|
Barcode
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D), can be scanned by special optical scanners, called barcode readers, of which there are several types. Later, two-dimensional (2D) variants were developed, using rectangles, dots, hexagons and other patterns, called ''2D barcodes'' or ''matrix codes'', although they do not use bars as such. Both can be read using purpose-built 2D optical scanners, which exist in a few different forms. Matrix codes can also be read by a digital camera connected to a microcomputer running software that takes a photographic image of the barcode and analyzes the image to deconstruct and decode the code. A mobile device with a built-in camera, such as a smartphone, can function as the latter type of barcode reader usin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barcode Reader
A barcode reader or barcode scanner is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes and send the data they contain to computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens, and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into electrical signals. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain ''decoder'' circuitry that can analyse the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and send the barcode's content to the scanner's output port. Types of barcode scanners Technology Barcode readers can be differentiated by technologies as follows: Pen-type readers Pen-type readers consist of a light source and photodiode that are placed next to each other at the tip of a pen. To read a barcode, the person holding the pen must move the tip of it across the bars at a relatively uniform speed. The photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected back from the light source as the tip crosses each bar and space in the printed code. The photodiode g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode#Symbologies, barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. The chosen symbology has bars (or spaces) of exactly 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide each; each decimal digit to be encoded consists of two bars and two spaces chosen to have a total width of 7 units, in both an "even" and an "odd" wikt:parity#Noun, parity form, which enables being scanned in either direction. Special "guard patterns" (3 or 5 units wide, not encoding a digit) are intermixed to help decoding. A UPC (technically, a UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. The international GS1 organisation assigns the digits used for both the UPC and the related International Article Number (EAN) barcode. UPC data structures are a component of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and follow the global GS1 specification, which is based on international standards. Some retailers, such as clothing and furniture, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 1989, it was taken over by a consortium formed by GEC and Siemens which split the assets of the Plessey group. The majority of Plessey's defence assets were amalgamated into BAE Systems in 1999 when British Aerospace merged with the defence arm of GEC, Marconi Electronic Systems (MES). The Plessey Microsystems division was the subject of a management buyout in 1988 becoming Radstone Technology, which survives today as part of Abaco Systems based in Towcester, Northamptonshire. The bulk of Plessey's telecommunications assets were acquired by Ericsson through its 2005 acquisition of Marconi Communications, a successor company of GEC. History E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Laurer
George Joseph Laurer III (September 23, 1925 – December 5, 2019) was an American engineer for IBM at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. He published 20 bulletins, held 28 patents and developed the Universal Product Code (UPC) in the early 1970s. He devised the coding and pattern used for the UPC, based on Joe Woodland's more general idea for barcodes. Early life George Laurer was born on September 23, 1925, in New York City. His family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, so his father, an electrical engineer, could work for the United States Navy. Laurer recovered from polio which he contracted as a teenager, nonetheless, while in 11th grade, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After being discharged from the military, he attended technical school where he studied radio and television repair. Upon completion of his first year at the technical school, his instructor convinced him that he should not continue that course of study, but that he should go to col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Scanner
An image scanner (often abbreviated to just scanner) is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object and converts it to a digital image. The most common type of scanner used in the home and the office is the flatbed scanner, where the document is placed on a glass bed. A sheetfed scanner, which moves the page across an image sensor using a series of rollers, may be used to scan one page of a document at a time or multiple pages, as in an automatic document feeder. A handheld scanner is a portable version of an image scanner that can be used on any flat surface. Scans are typically downloaded to the computer that the scanner is connected to, although some scanners are able to store scans on standalone Flash memory, flash media (e.g., memory cards and USB flash drive, USB drives). Modern scanners typically use a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a contact image sensor (CIS) as the image sensor, whereas drum scanners, developed earlier and still used for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KarTrak ACI
KarTrak, sometimes KarTrak ACI (''Automatic Car Identification'') or just ACI was a colored barcode system designed to automatically identify railcars and other rolling stock. KarTrak was made a requirement in North America in 1967, but technical problems led to the abandonment of the system by around 1977. History Issue and early development Railroads have struggled with the tracking of railroad cars across their vast networks, a problem that became worse with the increased growth of systems and movement of rail cars from network to network via interchange. A railroad's car could end up a thousand miles away on another company's tracks. This didn't factor the ever growing fleet of privately owned railroad cars, from companies such as TrailerTrain and Union Tank Car Company, who owned massive fleets of railroad cars, but were not actually railroads. A missing car took time to track down, often requiring workers to walk rail yards looking at cars until it was located. In 1959 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Identification And Data Capture
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include QR codes, bar codes, radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics (like iris and facial recognition system), magnetic stripes, optical character recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as "Automatic Identification", "Auto-ID" and "Automatic Data Capture". AIDC is the process or means of obtaining external data, particularly through the analysis of images, sounds, or videos. To capture data, a transducer is employed which converts the actual image or a sound into a digital file. The file is then stored and at a later time, it can be analyzed by a computer, or compared with other files in a database to verify identity or to provide authorization to enter a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Silver
Bernard Silver (September 21, 1924 – August 28, 1963) was an electrical engineer and early developer of barcode technology alongside Norman Joseph Woodland. Silver earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology in 1947. In 1948 Silver paired with Norman Joseph Woodland to come up with an automated way to read product data after overhearing the conversation of a local grocery store president. Their initial results, a system of lines and circles based on Morse code, was replaced with a bulls eye pattern so it could be scanned from any direction. Silver and Woodland filed a patent for their system on October 20, 1949. was granted on October 7, 1952. "The two men eventually sold their patent to Philco for $15,000 — all they ever made from their invention." During his career Silver served as a physics instructor at Drexel and as vice-president of Electro Nite Inc. He died August 28, 1963, of bronchopneumonia due to acute myelog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK retailer of groceries for most of the 20th century. In 1995, Tesco became the market leader when it overtook Sainsbury's, which has since been ranked second or third: it was overtaken by Asda from 2003 to 2014, and again for one month in 2019. In 2018, a planned merger with Asda was blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority over concerns of increased prices for consumers. The holding company, J Sainsbury plc, is split into three divisions: Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd (Sainsbury's Local, including convenience shops), Sainsbury's Bank, and Argos (retailer), Argos. The group also owns and operates the Habitat (retailer), Habitat furniture retailer, Nectar (loyalty card), Nectar card, Tu (clothing), Tu clothing brand and Bush (brand), B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mobile Device
A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Modern mobile devices often emphasize wireless networking, to both the Internet and to other devices in their vicinity, such as headsets or in-car entertainment systems, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, or near-field communication. Characteristics Device mobility can be viewed in the context of several qualities: * Physical dimensions and weight * Whether the device is mobile or some kind of host to which it is attached is mobile * What kind of host devices it can be bound with * How devices communicate with a host * When mobility occurs Strictly speaking, many so-called mobile devices are not mobile. It is the host that is mobile, i.e., a mobile human host carries a non-mobile smartphone device. An example of a true mobile co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrigley Company
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary of Mars Inc., and, along with Mars chocolate bars and other candy products, makes up Mars Wrigley Confectionery. It is the largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum in the world. The company currently sells its products in over 180 countries and districts, operates in over 50 countries, and has 21 production facilities in 14 countries. History The company was founded on April 1, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois by William Wrigley Jr. Wrigley's gum was traditionally made out of chicle, sourced largely from Central America. In 1952, in response to Decree 900, land reforms attempting to end feudal working conditions for peasant farmers in Guatemala, Wrigley's discontinued purchasing chicle from that country. Wrigley's announced the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
