Noncentering specimen prealigner having improved specimen edge detection and tracking

Claim 2

A specimen prealigner for positioning in a preselected alignment a specimen having a peripheral edge with plural contours having contour transitions between them, the preselected alignment including a selected position and a selected orientation, comprising: holding means for releasibly holding the specimen at a first specimen location; edge detecting means for detecting the peripheral edge of the specimen and forming a map of the specimen, the edge detecting means including a light source that directs light toward the peripheral edge of the specimen and an array of light detectors that receive the light after it strikes the specimen, a first subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the peripheral edge of the specimen and a second subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the contour transitions before they are detected by the first subset of the array of light detectors, thereby to allow the contours and contour transitions to be scanned at respective first and second scan rates; and positioning means coupled to the specimen holding means and responsive to the map formed by the edge detecting means for positioning the specimen in the preselected alignment without changing the first specimen location at which the holding means releasibly holds the specimen.

Claim 3

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the array of light detectors includes a two-dimensional array of light detectors and the first and second subsets of the array of light detectors include fewer than all the light detectors in the array.

Claim 4

The prealigner of claim 2 in which the light detectors of the two-dimensional array of light detectors include charge-coupled devices.

Claim 5

The prealigner of claim 2 in which the light source includes a single light emitter associated with the two-dimensional array of light detectors.

Claim 6

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the array of light detectors includes first and second one-dimensional arrays of light detectors that correspond to the respective first and second subsets of the array of light detectors.

Claim 7

The prealigner of claim 5 in which the light detectors of the array of light detectors include charge-coupled devices.

Claim 8

The prealigner of claim 5 in which the light source includes a separate light emitter associated with each of the first and second one-dimensional arrays of light detectors.

Claim 9

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the peripheral edge of the specimen lies substantially in a plane and in which the positioning means includes rotation means for rotating the specimen about a rotational axis that is perpendicular to the plane of the specimen and translating means for translating the specimen in first and second transverse directions that are substantially parallel to the plane.

Claim 10

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the light striking the specimen is substantially reflected by it and in which the array of light detectors is positioned adjacent the light source to receive the light after it is reflected.

Claim 11

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the peripheral edge of the specimen includes adjacent edge segments of first and second contours with a contour transition between them, the first and second contours are scanned at a first scan rate and the contour transition is scanned at a second scan rate, and the prealigner further comprises contour predicting means for predicting whether the edge detecting means will scan the contour transition and for generating a corresponding contour prediction signal, the positioning means scanning the contour transition at the second scan rate in response to the contour prediction signal.

Claim 12

The prealigner of claim 10 in which the positioning means is capable of moving the peripheral edge of the specimen past the edge detecting means selectively in first and second directions, and in which the contour predicting means is capable of predicting a contour transition whenever the peripheral edge is moved in either of the first and second directions.

Claim 13

The prealigner of claim 1 in which the specimen includes a bar code symbol positioned at a preselected location on the specimen and in which the edge detecting means cooperates with the positioning means to form a specimen mapping that identifies the preselected location.

Claim 14

The prealigner of claim 12 in which the specimen substantially reflects the light directed from the light source, a light detector of the array of light detectors of the edge detecting means receives the light reflected by the specimen, and the positioning means scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means to read the bar code symbol.

Claim 15

The prealigner of claim 13 in which the positioning means scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means along an arcuate scan path and in which the prealigner further comprises computing means responsive to a reflectance signal for reading the bar code symbol.

Claim 16

The prealigner of claim 13 in which the positioning means scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means along a straight-line path.

Claim 17

A specimen prealigner for positioning in a preselected alignment a specimen having a peripheral edge with plural contours having contour transitions between them and a bar code symbol positioned at a preselected location, the preselected alignment including a selected position and a selected orientation, comprising: holding means for releasibly holding the specimen at a first specimen location; edge detecting means for detecting the peripheral edge of the specimen and forming a map of the specimen, the edge detecting means including a light source that directs light toward the peripheral edge of the specimen and an array of light detectors that receive the light after it strikes the specimen, a first subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the peripheral edge of the specimen, a second subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the contour transitions before they are detected by the first subset of the array of light detectors to allow the contours and contour transitions to be scanned at respective first and second scan rates, and at least one of the light detectors cooperating with the light source to receive the light after it substantially reflects off the specimen; positioning means coupled to the specimen holding means and responsive to the map formed by the edge detecting means for positioning the specimen in the preselected alignment without changing the first specimen location at which the holding means releasibly holds the specimen; and the positioning means further cooperating with the edge detecting means to form a specimen mapping that identifies the preselected location of the bar code symbol and the positioning means further scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means to read the bar code symbol.

Claim 18

A specimen prealigner for positioning in a preselected alignment a specimen having a peripheral edge with plural contours having contour transitions between them and a bar code symbol positioned at a preselected location, the preselected alignment including a selected position and a selected orientation, comprising: holding means for releasibly holding the specimen at a first specimen location; edge detecting means for detecting the peripheral edge of the specimen and forming a map of the specimen, the edge detecting means including a light source that directs light toward the peripheral edge of the specimen and an array of light detectors that receive the light after it strikes the specimen, a first subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the peripheral edge of the specimen, a second subset of the array of light detectors cooperating with the light source to detect the contour transitions before they are detected by the first subset of the array of light detectors to allow the contours and contour transitions to be scanned at respective first and second scan rates, and at least one of the light detectors cooperating with the light source to receive the light after it substantially reflects off the specimen; positioning means coupled to the specimen holding means and responsive to the map formed by the edge detecting means for positioning the specimen in the preselected alignment without changing the first specimen location at which the holding means releasibly holds the specimen; and the positioning means further cooperating with the edge detecting means to form a specimen mapping that identifies the preselected location of the bar code symbol and the positioning means further scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means to read the bar code symbol.

Claim 19

The prealigner of claim 16 which the positioning means scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means along an arcuate scan path and in which the prealigner further comprises computing means responsive to a reflectance signal for reading the bar code symbol.

Claim 20

The prealigner of claim 16 in which the positioning means scans the bar code symbol across the edge detecting means along a straight-line path.