JP2963555B2 - Portable data collection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable data collection device used for collecting data such as questionnaires and forms.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sales activity of a salesman or a questionnaire survey conducted by an investigator, a survey sheet is handed over to a person to be surveyed one at a time, and required items are filled out with a writing instrument such as a pen or an oral question is asked. The obtained answer is keyed into a notebook type memory.

FIG. 9 is an example of a survey item table as a survey sheet used for such a survey.

[0004] This survey item table includes questions starting from Question 1 and a questionnaire or selectable answer column for each question. For example, in Question 1, there is a question "How many family members are you, including you?", And there is an answer box on the right side of the question to enter the number of people.

[0005] When conducting a survey using a survey sheet, the surveyee writes the answer directly in this answer column with a writing instrument. If the answer is rejected, the entry "No answer" is circled. On the other hand, when conducting a survey using a notebook-type memory, the respondent to the question verbally answers the question, and a salesman or researcher enters the question number and answer data into the notebook-type memory by keying. I do. If the answer is rejected, data representing "no answer" is keyed in. Question 2 says, "From the perspective of the head of the household, are there any next family members living together?"
The question is described, and it is described that all applicable items from 1 to 8 in the answer column are circled.
Also in this case, as in Question 1, when using the survey form, the surveyee directly fills in the answer column of the survey form, and when using a notebook-type memory, the salesman or surveyor answers the question, and the surveyee answers. And input the answer data to a notebook type memory. The same applies to question 3 and subsequent steps.

Various forms of questionnaire survey sheets have been known in the art. For example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-132770 discloses a plurality of forms provided with a bar code indicating the number of pages and an entry column for entering desired items. The book is bound on a paper for writing, and the book is peeled off one sheet at a time and handed to the visitors. The barcode on this paper and the barcode on the ID (identification) card of the visitors are It describes that a visitor and the demands of the visitor are stored and managed in a recording medium such as a floppy disk by sequentially reading with a pen scanner or the like.

[0007]

In the case of a survey using a survey form, a large number of survey forms are required and must be possessed. For example, if three types of surveys are conducted for 100 people, 300 survey sheets must be carried, which is bulky. Further, the counting work after the survey is also troublesome because the survey sheets must be counted one by one. On the other hand, when a survey is performed using a notebook-type memory, the display unit of the notebook has a small space, and when there are many survey items on the survey sheet, all items cannot be displayed on the display unit. In addition, since the order of key input is determined in advance, even if an answer cannot be obtained, it cannot be postponed, and it takes time to input data.
Further, the method described in the above-mentioned publication also has a problem that, similarly to the case of using a survey sheet, a plurality of writing sheets are required, and data must be totaled one by one.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a data collection device capable of collecting a large amount of data with a small number of survey sheets and shortening the input time of survey data. To provide.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a holding unit for holding a sheet having a barcode attached to each of a plurality of items to be collected, and a sheet held by the holding unit. The present invention can be achieved by a portable data collection device including a barcode pen for reading a barcode and a storage unit for storing data read by the barcode pen.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a sheet provided with a bar code for each of a plurality of items to be collected is read by a bar code pen, and a large number of read survey data are stored in a storage unit.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of a portable data collection device according to the present invention. This device has a lid 1
(Left side of the figure) is a notebook type that can be opened and closed so that it can cover the main body 2 (the right side of the figure). A sheet indicated by a dot-dash line on which a sheet with a mark is attached and the answer corresponds to the corresponding item) or a survey item table (a form including a slip described below without a normal barcode) 3 and a clip 4 for holding a data sheet and the like are provided.
And a clip 6 for holding a barcode sheet. A bar code pen 7 for reading a bar code on a data sheet or a bar code sheet is provided via an extendable lead wire 8 at the right center of the main body.
A numeric keypad 9 for inputting numbers and symbols and a function key 10 for designating an operation function are provided in the upper right part of the main body, and a liquid crystal display panel 11 for displaying data and operation methods is provided in the upper left part of the main body. Is provided. On the right side of the main body 2, two insertion ports 12, 13 for inserting an IC card as a recording medium are provided.
The insertion slot 12 is an IC in which a data input program is stored.
An insertion slot 13 for inserting a card is an insertion slot for inserting an IC card for storing data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the portable data collection device of the present embodiment.

In the figure, a portable data collection device has an input unit 1 for inputting data of a survey item and a corresponding item.
4, a data processing unit 15 for performing data processing such as correcting or totalizing input data, a memory unit 16 for storing processed data, and a display for displaying an operation method and input data. And a unit 17.

The input unit 14 is composed of a bar code pen 7, a numeric keypad 9, and a function key 10. The memory unit 16 is composed of, for example, a RAM (random access memory). The data processing unit 15 is composed of a microprocessor. The display unit 17 is constituted by, for example, the liquid crystal display panel 11.

The bar code pen 7 has a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion at a tip portion 7a, and converts reflected light from the bar code into an electric signal by tracing on the bar code.

The numeric keypad 9 is used when the answer column of the barcode sheet is used to input numerical data, symbol data, etc. which cannot be input with the barcode pen 7 such as the number of persons or the number. The function keys 10 are used, for example, to correct input data or to display the data on a display unit.

The memory section 16 stores a data input program and data input from the data input IC card.

The liquid crystal display panel 11 includes, for example, "Please trace the identification code with a bar code pen", "Please enter the date with the numeric keypad", "Please enter the investigator's code number", etc. The operation method, data input with the numeric keypad 9 and data read with the barcode pen 7 are visually displayed.

The data processing unit 15 converts the data read by the bar code pen 7 into a digital signal,
6 is stored. Function key 10
The data input in response to the operation of
To be displayed.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data sheet, and FIG. 4 shows another example of the structure of the data sheet.

As shown in FIG. 3, at the upper right of the data sheet 18, a bar code 19 representing an identification code for identifying the type of the survey content of the data sheet 18 is attached. A bar code 20 representing a survey item is attached, and a bar code 21 representing an answer number is attached to an answer column. However, an answer column of question 1 has an entry column 22 instead of a bar code. In this case, the answer is not inputted by the bar code pen 7 but the answer is inputted by the ten keys 9. Each answer column has a bar code 23a of "No answer" traced by the bar code pen 7 when there is no answer.

The data sheet 18a shown in FIG. 4 is provided with bar codes 21a and 23a in which answers and survey item numbers are combined in advance, and these bar codes 21a and 23a are By tracing each item, data of the survey item and the answer can be input at the same time. For example, “Q2. 1. Father's bar code 21
When "a" is traced with the barcode pen 7, data indicating "the family member who lives together has a father when viewed from the head of the household" is input.

Next, the procedure of data collection by the data collection apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the data input procedure of the data collection device of the present embodiment. Note that the survey form is a hearing form and uses a data sheet.

Prior to the examination, the data sheet 18 is placed inside the lid 1 and held by the clip 4. At this time, nothing needs to be placed on the surface 5 of the main body 2.

When the power of the data collection device is turned on (S
-1), for example, "I for data input"
Please insert C card into slot A. "is displayed. Then, when a data input IC card as a data input recording medium is inserted into the insertion slot 12 and a start button is pressed, the apparatus is started according to the data input program (S-).
2) The data input mode is set and the liquid crystal display panel 1
A message "1. Data input mode is selected. Swipe the identification code with a bar code pen or enter a numeric keypad" is displayed. Then, the researcher inputs the identification code 19 attached to the data sheet 18 to the barcode pen 7.
Then, the identification code 19 is input (S-3). This prepares for data collection. Identification code 19
Is completed, the liquid crystal display panel 11 displays "Please trace the barcode of the survey item and the barcode of the corresponding answer with a barcode pen or enter the numeric keypad". Therefore, the surveyor verbally asks the survey subject about the survey item described in the data sheet 18 and traces the barcode 20 of the survey item with the barcode pen 7 to obtain the barcode 21 of the answer obtained orally from the survey subject. With a bar code pen 7. As a result, the combined data of the survey item data and the answer data becomes 1
The information is input to the device one by one (S-4). When the data is input to the device, the LCD panel 11 displays, for example, "The data has just been input. Press the function key f1 to confirm. If not, trace the bar code of the next survey item. Press the function key f2 to correct it, and press the function key f3 to end the correction. "

If the investigator moves on to the next item without making corrections or confirmations, the next question is asked to the person to be surveyed. Similarly, the bar code 20 of the survey item is traced with the bar code pen 7, and the answer bar is displayed. Trace code 21. After that, the survey is proceeded in the same procedure. When the data input of the answer of the last survey item is completed, when the researcher presses the function key f3, the message “Data input is completed. Save data. In this case, insert the data storage IC card into the insertion slot B. "is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 11. Investigator inserts data storage IC card into slot 13
When the save button is pressed (S-5), the data is saved in the data saving IC card, and after saving is completed, the message "Data saved" is displayed, and the data input operation is completed. (S-6).

At the step (S-4) of inputting the survey item and the answer, when the surveyor wants to confirm the data,
When the function key f1 is pressed, the input data is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 11 so that it can be confirmed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of confirming data using the function keys.

When the function key f1 is pressed, the apparatus changes from the data input mode to the data confirmation mode,
A message "Data confirmation mode has been selected" is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 11 (T-1), and a message "Please select a survey item" is displayed (T-2). When the investigator selects the survey item to be confirmed with the bar code 7 or the numeric keypad 9, the survey item to be confirmed and the number of the answer are displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 11 and confirmed (T-3). After the confirmation, if there is no need to correct the data, press the same function key f1 again (T-4) to display "Data has been confirmed. Returned from data confirmation mode to data input mode." Is performed and the device returns to the data input mode.

In the data confirmation step (T-3), when it is necessary to correct the data, when the function key f2 is depressed, the apparatus returns from the data confirmation mode to the input mode and displays "DATA" on the liquid crystal display panel 11. You have returned to the input mode. Please trace the barcode of the survey item you want to modify and the barcode of the response with a barcode pen. "Is displayed, and the barcode 20 of the survey item number you want to modify and the barcode of the response When the bar code pen 21 is traced again with the bar code pen 7, the incorrectly input data is erased, and the correct item number and answer number are input and displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 11.

If the subject of the survey desires to postpone the answer based on the contents of the survey in the data sheet, the process can proceed to the survey of the next survey item. For example, after inputting the data of the answer to the question 1, the survey item of the question 2 is passed, and the data of the survey item of the question 3 and the answer can be input. If, for example, the data input of the answer to the question 4 is postponed during the survey, when the investigator presses the function key f3, for example, "the answer to the question 4 is still input. Is displayed, and the surveyor inputs the answer with the barcode pen 7, so that forgetting to input can be prevented. If the respondent rejects the response, the bar code 2 after “No response” in each response column of the data sheet 18
If 3 is traced with the bar code pen 7, the data of the corresponding question number is deleted. Also, since each question and the answer are paired and data is input, the order of the questions may be interchanged. A) You can change the order of the questions and postpone them.

If the question has a branch number, for example, if the question is divided into two, such as "Question 1 of 1" and "Question 1 of 2," The barcode 20 of the item may be traced with the barcode pen 7 by the number of branch numbers,
It is sufficient to input in the order of “Question 1”, “Question 1”, “Answer”, or “Question 1”, “Question 2”, “Answer”. With barcode sheet 7
Tracing). Also, the question numbers "Question 1" and "Question 2" of the question are not bar-coded, and each answer is a question such as "Question 1 is 1", "Quest 1 2 is 3", etc. A bar code representing the branch number and the answer may be attached, and these may be traced once with the bar code pen 7.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the data sheet 18 to which the bar code assigned to each item to be investigated and the bar code corresponding to the answer are read by the bar code pen 7, Many investigations can be performed with a small number of data sheets 18, and input data and operation procedures can be visually displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 11, so that input data can be confirmed, data can be corrected, and operation procedures can be displayed. Moreover, the order of the questions can be changed according to the response status of the surveyee, and the survey time can be reduced. For example,
Conventionally, when three types of surveys are conducted for 100 people, 300 survey sheets are required, but according to the present embodiment, three data sheets are sufficient. The collected data can be totaled by an external device such as a microcomputer via a data storage IC card.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, data input is performed using the data sheet 18 in which a barcode is previously attached to a survey sheet as described above.
If it is used, it can be used for a conventional survey item table without a barcode and a form such as a slip.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a barcode sheet.

As shown in the figure, the barcode sheet 30 is composed of an identification code 31, a survey item column 32, and a response column 33, and has M (N) numbers and M (N) barcodes. 34 and 35 are attached. Each bar code 34, 3
The contents of the barcodes 34 and 35 are described in parentheses on the right side of 5, and particularly, a hyphen is described after the number in parentheses on the survey item column 32 side. For example, the parentheses (2-) of survey item 2 represent "the answer of survey item 2", and a comma is described after the number in parentheses on the answer column 33 side. 3 ". Therefore bar code pen 7
After tracing the second barcode in the survey item column and then tracing the third barcode in the response column, the data of the two barcodes is combined to represent "the response of survey item 2 is 3." The data is configured. Data can be input by associating the barcode sheet 30 with, for example, a repair slip 36 shown in FIG. Although the number of the identification code 31 is one in the figure, the identification code 31 is not limited to this, and a plurality of identification codes 31 may be provided according to the number of types of investigation contents.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a repair slip. The repair slip 36 is composed of three areas 36a, 36b and 36c. The area 36a is an entry field for a slip identification number, the address and name of a repair requester (customer), and the area 36b is a diagram or symbol showing repair contents. Handwriting field, area 3 to be filled in by hand using
Reference numeral 6c is a selection field for selecting the content and cause of the defect.

Instead of inputting the information of all the areas of the repair slip into the apparatus of this embodiment, only the information of the area 36c is input. The areas 36a and 36b are areas in which information is written by hand. In particular, the area 36a is used by a receptionist to input the data of the repair request information to the computer when receiving a request for equipment repair. Since the information in the area 36b is handwritten information of the repair staff, data cannot be input by this apparatus. Since each of the areas 36c is composed of a combination of a heading and a breakdown, data can be input by the present device. In this case, the repair slip 36 is placed on the inner surface 3 of the lid 1 of the data collection device, and the clip 4
The bar code sheet 23 is placed on the surface 5 of the main body 2 and held by the clip 6.

In the data input procedure using the repair slip, as in the case of the data sheet 18, the power is first turned on, a data input IC card is inserted, and data is input in the data input mode. Is done. In this case, the difference from the data sheet 18 is that forms without a bar code are used in combination with the bar code sheet 30. Instead of the items and contents of the forms, the item field 32 of the bar code sheet is used.
And the answer column 33 are input correspondingly.

For example, the customer number 37 of the repair slip 36 is set as the survey item “1”, the bar code pen 7 traces the bar code 34 of “1” in the survey item column of the bar code sheet 30, and the ten key 9 changes the customer number “C”. ”, The customer number data is entered. Next, the form 38 of the repair slip 36 is set to “2” in the survey item column, “1” in the answer column is set to “repair”, and “2” in the answer column is set to “others”. "2" in the survey item column
Trace the bar code of “1” in the answer column
When the user traces 5, the data corresponding to "the form is repair" is input to the apparatus. Further, the repair person 39 of the repair slip 36 is set to "3" in the survey item column, the barcode pen 7 traces the barcode of "3" in the survey item column of the barcode sheet 30, and the barcode of "3" in the answer column. Is traced, data corresponding to "the repairer is C store" is input to the apparatus. Thereafter, the same operation can be performed to input the data of the repair slip. Also, data can be input to the above-mentioned survey item table by the same operation. Moreover, the order of the survey items can be changed.

As described above, by inputting the data by associating the barcode sheet 30 with the repair slip 36, it is possible to input data for a plurality of sheets, thereby reducing paper (saving paper resources).
In addition, the data input status can be confirmed on the liquid crystal display panel 11, and the data input order can be changed according to the status, so that the input time can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the survey-response format, but can be applied to data collection such as traffic volume surveys and street surveys, and can also be used for catalog sales.

In this embodiment, an IC card is used as a recording medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a floppy disk may be used, and a bar code reader may be used instead of a bar code pen.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a bar-coded sheet is read with a bar-code pen, a large amount of data can be collected with a small amount of survey paper, and a survey data input operation can be performed. Time can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an external view of an embodiment of a portable data collection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a portable data collection device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of a data sheet used in the portable data collection device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is another configuration example of a data sheet used in the portable data collection device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a data input procedure of the portable data collection device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of data confirmation of the portable data collection device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an example of a barcode sheet used in the portable data collection device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an example of a conventional repair slip.

FIG. 9 is an example of a survey item table used for a conventional survey.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 bar code pen 9 numeric keypad 10 function key 11 liquid crystal display panel 12, 13 insertion slot 18 data sheet 30 bar code sheet

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A holding unit for holding a sheet to which a barcode is attached for each of a plurality of items to be collected; a barcode pen for reading a barcode of the sheet held on the holding unit; A portable data collection device comprising: a storage unit that stores data read by a bar code pen. 2. The portable data collection device according to claim 1, further comprising a key input unit, wherein the storage unit is capable of storing key input data. 3. The portable data collection device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for visually displaying the data stored in the storage unit, the corrected data, or the operation procedure. 4. The portable data collection device according to claim 1, wherein the data stored in the storage unit can be stored in a recording medium.