Apparatus for identifying articles from received illumination with light adjustment means

Claim 1

In a system for identifying an article by the intensity of illumination received from said article, said system including an illumination source for illuminating said article, a camera for receiving illumination from said article and for providing illumination data representative of said illumination, and control means for controlling said system in response to said illumination, an improvement comprising: light detector means, arranged in the proximity of said camera to receive substantially the same illumination as said camera, said light detector means providing an illumination level signal in response to said illumination; circuit means responsive to said illumination level signal, said circuit means providing an output signal having a level indicative of the intensity of the illumination from said article; means for providing the output of said circuit means to said control means whereby said control means provides an identification signal for identifying said article; and light adjustment means responsive to said control means for adjusting said illumination source in accordance with said identification signal.