Patent ID: 8264697

Claim:
An object detection device comprising: a repositionable laser measuring scanner capable of emitting and detecting a laser beam and wherein the laser measuring scanner is capable of communicating at least one signal containing data associated with the laser beam; and a layer sensing controller capable of accepting the at least one signal communicated from the laser measuring scanner wherein the layer sensing controller uses the at least one signal to determine a set of coordinates of an object being detected that is within a range and scope of the laser beam, wherein the object being detected is a load that includes a pallet of generally rectangular-shaped objects, wherein the set of coordinate points is related to the location of a top layer of the load and wherein the set of coordinate points is compared to an ideal center point of the top layer and that comparison is used to determine the amount of any adjustments needed to allow a depalletizer to properly center a depalletizer tool of the depalletizer in relation to the top layer to be picked from the load.