WO2006057197A1 - Apparatus for reading a color symbol - Google Patents
Apparatus for reading a color symbol Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2006057197A1 WO2006057197A1 PCT/JP2005/021183 JP2005021183W WO2006057197A1 WO 2006057197 A1 WO2006057197 A1 WO 2006057197A1 JP 2005021183 W JP2005021183 W JP 2005021183W WO 2006057197 A1 WO2006057197 A1 WO 2006057197A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- filters
- symbol
- color
- pattern
- colors
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
- G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
- G06K7/12—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation using a selected wavelength, e.g. to sense red marks and ignore blue marks
Definitions
- the present invention relates to symbol reading and decoding techniques, and more particularly, to apparatus for reading color symbols, such as color one and two dimensional barcodes, with higher sensitivity and resolution.
- Barcodes with various desired information encoded therein, are universally used in many circumstances.
- barcodes such as 1-D barcodes stacked barcodes, 2-D barcodes, etc.
- These barcodes are usually monochrome symbols that are encoded with information in specified patterns of barcode elements (or cells) of two sharply contrasted colors such as black and white.
- To increase the "information density" i.e., the information included in the limited symbol area
- various colors are also used as the barcode elements as in color barcodes.
- the color barcodes are usually also read by monochrome readers which identify different colors by different levels of electrical signals generated from light reflected from the symbol elements of different colors.
- the sensitivity and resolution of reading color symbols by monochrome readers is not satisfactory, especially when the color symbols are buried in a colorful background such as a color picture.
- the present invention provides an apparatus for reading a color symbol, which comprises a matrix of color filters provided in front of a detector.
- a color symbol which comprises a matrix of color filters provided in front of a detector.
- light received from the Filters of some colors is used to locate the color symbol, while light received from other filters or all the filters is used to read and decode the located symbol.
- the colors of the filters used for locating the symbol are in the range of wavelengths at which the detector is most sensitive.
- the filters for locating the symbol are of the same color, which is preferably of a wavelength of the detector.
- the pattern of the filters for locating the symbol is of a zigzag pattern, which is a part of the whole filter matrix.
- one color of filters is used to locate the symbol, and all the filters are used to decode it.
- Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary color symbol reading system according the concept of the present invention
- Fig. 2 illustrates a matrix of filters of an embodiment according to the present invention
- Fig. 3 illustrates a zigzag line resulted from the zigzag pattern of the dominant color filters in the matrix of Fig. 2.
- FIG. 1 An embodiment of the color symbol reading apparatus according to the present invention is schematically illustrated in Fig. 1, which generally comprises a light source 14 (such as LED) for
- a color symbol such as a color barcode
- a detector 11 for receiving light 2 reflected from the symbol 20 and for generating electrical signals from the received reflectance light 2
- an amplifier circuitry 12 for amplifying the signals generated by the detector 12, and a decoding circuit 13 for decoding the amplified electrical signals received from the amplifier circuitry 12 to obtain a reading result.
- a color filter array (CFA) or filter matrix 10 which comprises filters of various colors is provided in front of the detector 11 for filtering the reflectance light 2 before it is received by the detector 11. Only the light passing the filters of some (but not all) colors are utilized to locate the color symbol 20, while the light passing all the filters are utilized to read and decode the symbol 20.
- CFA color filter array
- Fig. 2 An exemplary embodiment of the filter matrix 10 is illustrated in Fig. 2, which comprises filters of three different colors, i.e., the three component colors Cyan, Yellow, Magenta of CYM color system, which is expected to pass through more light than RGB filter system.
- yellow filters are represented by "white” squares 15, cyan filters by "gray” squares 16, and magenta filters by "dark” squares 17.
- reference numbers 15, 16 and 17 For clarity, only some of the filters are designated by reference numbers 15, 16 and 17.
- yellow filters 15 are dominant in number throughout the area of the filter matrix 10. In the example here, there are twice as many filters of yellow color as of each of the other two colors.
- the yellow filters 15 subtract blue color in principle and pass other spectrum of light onto the detector 11.
- the reflectance light 2 that passes the yellow filters 15 to be received by the detector 11 is utilized to locate the colored symbol 20.
- the symbol 20 is located as a whole symbol block but not by symbol elements.
- detector 11 has a dominant sensitivity for the colors passing through the
- the color symbol 20 is located by the light 2 passing the yellow filters 15, the light 2 that passes all the color filters 15, 16 and 17 in the filter matrix 10 is utilized to read and decode the colored symbol 20, which achieves a higher resolution as compared to prior color symbol readers.
- the dominant yellow filters 15 are preferably arranged in the filter matrix in a zigzag pattern both horizontally and vertically. This generates a zigzag line 15a (see Fig. 3) for calculating run-length with minimum noise.
- the colors of the symbol 20 can be then evaluated, which is useful for remaining processing of the symbol 20.
- the yellow filters 15 are utilized as the dominant color filters in the preferred embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, any other color (such as cyan or magenta) may also be used as a dominant color to locate the colored symbol 20.
- the detector 11 has the most sensitivity for the wavelength of the same color of the dominant color filter, or is the most sensitive to the color of the dominant color filters.
- Other color systems can also be utilized.
- filters can have red, green and blue colors as in an RGB color system, with one (e.g., red) of the colors as the color of the dominant filters for locating the symbol 20.
- Filter matrices containing more than three types of filters could also be employed. It is desirable, although not critical to the present invention, that the wavelength at which the detector 11 is most sensitive and the filter used to locate the symbol have similar wavelengths, in order to maximize the sensitivity.
- the matrix Filters 10 may comprise more than three colors and the filters for locating the symbol 20 may comprise more than one color (such as yellow in Fig. 2).
- the filters for locating the symbol 20 may comprise filters of several different colors. If so, the colors are preferably close to each other and the detector 11 is more sensitive to them than other colors.
- the color filters 15, 16, 17 can be of other types of patterns other than that shown in Fig.
- the color symbol 20 can be a linear barcode of any dimension, a stacked barcode, a matrix barcode, etc., buried in a colorful background or not.
- the filters used for locating the color symbol 20 may or may not be dominant in number as compared to other filters. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is intended to be solely defined in the accompanying claims.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
DE112005002892T DE112005002892T5 (en) | 2004-11-24 | 2005-11-11 | Device for reading a color symbol |
JP2007524692A JP4773442B2 (en) | 2004-11-24 | 2005-11-11 | Color symbol reader |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US10/996,802 | 2004-11-24 | ||
US10/996,802 US7124957B2 (en) | 2004-11-24 | 2004-11-24 | Apparatus for reading a color symbol |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2006057197A1 true WO2006057197A1 (en) | 2006-06-01 |
Family
ID=36460056
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2005/021183 WO2006057197A1 (en) | 2004-11-24 | 2005-11-11 | Apparatus for reading a color symbol |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (3) | US7124957B2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP4773442B2 (en) |
DE (1) | DE112005002892T5 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2006057197A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1593935A1 (en) * | 2004-05-06 | 2005-11-09 | Leica Geosystems AG | Levelling rod, level determining apparatus for said rod and level determining method |
US20060081711A1 (en) * | 2004-09-30 | 2006-04-20 | Junxiang Zhao | Color-identifying system for colored barcode and a method thereof |
KR100827240B1 (en) * | 2006-10-02 | 2008-05-07 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Apparatus and method for interpolate channels |
US9111186B2 (en) * | 2011-10-12 | 2015-08-18 | University Of Rochester | Color barcodes for mobile applications: a per channel framework |
USD836001S1 (en) | 2016-03-04 | 2018-12-18 | Discovery Inc. | Bar code for a pouch |
Citations (3)
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JPH06236452A (en) * | 1992-12-18 | 1994-08-23 | Nippondenso Co Ltd | Optical information reader |
JPH09161002A (en) * | 1995-12-06 | 1997-06-20 | Hitachi Ltd | Multiple printing reading system |
JP2004120797A (en) * | 2003-12-01 | 2004-04-15 | Sharp Corp | Color solid-state imaging device |
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JPH07105950B2 (en) * | 1984-08-22 | 1995-11-13 | 松下電器産業株式会社 | Solid-state imaging device |
JPH05174204A (en) * | 1991-12-24 | 1993-07-13 | Olympus Optical Co Ltd | Color bar-code and bar-code reader |
US5369261A (en) * | 1992-02-12 | 1994-11-29 | Shamir; Harry | Multi-color information encoding system |
JPH05242287A (en) * | 1992-02-27 | 1993-09-21 | Olympus Optical Co Ltd | Color bar code recording and reproducing device |
JPH06111054A (en) * | 1992-09-28 | 1994-04-22 | Dainippon Ink & Chem Inc | Color code recognizing method |
JPH06111084A (en) * | 1992-09-28 | 1994-04-22 | Toppan Moore Co Ltd | Graphic code and its deciphering method and its device |
JP2908662B2 (en) * | 1993-03-18 | 1999-06-21 | 東北リコー株式会社 | Color image reader |
US5576528A (en) * | 1994-12-23 | 1996-11-19 | Symbol Technologies, Inc. | Color processing for bar code symbol compaction |
JP3623012B2 (en) * | 1995-06-01 | 2005-02-23 | シャープ株式会社 | Digital information recording method and digital information decoding apparatus |
JPH0981711A (en) * | 1995-09-20 | 1997-03-28 | Olympus Optical Co Ltd | Information recording medium, information reproduction system, and information recording the system |
US5714745A (en) * | 1995-12-20 | 1998-02-03 | Metanetics Corporation | Portable data collection device with color imaging assembly |
JP3676887B2 (en) * | 1996-08-08 | 2005-07-27 | 理想科学工業株式会社 | Color two-dimensional code and color two-dimensional code creation device |
US6062475A (en) * | 1997-06-25 | 2000-05-16 | Metanetics Corporation | Portable data collection device including color imaging dataform reader assembly |
JP4430155B2 (en) * | 1999-04-09 | 2010-03-10 | 有限会社テクノカルチャー | Base material on which bar code is recorded, bar code reading method and apparatus |
US6793138B2 (en) * | 1999-12-15 | 2004-09-21 | Takahiro Saito | Information code and its reading device |
US6478223B1 (en) * | 2000-01-12 | 2002-11-12 | Intermec Ip Corporation | Machine-readable color symbology and method and apparatus for reading same with standard readers such as laser scanners |
US6816197B2 (en) * | 2001-03-21 | 2004-11-09 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Bilateral filtering in a demosaicing process |
JP2003091697A (en) * | 2001-09-17 | 2003-03-28 | Fuji Xerox Co Ltd | Two-dimensional code system and method for the same |
WO2003025845A1 (en) * | 2001-09-17 | 2003-03-27 | Codemagic | Machine-readable symbol and related method |
US7188778B2 (en) * | 2001-09-17 | 2007-03-13 | Codemagic | Machine-readable symbol and related method |
ATE373535T1 (en) | 2003-08-27 | 2007-10-15 | Gen Tek Technologies Marketing | METHOD FOR MAKING A CAM-ENGAGED CRANK SWINGER |
JP3827694B2 (en) * | 2004-10-15 | 2006-09-27 | 株式会社ソニー・コンピュータエンタテインメント | Object, image data, and image data transmission method |
-
2004
- 2004-11-24 US US10/996,802 patent/US7124957B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2005
- 2005-11-11 DE DE112005002892T patent/DE112005002892T5/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2005-11-11 JP JP2007524692A patent/JP4773442B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2005-11-11 WO PCT/JP2005/021183 patent/WO2006057197A1/en active Application Filing
-
2006
- 2006-10-23 US US11/551,918 patent/US7401738B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2008
- 2008-06-18 US US12/141,465 patent/US20080246967A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPH06236452A (en) * | 1992-12-18 | 1994-08-23 | Nippondenso Co Ltd | Optical information reader |
JPH09161002A (en) * | 1995-12-06 | 1997-06-20 | Hitachi Ltd | Multiple printing reading system |
JP2004120797A (en) * | 2003-12-01 | 2004-04-15 | Sharp Corp | Color solid-state imaging device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20080246967A1 (en) | 2008-10-09 |
US20060108423A1 (en) | 2006-05-25 |
US7401738B2 (en) | 2008-07-22 |
US20070040039A1 (en) | 2007-02-22 |
US7124957B2 (en) | 2006-10-24 |
JP2008521068A (en) | 2008-06-19 |
DE112005002892T5 (en) | 2007-10-04 |
JP4773442B2 (en) | 2011-09-14 |
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