationship between data in the printable symbol and data in a companion data carrier when positioned in the printable symbol, wherein one of the indicator symbol values indicates that data stored in the companion data carrier is to be appended to a beginning of the data stored in the printable symbol.

36. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 further comprising a number of indicator symbol values, each of the indicator symbol values indicating a pre-determined relationship between data in the printable symbol and data in a companion data carrier when positioned in the printable symbol, wherein one of the indicator symbol values indicates access information for accessing data stored in the companion data carrier.

56. The machine-readable symbology of claim 30 wherein the flag symbol character is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the printable symbol.

37. A printer apparatus for printing machine-readable symbols comprising:

a processor that converts a plurality of character codes under an alphanumeric symbology to a plurality of symbol values, wherein the plurality of character codes correspond to a plurality of data characters, respectively, wherein at least a predetermined one of the plurality of character codes under the alphanumeric symbology indicates that an additional data carrier exists, and wherein a plurality of symbol characters together form a printable symbol; and

a printer mechanism coupled to the processor that prints the plurality of symbol characters as the printable symbol, wherein the plurality of symbol characters corresponds to the plurality of symbol values, respectively.

38. The printer apparatus of claim 37 wherein the at least a predetermined one of the plurality of character codes comprises a predetermined pair of start and stop character codes.

39. A reader apparatus for reading machine-readable symbols comprising:

an optical receiver that receives light reflected from a plurality of symbol characters selected from an alphanumeric symbology and produces a signal representing the plurality of symbol characters; and

a processor coupled to the optical receiver that receives the signal and converts the plurality of symbol characters to a plurality of symbol values, wherein at a predetermined one of the plurality of symbol values produced from at least one of the plurality of symbol characters in the alphanumeric symbology indicates at least one additional data carrier exists.

40. The reader apparatus of claim 39 wherein the at least predetermined one of the plurality of symbol values comprises a pair of start and stop character codes.

54. The reader apparatus of claim 39, further comprising a memory and a circuit both coupled to the processor, wherein the circuit is configured to keep the reader apparatus in an on-state after decoding the predetermined symbol value that indicates that at least one additional data carrier exists, and continues to remain in the on-state until all indicated data carriers are found.

41. A reader apparatus for machine-readable symbols, comprising:

an optical receiver that receives light reflected from a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a printable symbol, wherein the optical receiver produces a signal representing the plurality of symbol characters, and wherein at least some of the plurality of symbol characters are selected from a machine-readable symbology comprising at least one start or stop character, and wherein the start or stop character, when positioned in the printable symbol, indicates information in addition to an end of the printable symbol, a direction of scanning and an identification of the symbology, and wherein the additional information does not identify a character set from the symbology; and

a processor coupled to the optical receiver that receives the signal and converts the plurality of symbol characters to a plurality of symbol values, and wherein the processor is configured to recognize the start or stop character.

42. The reader of claim 41 wherein the additional information indicates that at least one companion symbol is present near to the printable symbol.

43. The reader of claim 41 wherein the additional inflation indicates that at least one companion RF tag is present near to the printable symbol.

44. The reader of claim 41 wherein the additional information indicates that the printable symbol contains data to be combined with other data.

45. A machine-readable symbology having a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a printable symbol, wherein the machine-readable symbology comprises at least two combinations of start and stop characters, wherein at least one combination of start and stop characters selected from the start and stop characters, when positioned in the printable symbol, indicates that an imager is to remain in an on state following image capture or after the reading of the symbol.

46. The machine-readable symbology of claim 45 wherein the absence of the at least one combination of start and stop characters from the printable symbol indicates that the imager is to be in an off state following image capture or after the reading of the symbol.

47. A machine-readable symbology having a plurality of symbol characters, wherein a group of two or more symbol characters together form a printable symbol, the machine-readable symbology comprising at least two start characters and two stop characters, wherein at least one of the start and stop characters, selected from the two start and two stop characters, indicates information in addition to an end of the printable symbol, a direction of scanning, and an identification of the machine-readable symbology when positioned in at least one of a first position or a last position in the printable symbol, wherein the additional information does not identify a character set from the symbology.

48. The machine-readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a predefined combination of the start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that an additional data carrier carries data that is associated with the printable symbol.

49. The machine-readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a predefined combination of the start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the printable symbol includes error correction characters.

50. The machine-readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a predefined combination of the start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the printable symbol contains only symbol characters with a symbol value not greater than a predetermined value.

51. The machine-readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a pre-defined combination of stop and start characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the printable symbol contains a symbol character having a symbol value greater than a predetermined value.

52. The machine readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a first combination of start and stop characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the printable symbol contains only symbol characters with a symbol value not greater than 46 and wherein a second combination of stop and start characters when positioned in the printable symbol indicates that the printable symbol contains a symbol character having a symbol value greater than 46.

53. The machine readable symbology of claim 47 wherein a first combination of the start and stop characters indicates that an additional data carrier is associated with the printable symbol, a second combination of the start and stop characters indicates that the printable symbol includes error correction characters, a third combination of the start and stop characters indicates that the printable symbol contains only symbol characters with a symbol value not greater than a predetermined value, and a fourth combination of stop and start characters indicates that the printable symbol contains a symbol character having a symbol value greater than a predetermined value, when positioned in the printable symbol.