Patent ID: 6578712
Filing Date: 2003-06-17
Classification: B07C,G06K,Y10S

Abstract:
A system for controlling the handling of articles based on encoded information placed on the articles, comprising:a source of excitation light for illuminating an area on individual ones of the articles as the articles pass by the source, the area comprising a plurality of regions arranged in a sequence, each region emitting, when exposed to the excitation light, one of a plurality of predetermined wavelengths, wherein information that is descriptive of at least one aspect of said article is encoded as a combination of said emitted wavelengths and a spatial ordering of said emitted wavelengths; an imager that is responsive to the emitted wavelengths for outputting image data of the area, the image data comprising data for identifying said emitted wavelengths and said spatial ordering of said emitted wavelengths; and a controller, having an input coupled to an output of said imager, for processing the image data to decode the information and for directing the handling of the article based on the encoded information.