Bar-coded card with coding and reading system

• US 5,484,998 A
• Filed: 03/16/1994
• Issued: 01/16/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Decora Industries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Decora Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Levitt, Robert H., Liebman, Theodore E., Bejnar, Jan W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hajec, Donald T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Application Number:
  US08/213,635
• Time in Patent Office: 671 Days
• Field of Search: 235/494, 235/462, 235/463, 235/472, 235/482
• US Class Current: 235/494
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06028 using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence

Abstract

A bar-coding system employs a unique bar code pattern which includes a code represented by a series of dark and light stripes that may be easily decoded by a very inexpensive reader with greater reliability. The bar-coding system generates binary data from the pattern which may be described in parts as follows: long light fields at each left and right end; a start bar at each end; right and left data fields; and a three-bit asymmetric pattern (light, dark, light) in the center that indicates the direction in which the pattern is moving past the read head. The coding sequence of the data fields is arranged from either end toward the middle of the pattern where the coding method reverses; therefore, a coupon or card passed through the reader in either direction will yield the same output. Only two widths of the light and dark stripes are used, and the stripes are read as pairs in succession. A reader includes a card slot which is shaped to an arcuate path which bends an inserted card made from a resilient material so that the card is pressed against the slot sidewall to enhance the reader'"'"'s accuracy and reliability.

Claims

1. A bar-type coding system, comprising:

a plurality of spaced vertical stripes printed on a contrasting field, such that they form a pattern appearing as a sequence of alternating dark and light stripes, said stripes being of only two possible widths, wide or narrow;

said pattern representing data coded according to a decoding method in which two successive light or two successive dark stripes being discrete pairs of different width and the comparison of two successive light or two successive dark stripes represents one possible binary signal if the sequence is wide/narrow and represents the other possible binary signal if the sequence is narrow/wide, wherein said pattern is divided into right-side and left-side segments, and said decoding method applied to the left-side segment being the opposite logic of the decoding method applied to the right-side segment without altering the pattern coding.

2. The bar-type coding system of claim 1, wherein said pattern further includes read direction coding in the middle of said pattern between said right-side and said left-side segments, said direction coding indicating one of two possible read directions, forward or reverse.

3. The bar-type coding system of claim 2, further including a reader having a reader path and a read head for decoding said pattern and providing a reader output by applying said decoding method, said pattern printed on a card and moved along the reader path past the read head which detects the widths of said stripes.

4. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 3, wherein said reader is responsive to said direction coding, whereby the complete output of said reader is reversed in order if the direction coding indicates that the pattern was read in the reverse direction, and thus the final reader output is the same when the full pattern is read in either direction.

5. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 4, wherein said system operates at two power levels, a low-power standby level and a full-power read level, said reader operating at said standby power level until the presence of the card is detected passing into said reader path, and then operated at said full-power level only until the output message is completed.

6. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 5, wherein the passage of a coded card is detected by said read head, comprising two pairs of LED/photosensors, whereby one pair detects the presence of the card and one pair reads the stripes.

7. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 6, wherein the electrical power supply to said LED/photosensor card presence detector pair is pulsed to reduce power consumption.

8. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 7, wherein said card is a coupon which is manually moved through said reader.

9. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 8, further including a controller which compares a numeric equivalent of a logic signal output of said reader to numbers stored in said controller'"'"'s memory to determine that a valid output exists.

10. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 4, further including an output device connected to said controller.

11. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 10, wherein said output device is a speech system that outputs pre-recorded audio messages.

12. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 3, wherein said reader path is defined by a card slot having an arcuate shape described by opposing arcuate slot walls.

13. The bar-type coding system and reader of claim 12, further described in that the walls of said arcuate card slot define inner and outer radiuses of an arc with said read head positioned along the wall of the inner radius at approximately midway along said arc of said slot.

14. A bar-type coding system, comprising:

a plurality of spaced vertical stripes printed on a contrasting field, such that they form a pattern appearing as a sequence of alternating dark and light stripes, said stripes being of only two possible widths, wide or narrow;

said pattern representing data coded according to a decoding method in which the comparison of two successive light or two successive dark stripes represents one possible binary output if the sequence is wide/narrow and represents the other possible binary output if the sequence is narrow/wide;

wherein said pattern is divided into right-side and left-side segments, said coding method applied to the left-side segment yielding the opposite result of the coding method applied to the fight-side segment;

wherein said pattern further includes read direction coding in the middle of said pattern between said right-side and said left-side segments, said direction coding indicating one of two possible read directions, forward or reverse;

further including a reader having a reader path and a read head for decoding said pattern and providing a reader output by applying said decoding method, said pattern printed on a card and moved along the reader path past the read head which detects the widths of said stripes;

wherein said reader is responsive to said direction coding, whereby the complete output of said reader is reversed in order if the direction coding indicates that the pattern was read in the reverse direction, and thus the final reader output is the same when the full pattern is read in either direction;

wherein said system operates at two power levels, a low-power standby level and a full-power read level, said reader operating at said standby power level until the presence of the card is detected passing into said reader path, and then operated at said full-power level only until the output message is completed;

wherein the passage of a coded card is detected by said read head, comprising two pairs of LED/photosensors, whereby one pair detects the presence of the card and one pair reads the stripes;

wherein the electrical power supply to said LED/photosensor card presence detector pair is pulsed to reduce the average power consumption;

wherein said card is a coupon which is manually moved through said reader;

further including a controller which compares the numeric equivalent of the logic signal output of said reader to numbers stored in its memory to determine that a valid output exists; and

further including an output device connected to said controller which receives a signal from said controller and communicates a message to the user.