Pitch matching detecting and counting system

Claim 2

Apparatus for counting alternating stripes in a coded panel to effect decoding of information contained in said panel, comprising at least one pair of sensor means comprising a sensor array, the electrical output of each of said sensor means of a pair being electrically connected in parallel opposition with the other sensor means of said pair, the effective width of each of said sensor means being substantially equal to each other and to the width of a stripe in said coded panel, the effective sensor area of each of said sensors of said pair being positioned adjacent one another in the direction of progression of said alternating stripes, each of said pairs of sensor means comprising a sensor line pair; frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array for enabling relative movement between said sensor array and said coded panel while enabling orientation of the width axis of said sensor means substantially parallel to the thickness axis of each of said stripes to thereby generate output signals from each sensor means indicative of the number of said stripes, and signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for combining the output signals of each sensor of a sensor line pair to provide an output wavetrain having a total quantity of cycles equal to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in said coded panel.

Claim 3

Counting apparatus in accord with claim 1 further comprising pitch matching means for adjusting the effective width of said sensor means to that of said alternating stripes.

Claim 4

Apparatus for counting alternating stripes in a coded panel, comprising at least one pair of sensor means comprising a sensor array, the electrical output of each of said sensor means of a pair being electrically connected in parallel opposition with the other sensor means of said pair, the effective width of each of said sensor means being substantially equal to each other, the effective sensor area of each of said sensors of said pair being positioned adjacent one another in the direction of progression of said alternating stripes, each of said pairs of sensor means comprising a sensor line pair pitch matching means interposed between said sensor array and said striped coded panel, said pitch matching means being adapted to enable the adjustment of the effective width of each of said sensor means to equal the width of each of said stripes, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array for enabling relative movement between said sensor array and said coded panel while enabling orientation of the width axis of said sensor means substantially parallel to the thickness axis of each of said stripes to thereby generate output signals from each sensor means indicative of the number of said stripes, and signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for combining the output signals of each sensor of a sensor line pair to provide an output wavetrain having a total quantity of cycles equal to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in said coded panel.

Claim 5

Apparatus for counting alternating stripes in a coded panel, comprising at least one pair of sensor means comprising a sensor array, the electrical output of each of said sensor means of a pair being electrically connected in parallel opposition with the other sensor means of said pair, the effective width of each of said sensor means being substantially equal to each other, the effective sensor area of each of said sensors of said pair being positioned adjacent one another in the direction of progression of said alternating stripes, each of said pairs of sensor means comprising a sensor line pair pitch matching means interposed between said sensor array and said striped coded panel, said pitch matching means being adapted to enable the adjustment of the effective width of each of said sensor means to equal the width of each of said stripes, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array for enabling relative movement between said sensor array and said coded panel while enabling orientation of the width axis of said sensor means substantially parallel to the thickness axis of each of said stripes to thereby generate output signals from each sensor means indicative of the number of said stripes, and signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for combining the output signals of each sensor of a sensor line pair to provide an output wavetrain having a total quantity of cycles equal to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in said coded panel.

Claim 6

Apparatus for counting alternating stripes in a coded panel to effect decoding of information contained in said panel, comprising a sensor array comprising at least two pairs of sensor means, each of said sensor means being substantially equal in width to each other and to the width of said stripes in said coded panel, each of said pairs of sensor means comprising a sensor line pair, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array for enabling relative movement between said sensor array and said coded panel to thereBy generate output signals from each sensor means indicative of the number of said stripes, signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for combining the output signals of each sensor of a sensor line pair to provide an output wavetrain having a total quantity of cycles equal to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in said coded panel, and logic means connected to said signal amplifying and processing circuit means and adapted to count the total number of cycles in said output wavetrain of each of said sensor line pairs and to compare said total with the number of cycles in each of said output wavetrains that are in phase coincidence to thereby determine the coded data.

Claim 7

Apparatus for counting alternating stripes in a coded panel to effect decoding of information contained in said panel, comprising a sensor array comprising at least two pairs of sensor means, each of said sensor means being substantially equal in width to each other and to the width of said stripes in said coded panel, each of said pairs of sensor means comprising a sensor line pair, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array for enabling relative movement between said sensor array and said coded panel to thereBy generate output signals from each sensor means indicative of the number of said stripes, signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for combining the output signals of each sensor of a sensor line pair to provide an output wavetrain having a total quantity of cycles equal to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in said coded panel, and logic means connected to said signal amplifying and processing circuit means and adapted to count the total number of cycles in said output wavetrain of each of said sensor line pairs and to compare said total with the number of cycles in each of said output wavetrains that are in phase coincidence to thereby determine the coded data.

Claim 8

Counting apparatus in accord with claim 4 wherein said logic means comprises individual pulse shaping and counting means connected to each of said signal amplifying and processing circuit means for counting the cyclic excursions in the output thereof, coincidence circuit and counting means connected to the outputs of all of said signal amplifying and processing circuit means for counting the number of cyclic excursions in the output of the latter means that are in time coincidence, individual count comparison means connected to the output of each of said pulse shaping and circuit means and to the output of said coincidence circuit and counting means for comparing the outputs thereof, and logic circuit means connected to the output of said count comparison means and adapted to generate serial output information signals indicative of the binary state of serial elements of said coded panel.

Claim 9

Counting apparatus in accord with claim 4 further comprising pitch match adjusting means interposed between said sensor array and said coded panel for effecting adjustments of the effective width of each of said sensor means to be substantially equal to that of said stripes.

Claim 10

Counting apparatus in accord with claim 4 wherein said paired sensors of each sensor line pair are electrically connected together in parallel opposition and the outputs of all sensor line pairs are summed by being electrically connected in parallel to each other.

Claim 11

Counting apparatus in accord with claim 7 further comprising band pass means connected at the input to said signal amplifying and processing circuit means and at its output to said logic means, said filter means having a center frequency related to the velocity of said relative movement and to the said width of said stripes in said coded panel.

Claim 12

Apparatus for decoding plural parallel coded channels each of which consists of alternating contrast stripes of equal width interspersed at selected intervals by blank areas to separate coded data elements, comprising a sensor array means for each coded data channel, each of said sensor array means comprising at least one sensor means, the sensor means in each array being substantially equal in width to that of said stripes in its associated coded data channel, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array means for enabling relative movement between said sensor array means and said plural parallel coded data channels to thereby generate cyclic output signals from each sensor means indicative of said stripes and said blank areas, signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for each of said sensor arrays adapted to provide an output wavetrain having a number of cycles related to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in its associated coded data channel, and decoding means connected to each of said signal amplifying and processing circuits and adapted to count the total number of cycles in each channel and the number and relative time displacement of mutually coincident cycles to thereby effect decoding of the plural parallel coded data.

Claim 13

Apparatus for decoding plural parallel coded channels each of which consists of alternating contrast stripes of equal width interspersed at selected intervals by blank areas to separate coded data elements, comprising a sensor array means for each coded data channel, each of said sensor array means comprising at least one sensor means, the sensor means in each array being substantially equal in width to that of said stripes in its associated coded data channel, frame means supporting and connected to said sensor array means for enabling relative movement between said sensor array means and said plural parallel coded data channels to thereby generate cyclic output signals from each sensor means indicative of said stripes and said blank areas, signal amplifying and processing circuit means connected to said sensor array for each of said sensor arrays adapted to provide an output wavetrain having a number of cycles related to the total quantity of pairs of stripes in its associated coded data channel, and decoding means connected to each of said signal amplifying and processing circuits and adapted to count the total number of cycles in each channel and the number and relative time displacement of mutually coincident cycles to thereby effect decoding of the plural parallel coded data.

Claim 14

Decoding apparatus in accord with claim 9 wherein each of said sensor array means comprises at least one pair of sensor means, each of said paiRs of sensor means defining a sensor line pair, and said signal amplifying and processing circuit means comprises individual ones of such circuits for each sensor line pair.

Claim 15

Decoding apparatus in accord with claim 9 wherein said decoding means comprises cross correlation means for each sensor array means, said cross-correlator means each being connected at their input to said signal amplifying and processing circuit means for its associated sensor array and adapted to determine the phase relationships between the cyclic data for sensor line pairs comprising said associated sensor array and to pass as an output only those cycles that are in phase, and logic means connected to all of said cross-correlator means, said logic means being adapted to count the number of mutually coincident cycle excursions for each sensor array and provide at its output signals indicative of separate characters in said coded panel.