U.S. patent application number 17/231249 was filed with the patent office on 2021-09-02 for waste separation device.
This patent application is currently assigned to FiliGrade B.V.. The applicant listed for this patent is FiliGrade B.V.. Invention is credited to Johannes Bernardus Kerver.
Application Number | 20210268549 17/231249 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005594842 |
Filed Date | 2021-09-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210268549 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kerver; Johannes Bernardus |
September 2, 2021 |
WASTE SEPARATION DEVICE
Abstract
A waste separation devices includes a source of radiation for
irradiating waste, a camera for capturing an image of the waste
when irradiated by the source of radiation, where an item in the
waste is provided with a pattern in or on a surface of the item,
the pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being stored in a
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, a data processing device for
processing the image to detect the pattern and for deriving the
code from the sequence of adjacent ones of the dots of the pattern,
and a separator for separating in accordance with the code the item
the pattern from the waste. The pattern may be a relief pattern.
The relief pattern may comprise a pattern of bumps and recesses.
The pattern, such as in a form of a relief, may also be applied to
identify the item.
Inventors: |
Kerver; Johannes Bernardus;
(Eindhoven, NL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
FiliGrade B.V. |
Twello |
|
NL |
|
|
Assignee: |
FiliGrade B.V.
Twello
NL
|
Family ID: |
1000005594842 |
Appl. No.: |
17/231249 |
Filed: |
April 15, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16525861 |
Jul 30, 2019 |
11007552 |
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17231249 |
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15736379 |
Dec 14, 2017 |
10369598 |
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PCT/NL2016/050436 |
Jun 17, 2016 |
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16525861 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K 7/10712 20130101;
G06K 19/06037 20130101; H04N 5/2256 20130101; G06K 2019/06271
20130101; B07C 5/3412 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B07C 5/34 20060101
B07C005/34; G06K 7/10 20060101 G06K007/10; G06K 19/06 20060101
G06K019/06; H04N 5/225 20060101 H04N005/225 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 18, 2015 |
NL |
2014986 |
Claims
1. A waste separation device comprising: a source of radiation
configured to irradiate the waste; a camera configured and arranged
to capture an image of the waste when irradiated by the source of
radiation; wherein an item in the waste is provided with a pattern,
the pattern being provided in or on a surface of the item, the
pattern forming a repetition of dots, a waste separation code being
stored in a sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, wherein the
source of radiation is arranged to provide irradiation on at least
part of the surface of the item, wherein each dot forms a bump or
recess of the surface of the item, wherein, seen along a direction
of irradiation, the dots form leading and trailing edges of the
surface of the item, and wherein the irradiation on at least part
of the surface of the item forming by the dots an image of
highlights at the leading edges and shades at the trailing edges on
the surface of the item, and wherein the camera is configured to
capture the image of the waste when irradiated by the source of
radiation by capturing the image of highlights at the leading edges
and shades at the trailing edges, wherein the device further
comprises a data processing device connected to the camera for
receiving the image of the waste item, the data processing device
being configured to: process the image to detect the pattern;
derive the waste separation code from the sequence of adjacent ones
of the dots of the pattern, wherein the captured image of
highlights and shades provides an image of leading and trailing
edges wherein the highlights represent the leading edges and the
shades represent the trailing edges, and wherein the data
processing device is configured to derive the waste separation code
from the leading edges and/or the trailing edges in the image of
leading and trailing edges; and wherein the device further
comprises: a separator, connected to the data processing device and
configured to separate in accordance with the waste separation code
the item comprising the pattern from the waste.
2. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein plural
dots are imaged at a time.
3. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein, in
the image of highlights and shades, the waste separation code is
derived from one of the highlights at the leading edges, the shades
at the trailing edges, and a combination of the highlights at the
leading edges and the shades at the trailing edges.
4. The waste separation device of claim 1, wherein the data
processing device is configured to inverse the highlights in the
image of highlights and shades.
5. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
irradiation comprises floodlight irradiation irradiating at an
acute angle in respect of the surface of the item.
6. The waste separation device according to claim 5, wherein the
floodlight irradiation irradiates at an angle between 1 and 30
degrees in respect of the surface of the item, preferably between 3
and 15 degrees in respect of the surface of the item.
7. The waste separation device according to g claim 1, wherein is
the dots are provided on an inside surface of the item, the item
having been made from an at least partly transparent material,
causing the dots to be visible from the outside.
8. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein plural
items are imaged at a time, the image being divided in plural image
parts.
9. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
dots of the pattern are coded into at least four different dot
values, at least two of the dot values forming a code information
dot value range, the remaining dot values forming a compensation
dot value range, the dots having a dot value in the code
information dot value range coding the waste separation code, the
dots having dot values in the compensation dot value range
balancing an average dot value of the pattern, a difference in
deformation between dots having different dot values in the
compensation dot value range being smaller than a difference in
deformation between dots having different dot values in the code
information dot value range.
10. The waste separation device according to claim 9, wherein a
maximum height deformation of the dots in the code information dot
value range is truncated.
11. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
pattern is a redundant code.
12. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
pattern repeats plural times on the surface of the item, the waste
separation code being derived from a combination of fragments of
neighbouring patterns.
13. The waste separation device according to claim 12, wherein the
surface of the item is curved, neighbouring patterns are offset in
respect of each other along a curvature of the surface of the
item.
14. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein a
shape of the bumps and/or recesses is symmetrical, seen along
raster lines of the pattern.
15. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein a
size of the bumps and/or recesses is progressive to a value of the
dot of the pattern.
16. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots is a pseudo random
sequence.
17. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
adjacent dots are arranged at a constant mutual distance, the dots
comprising at least two differently shaped dots, the waste
separation code being stored in a sequencing of the differently
shaped dots.
18. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
adjacent dots are arranged at a variable mutual distance, the waste
separation code being stored in the variable mutual distance
between the adjacent dots.
19. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
sequence is a 2 dimensional sequence of a group of dots, the group
comprising at least 100 times 100 dots, preferably at least 256
times 256 dots.
20. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
pattern comprises at least 1024, preferably at least 4096, more
preferably at least 8192 dots.
21. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein a
pitch of the dots is at least 0.1 millimetres, preferably between 1
and 3 millimetres.
22. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
waste separation code comprises a pointer to further waste
separation information.
23. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
waste separation code comprises at least one of a material type, a
toxicity code, a material safety code, a date of manufacturing of
the item, a manufacturer identification code, a manufacturer
identification code of a content of the item, a brand name
identification code, a brand owner identification code, an
identification code of a country of production, an identification
code of a place of production, an identification code of a country
of sale, an identification code of an addition, a warning and a
disclaimer.
24. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
pattern comprises a relief pattern and wherein preferably the dots
are formed by at least one of bumps and recesses.
25. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
pattern repeats the waste separation code plural times.
26. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
source of radiation comprises a polarized light source and wherein
the capturing the image of the waste comprises photographing the
waste via a polarization filter.
27. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
source of radiation emits waves in a millimeter wavelength range,
and wherein the capturing the image of the waste comprises: imaging
the waste in a wavelength range of the millimeter wavelength.
28. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
waste separation code derived from the dots of the pattern
comprises a pointer to a further waste separation code in a
database, the method comprising retrieving the further waste
separation code from the database by sending the pointer to the
database.
29. The waste separation device according to claim 1, wherein the
floodlight irradiation along at least part of the surface of the
item forms, at each dot, a highlight and a shade.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 16/525,861, filed Jul. 30, 2019, which is a continuation of
U.S. application Ser. No. 15/736,379, filed Dec. 14, 2017, now U.S.
Pat. No. 10,369,598 B2, grafted Aug. 6, 2019, which is the National
Stage of International Application No. PCT/NL2016/050436 filed Jun.
17, 2016, which claims the benefit of Netherlands Application No.
NL 2014986, filed Jun. 18, 2015, the contents of all of which are
incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a method of waste separation.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of manufacturing an
item. Further, the invention relates to such an item. Still
further, the invention relates to a mould for moulding an item.
Also, the invention relates to a method of identifying an item.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Consumer products are generally offered for sale in
packages, the package may hold the item, protect the item during
storage, enhance a visual presentation of the item, protect the
item against aging, decay, etc. In particular food and beverage
items are distributed in packages, such as bottles, blisters,
trays, etc. Such packages provide for a large amount of waste
materials as the package is used once and therefore considered
rubbish once the food or beverage item has been consumed. Many
approaches have been followed up to now in order to reduce overall
amounts of rubbish. Two are briefly described below.
[0004] In many countries, deposit systems have been in use for
packages such as bottles made of glass or plastic. When a consumer
purchases the item, a deposit is charged for the package. When the
consumer returns the empty package, the deposit is returned.
Although re-use of the package or recycling of the package material
may be provided by such a system, an overall efficiency is low, as
the returned packages will require collection at the points of
return (e.g. a supermarket deposit return station), sorting at the
point of return, and return of the sorted packages to their thus
providing for high transportation cost and logistic efforts.
Furthermore, deposit systems may not be suitable or commercially
feasible for all packages.
[0005] Another possibility is to provide collection bins where
consumers can leave their empty packages. The collection bins may
for example be provided per material category: paper, glass,
plastics, etc. Further refined sorting may be provided by enlarging
a number of collection bins in order to enable a more refined
recollection: e.g. transparent glass, green glass, brown glass,
paper, cardboard, textiles, batteries, shoes, etc. Although to some
extent effective, this system still requires separate logistics
streams for the selected items. Also, refined recollection schemes
are virtually impossible to implement, as a consumer may not be
able or willing to reliably and consistently distinguish and
separate materials such as various plastic types (polyethylene,
polypropylene, polystyrene, etc.) from each other. Firstly, the
consumer cannot always distinguish such materials from each other.
Secondly, a correspondingly large number of waste collection
containers would consume a large space (e.g. in shopping malls, on
parking lots, etc.). Thirdly, a recollection of a correspondingly
large number of different materials would make the recollection
process more complex hence less economical.
[0006] During production of e.g. consumable goods, a desire to
recognize the package may also arise. For example, in a bottle
filling process, whereby bottles, such as PET bottles or other
packages are filled, a recognition of the type of package may be
desired, in order to verify that a package is filled with its
matching product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An aspect of the invention intends to enable an improved
waste separation.
[0008] In order to achieve this goal, according to an aspect of the
invention, there is provided a method of waste separation, the
method comprising:
irradiating the waste by a source of radiation, capturing an image
of the waste when irradiated by the source of radiation; wherein an
item in the waste is provided with a pattern, the pattern being
provided in or on a surface of the item, the pattern forming, when
irradiated by the source of radiation, a readable pattern, the
pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being stored in a
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, processing the image to
detect the pattern; deriving the code from the sequence of adjacent
ones of the dots of the pattern; separating in accordance with the
code the item comprising the pattern from the waste, wherein the
source of radiation provides floodlight irradiation along at least
part of the surface of the item, wherein each dot forms a bump or
recess of the surface of the item, the floodlight irradiation along
at least part of the surface of the item forming by the dots (bumps
and/or recesses) an image of highlights and shades on the surface
of the item, wherein capturing the image of the waste when
irradiated by the source of radiation comprises capturing the image
of highlights and shades, and wherein the code is derived from the
captured image of highlights and shades.
[0009] The image may be a photographic image, such as an image
taken by a camera. The photographic image may comprise a single
picture, alternatively, the photographic image comprises a video
file or video data stream, i.e. a motion picture file or data
stream. The video file may for example be applied to detect items
in a moving stream of waste, e.g. a stream of waste that is fed
along the image capturing camera. Patterns may then be searched for
in the image frames of the video. The photographic image may be a
two dimensional image. Alternatively, the photographic image may be
a 3 dimensional image, such as a stereoscopic image taken by two
camera's that are spaced apart. A two dimensional image may allow a
fast processing as a relatively simple, quickly process-able data
format is used. Using a 3 dimensional image, a reliability and
detectability of the pattern may be increased (such as in the case
of the pattern forming a relief), as on the one hand such a (3
dimensional) pattern may be recognized more easily, and as on the
other hand--in a stream of waste, including e.g. crushed
packages--capturing the patterns from different viewing angles may
increase a likelihood of detection. The photographic image may be a
monochrome image or a colour image. A camera commonly comprises
light sensitive elements that are responsive to different optical
wavelength bands, e.g. to a red (R), green (G) and blue (B) optical
wavelength band. Other wavelength bands may for example include
infrared (IR) and/or ultraviolet (UV). An image from a single one
of such wavelength bands may be used. Reflections may however
obstruct a reading, i.e. a recognition of the patterns in the
image. In order to reduce an effect of reflections, a wide
wavelength range image may be detected (e.g. using the combined
image from R, G and B pixels and possibly UV and IR sensitive
pixels) whereby a filter may be applied in order to suppress a
wavelength band in which reflections tend to occur. The filtering
may be performed optically by a corresponding optical filter (such
as a band stop filter) or may be performed electronically by
removing or attenuating a signal from pixels that are sensitive in
a to be suppressed wavelength band, from the image. For example, in
case most of the reflections appear to take place in a blue
wavelength band, the signal from the blue pixels may be attenuated
or even removed from the image.
[0010] The source of radiation (such as the source emitting the
floodlight) may emit any suitable radiation. For example, a
spectrum such as a white light (daylight) spectrum may be applied.
Alternatively, a narrowband irradiation may be applied, such as
monochrome radiation. A plurality of such narrowband irradiation
wavelengths may be applied, for example a combination or one or
more primary colours Red, Green and Blue or a combination of one or
more composite colours Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Also, use may be
made of infrared or ultraviolet irradiation. Instead of or in
addition to optical radiation, the source of irradiation may also
emit any other suitable type of radiation, such as radio waves,
etc. It will be understood that the (photographic) image as taken
from the waste will be performed using an image sensor that is
sensitive to a wavelength matching the wavelength(s) or wavelength
range of the source of irradiation.
[0011] It will be understood that the image as taken from the waste
may be an image taken by detecting irradiation as emitted by the
source of radiation onto the waste. All wavelengths as emitted by
the source of irradiation may be detected, or a subset, e.g. a
wavelength sub-range. In case the source of irradiation emits radio
waves, such as millimetre waves, the image may be created from the
radio waves having interacted (e.g. reflected by) the waste.
[0012] The image may be taken per item (e.g. by feeding the waste
items in a sequential stream to the image capturing camera), or
batches of waste items may be imaged at a time. In case a plurality
of waste items has been imaged at a time, the resulting image may
be divided in a plurality of image parts, whereby a processing
(pattern recognition) algorithm is applied on each of the image
parts separately. The processing may be performed in parallel at
parallel image processors or sequentially by a single image
processor. The dividing of the image in image parts may be
performed by dividing the image in 2 (horizontal or vertical) image
parts, by dividing the image in 2 horizontal times 2 vertical image
parts (i.e. 4 image parts), dividing the image in 3 horizontal
times 3 vertical image parts (i.e. 9 image parts) or any other
suitable division.
[0013] The waste may comprise any item, such as a package, e.g. a
package of a consumable product. The (waste) item may be formed by
any other (waste) item, such as but not limited to industrial
waste, (bulk) packaging materials from logistic centres, or any
other manufactured item etc. The waste item may comprise an item
made of plastic material(s) such as a tray, a bottle, a foil, etc.,
an item made of glass, such as a bottle, a jar, etc., an item may
be metal, such as a can or a lid, etc. The item may comprise any
manufactured item comprising a solid (i.e. non-gas, non-liquid)
material.
[0014] Also a selection per manufacturer or per type or kind of
package or product can be done.
[0015] The processing of the image may comprise any suitable image
processing technique, such as pattern recognition so as to
recognize the pattern in the image of the waste items. Generally,
recognition of the patterns may be improved by applying floodlight
to the waste items during the image capturing. Thereby, a contrast
of the photographic image may be enhanced.
[0016] The pattern may be a relief pattern. The term relief pattern
is to be understood as a pattern that provides protrusions and/or
recesses in a surface of the waste material. The relief pattern may
be formed by any suitable pattern, such as a pattern of dots, a
pattern of stripes, etc. The pattern may be a one bit pattern, a
two bit pattern, or a more complex code. In the case of a one bit
pattern, two modulation levels may be used in the pattern. In the
base of a two bit pattern, four modulation levels may be used in
the pattern. The modulation levels may be set in terms of profile
(height, depth, transmissivity, reflectivity, polarisation
sensitivity, etc. as described elsewhere in this document) The
pattern may be provided with any code: information may be provided
directly (i.e. un-coded) into the pattern. Alternatively, the
information may be coded, using any suitable encoding technique.
For example, information may be encoded using an algorithm provided
by the company Digimark (US). Examples of other coding techniques
may be a pseudo random noise code, or a Digimarc coding. Using for
example a Digimarc coding, such coding may result in a pattern that
may be repeated plural times next to each other. Repeating the code
may be done using any coding: Any watermark that is repeatedly
generated in adjacent parts of the pattern, e.g. 1-bit, 2-bit and
more complex code can be used. The code provided in the pattern may
non-encrypted, i.e. may be derivable from the pattern by anyone,
i.e. without access restrictions. In another embodiment, the code
may be provided in the pattern in an encrypted way. Thus, only when
having a decryption key available, the code can be deciphered from
the detected pattern. The pattern may be provided on an outside of
the item, an inside of the item or both. Providing the relief
pattern on the inside of the item may be particularly useful in
case the item (i.e. the part where the relief is provided) is made
from an at least partly transparent material, so that a relief at
the inside is visible from the outside, while keeping a smooth,
less contamination sensitive outside surface. The pattern may be
formed by any other pattern. For example the pattern may be formed
by a pattern expressed in terms of changes in transparency, changes
in effects on polarisation of incident light, changes in
opaqueness, etc. These patterns may be provided in the surface of
the item in many ways. For example, an ink pattern may be injected
into the surface of the package (e.g. after a material of the item
has been brought at an elevated temperature so as to increase a
plasticity thereof enabling the ink to locally merge into the
material). As another example, the material of the item may be
locally heated according to the pattern thereby (due to the local
heating) locally changing a material property. The heating may for
example provide for a change in polymer structure or crystal
structure providing for a change in polarisation filtering,
transparency. Other effects may occur, for example due to the local
heating, a softening agent of a plastic material may evaporate
locally, causing a local reduction in softening agent which
correspondingly changes one or more of transparency, polarisation
effects, opaqueness, etc. Furthermore, the pattern may be applied
during a cooling process of the material of the item: for example,
in case the item is made of a thermoplastic, the pattern may be
provided in the material during cooling down by applying an
additional cooling in the form of the pattern, thereby locally
changing material properties as the rate of cooling locally
deviates. In case a metal item, such as a metal bottle or an item
provided with a metallized foil either on the inside or the
outside, also the usage of a magnetic field or an electric field
may be used to apply the pattern.
[0017] From the pattern as detected, a code is derived. The code
provides information as to how the waste item is to be separated.
The code may bence provide a criterion for separation of the waste
item in question. In an embodiment, the data provided in the
pattern is the code. Alternatively, the data (the code) provided in
the pattern may form a pointer, e.g. a link towards the code or
other information. Thereto, the data as retrieved from the pattern
may e.g. be sent to a server or other database that retrieves waste
separation information in the form of the code from the data as
retrieved from the pattern. The code may be a single code.
Alternatively, the code may comprise a data set (i.e. a set of
codes) that e.g. each express a certain waste separation
information, e.g. relating to one or more of the following: a date,
month and/or year of production, a manufacturer identification code
of the item, a manufacturer identification code of the contained
product, a brand name, a brand owner, a country of production, a
country of sale, a place of production, additions to the substrate,
disclaimers, warnings, and more.
[0018] The separation of the waste item in accordance with the code
(which may correspondingly be referred to as a waste separation
code) may comprise a physical separation of the waste item, e.g. by
a separator device. Alternatively or additionally, the separation
may comprise counting the waste item: for example a plurality of
counter values may be provided, e.g. per material type, per
manufacturer, etc., whereby the detected code is used to increment
a corresponding counter or corresponding counters in accordance
with the code. For example, in case the code provides information
that the waste item is made of polyethylene and originates from a
certain manufacturer, the polyethylene counter and the manufacturer
counter may both be incremented by one.
[0019] As the package is provided with a code, automatic detection
of the waste items may be provided and the waste items may be
separated accordingly. Thus, consumers or other users that generate
the waste may simply collect the waste in one or a combined waste
collection scheme, and the automatic waste separation in accordance
with the invention may be used to separate the waste, e.g. at a
central collection location once the waste has been
recollected.
[0020] As the pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being
stored in a sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, information may
be derived from the pattern to some extent irrespective of
disturbing factors that may impede reading information, such as an
orientation of the item, the item being crushed, wrinkled or
otherwise damaged, etc. In such cases, some part of the pattern may
be readable, and the information may be derived from adjacent dots
in the readable part of the pattern. As the information is stored
in a sequence of adjacent dots, the information may be repeated in
the pattern plural times, thereby increasing redundancy. The fact
that the code is stored in adjacent ones of the dots is to be
understood as information being coded one-on-one in a bump, recess
or combined bump/recess pattern. Alternative coding schemes may be
used: for example, a differential coding is applied whereby similar
shaped neighbouring dots express for example a zero bit while a
difference in shape of neighbouring dots expresses a one bit of
vice versa. The code may for example be stored in a sequence of 100
times 100 adjacent dots or a sequence of 256 times 256 adjacent
dots. The larger the code, the larger the number of adjacent dots
that may be required to store the code.
[0021] According to an aspect of the invention, the source of
radiation makes use of floodlight, i.e. light having a direction of
propagation which is almost parallel to the surface of the item,
i.e. a propagation direction of the source of radiation having a
small angle in respect of the surface of the item. For example the
angle may be in a range of 1 to 30 degrees, preferably 3-15
degrees. The providing floodlight radiation along the surface of
the item may bence be understood as providing irradiation at an
angle of for example 1 to 30 degrees, preferable 3-15 degrees in
respect of the surface of the item. The dots are coded as height
deformations of the surface of the item. In other words, each dot
provides for a deformation of the surface, whereby a degree of
deformation depends on the value of the dot. For example, in 1 bit
coding having two values, 0 or 1 per dot, each dot may have either
a deformation associated with dot value 1 or a deformation
associated with dot value 0. For example, the dots associated with
value 1 are formed as a bump while the dots associated with 0 are
formed as flat (no deformation) or as a recess. In another example,
each dot is coded as a 2 bit coding, so that the dot may assume
four values, coded as for example bumps of different height,
different length/width seen along the surface, or a combination
thereof. Also a combination of bumps and recesses may be applied,
e.g. 2 (height and/or width) levels of bumps and 2 (height and or
width) levels of recesses. As a result of the floodlight
irradiation, the pattern of deformations results in highlights and
shades on the surface of the item, namely shades at the trailing
edges of the surface, i.e. where the deformation provided recesses
on the surface of the item, seen along the direction of propagation
of the floodlight. Similarly, at leading edges of the surface, seen
along the direction of propagation of the floodlight, the intensity
increases, hence providing a highlighting. The pattern of
deformations hence results, due to the floodlight, in an image of
highlights and shades. The image of highlights and shades (i.e.
shadows) is, to a certain extent, representative of the pattern of
deformations. For example, the higher a bump, the longer its
associated shade may be, and the wider a bump, the wider its
associated shade may be. A similar situation may arise for the
highlights. The image of highlights and shades is then read out,
for example by a camera. This may performed by directing an
objective or image sensor of the camera to the surface, e.g.
perpendicular to the surface or by detecting a reflection (in the
reflection, the shades form dark parts and the highlights having
increased intensity). The code may be derived from the highlights
in the image (forming a pattern in the image), the shades in the
image (forming a pattern in the image) or both highlights and
shades. As both patterns should in principle correlate, deriving
the code from both highlights and shades in the image may provide
further redundancy in the read out. This use of floodlight and
detecting the pattern from the image of highlights and/or shades
resulting from the floodlight may be particularly useful when the
item is made of a transparent material. In such case, a
transmissive image may be difficult or even impossible to read out.
This difficulty to read out may be aggravated in particular when
the item is damaged (as may occur regularly in e.g. waste). Also,
the use of floodlight and detecting the pattern from the shades
resulting from the floodlight may be particularly useful when the
pattern is monochrome, e.g. a monochrome surface of the item or a
surface of the item having a colour scheme that is unrelated to the
pattern to be detected, i.e. when no colour and/or contrast may be
coded to lay down the pattern, thus keeping the pattern of bumps
and/or recesses less obtrusive. Thus, in circumstances where the
pattern would otherwise be difficult to read (transparent,
monochrome, etc.), the reading out the highlights and shades
resulting from the deformations may nevertheless provide a good
readability. In particular, a high contrast image may be achieved,
when reading out the reflected image. Thereto, an image may be
formed along a path of reflection of the floodlight. In case
adjacent dots are spaced apart from each other, each dot may
provide a corresponding highlight and/or shade associated with the
dot, on the surface.
[0022] In case the surface of the item is formed by a wall, the
bumps may be formed by an increase of a wall thickness of the item,
or a corresponding recess may be formed at the other side of the
wall, thereby e.g. keeping a thickness of the wall substantially
constant. Similarly, a recess may be formed by a reduction of wall
thickness or may be accompanied by a corresponding bump on the
other side of the wall thereby e.g. keeping wall thickness
substantially constant.
[0023] In an embodiment, the dots of the pattern are coded into at
least four different dot values, at least two of the dot values
forming a code information dot value range, the remaining dot
values forming a compensation dot value range, the dots having a
dot value in the code information dot value range coding the code,
the dots having dot values in the compensation dot value range
balancing an average dot value of the pattern, a difference in
deformation between dots having different dot values in the
compensation dot value range being smaller than a difference in
deformation between dots having different dot values in the code
information dot value range. Patterns, such as digital patterns,
e.g. by Digimarc.RTM. corporation (as referred to elsewhere in this
document) as well as other digital patterns may make use of dots
that express information relating to the code and dots that express
compensation values. For example the dots that express information
relating to the code may allow to derive the code therefrom, while
disregarding the compensation dots. The compensation dots may for
example be applied to balance grey values when applying such a
pattern in an image. For example the dots that relate to the code
may provide darker values, while the dots relating to the
compensation may provide lighter values so as to compensate for the
darker values thus providing that the average intensity does not
change. When applying such a pattern to generate a relief in the
surface of the item and generate a pattern of shades by means of
floodlight irradiation, an improved readability may be obtained by
compressing the deformation of the dots that relate to the
compensation values, so as to use a larger range of the possible or
allowed deformation for the purpose of the levels that relate to
the code. As a result, the highlights and shades that are generated
by the floodlight irradiation mostly relate to dots that express
information relating to the code, while information from
compensation dots (which may not be relevant in this application)
may to a large part be suppressed.
[0024] In an embodiment, a maximum height deformation of the dots
in the code information dot value range is truncated (e.g. having a
flat top), thus to limit a maximum size change of the item by
deformation.
[0025] In an embodiment, the pattern is a redundant code. In
particular when separating waste, the item may be deformed, causing
floodlight only to be incident at a suitable angle to generate
highlights and shades, on a part of the pattern. Having redundancy,
the code may be derived even from a part of the pattern.
[0026] Similarly, in case, the pattern repeats plural times on the
surface of the item, information may be derived from parts of
various ones of the repetitions and combined. When a part of one of
the repetitions is unreadable, that part may be readable from
another one of the repetitions, thus improving readability. Hence,
fragments of (e.g. neighbouring) patterns may be read and the code
may be derived from a combination of the fragments of the (e.g.
neighbouring) patterns.
[0027] In case the surface of the item is curved, neighbouring
patterns may be offset in respect of each other along a curvature
of the surface of the item. Hence, in case one pattern or pattern
part cannot be read due to the angle of incidence of the
irradiation (e.g. not causing shades and/or highlights), due to the
offset, a same part of another one of the patterns will--due to the
curvature of the surface--be subject to a different angle of
incidence of the irradiation, hence that fragment of the pattern
may be detected from such offset pattern.
[0028] In an embodiment, a shape of the bumps and/or recesses (the
dots) is symmetrical, seen along raster lines of the pattern,
providing that the pattern (i.e. image) of highlights and shades
will be less sensitive to an orientation of the item, which may
improve a readability of the pattern when the item is randomly
placed.
[0029] In an embodiment, a size of the bumps and/or recesses (the
dots) is progressive to a value of the dot of the pattern. As a
result, length, width and height (seen in respect of the surface)
of the bump and/or recess may vary, causing that the shades tend to
vary in two dimensions seen along the surface of the item, namely
both in a direction of propagation of the floodlight as well as in
a direction along the surface perpendicular to the direction of
propagation of the floodlight.
[0030] In an embodiment, the sequence of adjacent ones of the dots
is a pseudo random sequence. The dots may thereby for example form
a pseudo random noise pattern, thus being unobtrusive to a human
observer, as the patterns appears to be entirely random to a human
observer and no information seems to be provided therein. The
pseudo random noise pattern may have redundancy built into the
coding of the pattern, thereby providing a good detectability of
the code on the one hand and an unobtrusive appearance (as the
pattern seems to be random) on the other hand. Many other patterns
may be applied, for example a high frequency information pattern
may be coded into the pattern of dots.
[0031] Various coding schemes may be used. For example, the
adjacent dots may be arranged at a constant mutual distance, the
dots comprising at least two differently shaped dots, the code
being stored in a sequencing of the differently shaped dots. Thus
information is stored in a sequence of changing a property of the
dots (the different shapes may e.g. comprise a different amplitude,
a different outline, a different colour etc.). As another example,
information may be stored in a distance between the adjacent dots.
Thereby, the adjacent dots are arranged at a variable mutual
distance, the code being stored in the variable mutual distance
between the adjacent dots. The information may thus be stored in
the sequence of adjacent dots by means of changes in dot form (e.g.
amplitude, shape, transparency, height, etc.), mutual dot distance
of adjacent ones of the dots, or a combination thereof.
[0032] In an embodiment, the sequence is a 2 dimensional sequence
of a group of dots, the group comprising at least 100 times 100
dots, preferably at least 256 times 256 dots. Using groups of at
least 100 times 100 dots to contain the code therein allows to
store a relatively large code (e.g. in terms of bits) with
sufficient redundancy (such as error correction, checksum, etc.)
provided in the pattern. On the other hand, applying such sizes,
the group of e.g. 100 times 100 dots will be sufficiently small to
allow the code to be easily incorporated once or preferably
repeatedly on the surface of the item. Currently, 256 times 256
dots are considered an optimum.
[0033] In an embodiment, the pattern comprises at least 10000,
preferably at least 100000, more preferably at least 1000000 dots.
In another embodiment, the pattern comprises at least 1024,
preferably at least 4096, more preferably at least 8192 dots. Thus,
sufficient pattern is available to store the code e.g. multiple
times, allow redundancy and allow detecting of the code even when
the item is damaged, rumpled, folded, or in part covered by other
items in a stream of waste.
[0034] In an embodiment, the code comprises a pointer to further
waste separation information. Thereto, the data as retrieved from
the pattern may e.g. be sent to a server or other database that
retrieves waste separation information in the form of the code from
the data as retrieved from the pattern.
[0035] Furthermore, the further waste separation may be assigned as
desired, enabling to assign, e.g. at a later stage after production
of the item or during production, further information as
desired.
[0036] In an embodiment, the code comprises at least one of a
material type, a manufacturer identification code, a material
safety code, a toxicity code and a material weight. As mentioned
above, at least one of a date, a month and/or a year of production,
a manufacturer identification code of the contained product, a
brand name, a brand owner, a country of production, a country of
sale, a place of production, additions to a substrate of the item,
disclaimers and warnings may be included. The code may for example
comprise a verification number such as a checksum, a manufacturer
identification (e.g. 3 digits), a brand owner (e.g. 4 digits), a
plastic type (e.g. 2 or 3 digits), and 2-3 digits additional
information 01, 2-3 digits additional information 02, 2 digits
reserve for future use.
[0037] In an embodiment, the pattern comprises a relief pattern.
The dots may be formed by at least one of bumps and recesses. A
pattern in 2D may be created as dots or pixels, either 1-bit or
2-bit or higher, In case of a relief pattern, this pattern is
converted into a 3D pattern where the dots or pixels become bumps
and/or recesses. In case of 2-bit or higher pixels or dots, the
height of the bumps or depth of the recesses is related at the
darkness of the pixels or dots of the 2D pattern. For example, a
2D-pattern (light or dark pixels or dots) is mapped on a 3D-object
in dedicated software, where the darker dots become bumps and the
lighter dots recesses or inverted, the darker dots become recesses
and lighter dots become bumps The 2D pattern may for example be a
non-random noise pattern or a high frequency pattern. The bumps and
recesses need to be sufficient for reading with e.g. flood light
but as low as possible to minimize the visual impact on the human
eye. A second limitation is the maximal deformation the substrate
(i.e. the surface of the item) allows without losing strength or
other intrinsic values of the substrate.
[0038] In an embodiment, a pitch of neighboring bumps and recesses
is at least 0.1 mm. The pitch may be in a range of 1 mm to 3 mm.
The distance between neighboring bumps and recesses is dedicated to
the deformation characteristics of the substrate and the reading
distance of the camera in combination with the resolution of the
camera. For PET-bottles its estimated between 1 mm and 3 mm as the
optimal distance in relation to the readability and visual impact.
Using higher resolution detection and more accurate moulding (e.g.
injection moulding or injection blow moulding), a smaller pitch,
such as a pitch as of 0.1 mm may be applied.
[0039] As set out above, in an embodiment, the pattern repeats the
code plural times.
[0040] In an embodiment, the item is a package. Other objects that
can be applicable are plastic and metal objects like airplane
parts, car parts, machine parts and all other objects that might
need selection in a waste or a production stream
[0041] In an embodiment, the source of radiation comprises a
polarized light source and the capturing the image of the waste
comprises [0042] photographing the waste via a polarization filter.
Using a polarized light source, i.e. a light source emitting
polarized light onto the waste, the polarized light interacts with
the (e.g. relief) pattern which may result in the relief pattern
forming an optical pattern of light and dark, which may be
distinguished more easily in the photographic image. Polarized
light and/or applying a polarized light filter may tend to decrease
reflections from other light sources and from internal reflections
thus potentially influencing a quality of the reading In an
embodiment, the source of radiation emits waves in a millimeter
wavelength range, and the capturing the image of the waste
comprises: [0043] imaging the waste in a wavelength range of the
millimeter wavelength. Millimeter wavelength waves tend to have
other refraction characteristics then visible light, also
interference of the pattern with this millimeter wavelength light
is a characteristic in itself that may influence the readability.
In an embodiment, a wavelength of approx. 2/3 of a pitch of the
pattern, i.e. a distance between the bumps and recesses may provide
for a high readability due to interference of the waves with the
pattern)
[0044] A method of manufacturing a recyclable item, the method
comprising:
providing a code representative of a recycling parameter of the
item; forming the code into a pattern, the pattern forming a
repetition of dots, the code being stored in a sequence of adjacent
ones of the dots; manufacturing the item, wherein the pattern is
provided on or in at least part of a surface of the item, wherein
each dot forms a bump or recess of the surface of the item, the
dots being configured to form an image of highlights and shades on
at least part of the surface of the item when irradiated by
floodlight irradiation, the code being derivable from the image of
highlights and shades. The pattern may be brought into the surface
of the item during the production of the item: for example when
injection moulding or blow moulding the item, the pattern may be
provided in e.g. a part of the mould. Alternatively, the pattern
may be provided in the item as a further step after the item
(without the pattern) has been manufactured, e.g. by pressing a
mould or stamp profile onto a surface of the item. The mould or
stamp may e.g. be heated. According to yet another aspect of the
invention, there is provided an item, such as a package, comprising
a pattern provided on or in a surface of at least part of the item,
the pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being stored in a
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, the code being
representative of a recycling parameter of the item, wherein each
dot forms a bump or recess of the surface of the item, the dots
(bumps and/or recesses) being configured to form an image of
highlights and shades on at least part of the surface of the item
when irradiated by floodlight irradiation, the code being derivable
from the image of highlights and shades.
[0045] In case the item is a bottle, such as a plastic bottle, the
pattern may be provided on an entire outside surface of the bottle.
In another embodiment, the pattern may form a ring around a
circumference of the bottle. As another embodiment, the pattern is
provided on a bottom of the bottle.
[0046] According to a yet further aspect of the invention, there is
provided a mould for moulding an item, the mould being provided
with a pattern to be moulded on or in a surface of at least part of
the item, the pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being
stored in a sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, the code being
representative of a recycling parameter of the item, wherein each
dot forms a bump or recess of the surface of the item, the dots
(bumps and/or recesses) being configured to form an image of
highlights and shades on at least part of the surface of the item
when irradiated by floodlight irradiation, the code being derivable
from the image of highlights and shades. The mould may be a mould
for injection moulding, a mould for injection blow moulding or any
suitable technique.
[0047] With the method of manufacturing a recyclable item according
to an aspect of the invention and with the item according to an
aspect of the invention, an item is provided that may be used in
the method of waste separation according to the invention.
Accordingly, similar effects may be achieved as described with
respect to the method of waste separation according to the
invention. Likewise, similar preferred embodiments as described in
the context of the method of waste separation may be provided in
the method of manufacturing the recyclable item and the package
according to the invention, whereby same of similar effects are
achieved. The same applies to the mould according to the
invention.
[0048] The techniques as described in this document may not only be
applied for waste separation. The techniques may also be applied to
identify the item, using a relief pattern whereby the dots are
formed by for example bumps, recesses or both bumps and recesses in
resp. on a surface of the item. Identifying the item from a relief
pattern provided in or on a surface of the item allows the item to
be identified, while preserving a visual appearance of the item,
i.e. avoiding any disturbing code, such as a bar code or QR code or
identification digits and or letters on the item. Furthermore, no
label or other printed matter on the item may be required to
identify the item, as the relief pattern may be provided in or on a
surface of the item itself. Still further, as the relief pattern
may exhibit a fine texture, it may be visually pleasing and/or
unobtrusive to a human observer. Still further, the relief pattern
may be provided on or in a relatively large part of the surface of
the item, allowing a reliable identification irrespective of the
orientation, distance, contamination of the item or possible damage
to the item.
[0049] Accordingly, according to an aspect of the invention, there
is provided a method of identifying an item, the method
comprising:
irradiating the item by a source of radiation, capturing an image
of the item when irradiated by the source of radiation; wherein the
item is provided with a pattern, the pattern being provided in or
on a surface of the item, the pattern forming a repetition of dots,
an identification code being stored in a sequence of adjacent ones
of the dots, processing the image to detect the pattern; deriving
the identification code from the sequence of adjacent ones of the
dots of the pattern; and identifying the item from the
identification code, wherein the pattern comprises a relief pattern
wherein the source of radiation provides floodlight irradiation
along at least part of the surface of the item, wherein each dot
forms a bump or recess of the surface of the item, the floodlight
irradiation along at least part of the surface of the item forming
by the dots (bumps and/or recesses) a pattern of highlights and
shades on the surface of the item, wherein capturing the image of
the waste when irradiated by the source of radiation comprises
capturing the pattern of highlights and shades, and wherein the
code is derived from the captured pattern of highlights and
shades.
[0050] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
method of manufacturing an item, the method comprising:
providing an identification code representative of an
identification parameter of the item; forming the code into a
pattern, the pattern forming a repetition of dots, the code being
stored in a sequence of adjacent ones of the dots; manufacturing
the item, wherein the pattern is provided on or in at least part of
a surface of the item, wherein the pattern comprises a relief
pattern, wherein each dot forms a bump or recess of the surface of
the item, the dots (bumps and/or recesses) being configured to form
an image of highlights and shades on at least part of the surface
of the item when irradiated by floodlight irradiation, the code
being derivable from the image of highlights and shades.
[0051] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided
an item, such as a package, comprising a pattern provided on or in
a surface of at least part of the item, the pattern forming a
repetition of dots, a code being stored in a sequence of adjacent
ones of the dots, the code being representative of an
identification parameter of the item, wherein the pattern comprises
a relief pattern, wherein each dot forms a bump or recess of the
surface of the item, the dots (bumps and/or recesses) being
configured to form an image of highlights and shades on at least
part of the surface of the item when irradiated by floodlight
irradiation, the code being derivable from the image of highlights
and shades.
[0052] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
mould for moulding an item, the mould being provided with a pattern
to be moulded on or in a surface of at least part of the item, the
pattern forming a repetition of dots, a code being stored in a
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, the code being
representative of an identification parameter of the item, wherein
the pattern comprises a relief pattern, wherein each dot forms a
bump or recess of the surface of the item, the dots (bumps and/or
recesses) being configured to form an image of highlights and
shades on at least part of the surface of the item when irradiated
by floodlight irradiation, the code being derivable from the image
of highlights and shades.
[0053] It will be understood that the advantages, preferred
embodiments etc. as described in this document in the context of
waste separation, apply to the stated identification also, mutatis
mutandis.
[0054] The identification code may be any identification code, and
the identification code (and associated identification parameter,
i.e. identification information) may provide information about a
material type, a manufacturer, a package type/shape/model/size, a
contents, a trademark, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0055] Further advantages, features and effects of the invention
will become apparent from the enclosed drawings and corresponding
description relating to a non-limiting embodiment of the invention,
wherein:
[0056] FIGS. 1A and 1B depict examples of a product comprising a
code;
[0057] FIG. 2A depicts a detailed view of an embodiment of a code
formed into a two dimensional sequence of bits, and FIG. 2B depicts
a view of an relief pattern derived from the two dimensional
sequence of bits;
[0058] FIGS. 3A and 3B depict a waste separation device based on
which the waste separation process will be explained;
[0059] FIG. 4 depicts a schematic, detailed view pf a part of a
pattern;
[0060] FIG. 5 depicts a schematic cross sectional view of a part of
a surface of an item without respectively with pattern in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
[0061] FIG. 6 depicts an example of a code in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention;
[0062] FIG. 7 schematically depicts a code and waste recycling
parameter in accordance with embodiments of the invention;
[0063] FIG. 8 depicts a spectrum to explain wavelengths possibly to
be applied in embodiments of the invention;
[0064] FIG. 9 depicts a schematic view of a mould according to an
embodiment of the invention;
[0065] FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D depict patterns to illustrate
successive steps of providing an item with a pattern, in accordance
with aspects of the invention;
[0066] FIGS. 11A and 11B depict a view of amplitude of a pattern
versus position along an x-axis;
[0067] FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C illustrate a deriving of the image
of highlights and shades by floodlight irradiation in accordance
with aspects of the invention; and
[0068] FIG. 12D illustrates a top view of a part of an image of
highlights and shades in accordance with an aspect of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0069] FIG. 1 depicts an item IT, such as a product, in this
example a bottle made of Polyethylene (also abbreviated as PET).
The bottle may be formed by transparent or at least partly
transparent polyethylene, i.e. the material exhibiting some degree
of transparency. In the present example, the outside surface of the
bottle is provided with a relief pattern. Alternatively, a part of
the bottle, such as a zone that extends around a circumference of
the bottle, may be provided with a pattern PA, such as a relief
pattern. The relief pattern forms a repetitive pattern that repeats
itself in both circumferential as well as vertical direction. The
patterns is formed by a relief in the surface of the bottle, in
this example in the outside surface of the bottle. The pattern is
formed by a repetition of dots, whereby dots either store a digital
1 or a digital zero, by being formed as a bump or a recess,
respectively Instead of such as single bit pattern, multi-bit
patterns may be applied, e.g. 2 bit patterns employing different
bump and recess heights. The information in the pattern is stored
in a sequencing of adjacent ones of the dots. The information
stored in the pattern may form a waste separation code. It will be
understood that for other purposes, such as identification
purposes, the information stored in the patterns may comprise any
suitable information, such as an identification code to identify
the item. The waste separation code may for example comprise
information about a material type, a manufacturer, a contents, a
toxicity of the item or its contents, etc.
[0070] FIG. 2B depicts a detailed view of the pattern PA forming an
relief and provided in a surface of the bottle as depicted in FIG.
1. The relief pattern is provided in a surface of the bottle, and
is formed by a patterns of bumps (extrusions) and recesses
(intrusions). In the present example of PET-bottles, the surface at
the inside and the outside of the bottle are parallel, but it is
not necessary, for a transparent bottle one side may be without
bumps and/or recesses. Internal reflections in the material of the
transparent bottle may have an effect on readability of the
pattern. In particular when using polarized light, the differences
between both options may not influence to much as polarized light
may minimize the internal reflections.
[0071] The relief pattern may be designed as follows: first, a code
that is to be stored in the item is taken as a starting point. The
code may be supplemented by further information, such as a checksum
to perform error correction. The code is then formed into a two
dimensional bit (dot) sequence 2DB, as depicted in FIG. 2A, wherein
black and white represent 0 and 1 bit values or vice versa. Any
suitable coding software may be used to form the two dimensional
bit (dot) sequence, for example, use may be made of coding software
as supplied by Digimarc corporation. Then the two dimensional bit
sequence is formed into a relief pattern by forming a bit value 1
as a bum and bit value 0 as a recess or vice versa. This,
information is stored by means of differences in shape of the dots
provided on the surface of the bottle. Alternatively, information
may be stored in a varying of a mutual distance between the dots.
For example, each dot forms a bump, whereby a placement of the bump
in respect of its neighbours associates to a bit value of that
dot.
[0072] The dots may be placed at any suitable pitch. For example,
in order to facilitate reading by a camera having a commonly used
resolution, a dot pitch in an order or magnitude of 1-3 millimetre
may be applied. The radiation provided by the source of radiation
may also be daylight or light from common electrical light sources
in a visible wavelength band such as LED lighting, incandescent
lighting, fluorescent lighting, etc. Using high accuracy image
pickup, a pattern having a smaller dot pitch, e.g. a pitch of 0.1
millimetre or larger, may be applied. The dots may have any
suitable shape, such as circular, oval, square, etc. Neighbouring
dots may touch each other so as to create a continuous pattern
giving a pleasant visual appearance to a human observer, or a
spacing may be provided between adjacent dots which may provide
that the dots are more easy readable. The dots may have any height
profile, e.g. parabolic, circular, pyramidal, square, etc. The same
applies to bumps. The pattern may be formed from bumps and flat
dots, recesses and flat dots, bumps and recesses, or any other
form. Using bumps and recesses, a high amplitude difference between
dots having a bit value 1 and dots having a bit value 0 may be
provided, thereby facilitating the pickup of an imaging of the
pattern.
[0073] FIG. 3A depicts a waste separation device in accordance with
an aspect of the invention. The waste separation device comprises a
feeder FD (such as a conveyor belt) that feeds a stream of waste
items WI. A camera CA is provided that takes a sequence of
photographic images of the waste items while passing through a
field of view of the camera. The camera thereby takes at least one
photographic image of each waste item. In order to enhance a
readability of the pattern, a source of radiation LS may emit
radiation onto the waste. For example the source of radiation may
be formed by a floodlight that emits floodlight in a visible light
wavelength band to the waste. A visibility of the pattern may be
enhanced thereby so as to facilitate detection of the pattern. A
data processing device DPD is connected to the camera and receives
the images as generated by the camera. The data processing device
is provided with an image recognition that searches the images for
the occurrence of relief patterns and generates an code CD (i.e.
data coded into the relief pattern) corresponding to the relief
pattern when having detected a relief pattern. Any suitable image
recognition technique may be applied. For example, in the case of
the encoding using the Digimarc software, the decoding may be
performed by associated software. The code provided in the pattern
may non-encrypted, i.e. may be derivable from the pattern by
anyone, i.e. without access restrictions. In another embodiment,
the code may be provided in the pattern in an encrypted way. Thus,
only when having a decryption key available, the code can be
deciphered from the detected pattern. In the present embodiment,
the data processing device transmits the code to a recycling server
RS. The recycling server derives recycling information relating to
the particular relief pattern. For example the recycling server
provides information as to a type of material, a manufacturing
location, a toxicity code, etc. The material type in the present
embodiment provides that the bottle is made of Polyethylene. The
manufacturer location provides where the bottle originates from.
The toxicity code may provide information about a type of product
that was stored in the particular package (e.g. in case a
potentially toxic product was distributed in the package, such as a
cleaning agent, a pharmaceutical substance, a detergent, a solvent,
etc.). In such as situation, special recycling may be required, to
prevent that a residue of such as substance enters into the regular
recycling process. Accordingly, the server provides a code WSC that
comprises recycling information which translates the relief pattern
into recycling information. Alternatively, the code itself may be
provided in the relief pattern so that forwarding the code to the
server may be omitted.
[0074] Based on the code, the waste item is separated by a
separator SP downstream of the camera. The separator is connected
to the data processing device and the server and correspondingly
receives the code from the server. The separator in this embodiment
comprises a selector, such as a mechanic selector, e.g. a selector
flap that pushes the waste item towards a corresponding discharging
opening. At each discharging opening, a corresponding collection
bin or discharging feeder DF is provided to allow for a collection
resp. a feeding of the separated waste items. Instead of using
visible light to irradiate the waste, use may be made of any other
suitable radiation. For example use may be made of millimeter
waves. In order to detect the waves, instead of the above mentioned
camera, a suitable detector for detecting millimeter waves may be
used. FIG. 3B depicts a similar setup as depicted in FIG. 3A.
Additionally, a polarization filter PF is provided in front of the
camera so as to filters the image to be received by the camera.
Furthermore, use may be made of a light source emitting polarized
light, in combination with the detection of the image of the waste
using the polarization filter. Thereby, using a polarization filter
at the camera, possibly in combination with the source of radiation
emitting polarized light, unwanted reflections may be filtered out
providing an improved imaging.
[0075] FIG. 4 depicts an example of a part of a pattern, namely a
horizontal sequence of 8 dots, part of which are bumps (represented
by black dots) and part of which are flat, represented by white
dots. A cross sectional view being depicted in FIG. 4 for
illustrative purposes. This example of a sequence of dots stores
information, namely a binary sequence 01101100.
[0076] The code may be directly obtained from the dots. Thus,
01101100 may be or may form part of the stored code. Alternatively,
any kind of encoding scheme may be used, such as a Digimarc
encoding, a pseudo random noise encoding or any other suitable
coding.
[0077] FIG. 5 schematically depicts how such a pattern may be
provided on a surface SA of an item, such as a bottle. At a top
side of FIG. 5, a part of a cross sectional view of a bottle is
depicted, without pattern. At a bottom side of FIG. 5, a part of a
cross sectional view of a bottle is depicted, with (a part of) a
pattern PA.
[0078] FIG. 6 depicts an example of a code as may be stored in a
pattern. The code in the present example comprises digit groups
that provide information about Date D, Manufacturer of the item ID
code MID, Manufacturer of a content of the item ID code MIC, Brand
name BN, Brand owner BO, Country of production CP, Place of
Production PP, Country of sale CS, Additions 1, 2, 3 ADD1, ADD2,
ADDS for future use, Warning 1 WA1, Warning 2 WA2. This code may be
stored (directly or encoded) in the pattern. Alternatively, the
pattern may contain a more brief code such as a watermark WM123456,
which may be read from the pattern, decoded, sent to a server (such
as recycling server RS in FIG. 3A) or other database (or otherwise)
for obtaining the above code. In such as case, the code WM123456 as
stored in the pattern forms a pointer to the above longer code.
This may be useful to retrieve a large code (which would otherwise
require large patterns to store the information directly in the
pattern) from a smaller code a provided in the pattern.
[0079] FIG. 7 highly schematically depicts a recycling parameter
RPM (exampled being described elsewhere in this document) derived
from a code CD.
[0080] FIG. 8 depicts a spectrum showing Gamma rays Gr, X-rays XR,
Ultraviolet UVR, visible light VL, Infrared IFR, Radio waves
including Radar R, FM waves FM, TV waves TV, Short waves SW and
Amplitude Modulation AM radio wavelengths. Centimeter/Millimeter
wavelengths CMW are indicated also. Any such wavelength may be used
by the source of radiation. For example visible light, UV and IR
have been referred to above. Millimeter/centimeter waves may be
applied and provide a good detectability as their wavelength may be
in a same order of magnitude as the pitch of the pattern.
[0081] FIG. 9 depicts a mould MLD (such as an injection mould or
blow injection mould) schematically indicating a part in which a
pattern PA is provided. The pattern will be transferred onto a
surface of the to be moulded item.
[0082] The techniques as described above may not only be used in
the context of waste separation. Rather, the techniques may also be
used to identify the item. For example, a relief pattern may be
provided on an item and the relief pattern
[0083] The item is irradiated the item by a source of radiation, an
image of the item when irradiated by the source of radiation, is
captured; as described, the item is provided with a pattern, the
pattern being provided in or on a surface of the item, the pattern
forming a repetition of dot. The identification code is stored in a
sequence of adjacent ones of the dots, The image is processed to
detect the pattern (e.g. using pattern recognition software); The
identification code is derived from the sequence of adjacent ones
of the dots of the pattern. The item identified from the
identification code. As mentioned, the pattern may comprise a
relief pattern that forms a relief in or on a surface of the item.
A set-up similar to that of FIG. 3 may be applied, however the
selector may be omitted.
[0084] It is noted that the techniques as described in this
document may apply to any item. The item may be a package, such as
a package of a consumable, for example a bottle, a tray, a foil, a
blister package, etc.
[0085] FIG. 10A depicts a print screen raster at 50% gray, without
a pattern provided therein. FIG. 10B depicts the same print screen
raster, however having a pattern superimposed thereon. The pattern
comprises a raster of dots. Some of the dots have a higher grey
level, thus being darker, while others have a lower grey level,
thus being lighter. In the present example, the dots that are
darker than the 50% grey level comprise information that codes the
code, while the dots that are less dark than 50% grey level
comprise compensation dots in order to average the intensity of the
pattern back towards 50%.
[0086] In FIG. 10C, a (e.g. Gaussian) blurring filter has been
applied to smoothen the print screen raster in which the dots have
been formed. In FIG. 10D, an average intensity of the pattern has
been reduced, as will be explained in some more detail in respect
of FIG. 11A and 11B
[0087] FIG. 11A and 11B depicts a view of pattern intensity on the
Y axis versus a position along the pattern on the x-axis. The
pattern is superimposed on an average value AV of 50% grey, in
accordance with FIGS. 10A and 10B. Hence, darker values above 50%
are symbolized by the top parts of the curve and lighter values,
below 50% are symbolized by the bottom parts of the curve. When
using a code comprising code bit levels and compensation bit
levels, the darker levels may for example comprise information from
which the code can be derived, while the lighter parts comprise
compensation bits to compensate an intensity level, thus bringing
the average back to 50%. As the present example only aims to detect
the code information, an asymmetry is provided, as depicted in FIG.
11B, where the average level, instead of 50% is brought to a low
value (hence not being an average any more), thereby compressing
the compensation range COMP, while increasing the code information
range, CI, to emphasize code bits and compress compensation bits,
thereby providing that a detectability of the code information may
be improved. A resulting, lighter pattern is depicted in FIG.
10D.
[0088] FIG. 12A depicts a cross sectional side view of a pattern PA
of bumps and/or recesses as may be obtained in accordance with the
method as described with reference to FIG. 10A-10D. The dotted line
in FIGS. 12A-12C represents a lower surface of the non-deformed
item: in the present example, deformation in one direction, namely
the outward direction, is applied only. The higher a gray level of
the dots of the pattern of FIG. 10D, the more deformation is
provided for the corresponding dot in the surface of the item IT.
In the present example, deformation is provided by deforming
upwardly in the plane of drawing, which may e.g. correspond to
outwardly in the case of an item such as a bottle. FIG. 12B depicts
a similar cross sectional view, however in this case the
deformation is truncated TR, causing the tops to be flattened at a
level of truncation.
[0089] FIG. 12C again depicts a cross sectional side view of a
pattern PA of item IT, irradiated by floodlight FL from light
source LS. The floodlight may be formed by any sort of radiation,
e.g. visible, infrared, UV. As a result of irradiating the pattern
by the floodlight, shades SH will be generated on the surface of
the item, in particular at trailing edges of the deformation (seen
in the direction of propagation of the floodlight). Similarly,
highlights are generated at the leading edges (leading edges as
seen in the direction of propagation of the floodlight). Thus (as
the pattern extends over a surface of the item) an image of
highlights and shades is generated. The image of highlights and
shades is detected by camera CA. In the present example, the camera
is positioned to detect a reflection of the floodlight.
Alternatively, a screen may be positioned at the location of the
camera in FIG. 12C, and a camera be positioned to image a
reflection pattern from the surface of the item, as reflected onto
the screen. An another alternative, the camera may be positioned
vertically over the item, similarly to the camera position in FIGS.
3A and 3B. Making use of reflection, a large contrast image may be
obtained, thus being able to improve detectability. The image of
highlights and shades reflects the dots of the pattern. An example
of an image of 2 dots DT is provided in FIG. 12D. For the purpose
of illustration, FIG. 12D depicts intensity values by means of
raster points. For each dot, a highlight HL is depicted at a left
side thereof, while a shade SH is depicted at a right side thereof
(in the present example, floodlight would have been irradiated from
the left side). As follows from FIG. 12D, the more deformation
respectively the larger a deformation dot, the longer (seen in the
direction of propagation of the floodlight) respectively the wider
(seen perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
floodlight0 the shade will be. A similar consideration applies to
the highlights. Hence, information concerning size and shape of the
deformation of a dot can be derived from the size and shape of the
shade and highlights. Highlight and shade size correlate to dot
dimensions. The camera receives an image comprising a pattern (i.e.
image) of highlights and shades caused by the deformations of the
surface of the item, the code being derived from the captured
pattern of highlights, the pattern of shades or both. In case both
highlights and shades would be applied for detecting the code, the
highlights could for example be inversed and translated to coincide
with the shades. This would provide that the highlights and shades
can be added or correlated, which may result in an increase in
signal to noise ratio.
[0090] The pattern of bumps and recesses may repeat plural times on
the surface of the item, so that, in case of e.g. damage to parts
of patterns or deformation, the code may be derived from a
combination of fragments of neighbouring patterns. In particular,
when the surface of the item is curved (such as in the case of the
bottle depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, neighbouring patterns are
offset in respect of each other along a curvature of the surface of
the item, so that, when a part of a pattern is not readable due to
e.g. angle of incidence of the floodlight, another pattern of part
thereof will be at another angle of incidence, thus increasing a
likelihood of detecting the code.
[0091] A shape of the bumps and/or recesses may be symmetrical,
seen along raster lines of the pattern (the dots may form a raster
along raster lines), so that the pattern of shades may be less
tolerant to an angle of incidence of the irradiation, causing
readability to be improved even when e.g. the item is oriented
randomly. A size of the bumps and or recesses may progressive to a
value of the dot of the pattern, enhancing that a size of the shade
of the dots to be progressive to the value of the bump and/or
recess thus to the values of the dot.
* * * * *