EP0399808A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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A method of and apparatus for checking and combining items
Assignee: Svecia Antiqua Ltd
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Filing: 1990-05-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-05-23
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus for checking and combining letters and envelopes comprises two conveyor belts (1) and (2) for transporting envelopes passed a TV-camera (6) and letters passed a TV-camera (7), to means (3) for inserting the letters in the envelopes. The TV-cameras (6) and (7) scan corresponding text sections on an evelope and a letter respectively, and feed scanned text section signals to a comparator (8). If the text sections are substantially the same, a signal on line (9) enables the insertion of the letter into the envelope to be carried out at (3). If the compared text sections are not substantially the same, a warning is sounded and the apparatus is halted. <IMAGE>
Inventors
- 👤 Henk Little Stonelink Cottage Van Duursen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 16:04
CPC Classifications
B; B07; B07C; B07C1/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
136 words
A method of checking and combining items, comprising the steps of transporting a set of items to be combined, the set being taken from two or more groups of items, scanning a text section of each item by an optical scanning device to produce an electrical signal representative of the text section scanned, comparing signals representing the text sections of items from different groups to determine if the text sections are substantially the same, and, if the text sections are substantially the same, combining the items, and if the text sections are not substantially the same, preventing or not initiating the combination of the items, and/or producing an alarm signal indicating lack of conformity of text sections, characterised in that the signals which are compared are representative of the visual appearance of the text sections scanned.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
136 words
A method of checking and combining items, comprising the steps of transporting a set of items to be combined, the set being taken from two or more groups of items, scanning a text section of each item by an optical scanning device to produce an electrical signal representative of the text section scanned, comparing signals representing the text sections of items from different groups to determine if the text sections are substantially the same, and, if the text sections are substantially the same, combining the items, and if the text sections are not substantially the same, preventing or not initiating the combination of the items, and/or producing an alarm signal indicating lack of conformity of text sections, characterised in that the signals which are compared are representative of the visual appearance of the text sections scanned.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method according to claim 1 including the step of converting the electrical signal produced by the optical scanning device from an analogue signal to a digital signal, before comparison of the said signals representative of the text sections of items.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 2 including the step of comparing signals representing two text sections pixel by pixel and determining whether the text sections are substantially the same by determining whether a predetermined percentage of corresponding pixels are the same in the sections being compared.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
39 words
A method according to any preceding claim including transporting an item from each group to a scanning position individual to that group and scanning the item at the respective scanning position by respective scanning device individual to that group.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
22 words
A method according to any preceding claim in which the items within each group are arranged in substantially the same consecutive order.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
104 words
A method according to any preceding claim in which each text section is composed of lines of alpha numeric text and the scanning of the text sections is corrected for possible obliqueness and displacement of one or more of the items scanned in relation to the scanning devices, by the steps of recording the start and finish positions of the lines of the text section and also the slope of the lines of the text section, and adjusting the signals representing the text sections scanned so as to render the text sections represented as being coterminous with one another before the the comparison step.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
39 words
A method according to any preceding claim in which the information derived from scanning a text section is stored in memory before that information is compared with corresponding information from a text section of an item from another group.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
15 words
A method according to any preceding claim in which the said items consist of documents.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to claim 8 in which the items of one group are envelopes and the said combining step consists of placing documents from one or more other groups into envelopes.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
118 words
Apparatus for checking and combining items, comprising means (1,2) for transporting a set of items to be combined, the set being taken from two or more groups of items (5,4), an optical scanning device (6, 7) for scanning a text section of each item to produce an electrical signal representative of the text section scanned, means (8) for comparing signals representing the text sections of items from different groups to determine if the text sections are substantially the same, and means (3) for combining the said items from different groups if the text sections are substantially the same, characterised in that the said signals which are compared are representative of the visual appearance of the text sections scanned.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
118 words
Apparatus for checking and combining items, comprising means (1,2) for transporting a set of items to be combined, the set being taken from two or more groups of items (5,4), an optical scanning device (6, 7) for scanning a text section of each item to produce an electrical signal representative of the text section scanned, means (8) for comparing signals representing the text sections of items from different groups to determine if the text sections are substantially the same, and means (3) for combining the said items from different groups if the text sections are substantially the same, characterised in that the said signals which are compared are representative of the visual appearance of the text sections scanned.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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