Data distribution mechanism in the form of ink dots on cards

• US 6,918,542 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2003
• Issued: 07/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Walmsley, Simon Robert, Silverbrook, Kia
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Application Number:
  US10/676,044
• Publication Number:
  US 20040129789A1
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 235/454, 235/462.01, 235/462.1, 235/462.24, 235/462.27, 235/494
• US Class Current: 235/494
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0005 Curl smoothing, i.e. smoothing down corrugated printing material, e.g. by pressing means acting on wrinkled printing material
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14427 Structure of ink jet print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1623 bonding and adhesion
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1626 etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1628 dry etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1629 wet etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1631 photolithography
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1632 machining
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1635 dividing the wafer into individual chips
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1637 molding
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1642 thin film formation by CVD [chemical vapor deposition]
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1645 thin film formation by spincoating
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1646 thin film formation by sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1648 Production of print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/16585 for paper-width or non-reciprocating print heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17513 Inner structure
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17596 Ink pumps, ink valves
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/041 Electromagnetic transducer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14491 Electrical connection
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/21 Line printing
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 : Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 29/00 : Combinations of cameras, projectors or photographic printing apparatus with non-photographic non-optical apparatus, e.g. clocks or weapons; Cameras having the shape of other objects combinations with flash apparatus G03B15/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 : with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 : for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/79 : in semiconductor storage media, e.g. directly-addressable memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/86 : Secure or tamper-resistant housings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/2022 : Flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 : Authenticate client device independently of the user
• 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 13/00 : Conveying record carriers from one station to another, e.g. from stack to punching mechanism conveying record carriers combined with another operation, e.g. with reading G06K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/00 : Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06 : characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 : multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 : by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 : Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• 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 7/1417 : 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 : Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/02 : Affine transformations for image registration G06T3/147; for image mosaicing G06T3/4038
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0281 : Arrangement of scan or data electrode driver circuits at the periphery of a panel not inherent to a split matrix structure
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/56 : using storage elements with more than two stable states represented by steps, e.g. of voltage, current, phase, frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00278 : with a printing apparatus, e.g. a laser beam printer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00355 : Mark-sheet input sensing record carriers G06K7/00; character recognition G06V30/10; document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0044 : for image preview or review, e.g. to help the user position a sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00968 : by scanning marks on a sheet mark-sheet input means H04N1/00355; sensing record carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2112 : using still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2154 : the still video camera incorporating a hardcopy reproducing device, e.g. a printer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2307 : Circuits or arrangements for the control thereof, e.g. using a programmed control device, according to a measured quantity H04N1/27, H04N1/29 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 : in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32133 : on the same paper sheet, e.g. a facsimile page header
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 : Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0008 : Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 : Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3222 : of processing required or performed, e.g. forwarding, urgent or confidential handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3242 : of processing required or performed, e.g. for reproduction or before recording H04N2201/3256 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3269 : of machine readable codes or marks, e.g. bar codes or glyphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3276 : of a customised additional information profile, e.g. a profile specific to a user ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/328 : Processing of the additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/00 : Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 : Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/14 : Structural association of two or more printed circuits providing electric connection to or between printed circuits H05K1/11, H01R12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/189 : characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit H05K3/326 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A data structure encoded on a surface of an object, and a method of generating such a data structure. The data structure includes a plurality of block data regions. Each of the block regions includes an encoded data region containing data in encoded form, a clock mark structure located adjacent a first peripheral portion of the encoded data region, and a target structure located adjacent the clock mark structure. Each of the block data regions further includes an orientation data structure indicative of an orientation of the data structure.

Claims

1. A data structure encoded on a surface of an object, said data structure comprising a plurality of block data regions, each of said block data regions including:

an encoded data region containing data in encoded form;

a plurality of clock mark structures located mutually opposite sides of said encoded data region; and

a target structure located adjacent said clock mark structure;

wherein each of said block data regions further includes an orientation data structure indicative of an orientation of said data structure.

2. A data structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said orientation data structure is an elongate data region including a plurality of data points corresponding to a first value.

3. A data structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of said clock mark structures includes a first elongate region of data points corresponding to a first value and an adjacent second elongate region of alternating first and second data points corresponding to respective alternating first and second values, said at least one clock mark structure defining an edge of said encoded data region.

4. A data structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein a first clock mark structure is located adjacent a first edge of said encoded data region and a second clock mark structure is located adjacent a second opposite edge of said encoded data region.

5. A data structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said target structure comprises a plurality of first data points, each said first data point corresponding to a first value, and a plurality of second data points corresponding to a second value different to said first value.

6. A data structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein said target structure further includes a target number indicator structure comprising a contiguous group of said second data points, said target number indicator structure being indicative of a target identification number associated with said target structure.

7. A data structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data structure comprises a series of dots printed on a surface of a substrate.

8. A method of decoding a data structure encoded on a surface of an object, said data structure comprising a plurality of block data regions, each of said block data regions including:

an encoded data region containing encoded data;

a plurality of clock mark structures located on mutually opposite sides of said encoded data region; and

a plurality of identifiable target structures located adjacent said plurality of clock mark structures;

the method comprising the steps of;

(a) scanning said data structure;

(b) locating the start of said data structure;

(c) locating said target structures and determining the orientation of said target structures;

(d) locating said clock mark structures based on the position of said target structures;

(e) utilising said clock mark structures to determine an expected location of bit data of said encoded data region; and

(f) determining a data value for each bit of said bit data.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein said clock mark structures include a first elongate region of first data points corresponding to a first value and an adjacent second elongate region of alternate second and third data points, said second data points corresponding to the first value and said third data points corresponding to a second value different to the first value, said second region being located adjacent an edge of said encoded data region, and wherein said utilising step (e) comprises the steps of utilising a pseudo phase locked loop type algorithm to maintain a current location within said clock mark structures.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said determining step (f) comprises the step of dividing a sensed bit value into three contiguous regions comprising a middle region, a lower region and an upper region, and:

with each value in a lower region, designating the corresponding bit value to be a first value;

with each value in an upper region, designating the corresponding bit value to be a second value; and

with each value in a middle region, utilising the spatially surrounding values to determine whether said value in the middle region is a first value or a second value.