Patent attributes
A method of locating articles on a carrier plane on the basis of data obtained by a relative movement extending in a transport direction parallel to the carrier plane between a scanning plane and the articles and by repeatedly carrying out a total scan of the position of points on the articles and which include information on the position of the article points detected in the scanning plane, and on the basis of information on the relative position of the scanning plane and the articles in the direction of transport during a total scan. The method repeatedly reads the data on the position of the article points on the articles in the scanning plane and detects information on the relative position of the scanning plane and articles in the transport direction for a current total scan. The positions and extents of flanks of the articles, which substantially form a right angle with the carrier plane, are determined from the data of the current total scan. The positions and lengths of edges of the articles parallel to the carrier plane are determined on the basis of the positions and extents of the flanks as well as the information on the relative position of the scanning plane and the articles in the transport direction in the current total scan and in preceding total scans. Objects corresponding to articles are defined from the positions and lengths of the edges parallel to the carrier plane.
