JP3596008B2 - Information recording method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to an information recording method and apparatus using the graphic code such as a two-dimensional bar code.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As portable information recording media capable of storing a large amount of data, there are an IC card (or a memory card), an optical card, a floppy disk, and the like.
[0003]
The use of IC cards and optical cards in the fields of bank cards, medical treatment cards for hospitals, and prepaid cards that are used repeatedly, because they can store more information than magnetic cards of the magnetic stripe type and are easy to handle. Is expected.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, IC cards and optical cards are still quite expensive and cannot be easily introduced. Further, since the optical card can only perform additional recording, a method of erasing unnecessary information and securing a recording capacity cannot be used. When more than a certain amount of information is accumulated, multiple optical cards must be retained, or unnecessary information must be erased and transferred to a new optical card. Tied to.
[0005]
That is, there is a demand for an information recording method using an inexpensive information recording medium that can record a large amount of information, can rewrite the recorded information, and is easy to handle.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording method satisfying such a demand.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An information recording method according to the present invention is an information recording method for recording information on a recording medium capable of erasing and rewriting graphic codes by using the graphic codes, and reads and decodes the graphic codes recorded on the recording medium. A decrypting step, a determining step of determining whether or not new information to be recorded can be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decrypted in the decrypting step; New information to be recorded is added to the information contained in the predetermined unit graphic code decrypted in the decrypting step, and converted into a graphic code as information to be recorded. A coding step of converting new information to be displayed into a graphic code; and, when information included in the already recorded graphic code is included in the information to be recorded, the recorded graphic When the information included in the already recorded graphic code is included in the information to be recorded, an erasing step for erasing a necessary area including the code is performed. If the graphic code created in the above step is recorded and the information included in the recorded graphic code is not included in the information to be recorded, the graphic code created in the coding step is recorded after a new position in a predetermined order. Recording step.
An information recording apparatus according to the present invention includes coding means for converting information to be recorded into a graphic code, and erasure recording means for erasing a recorded graphic code and recording a graphic code. What is claimed is: 1. An information recording apparatus for recording information on a rewritable recording medium using said graphic code, comprising: a reading and decoding means for reading and decoding a graphic code recorded on said recording medium; A determination means for determining whether new information can be included in the unit graphic code is provided, and when it is possible to include new information in a predetermined unit graphic code decoded by the reading and decoding means, A diagram of information including new information in the information included in the predetermined unit graphic code at substantially the same position after erasing the predetermined unit graphic code by the erasure recording unit. The code is recorded by the erasure recording means, and when new information cannot be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decoded by the reading / decoding means, the graphic of the information to be newly recorded after a new position in a predetermined order. The code is recorded.
[0008]
[Action]
By the above means, the information can be densely included in the graphic code. Therefore, more information can be recorded.
[0009]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a hospital consultation card as an example. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a medical examination card. 2A shows the front side of the medical examination card shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B shows the back side.
[0011]
The base 10 is made of a thin aluminum plate, a plastic plate having some rigidity or a paper material, and a paper material 12 for normal printing is attached to the upper surface of the base 10. On the lower surface of the base 10, a thermoreversible special resin (for example, ultra-fine particles (1 micron or less) of an organic low-molecular substance such as stearic acid dispersed in vinyl chloride) that can be written and erased by a commercially available thermal printer is dispersed. Material (or recording layer) 14 is coated on the entire surface or a necessary range.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 2A, a name, a new year's date, a hospital name, and a patient (or consultation card) identification number (ID No.) are printed on the surface of the consultation card. The identification number, patient name, address, date of birth, gender, hospital name (or clinic name), and the person in charge in the areas 16 and 18 (FIG. 2B) of the recording material 14 on the back side using a commercially available thermal printer. The doctor, medical history, medical examination result, and treatment history (medication information) are printed as a two-dimensional bar code. The identification number and the patient's name are further printed on the recording material 14 on the back surface so that the card holder or the like can be visually confirmed.
[0013]
In the area 16, fixed information, that is, information of the patient's name, gender, date of birth, address, telephone number, special contact information, etc. is recorded in a two-dimensional bar code and recorded. In the area 16, one or more symbols of a two-dimensional barcode are recorded.
[0014]
In the area 18, information that may be added, that is, recording date, hospital name (or clinic name), doctor in charge, medical history, medical examination result, treatment history (medication information), and the like are recorded. In the area 18, one or more symbols of a two-dimensional barcode are recorded.
[0015]
For example, in FIG. 3, ten regions 18-1, 18-2,..., 18-10 are scheduled for ten two-dimensional barcode symbols of a predetermined size, and the regions 18-1, 18- The two-dimensional barcode is actually recorded in 2, 18-3, and the other areas 18-4,..., 18-10 are unused. In this embodiment, the areas 18-1, 18-2,..., 18-10 are cyclically used. The area 18-1 is used after the area 18-10.
[0016]
Two-dimensional barcodes can hold more information than one-dimensional barcodes. For example, a two-dimensional barcode proposed by Olympus Symbol Co., Ltd. can hold information of up to 1,850 characters (alphanumeric characters and special characters) with one symbol, and can have considerably strong error correction capability. . Therefore, the amount of information to be newly recorded generated by one examination is generally considered to be less than the information amount of one symbol, and it is not efficient to assign one symbol to one examination.
[0017]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, information is densely recorded in one or more symbols of a two-dimensional barcode by performing the following.
[0018]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a two-dimensional barcode reading / erasing / writing device. FIG. 5 shows an operation flowchart in a case where new information is additionally recorded.
[0019]
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 30 denotes a medical examination card shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 32 denotes a code reader for reading a two-dimensional barcode recorded on the card 30, and reference numeral 34 denotes a two-dimensional bar read by the code reader 32. It is a decoding circuit that decodes a code. An encoding circuit 36 converts information to be newly recorded into a two-dimensional barcode.
[0020]
38 is a monitor for displaying information read from the card 30 as an image, 40 is a CPU for controlling the whole, 42 is a ROM for storing fixed information and basic programs for the CPU 40, and 44 is a RAM which is a main memory of the CPU 40 , 46 is a keyboard, 48 is a printer, and 50 is a thermal printer for erasing the two-dimensional barcode recorded on the card 30 and writing a new two-dimensional barcode.
[0021]
The circuits 34 to 50 are interconnected by a bus 52. Except for the decoding circuit 34 and the coding circuit 36, the configuration is the same as that of a normal personal computer.
[0022]
With reference to FIG. 5, an operation for adding information will be described. First, the two-dimensional barcode recorded on the recording material 14 of the card 30 is read by the code reader 32 (S1). The read two-dimensional barcode is decoded by the decoding circuit 34 and transferred to the CPU 40 via the bus 52. The CPU 40 specifies one symbol recorded immediately before from the decoding information (S2). This can be determined by tracing the recording date of each record.
[0023]
The CPU 40 checks whether or not the symbol recorded immediately before has room to include new information (S3). If there is room (S3), new information is added after the information of the symbol recorded immediately before (S4). With the new information added, all the information to be recorded is divided in units of one symbol, and is coded by the coding circuit 36 (S5). The number of symbols is set in the variable N (S5). Further, the position of the symbol recorded immediately before is stored as the position of the symbol to be newly recorded, that is, the symbol recording position information.
[0024]
The loop variable i is set to 1 (S6), the area indicated by the symbol recording position information is erased by the thermal printer 50, and the graphic pattern signal of each symbol coded by the coding circuit 36 is transferred to the thermal printer 50. To write one symbol in the corresponding area of the card 30 (S7). While i is smaller than N (S8), the erase / write (S7) is repeated while incrementing i (S9). In S9, the symbol recording position information is changed to the information indicating the next area at the same time as described in FIG.
[0025]
In this way, the erasing / writing (S7) for each symbol is repeated for the number of symbols obtained in S5 (S6 to 9). When i becomes equal to N (S8), all the information to be recorded has been written, and the process ends.
[0026]
If there is no room to include new information in the symbol recorded immediately before (S3), all information to be newly recorded is divided into one symbol unit, and the coding circuit 36 codes the information (S10). The number of symbols is set in a variable N (S10). Also, position information indicating the area next to the position of the symbol recorded immediately before is stored as symbol recording position information.
[0027]
As before, 1 is set to the loop variable i (S6), the area indicated by the symbol recording position information is erased just in case, and one symbol is written in the area (S7). While i is smaller than N (S8), the erasing / writing (S7) is repeated. That is, erasure / writing is repeated for each symbol by the number of symbols obtained in S10 (S6 to S9). When i becomes equal to N (S8), all the information to be recorded has been written, and the process ends.
[0028]
As described above, the information recorded in the areas 16 and 18 is decoded by the code reading device 32 and the decoding device 34 and displayed on the monitor 38 or printed out by the printer 48. be able to.
[0029]
A doctor and / or a nurse inputs results of medical treatment and treatment (including medication information and various test results) from the keyboard 46. This input information is additionally recorded on the card 30 as described in FIG. 5 as information to be recorded in a two-dimensional barcode. At this time, it is convenient to record the medication information in the last part of the additional record from a pharmacy search.
[0030]
The patient receives the card 30 in which the results of the medical treatment and the treatment are additionally recorded and brings it to the pharmacy. The pharmacy regenerates the most recent record of the two-dimensional barcode recorded on the card 30, especially the medication information, dispenses the required medication and delivers it to the patient.
[0031]
In this way, the card 30 stores the patient's medical history and medication history, and a personal medical history database is constructed. The hospital does not need to manage the patient's calendar, and the burden of database maintenance management is eliminated. In addition, for a patient, the history can be known when receiving treatment at another hospital, so that more appropriate treatment can be received. In this embodiment, since the card 30 has no electronic components, the card 30 is less expensive than an IC card, and has a feature that a recording / reproducing device is less expensive than an optical card system.
[0032]
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is very effective when information generated in a time series such as a fitness club, a driving school, and a car inspection is to be managed in an individual unit, not limited to a medical examination card.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, a large amount of information can be held with a smaller occupied area. In particular, information generated in a time series can be referred to on the spot without building a database on a computer.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an examination card according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front surface and a back surface of the medical examination card shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a recording area 18 of a two-dimensional barcode in the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a two-dimensional barcode reading / erasing / writing device in the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 shows an operation flowchart in a case where new information is additionally recorded.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Base 12: Paper material 14: Recording material 16, 18, 18-1, 18-2,..., 18-10: Two-dimensional barcode recording area 30: Examination card 32: Code reader 34: Decoding circuit 36: Coding circuit 38: Monitor 40: CPU 42: ROM 44: RAM 46: Keyboard 48: Printer 50: Thermal printer 52: Bus

Claims (3)

An information recording method for recording information on a recording medium capable of erasing and rewriting graphic codes by using the graphic codes,
A decoding step of reading and decoding the graphic code recorded on the recording medium,
A determining step of determining whether or not new information to be recorded can be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decrypted in the decrypting step;
When new information to be recorded can be included, new information to be recorded is added to the information included in the predetermined unit graphic code decrypted in the decrypting step, and the information is converted into a graphic code as information to be recorded. If not included the new information to be recorded, and encoding steps for graphically encode new information to be recorded,
When information included in the recorded graphic code is included in the information to be recorded, an erasing step of erasing a necessary area including the recorded graphic code,
When the information included in the recorded graphic code is included in the information to be recorded, the graphic code created in the coding step is recorded after the position erased in the erasing step, and the recorded graphic code is recorded in the recorded graphic code. If that is not included in the information to be recorded the information contained, the information recording method characterized by comprising a recording step of recording the graphic code generated in the encoding step after the new position of the predetermined order. 2. The information recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the erasing step does not include information included in the already recorded graphic code in information to be recorded, an area for recording the graphic code in the recording step is erased in advance. Method. The apparatus comprises coding means for converting the information to be recorded into a graphic code, and erasure recording means for erasing the recorded graphic code and recording the graphic code. An information recording device that records information by a code,
Reading decoding means for reading and decoding the graphic code recorded on the recording medium, and determining means for determining whether or not new information can be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decoded by the reading and decoding means; Is established,
When new information can be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decoded by the reading / decoding means, the predetermined unit graphic code is erased by the erasure recording means, and then the same is stored at substantially the same position. A graphic code of information including new information in information included in a predetermined unit graphic code is recorded by the erasure recording means,
When new information cannot be included in the predetermined unit graphic code decoded by the reading and decoding means, the graphic code of new information to be recorded is recorded after a new position in a predetermined order. Recording device.

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