JP2744513B2 - Media mark reader - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a medium mark reading device for reading a mark such as a bar code attached to a medium.

(Prior Art) In recent years, a technique of attaching a mark such as a barcode on a medium and reading the mark with a device to obtain various information has been widely used.

This type of mark can be printed on a form, for example, with an optical reader.
It is used for various purposes, such as for recognizing ID information or the like, or for recognizing format information of a print medium by a serial printer or the like.

As a medium mark reading device for reading the above mark, there is one disclosed in, for example, JP-A-63-10290.

This device is a detector that optically detects a mark such as a bar code, a code detection device that detects mark code information based on the output of the detector, a central processing unit that controls the operation of each unit of the device, A programmable amplifier that amplifies the output of the detector with the gain instructed by the central processing unit and supplies it to the code detection device, a comparator that compares the output of the programmable amplifier with a reference voltage, and a reference voltage that is controlled by the central processing unit. And a reference voltage setting device that changes
Based on the output of the comparator, the output of the programmable amplifier for the unmarked portion of the medium is made constant.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, the gain setting of the programmable amplifier is always performed after detecting the non-printed portion of the mark. Therefore, as the number of times of reading a mark is larger, the number of times of gain setting is increased, and as a result, there is a problem that the overall throughput as a reading device is reduced.

In addition, in the conventional apparatus, a single form in which a different type of medium may be inserted every time and a form in which the same medium is used for a certain period of time as a continuous gist are not distinguished as the processing of the medium. In the processing of a form in which the medium is used continuously, there is useless gain setting processing, which hinders an improvement in throughput.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide a medium mark reading device having high reading accuracy and high throughput.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A medium mark reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a detector for optically detecting a mark attached to a medium, a programmable amplifier for amplifying an output of the detector, and a programmable amplifier. Code detecting means for detecting the code information of the mark based on the output, selecting means for selecting whether the form is a single sheet or a form, and based on the selection of the selecting means, the output of the programmable amplifier is supplied to the code detecting means. Gain setting means for setting the gain of the programmable amplifier at the time of a single form and a form so as to be a predetermined value; a non-volatile memory for storing a set value of the gain set by the gain setting means; After the gain setting by the selection means, based on the selection of the selection means, the gain setting values of the slip and the form stored in the non-volatile memory are respectively programmed The amplifier is provided with gain control means for setting.

(Operation) In the apparatus according to the present invention, the gain setting means sets the gain of the programmable amplifier at the time of a single form and at the time of a form, and stores the set value in a nonvolatile memory. Thereafter, the gain control means reads out the gain setting values of the single form and the form from the nonvolatile memory and sets them in the programmable amplifier.

As a result, the signal of the mark detected by the detector is amplified by the programmable amplifier set to a predetermined gain in accordance with the form and the form, and the code information of the mark is detected by the code detecting means.

Therefore, it is not necessary to set the gain of the programmable amplifier every time a mark is read even in a single form or a form, and the mark reading processing time is shortened.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a medium mark reading apparatus according to the present invention.

The device shown comprises a detector 1 and a programmable amplifier 2
It comprises a code detecting means 3, a selecting means 4, a gain setting means 5, a non-volatile memory 6, and a gain controlling means 7, and is applied to a serial printer in this embodiment.

The detector 1 is composed of a known barcode reader that optically reads a mark such as a barcode attached to a transported medium.

The programmable amplifier 2 is a circuit that amplifies the output of the detector 1 and is composed of a known amplifier circuit whose gain is set by the gain setting means 5 and the gain control means 7.

The code detecting means 3 converts the output of the programmable amplifier 2 into a binarized signal and judges the code of the mark based on the binarized signal.
And a code detection unit of a CPU (central processing unit).

The selection means 4 is a means for selecting whether the medium is an individual single sheet or a continuous summary form, and includes a single form / form changeover switch.

The gain setting means 5 is a means for setting the gain of the programmable amplifier 2 at the time of a single form and at the time of a form based on the selection of the selection means 4, and includes a comparator, a reference voltage generator, and a
U gain setting unit.

The non-volatile memory 6 is a memory for storing the set value of the gain set by the gain setting means 5 and is capable of updating data as necessary, and is backed up by another power supply different from the main power supply of the apparatus. It is composed of a semiconductor memory and the like.

After setting the gain by the gain setting means 5, the gain control means 7 reads out the set value of each of the single form and the form stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 based on the selection of the single form / form by the selection means 4. The means for setting the programmable amplifier 2 is constituted by a gain control unit of a CPU described later.

 FIG. 2 is a block diagram specifically showing the apparatus of the present invention.

That is, on the upper surface of the serial printer 100, a single / book switching lever 8 constituting the selecting means 4 shown in FIG. 1 is provided, and a circuit for controlling the unit provided inside the serial printer 100 is provided at the upper part of FIG. Is shown. In this circuit, the configuration of the code detector 9 and the code detector 10c of the CPU 10 is the first.
The configuration of the comparator 11, the reference voltage generator 12, and the gain setting unit 10a of the CPU 10 correspond to the gain setting unit 5, and the gain control unit 10b of the CPU 10 corresponds to the gain control unit 7. ing.

The code detection device 9 is a circuit for converting the output of the programmable amplifier 2 into a binary signal, and includes a known reference voltage generation circuit, a comparison circuit, and the like.

The comparator 11 compares the output of the programmable amplifier 2 with the output voltage from the reference voltage generator 12, and compares the comparison result with the CP.
It consists of a known comparison circuit that outputs to U10.

The reference voltage generator 12 is a known voltage generation circuit that generates a predetermined reference voltage based on a command from the gain setting unit 10a of the CPU 10, and supplies the reference voltage to the comparator 11.

Next, the operation of the medium mark reading device having the above configuration will be described.

First, irrespective of whether the switching lever 8 is selected on either the single-sheet or the form, the gain setting unit 10a of the CPU 10 corresponds to the selection.
Thus, the initial setting of the gain of the programmable amplifier 2 and the reference voltage set by the reference voltage generator 12 is performed. This initial setting is performed so that the output of the comparator 11 changes when the detector 1 detects the level of the mark-unprinted portion of the medium.

That is, when the output of the comparator 11 changes due to the detection of the level of the mark-unprinted portion, the reference voltage generator 12 outputs the first reference voltage to the comparator 11 according to a command from the gain setting unit 10a, while the programmable amplifier 2 The gain of the programmable amplifier 2 is set so that the output is equal to or higher than the first reference voltage.

Next, the gain setting unit 10a instructs the reference voltage generator 12 to generate a second reference voltage higher than the first reference voltage, and outputs the programmable amplifier 2 with the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage. The gain of the programmable amplifier 2 is changed and set so as to be between the reference voltage and the reference voltage.

As a result, the output of the programmable amplifier 2 for the non-marked print portion of the medium is set to be constant in both the single form and the form.

Further, the gain setting value of each of the single form and the form of the programmable amplifier 2 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6.

Next, the detector 1 optically reads and scans a mark such as a bar code, and the output of the detector 1 is amplified by the programmable amplifier 2 with the set gain, and the code detector 9 converts it into a binary signal. . And this binarized signal is CPU1
The processing is performed by the 0 code detection unit 10c, and the code of a mark such as a bar code is determined.

Next, the mark reading operation after the above gain setting will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a read operation after the gain setting of the apparatus of the embodiment.

First, a selection is made between a single form and a form using the switching lever 8 (step S1).

Here, when the form is selected, the gain control unit 1 of the CPU 10
0b reads out the gain setting value of the form stored in the non-volatile memory 6 and sets it in the programmable amplifier 2 (step S2).

Next, a mark reading process is performed in the same manner as the first mark reading (step S3).

If a reading error occurs in this reading process (step S4), the gain of the programmable amplifier 2 is reset by the gain setting unit 10a in the same manner as the first setting operation, and the reset gain is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6. Is performed (step S5). That is, the set value in the nonvolatile memory 6 is updated. Thereafter, the process returns to step S3 to read the mark.

On the other hand, no reading error occurred in the mark reading process,
When the normal reading is performed, it is determined whether or not the mark to be read remains (step S6). If the mark to be read remains, the process returns to step S3 to continue reading the mark. Ends.

Next, when the cut side is selected by the switching lever 8, the gain of the programmable amplifier 2 is set for each cut (step S7). That is, in the case of a cut sheet, there is a possibility that a different medium may be read each time, so the gain setting unit 10a sets the gain before reading the first mark of each cut sheet.

Thereafter, a mark reading process is performed in the same manner as the operation at the time of the form (step S8). If a reading error occurs in this reading process (step S9), the process returns to step S7 to reset the gain. If no error is found in step S9, whether a mark to be read remains in the same cut sheet Is determined (step S10).

If the mark to be read remains in the same cut, the process returns to step S8 to continue the mark reading process, and if there is no mark to be read, the process ends.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the reading operation of the embodiment device in comparison with the reading operation of the conventional device. 6A and 6B show the gain setting and mark reading of the conventional apparatus, and FIGS. 6C and 6D show the forms of the apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIGS. Time gain setting and mark reading are shown, respectively.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, in the conventional apparatus, the gain setting operation (shown by time g in the drawing) is always performed prior to the mark reading operation (shown by time r in the drawing). On the other hand, in the embodiment, when reading a mark on a form, the gain setting value stored in the non-volatile memory 6 is set in the programmable amplifier 2, and thereafter the mark is read one after another without setting the gain. Because the fourth
Only the processing time period indicated by T ₁ enables shortening in FIG (d). The time indicated by t ₁ and t ₂ in FIG. 4 indicates the time required for the detector 1 to move to the next mark position after finishing reading the mark.

Also, when reading a plurality of marks on the same medium even when reading a mark at the time of a cut, the gain is set first, but when reading the second and subsequent marks, reading is performed with the gain set first. , only the processing time period indicated by T ₂ enables reduced to FIG. 4 (f).

In the above embodiment, the resetting of the gain of the programmable amplifier 2 is performed not only when an error occurs, but also when the density of the mark is determined, that is, depending on the relationship between the output voltage of the programmable amplifier 2 and the reference voltage, the non-marked printing portion of the medium. Needless to say, it may be configured to detect the relative reflectance with the mark black portion.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the medium mark reading device is applied to a serial printer has been described. However, in addition to the above, the same effects can be obtained if the device reads a mark of a single form and a form.

Further, the non-volatile memory 6 can be used not only as a memory backed up by a battery but also as long as it can retain stored contents even when the main power supply of the apparatus is cut off.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the medium mark reading device of the present invention described above, the gain of the programmable amplifier is set for each of the slip and the form, and the set value is stored in the nonvolatile memory. Since the gain setting values are read from the non-volatile memory and set in the programmable amplifier based on the selection of the form and the form, it is not necessary to reset the gain every time the mark is read, and the mark reading is not performed. The processing time can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the processing of the single form and the form is separated, processing suitable for each medium can be performed, high-precision reading can be performed on the single form and the form, and high throughput can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the medium mark reading apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific embodiment of the present invention apparatus, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention apparatus, FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the reading operation of the apparatus of the present invention in comparison with the conventional apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Detector, 2 ... Programmable amplifier, 3 ... Code detecting means, 4 ... Selecting means, 5 ... Gain setting means, 6 ... Non-volatile memory, 7 ... Gain control means.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A detector for optically detecting a mark provided on a medium; a programmable amplifier for amplifying an output of the detector; and a code detecting means for detecting code information of the mark based on an output of the programmable amplifier. Selecting means for selecting whether the medium is a single form or a form, based on the selection of the selecting means, so that the output of the programmable amplifier becomes a predetermined value with respect to the code detecting means, at the time of the single form and the form. Gain setting means for setting the gain of the programmable amplifier; a non-volatile memory for storing a set value of the gain set by the gain setting means; and after setting the gain by the gain setting means, based on the selection of the selection means, Gain control means for setting the gain setting values of the form and the form stored in the nonvolatile memory to the programmable amplifier, respectively. Media and mark reader.