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EP0072910A2
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Decoding method for multicharacter labels
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1982-07-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2002-07-13
Abstract
Abstract In decoding a bar coded label (16), a partial decode and majority vote technique is employed to select final values for ambiguous characters (i.e., 1-7, 2-8) appearing in the label. During the partial decode phase, character-identifying value are established for every character but a common value is assigned to any ambiguous character in a given subset of such characters. An ambiguity-resolving value is additionally assigned to an ambiguous character each time it appears. Through algebraic summation of the ambiguity-resolving values for each character position occupied by an ambiguous character, the ambiguous character which appears a majority of times in that position is finally selected.
Inventors
- 👤 George Joseph Laurer
- 👤 Olen Lee Stokes, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 15:22
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K7/00; G06K7/10; G06K7/14; G06K7/1404; G06K7/146; G06K7/1491; G06K7/01; G06K7/016; G06K7/0166
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
179 words
For use in a label scanning system of the type wherein a plurality of multicharacter label candidates may be generated as a result of multiple scans of a label, a decoding method characterized in that it comprises the following steps : a) deriving and storing a set of up to trhee indicators for each character segment in each label candidate, two of said three indicators being capable of identifying either individual characters or subsets of charcters, said third indicator being capable of identifying a particular character within a given subset; b) comparing the first two indicators for each character segment in a given candidate to the corresponding indicators for a corresponding character segment in at least one other label candidate to determine whether the label candidates have matching characters or matching subsets of characters; c) accumulating the third indicators for corresponding character segments until all label candidates have been compared; and d) selecting a particular character for each character segment identified as being occupied by a subset as a function of the accumulated third indicator values for that segment.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
179 words
For use in a label scanning system of the type wherein a plurality of multicharacter label candidates may be generated as a result of multiple scans of a label, a decoding method characterized in that it comprises the following steps : a) deriving and storing a set of up to trhee indicators for each character segment in each label candidate, two of said three indicators being capable of identifying either individual characters or subsets of charcters, said third indicator being capable of identifying a particular character within a given subset; b) comparing the first two indicators for each character segment in a given candidate to the corresponding indicators for a corresponding character segment in at least one other label candidate to determine whether the label candidates have matching characters or matching subsets of characters; c) accumulating the third indicators for corresponding character segments until all label candidates have been compared; and d) selecting a particular character for each character segment identified as being occupied by a subset as a function of the accumulated third indicator values for that segment.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
60 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 1 characterized in that the label to be decoded consists of a plurality of bar-coded character segments, each consisting of an equal number of bars and spaces and wherein said first and second indicators are derived by forming ratios of the combined widths of successive bar-space pairs to the total character segment width.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 2 characterized in that said third indicator is derived as a function of the combined bar widths in a character segment and of the magnitudes of the first and second indicators.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
72 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 3, characterized in that said first indicator Nl and said second indicator are derived by the equations : where : Tl is the combined width of the first bar-space pair in the character segment, T2 is the combined width of the first space-bar pair in the character segment, and TR is the combined width of the two bars and spaces which comprise the character segment.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
57 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 4 characterized in that individual characters or subsets of characters are classified as odd or even depending on the derived values N1 and N2 and wherein the third indicator is established as for odd characters or for even characters where NB is the total bar width of the character segment.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 5 characterized in that an absolute value D' having one algebraic sign is assigned to the third indicator where that indicator value is equal to or greater than a given threshold value while the same absolute value D' having the opposite algebraic sign is assigned to the third indicator where that indicator value is less than the given threshold value.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
A decoding method as recited in claim 6 characterized in that the third indicator is accumulated by summing the algebraic values D' with a positive result representing one of two possible characters in a subset and a negative result representing the other of the two possible characters.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
51 words
A decoding method as recited in any one of claims 1-7 characterized in that it includes the additional steps of storing a tag value for each label candidate representing the number of times that candidate has been decoded and selecting the label candidate having the greatest tag value for further processing.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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