Ultrasonic Label Detection with Angular Beam Offset
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ultrasonic detection systems for labels on supports with insufficient optical contrast, such as transparent labels on opaque or equally opaque supports, are too bulky for applications requiring close label placement, leading to suboptimal detection contrast and performance within limited dimensions.
Innovation Solution
An ultrasonic detection system comprising a transmitter and receiver arranged in a fork shape, with angled reflection devices and deflectors that transmit and receive ultrasonic waves in planes angularly offset from the label passage direction, ensuring the surface area covered by label spacings is greater than the labels themselves, maximizing contrast and energy collection within reduced dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the thickness of fork branches is reduced to enable close label placement, then the distance between strip and object is minimized, but the detection contrast and performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces angular offset between the transmitter and receiver beams, moving the solution from a purely spatial proximity approach to a directional approach. By offsetting the receiver beam angle relative to the transmitter beam, the system achieves effective detection while maintaining compact fork branch thickness, thus resolving the contradiction between compact size and detection performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a deflector as an intermediary element that redirects the ultrasonic beam at an optimized angle. This deflector enables the receiver to capture attenuated waves effectively even when the fork branches are thin, serving as a mediator that maintains detection contrast while allowing reduced structural dimensions
2Volume of moving object
If the fork branch thickness is reduced, then the overall dimensions are minimized, but the ultrasonic beam coverage and energy collection are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
By introducing angular offset in the beam paths, the patent extends the effective coverage area without increasing the physical volume of the fork. The angular dimension allows the ultrasonic beams to traverse longer paths through the labels while keeping the fork compact, thus maintaining energy collection efficiency in reduced dimensions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetric positioning and angular offset between transmitter and receiver paths, creating an optimized geometry that maximizes beam coverage within limited space. This asymmetric configuration allows better energy collection compared to symmetric arrangements, resolving the contradiction between compact size and energy collection
3Device complexity
If offset architecture with deflectors is used, then the transmitter and receiver can be positioned separately, but the detection contrast and performance become difficult to optimize within limited dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically varies the angular offset parameter between transmitter and receiver beams to optimize detection contrast. By treating the angle as a tunable parameter rather than a fixed geometric constraint, the system achieves optimal performance within compact dimensions, resolving the difficulty of optimizing offset architectures
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves accurate label detection with enhanced contrast and performance within limited dimensions, maintaining satisfactory detection accuracy even with reduced fork branch thickness, by optimizing the deflector shapes and orientations to collect and direct ultrasonic waves effectively.
Implementation Method 1
a transmitter arranged to transmit a beam of ultrasonic waves towards the support which carries said labels
Implementation Method 2
the receiver arranged to capture the beam attenuated by its passage through the support and/or the labels
Implementation Method 3
the transmitter part or the receiver part comprises a deflector having a shape which defines said total surface area
Data Source
AI summary
A system for detecting labels arranged on a support and spaced apart from one another by a spacing, the system including a transmitter part including a transmitter arranged to transmit a beam of ultrasonic waves towards the support which carries the labels, a receiver part, separated from the transmitter part, such that the support carrying the labels can pass along a plane located between the transmitter part and the receiver part, the transmitter part or the receiver part being arranged so that the beam of ultrasonic waves transmitted by the transmitter covers, on the support carrying the labels, a total surface area in which the surface area occupied by the spacing between two labels is greater than the surface area occupied by the labels.