JP2817621B2 - Barcode reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code reader, and more particularly to a portable bar code reader. A bar code reader is for reading a bar code attached to an article, and is widely used to save management of a large number of articles. There are two types of barcode readers: stationary and portable. The former is used when selling products in a supermarket or the like, and the operator holds the product and moves the product so that the barcode can be read. . On the other hand, when articles are out of reach of the operator, for example, when a large number of articles are placed on shelves far from the operator in a production factory or a dangerous work place, or when the articles are too heavy Occasionally, a portable barcode reader is used, and an operator holds the portable barcode reader in his hand, points at an article, and reads a target barcode. Since a portable barcode reader is usually driven by a battery, low power consumption is required. In addition, a barcode label at a distant place must be able to be read reliably.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called gun scanner is known as a portable bar code reader of this kind. As a reading light source of the gun scanner, a small and lightweight laser diode is usually used. The light beam emitted from the laser diode is controlled by a reading optical system to scan a barcode, and the reflected light is detected and converted into an electric signal. The converted electric signal is sent to a host computer by wire or wirelessly, and data processing is performed on the converted signal.

[0003] The power consumption of laser diodes accounts for a considerable proportion of the various components incorporated in gun scanners. Therefore, the gun scanner is provided with a trigger-type trigger switch for switching on / off of the laser diode, and the laser diode is connected to the battery only when the operator triggers the bar code. The light is turned on and the trigger is loosened immediately after reading the bar code to turn off the light, thereby minimizing battery consumption.

[0004]

However, the oscillation wavelength of a commonly used laser diode is in the near-infrared region, so that it is not easy for an operator to visually confirm the emitted laser light. In particular, since the laser beam scans the barcode at high speed in the barcode reader, it becomes more difficult to visually confirm the scanning position of the emitted laser beam. Therefore, even when it is necessary to read a barcode affixed to one of a large number of distant articles, there is a possibility that an error such as erroneously irradiating an adjacent barcode with laser light may occur. .

[0005] Various systems have been proposed to solve this problem. For example, a method has been proposed in which a part of a laser beam is branched into stationary light, and this is used to confirm the scanning position of the laser beam (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-164176). According to this method, since the laser diode serves as both a light source used for reading a bar code and a light source used for confirming a scanning position of a laser beam, no other light source is required and power consumption is reduced. It is advantageous. However, there is a problem that the mechanism of the optical system becomes complicated in realizing this method.

There is also known a method in which an illumination light source such as a light-emitting diode is incorporated in addition to the laser diode, and the scanning position of the laser light is confirmed by visible light emitted from the illumination light source (for example, see, JP-A-62-1804
84, JP-A-62-180485). According to this method, the mechanism of the optical system is simplified, but a new illumination light source and a switch for switching on / off of the illumination light source are required, which increases the operational burden on the operator and consumes power. Is also a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to confirm the scanning position of the reading light with a simple operation and to reduce power consumption.

[0008]

To solve the above-mentioned problems, a first light source for emitting a reading light for reading a bar code, a second light source for emitting a visible light, and the second light source at a first switching position are provided. A switch for turning on the light source and turning off the second light source at the second switching position to turn on the first light source. A first light source that emits reading light for reading the light, a second light source that emits visible light, and turn off the first light source and the second light source at a first switching position; A switch for turning on only the second light source when set to the switching position and turning on only the first light source when set to the third switching position. Or read the barcode First for emitting reading light for taking
And a second light source that emits visible light, the first light source and the second light source are turned off at a first switching position, and the second light source is set at a second switching position. A switch for turning on only the light source and turning on both the first light source and the second light source when set to the third switching position. A first light source that emits reading light for reading the light, a second light source that emits visible light,
The present invention is achieved by a barcode reading device comprising: a trigger-shaped switch for selectively turning on the first light source and the second light source in accordance with the switching position.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the turning on / off of the first light source 3 and the second light source 2 is controlled according to the switching position of the switch 1. Therefore, the operational burden on the operator does not change as compared with the case where only the first light source 3 is switched, and the second light source 2 is turned on only when it is necessary to confirm the scanning position of the reading light. As a result, power consumption can be minimized.

At this time, if the switch 1 is set to the first switching position, both the first light source 3 and the second light source are turned off, and no power is consumed. When the switch 1 is set to the second switching position immediately before reading the barcode, the second light source 2 is turned on, so that the scanning position of the reading light can be confirmed. Subsequently, when the switch 1 is set to the third switching position, the first light source 3 is turned on to perform reading, while the second light source 2 is turned off, so that power consumption is minimized.

When the first light source 3 and the second light source are turned on when the switch 1 is set to the third switching position, reading is performed while confirming the scanning position of the reading light although the power consumption is slightly increased. As a result, reading errors can be reduced more reliably.

[0012]

1 to 3 schematically show the configuration of a gun scanner according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
1 is a trigger switch, 2 is an illumination light source such as a light emitting diode, 3 is a reading light source such as a laser diode, 4 is a battery, 5 is a control unit, 6 is an illumination optical system, 7 is a reading optical system, and 8 is an emission port. It is. Of the above elements, the mechanism of the trigger switch 1 is shown in a sectional view, and the other elements are shown in blocks. The trigger switch 1 includes a first plate 11, a first switch shaft 12, switch plates 13, 19,
21, springs 14, 17, 26, holding plates 15, 18, second plate 1
6. It comprises a second switch shaft 20, a trigger 23, a trigger shaft 24, and a lock 25.

FIG. 1 shows a state when the trigger switch 1 is set to the first switching position. Lighting light source 2
Is connected to the battery 4 through the first plate 11, and the reading light source 3 is connected to the battery 4 through the second plate 16. As can be seen in the figure, the first plate
Discontinuous portions are provided at two locations on the 11 and at one location on the second plate 16, respectively. In the present embodiment, the conduction / non-conduction of the discontinuous portion is controlled by a mechanism described below, thereby switching the conduction / non-conduction between the illumination light source 2 and the reading light source 3 and the battery 4. .

In FIG. 1, a first switch shaft having a cylindrical shape is provided.
A disc-shaped switch plate 13 is fixed to a tip of the switch 12, and a switch plate 19 is fixed to a tip of the second switch shaft 20. Another switch plate 21 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the second switch shaft 20. The first switch shaft 12 and the second switch shaft 20 are made of an insulating material, and the switch plates 13, 19, 21 are made of a conductive material. A spring 14 is arranged between the switch plate 13 and the holding plate 15, and a spring 17 is arranged between the switch plate 19 and the holding plate 18. The holding plates 15 and 18 are fixed to the main body of the trigger switch 1, so that the first switch shaft 12 and the second switch shaft 20 have springs 1 respectively.
Due to the elastic force of 4 and 17, a force to move to the left in the figure always acts.

In the above configuration, if a trigger described later is used,
If the operation of 23 is not considered, the first switch shaft 12 moves to the left in the figure, and stops moving when the switch plate 13 comes into contact with the discontinuous portion of the first plate 11. Similarly, the second
The switch shaft 20 also moves to the left in the figure, and stops moving when the switch plate 21 contacts another discontinuous portion of the first plate 11. At this time, the switch plate 19 attached to the tip of the second switch shaft 20 is separated from the second plate 16.

As described above, if the action of the trigger 23 is not taken into consideration, any two discontinuous portions of the first plate 11 are in a conductive state, so that the light source 2 for illumination and the battery 4 are conductive. . Further, since the discontinuous portion of the second plate 16 becomes non-conductive, the connection between the reading light source 3 and the battery 4 is cut off.

Next, how the state of the trigger switch 1 is changed by the action of the trigger 23 will be described. Here, the trigger 23 is fixed so as to be rotatable about a trigger shaft 24, and a force for constantly rotating clockwise is exerted by the elastic force of a spring 26 provided at a lower end of the trigger 23. The lock portion 25 is formed of three spring-shaped concave portions, and when the upper end of the trigger 23 is fitted into any of the concave portions, the trigger position is locked in proportion to the clockwise rotational force of the trigger 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first switching position is a state in which the upper end of the trigger 23 is locked in the recess at the right end of the lock portion 25 in the drawing. In this trigger position, the rear end of the first switch shaft 12 is pushed by the upper end of the trigger 23 and moves rightward as compared with the state where the operation of the trigger 23 is not considered. 13 is separated from the first plate 11. As a result, the discontinuous portion of the first plate 11 becomes non-conductive. Meanwhile, trigger 23
The lower end of the second switch shaft 20 as seen in FIG.
The second switch shaft 20 is not pushed by the trigger 23, and the second plate 16 remains non-conductive.

From the above, at the first switching position, both the illumination light source 2 and the reading light source 3 are disconnected from the battery 4 and both are off. FIG. 2 shows a state when the trigger switch 1 is set to the second switching position. From the first switching position, the operator presses the lower end of the trigger 23 with a finger to apply a counterclockwise force from the first switching position, and moves the upper end of the trigger 23 from the concave portion at the right end of the lock portion 25 to the central concave portion. It has been moved. At this time, the upper end of the trigger 23 moves to the left as compared with the first trigger position, and accordingly, the first switch shaft 12 also moves to the left, and the switch plate 13 is disconnected from the first plate 11. Stops moving when it touches the part. On the other hand, the lower end of the trigger 23 moves to the right, but only the distance from the rear end of the second switch shaft 20 is reduced as compared with the first switching position, and the second switch shaft 20 is moved to the right. Thus, the switch plate 21 maintains the conductive state with the first plate 11 and the second plate 16 maintains the non-conductive state.

From the above, at the second switching position, only the illumination light source 2 is turned on and the reading light source 3 remains off. The light from the illuminated light source 2 is adjusted by an illumination optical system 6 including a lens, a mirror, and the like, then emitted from an emission port 8 as shown by an arrow in the drawing, and is spot-irradiated to an object existing ahead. You.

FIG. 3 shows a state where the trigger switch 1 is set to the third switching position. The third switching position is triggered by the operator from the second switching position.
In this state, the lower end of the trigger 23 is held down with a finger and further rotated counterclockwise to move the upper end of the trigger 23 from the central concave portion of the lock portion 25 to the leftmost concave portion. At this time, the upper end of the trigger 23 moves further to the left as compared to the second trigger position. However, the first switch shaft 12 does not move leftward any more because the switch plate 13 is in contact with the discontinuous portion of the first plate 11, so that the switch plate 13
The conductive state with the plate 11 is maintained. On the other hand, the lower end of the trigger 23 moves further rightward than the second trigger position. Along with this, the second switch shaft 20 also moves to the right, the switch plate 21 separates from the discontinuous portion of the first plate 11, and when the switch plate 19 contacts the discontinuous portion of the second plate 16, Stop moving. Accordingly, the first plate 11 becomes non-conductive and the second plate 16 becomes conductive.

From the above, at the third switching position, the illumination light source 2 is turned off, and the reading light source 3 is turned on instead. The light from the reading light source 3 is adjusted by a reading optical system 7 including a lens, a mirror, and the like, and then emitted from an emission port 8 as shown by an arrow in the figure to scan a bar code in front. The reflected light from the bar code is received by the same reading optical system 7 and is converted into an electric signal by the control unit 5 and is connected to a line (not shown)
The data is sent to the host computer via the PC for data processing.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a method of reading a bar code, in which 30 is an article, 31 is a bar code attached to the article 30, 32 is a spotlight, and 33 is a light beam scanning range. The same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. FIG. 7 shows a state in which a barcode is read from a distant position using the gun scanner according to the present invention when a large number of articles to which a barcode is attached are stacked.

In FIG. 1, in order to read the bar code 31 of the article 30 located at the bottom of the stacked articles, the operator first holds the gun scanner 34 and pulls the trigger 23. The exit 8 is directed toward the article 30 in a state where there is no light. At this time, the trigger 23 is at the first switching position described above.

Next, when the operator operates the trigger 23 to set the second switching position, the illumination light source is turned on and the spotlight 32 is irradiated. Where the spotlight
As shown in the figure, the relationship between the irradiation position of the light source 32 and the scanning range 33 of the light beam emitted from the reading light source is, for example, a spotlight 32 at a position slightly above the center of the target barcode 31. When this barcode is illuminated
The illumination optical system and the reading optical system are adjusted in advance so that 30 falls within the light beam scanning range 33.

Then, when the operator operates the trigger 23 to set the third switching position while the spotlight 32 is irradiating the spotlight 32, the spotlight 32 is turned off and the light beam emitted from the reading light source is replaced. Will accurately read the target bar code label 31.

To subsequently read another bar code, the operator resets the trigger 23 to the second switching position and confirms the scanning position of the light beam. This triggering operation is performed by relaxing the force with which the operator pulls the trigger 23. Then, the trigger 23 is set at the third switching position and reading is performed. By repeating the above-described triggering operation, a large number of barcode labels can be read continuously.

As described above, the operator can switch on / off the illumination light source and the reading light source only by the trigger operation, and the addition of the illumination light source imposes an operational burden on the operator. It does not increase. Further, the illumination light source is turned on only for confirming the scanning position of the reading light, is turned off at the time of reading, and is not forgotten to be turned off, so that power consumption can be minimized.

In the above-described first embodiment, only the reading light source is turned on and the illumination light source is turned off at the third switching position. However, the illumination light source is turned on during reading of the bar code label. In this case, the reading error can be more reliably reduced although the power consumption is slightly increased. Therefore, both the illumination light source and the reading light source may be turned on at the third switching position.

FIGS. 5 to 7 schematically show the configuration of a gun scanner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
3 having the same functions as those in FIG. FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show that the trigger switch 1 is the first,
The state when it is set to the second and third switching positions is shown. In the second embodiment, another switch plate 22 is additionally fixed to an intermediate portion of the second switch shaft 20. This switch plate 22 is, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the first and second switching positions the first plate plate 11.
And any one of the second plates 16 does not contact. Therefore, the conduction / conduction between the first plate plate 11 and the second plate 16
The non-conducting state is the same as in the first embodiment. But the third
In the switching position of the switch plate, as seen in FIG.
22 comes into contact with the first plate 11, whereby the first plate 11 becomes conductive.

As described above, by adding the switch plate 22 to the configuration of the first embodiment, both the illumination light source 2 and the reading light source 3 at the third switching position can be turned on.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the scanning position of the reading light can be confirmed without increasing the operational burden on the operator as compared with the related art, and the illumination light source is used. This is also effective in minimizing an increase in power consumption due to the above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment (part 1);

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment (part 2);

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment (part 3);

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of using the gun scanner.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment (part 1);

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment (part 2);

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment (part 3);

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Trigger switch 15, 18 Holding plate 2 Illumination light source 16 2nd plate 3 Reading light source 20 2nd switch axis 4 Battery 23 Trigger 5 Control part 24 Trigger axis 6 Illumination optical system 25 Lock part 7 Reading optical system 30 Article 8 Emission port 31 Barcode 11 First plate 32 Spotlight 12 First switch axis 33 Light beam scanning range 13, 19, 21, 22 Switch plate 34 Gun scanner 14, 17, 26 Spring

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A first light source that emits reading light for reading a bar code; a second light source that emits visible light; and a second light source that is turned on at a first switching position. A switch for turning off the second light source and turning on the first light source at a second switching position. 2. A first light source that emits reading light for reading a barcode, a second light source that emits visible light, and the first light source and the second light source at a first switching position. And a switch for turning on only the second light source when set to the second switching position and turning on only the first light source when set to the third switching position. Barcode reader characterized by the following. 3. A first light source that emits reading light for reading a bar code, a second light source that emits visible light, and the first light source and the second light source at a first switching position. Switch for turning off the light source, turning on only the second light source when set to the second switching position, and turning on both the first light source and the second light source when set to the third switching position And a bar code reader. 4. A first light source for emitting a reading light for reading a bar code, a second light source for emitting a visible light, and the first light source and the second light source according to a switching position thereof. And a trigger-shaped switch for selectively turning on the bar code reader.