JP2021152773A - Article information reader - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an article information reader that can make an image information read and a wireless tag read in combination and is easy to use.SOLUTION: An information reader comprises: a read part which reads information specifying an article out of image information, an antenna which receives information specifying an article from a wireless tag, and a reflection part which reflects a radio wave that the antenna transmits to reflect an area where communication with the wireless tag through the antenna is possible on an area where the image information can read by the read part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a product information reader.

In the processing of sales data in retail stores and the like, product registration is conventionally performed by reading a barcode. Further, in recent years, wireless tags such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) tags have come to be used in place of barcodes in product registration (or product management). RFID tags are expected to be highly versatile because they have a larger data capacity than barcodes and are easy to rewrite data, and are being introduced mainly in the apparel industry.

However, RFID tags have problems that need to be solved, such as low resistance to heat, concerns about radio wave blocking by metal and water, and cost problems. For this reason, for example, barcode reading is still the mainstream in product registration at domestic mass retailers and convenience stores, and RFID tags are not so widespread as to replace barcodes.

As described above, the barcode and the RFID tag have different characteristics, and when used together, they may complement each other's weaknesses. Therefore, for example, when considering a device that uses both product registration by reading a barcode and product registration by reading an RFID tag, it is desirable that the reading positions of both are the same from the viewpoint of operability.

For example, if a circularly polarized antenna whose reading performance is not easily affected by the orientation of the RFID tag is adopted, the reading depth is shallow and there is a difference between the barcode reading position and the RFID tag reading position, which may give the user an impression that it is difficult to use. There is. In addition, since the reading depth of a linearly polarized antenna is deeper than that of a circularly polarized antenna, the difference in reading position between the two can be eliminated, but the orientation of the readable tag is limited, and it is still used by the user. It gives a difficult impression.

A device that reads both a barcode and an RFID tag is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, but the above-mentioned operability is not considered. The above-mentioned matters related to barcode reading are the same in image information reading in which information is read from another symbol image (image information) such as a two-dimensional code.

An object to be solved by the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use product information reading device capable of using both image information reading and wireless tag reading.

The information reading device of the embodiment has a reading unit that reads information that identifies a product from image information, an antenna that receives information that identifies a product from a wireless tag, and an antenna that reflects radio waves emitted by the antenna. An area capable of communicating with the wireless tag is provided with a reflecting unit that reflects the area in which the image information can be read by the reading unit.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the product information reading device of the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the product information reading unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a reading range of the product information reading device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the structure of the product information reading device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the structure of the product information reading device.

The embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the product information reading device 100 of the embodiment. In the following description, a Cartesian coordinate system composed of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis is used. The X-axis direction is the width direction of the product information reading device 100. The Y-axis direction is the depth direction of the product information reading device 100. The Z-axis direction is the height direction of the product information reading device 100. Further, in the figure, the direction indicated by the arrow is the positive direction. The standing position of the user (operator) is on the front side in the figure.

The product information reading device 100 is a so-called vertical scanner used in combination with the POS terminal device in the checkout lane. The counter 200 is provided on the upstream side of the POS terminal device and is used for placing a shopping basket containing products. The product information reading device 100 is used by being attached to the counter 200, and includes a housing 110, a product information reading unit 120, a cover 130, and the like. The housing 110 is a box-shaped container and contains a product information reading unit 120. The product information reading unit 120 is located behind the transparent reading window 121 provided on the front surface of the housing 110.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the product information reading unit 120. It should be noted that this figure is a view of the product information reading unit 120 looking down from above (a view seen in the negative direction in the Z-axis direction). The product information reading unit 120 includes an image sensor 122 (an example of a reading unit), a lens unit 123, an antenna 124, a reflector 125, and the like.

Further, the product information reading unit 120 includes a control unit composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The control unit acquires product information such as a product code by decoding a symbol image (image information) such as a barcode included in the image captured by the image sensor 122. In addition, the control unit receives (acquires) product information such as a product code stored in a wireless tag such as an RFID tag by the antenna 124.

The image sensor 122 is a sensor that converts light into an electric signal, such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor, and is used for reading image information such as a barcode. The lens unit 123 is attached to the image pickup sensor 122 and includes a lens and a lens holder. The lens holder holds the lens so that the distance between the lens and the image sensor 122 can be changed. The lens changes the angle of view of the image sensor 122 according to the distance from the image sensor 122.

The antenna 124 transmits and receives radio waves 303 to communicate with a wireless tag such as an RFID tag. The antenna 124 of this embodiment is a linearly polarized antenna. The reflector 125 is, for example, a metal plate and reflects the radio wave 303 emitted by the antenna 124.

Here, the area 301 is an area where the product information reading unit 120 intends to read the product information. Area 302 is an area where product information can be read (bar code reading) by the image sensor 122. The reflector 125 is arranged so that the radio wave 303 emitted by the antenna 124 is diffusely reflected within a predetermined area 301.

The reflector 125 in FIG. 2 is schematically shown, and the actual reflector 125 does not have to be made of a plurality of flat metal plates as shown in FIG. 2, for example. , A large number of small reflecting surfaces that reflect the radio wave 303 may be integrally formed. In the present embodiment, the metal plate built in the housing 110 and the inner surface of the cover 130 cooperate with each other to function as the reflector 125 (an example of the reflector).

The cover 130 is a plate-shaped member capable of reflecting radio waves 303 on the inner side surface, and performs the minimum function even if the three flat planes only surround the three peripheral sides of the reading window 121. It doesn't matter if you can. However, it is considered that it is convenient for the cover 130 to have an uneven shape in which a large number of small reflecting surfaces are provided on the inner side surface in order to reflect the radio wave 303 a large number of times in the area 301.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the reading range of the product information reading unit 120. The image sensor 122 is mounted on a substrate 126 built in the housing 110. The lens holder of the lens unit 123 is screwed and fixed to the substrate 126. The position of the lens of the lens unit 123 is adjusted by the lens holder and the screw. With such a structure, the lens can be moved in the direction of arrow A, whereby the distance between the lens and the image sensor 122 can be changed. Further, the angle of view B of the image captured by the image sensor 122 is changed according to the change in the distance between the lens and the image sensor 122.

Area C is an area where the radio tag can be read and written by the antenna 124. The angle of view B is adjusted so that the imaging region of the imaging sensor 122 fits in the area C. As a result, in the product information reading device 100 that combines the product registration by reading the image information and the product registration by reading the wireless tag, the reading positions of both are aligned, and suitable operability is realized.

The product information reading device 100 having such a configuration reads the information of the product when the product passes through the area 301 located in front of the reading window 121. The image sensor 122 captures image information such as a barcode attached to a product passing through the area 301 through the reading window 121 and the lens, and outputs the captured image to the control unit. Further, the antenna 124 communicates with a wireless tag such as an RFID tag attached to a product passing through the area 301, and outputs information received from the wireless tag to the control unit.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the product information reading device 100 which is easy to use because the image information reading and the wireless tag reading can be used together.

(Modification example)
Here, in the area deviated from the area C where the wireless tag can be read and written by the antenna 124 in the positive direction of the Y axis, the wireless tag cannot be read and written by the antenna 124, but the barcode can be read by the image sensor 122. There may be an E (hereinafter referred to as an intervening region). The operator cannot visually confirm the position or range of the sandwiched area E. Therefore, if the sandwiched area E is physically open and the product can pass through, the product to be registered may pass through the area E. In such a case, if the product is not registered by reading the image information but is registered by reading the wireless tag, the operation will fail, which is inconvenient.

Examples of the configuration for preventing the above-mentioned inconvenience are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing another example of the structure of the product information reading device 100 (product information reading devices 101 and 102).

In the product information reading device 101 shown in FIG. 4, the depth of the housing 111 is changed to a dimension F thicker than the dimension D shown in FIG. The dimension F is the sum of the dimension D and the dimension in the Y-axis direction of the sandwiched region E. Therefore, the reading window 121 provided on the front surface of the housing 111 is in contact with the area C, that is, the space immediately outside the reading window 121 is the area C.

According to such a structure, since the product does not pass through the sandwiched area E, the readable range of the image information reading and the wireless tag reading is substantially matched, and the operation failure due to the above-mentioned cause is caused. Can be prevented.

The product information reading device 102 shown in FIG. 5 has a housing 112 whose lower portion corresponds to the housing 110 and whose upper portion corresponds to the housing 111. That is, the housing 112 has a shape in which the depth of the upper part where the reading window 121 is provided is dimension F and the depth of the lower part is dimension D.

According to such a structure, it is possible to take a large space on the counter 200, and it is possible to improve the workability of the operator.

In the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, the housings 111 and 112 of the product information reading devices 101 and 102 create a state in which the product cannot pass through the sandwiched region E, but the implementation is not limited to this. The sandwiched area E may be physically blocked by a structure other than the housings 111 and 112.

Further, in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, the sandwiched area E is closed by the housings 111 and 112 protruding toward the front side. For example, the position of the product information reading unit 120 in the housing 110. May be configured so that the area C approaches the reading window 121 provided on the front surface of the housing 110 by moving the above in the positive direction of the Y-axis. In this case, if necessary, the back side of the housing may be projected.

Alternatively, the sandwiched region E may be adjusted to be located in the housing 110 by reflecting the radio wave 303 in the housing 110 or reflecting the light incident on the image sensor 122.

In the embodiment described above, the linearly polarized waves emitted by the antenna 124 are diffusely reflected in the area 301 where the image information can be read, so that the readable area for reading the image information and the readable area for reading the wireless tag are combined. .. This makes it possible to read the image information and the wireless tag in the same area C. Therefore, it is not necessary to impose an inconvenience on the operator, such as using different areas for distinguishing between image information reading and wireless tag reading. That is, according to the product information reading devices 100, 101, 102 of the above embodiment, good operability can be realized.

In the embodiment, the antenna 124 for transmitting and receiving linearly polarized waves is adopted, but in the embodiment, an antenna for transmitting and receiving circularly polarized waves may be adopted. However, circularly polarized waves have a shorter reach than linearly polarized waves. In order to match the wireless tag readable area by the circularly polarized antenna with the image information readable area by the image sensor 122, it is necessary to adopt an antenna having a deep reading depth, but such an antenna tends to be expensive. In that respect, with a linearly polarized antenna, a deep reading depth can be obtained at a reasonable price, and by configuring the radio waves to be diffusely reflected in a predetermined area 301, it is possible to read regardless of the orientation of the wireless tag. , The readable area can be matched with the image information readable area by the image sensor 122.

In the embodiment, the image sensor 122 is an example of the reading unit, but in the embodiment, the reading unit may be a barcode scanner.
Further, in the embodiment, a barcode is given as an example of image information (symbol image), but the image information may be a two-dimensional code.

Further, in the embodiment, the structure is such that the antenna 124 is built in the housing 110 (111, 112), but the embodiment is not limited to this, and for example, the antenna 124 is provided in the housing 110 (111, 112). Even if this is the case, it suffices if a state in which the radio wave 303 is diffusely reflected is created in the predetermined area 301. However, it is desirable that the antenna 124 is installed so as not to be touched by an operator or the like, and it is considered preferable that the antenna 124 is installed in the housing in consideration of ease of installation and the like.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

100, 101, 102 Product information reader (information reader)
110, 111, 112 Housing 120 Product information reading unit 121 Reading window 122 Imaging sensor (an example of reading unit)
123 Lens unit 124 Antenna 125 Reflector (example of reflector)
126 Board 130 cover (part of the structure of the reflector)
200 counter

JP-A-2015-75936

Claims (5)

A reader that reads information that identifies a product from image information,
An antenna that receives information that identifies the product from the wireless tag, and
By reflecting the radio waves emitted by the antenna, the area where the antenna can communicate with the wireless tag is reflected in the area where the image information can be read by the reading unit.
An information reader comprising. The information reading device according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting unit includes a reflecting plate provided in a housing including the reading unit and the antenna. The first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the reflecting portion includes a cover provided in a housing containing the reading portion and at least partially surrounding an outer peripheral portion of a reading window for incident light on the reading portion. Information reader. The information reading device according to claim 3, wherein the cover has a plurality of small reflecting surfaces that reflect radio waves on the inner surface thereof. Claims 1 to 4 include a structure that prevents the product from passing through an area outside the area where the information stored in the wireless tag can be acquired by the antenna and where the information can be read by the reading unit. The information reading device according to any one item.

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