Device and method for identifying an object at least partially covered by a transparent material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9842237-B2
Application number	US-201615047825-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 19, 2016
Priority date	Aug 20, 2013
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

A device and method for identifying an object at least partially covered by a transparent material. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for identifying an object at least partially covered by a transparent packaging material, said method comprising the steps of:
receiving, with a polarization camera, both light reflected from an outer surface of a portion of said object, and light reflected from an outer surface of at least one layer of said transparent packaging material covering the portion of the object;
detecting the reflected light in at least two polarization planes with said polarization camera;
processing the reflected light using a data-processing and storage unit; and
determining at least one surface property of the portion of the object under said transparent packaging material using the light reflected in each of the at least two polarization planes.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polarization camera comprises an image sensor with polarization filter configured to detect at least two or more polarization planes simultaneously, and said step of detecting the reflected light comprises detecting at least two or more polarization planes simultaneously.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one surface property to be detected comprises one of or a combination of two or more of:
texture structures,
surface roughness,
color, and
an identification marking on the surface comprising at least one of a dot code, matrix code, or barcode.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the transparent layer comprises a transparent film.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the surface of the object comprises paper and/or plastic, or comprises a paper packing and/or plastic packing.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said step of processing comprises digitalizing and storing the image of the at least one surface property.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said method further comprises:
repeating the steps of receiving, detecting, processing, and determining, to obtain an additional image of the at least one surface property; and
comparing the additional image to the stored image to determine if the additional image is the same as the stored image, and thus determine if the object supplying the additional image is the same object that previously supplied the stored image.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said step of detecting comprises detecting the reflected light in at least four polarization planes with said polarization camera.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of detecting comprises detecting the reflected light in at least four polarization planes with said polarization camera.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a container containing a plurality of commercial products, and wherein the at least one surface property is configured to provide identifying information comprising at least one of: place of origin, manufacturer, manufacturing date, manufacturing location, brand, type, quantity, retail cost, and applicable taxes.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said step of processing comprises digitalizing and storing the image of the at least one surface property, and wherein said method further comprises:
inspecting an unverified container, the identifying information of which is unknown to the person performing or ordering the inspection, by repeating the steps of receiving, detecting, processing, and determining, to obtain an additional image of at least one surface property of the unverified container; and
comparing the additional image to the stored image to determine if the additional image sufficiently matches the stored image, and thus determine if the unverified container supplying the additional image is the same container that previously supplied the stored image.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the container is a cigarette carton containing a plurality of cigarettes or individual packs of cigarettes.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said step of processing comprises digitalizing and storing the image of the at least one surface property, and wherein said method further comprises:
inspecting an unverified cigarette carton, the identifying information of which is unknown to the person performing or ordering the inspection, by repeating the steps of receiving, detecting, processing, and determining, to obtain an additional image of at least one surface property of the unverified cigarette carton; and
comparing the additional image to the stored image to determine if the additional image sufficiently matches the stored image, and thus determine if the unverified cigarette carton supplying the additional image is the same cigarette carton that previously supplied the stored image.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein said method further comprises:
repeating the steps of receiving, detecting, processing, and determining, for each of a plurality of cigarette cartons;
digitalizing and storing a plurality of images of surface properties of the cigarette cartons, which surface properties indicate that the cigarette cartons may be legally sold in a predetermined geographic area or country or nation; and
thereby creating a database of images of the surface properties of the cigarette cartons.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said method further comprises:
inspecting a plurality of unverified cigarette cartons by repeating the steps of receiving, detecting, processing, and determining, for each of the plurality of unverified cigarette cartons, prior to sale to consumers in the predetermined geographic area or country or nation;
comparing the additional images to the stored images in the database to determine if each of the additional images sufficiently matches one of the stored images in the database, and thus determining if the unverified cigarette cartons supplying the additional images are the same cigarette cartons that previously supplied the stored images; and
preventing or permitting the sale of one or more of the unverified cigarette cartons, depending on whether or not each of the additional images sufficiently matches one of the stored images in the database.

16. An optical detection arrangement for performing the method according to claim 13 , wherein said optical detection arrangement comprises:
a first polarization camera and a second polarization camera, each being configured to receive both light reflected from an outer surface of a portion of a cigarette carton, and light reflected from an outer surface of at least one layer of a transparent material covering the portion of the cigarette carton, and each being configured to detect the reflected light in at least two polarization planes;
said first polarization camera being disposed at a first inspection location;
a data-processing and storage unit operatively connected to said first polarization camera;
said data-processing and storage unit being configured to process the reflected light received by said first polarization camera, to thereby digitalize and store an image of at least one surface property of the portion of the cigarette carton, which at least one surface property provides identifying information for the cigarette carton;
said second polarization camera being disposed at a second inspection location, at which second inspection location cigarette cartons are subject to an inspection performed or ordered to be performed by a person to whom identifying information of the cigarette cartons is unknown;
said second polarization camera being operatively connected to said data-processing and storage unit;
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Assignees

• Herrmann Jürgen-Peter
• Herrmann Marius Michael
• Schorn Wolfgang
• Khs Gmbh

Inventors

• Herrmann Jürgen-Peter
• Herrmann Marius Michael
• Schorn Wolfgang

Classifications

• G01N21/21 Primary

  Polarisation-affecting properties (G01N21/19 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06K7/10722 Primary

  Photodetector array or CCD scanning · CPC title

• G06V10/10

  Image acquisition (document image scanning and transmission H04N1/00; control of digital cameras H04N23/60) · CPC title

• G06K9/20

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01N21/84

  Systems specially adapted for particular applications · CPC title