Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The ubiquitous optical QR code is a contender for the European Patent
Office 2014 awards, to be held in Berlin
on June 17, 2014! What’s QR code? QR (Quick Response) code is the second generation
of barcodes!
So…there are barcodes and there are square QR (Quick response) codes! And
QR codes are definitely raising the bar of barcodes! They process 350 times more
information and decode information 20 times faster!
Your smart phone camera can also scan them, and they supply a world of
information far and beyond the price that is scanned from a barcode, since you
can use them to access websites. QR codes are two dimensional codes whereas all
barcodes as one dimensional. The two dimensional QR code means that information
is stored in rows and columns, whereas one dimensional barcodes means that
information is stored according to the width of the bars and spaces between them,
and there are only 20 number symbols in a barcode. However, decoding of the 350
times more information stored in the rows and columns of two dimensional codes was
initially very time-consuming. So, now you will surely notice that two dimensional
QR codes also contain a unique positioning code pattern located on three
corners and forming a right angle on the square code, containing information
for locating and processing the information stored in the two dimensional code
area -- 20 times faster.
QR codes were developed in 1994 within the context
of production and logistics as a method designed to improve the tracking of automotive
parts in Japan. The inventors, Masahiro Hara,
Motoaki Watabe, Tadao Nojiri, Takayuki Nagaya and Yuji Uchiyama have
since then devised an even more information-packed code called the iQR code,
designed specifically for industrial applications.
Below you will find the abstract of the contending patent EP 0672994 titled Method and apparatus for reading an
optically two-dimensional code and figure
drawings from the patent:
A
two-dimensional code 1 consists of three positioning symbols 2, a data region
3, timing cells 4 and an apex detecting cell 5. The shape of the whole
code 1 is a square having the same number of vertical and lateral cells. A
scanning line passing through the center of each positioning symbols 2 always
gives a constant frequency component ratio dark : light : dark : light : dark =
1 : 1 : 3 : 1 : 1, irrespective of the scanning direction. For this reason,
even if a rotational angle of the two-dimensional code is not certain, the
specific frequency component ratio of each positioning symbol 2 can be easily
detected by executing only one scanning operation in a predetermined direction.
Hence, the coordinates of the center of each positioning symbols 2 can be
easily found. Thus, the position of the two-dimensional code 1 is quickly
identified. [Abstract
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The EPO has invited everyone to vote! The interesting set of rules which make your votes count as a contribution to The
Child Vision Project are explained in a previous post on May 11, 2014…. So… remember to cast a vote! You can vote as many times as you
like! And each vote is worth .25 cts Euro!
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