Patent ID: 8456646

Claim:
A vision recognition method for use with a high speed, automatic produce labeling machine, wherein a conveyor feeds incoming produce items along an axis A-A toward said labeling machine, wherein each produce item has a dome portion of its surface which occurs at the greatest height of said produce item's surface above said conveyor, comprising the steps: generating a sheet of light from a laser source or other high intensity light source, directing said sheet of light transversely to said axis A-A of said conveyor, causing said sheet of light to periodically impact and reflect from the surfaces of said produce items to create instantaneous laser profiles of said surfaces, continuously imaging said laser profiles with a high speed camera locating the dome of each produce item by comparing the relative brightness of the reflections of said sheet of light from different portions of the surface of each produce item, and by identifying the portion of said surface that reflects the most light and shows the greatest relative brightness, creating real world coordinates (x,y) for the instantaneous location of said domes of said produce items horizontally on said conveyor, and transmitting said instantaneous real world horizontal (x,y) coordinates periodically to said labeling machine to provide advance data to said labeling machine regarding the real world horizontal location (x,y coordinates) of the dome of each incoming produce item to be labeled.