Segmented circular bar code
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A segmented circular bar code, comprising:
- inner and outer locator rings, each locator ring being a solid color and conveying the location and size of the bar code to a reading device;
outboard and inboard checkered rings, the outboard checkered ring being immediately adjacent the inner locator ring, radially outboard of the inner locator ring, and the inboard checkered ring being located immediately adjacent the outer locator ring, radially inboard of the outer locator ring;
at least one data ring concentrically located between the outboard and inboard checkered rings, wherein the at least one data ring comprises side-by-side data cells arranged in a circle, wherein each data cell is a binary storage location having a value of “
1”
or “
0,”
a data cell having the same color as the inner and outer locator rings having a value of “
1” and
a data cell having an opposite color as the inner and outer locator rings having a value of “
0,”
the data cells being usable to store encoded information, and wherein the outboard and inboard checkered rings convey the angular position of the data cells in the data rings to the reading device;
an even number of radially-extending gaps dividing the bar code into a corresponding number of segments;
gap locator cells demarcating each side of each radially-extending gap;
left and right orientation cells arranged on the left and right, respectively, of one of the radially-extending gaps;
a circumferentially-extending locator gap in the outer locator ring, the locator gap having an axis co-extensive with a radial line extending through the radially-extending gap between the left and right orientation cells, for conveying to the reading device the approximate orientation of the bar code and approximate location of the left and right orientation cells; and
quiet regions immediately inside and outside of the inner and outer locator rings, for providing background contrast to enable location, identification, and reading of encoded data by the reading device;
wherein all of the inner and outer locator rings, the outboard and inboard checkered rings, and the at least one data ring are circular have a finite radial dimension, and are concentric.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A segmented circular bar code is made-up of inner and outer locator rings, one or more data rings, two large orientation cells, an even number of radially-extending gaps dividing the bar code into a corresponding number of segments, and gap locator cells straddling each radially-extending gap. Each of the locator rings and the data rings is circular and has a finite width. All rings are concentric and there is no circumferential space between the rings.
21 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A segmented circular bar code, comprising:
-
inner and outer locator rings, each locator ring being a solid color and conveying the location and size of the bar code to a reading device; outboard and inboard checkered rings, the outboard checkered ring being immediately adjacent the inner locator ring, radially outboard of the inner locator ring, and the inboard checkered ring being located immediately adjacent the outer locator ring, radially inboard of the outer locator ring; at least one data ring concentrically located between the outboard and inboard checkered rings, wherein the at least one data ring comprises side-by-side data cells arranged in a circle, wherein each data cell is a binary storage location having a value of “
1”
or “
0,”
a data cell having the same color as the inner and outer locator rings having a value of “
1” and
a data cell having an opposite color as the inner and outer locator rings having a value of “
0,”
the data cells being usable to store encoded information, and wherein the outboard and inboard checkered rings convey the angular position of the data cells in the data rings to the reading device;an even number of radially-extending gaps dividing the bar code into a corresponding number of segments; gap locator cells demarcating each side of each radially-extending gap; left and right orientation cells arranged on the left and right, respectively, of one of the radially-extending gaps; a circumferentially-extending locator gap in the outer locator ring, the locator gap having an axis co-extensive with a radial line extending through the radially-extending gap between the left and right orientation cells, for conveying to the reading device the approximate orientation of the bar code and approximate location of the left and right orientation cells; and quiet regions immediately inside and outside of the inner and outer locator rings, for providing background contrast to enable location, identification, and reading of encoded data by the reading device; wherein all of the inner and outer locator rings, the outboard and inboard checkered rings, and the at least one data ring are circular have a finite radial dimension, and are concentric. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22)
-
-
21. A segmented circular bar code comprising:
-
means for conveying to a reading device the location and size of the bar code; means for storing encoded information, the means for storing encoded information having size and angular position; means for dividing the bar code into an even number of data segments; means for conveying to the reading device the orientation of the bar code and the size of the means for storing encoded information; means for conveying to the reading device the approximate location of the means for conveying the orientation; means for conveying to the reading device the size of the means for storing encoded information; means for conveying to the reading device the angular position of the means for storing encoded information; and means for providing background contrast for the bar code.
-
Specification