Classifying objects
CA 2000274 C · Owner: Spandrel Establishment · Inventors: Saunders, Colin David; Smith, Martin Phillip
Overview
Its claims, description and drawings are in the Canadian Patents Database.
Open the CIPO recordAbstract From the Canadian patent
Objects are dropped in succession through a viewing zone, where they are viewed in bright field illumination by three viewers along orthogonal axes using radiation, of different wave-lengths (or viewing in rapid succession). The viewers sense the presented area. The presented areas are compared in a microprocessor in order to obtain a rough determination of the shape of the object. The presented areas can be e.g. summated to obtain a rough determination of the size of the object.
Read the whole patent
Listed from its CIPO record in Patent Yard's archive of Canadian patents past their term. Its claims, description and drawings are in the CIPO record and on Google Patents, and the Claude kit works from them.
Why it's free to use
- Filed October 6, 1989 and granted March 27, 2001. A Canadian patent filed from October 1, 1989 lasts 20 years from filing, so its term ended October 6, 2009.
- A certificate of supplementary protection adds at most two years for a drug, so even that would have ended by October 6, 2011.
- We check Canadian rights only. A patent in its family in another country could still be in force: check its family on Google Patents.
Timeline
Timeline From CIPO dates
Sources & verification
Official CIPO records
Everything on this page comes from the CIPO record linked above. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.