Patent ID: 6847859

Claim:
A method of locating articles with a base surface of a predetermined type of surface shape, a top surface substantially parallel to the base surface and at least one side surface extending substantially orthogonally to the base surface on a support plane on the basis of data obtained by a relative movement extending in a transport direction parallel to the support plane between a scanning plane, which includes a predetermined angle with the support plane, and the articles and by repeatedly carrying out a total scan of the location of points on the articles within a detection region in the scanning plane, and which include information on the location of the points detected in the scanning plane and on the basis of information from which the relative position of the scanning plane and articles in the transport direction can be derived during a total scan, the method comprising the repeated performing of the steps of: reading the data on the location of the points on the articles in the scanning plane and detecting information on the relative position of the scanning plane and articles in the transport direction for a current total scan; determining positions and extents of flanks of the articles, which substantially form a right angle with the support plane, from the data of the current total scan; determining positions and lengths of edges of the articles substantially parallel to the support plane on the basis of the positions and extents of the flanks as well as of the information on the relative position of the scanning plane and the articles in the transport direction in the current total scan and in preceding total scans; and defining objects corresponding to articles from the positions and lengths of the edges parallel to the support plane.