JP4401107B2 - Bar code reader - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a barcode reading apparatus and a barcode reading method, and more particularly to a barcode reading apparatus and a barcode reading method for reading a barcode printed on a product label.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, for example, in a barcode reader connected to a POS register, a barcode printed on a product label is optically read, the barcode read is decoded, and the barcode data is transferred to the POS register. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional CCD scanner. In this figure, the scanner 50 irradiates a barcode (not shown) printed on the label 52 with the light emitted from the LED 51, and converts the barcode image into a mirror 53 and The image is displayed on the CCD sensor 55 via the lens 54, and an electrical signal is output from the CCD sensor 55. That is, the electrical signal at the bar portion of the barcode outputs a small signal because the reflected light is small, while the space portion of the barcode outputs a large signal because the reflected light is large. This electrical signal is amplified by the control unit 56, converted from an analog signal to a digital signal, decoded, analyzed for a bar code, and transferred to a POS register such as an external device via an interface (not shown).
[0003]
However, the printed barcode may not be decoded and a reading error may occur. In general, a reading error is caused by the barcode reading apparatus side such as an inappropriate reading angle with respect to the barcode, or by a printing failure of the barcode in which voids or spots exist in the barcode of the product label. Even if the barcode printing accuracy is good, if characters or figures are printed in the margins (quiet zones) before and after the barcode, a reading error occurs due to the input of a signal other than the barcode. To do.
If a reading error occurs, repeat the reading operation by changing the reading angle, etc. If the reading error still occurs, it is determined that the barcode printing is defective, and the user uses the POS register keyboard to enter the product code. I was typing manually. Further, as a countermeasure for a reading error, there is known a barcode abnormality identification device that automatically verifies whether a barcode reading error is caused by a barcode reading device or a barcode printing defect and displays it on a display unit. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-45306
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the above patent document, the user can only recognize whether the reading error is caused by the reading apparatus or the barcode itself, and the problem of reading error has not been solved. Even if the user can recognize that the cause of the reading error is in the barcode itself, the product code is eventually input from the POS register, that is, the product the user has in both hands for reading the barcode and It was necessary to let go of the reader and input the product code from the keyboard of the POS register, which required very complicated work.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is capable of inputting barcode data without requiring a complicated manual input operation even when a barcode reading error occurs. And a barcode reading method.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The bar code reader according to the present invention includes a reading unit that optically reads a bar code, a decoding unit that decodes the bar code read by the reading unit, and a voice that inputs bar code information by voice. Input means; voice recognition means for recognizing the code information input by the voice input means ; count means for counting the number of reading errors by the reading means; storage means for storing a reading error upper limit; and the count Comparing means for comparing the number of reading errors counted by the means with the reading error upper limit value stored in the storage means, and if the reading means determines that the reading error upper limit value is equal to the number of reading errors from the reading means, Switching means for automatically switching to the voice input means .
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a barcode reader 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the barcode reader 1 mainly includes an LED 2, a mirror 3, a lens 4, a CCD sensor 5, a microphone 6, a changeover switch 7, and a control unit 8. .
[0008]
A plurality of LEDs 2 are arranged, and the bar code 10 printed on the label 9 shown in FIG. 2 is uniformly irradiated with light, and the reflected light from the bar code 10 is reflected on the image of the bar code 10 via the mirror 3. Is projected onto the CCD sensor 5 by the lens 4. The image projected on the CCD sensor 5 as the reading means is converted into an electric signal and output to the control unit 8, and converted into a digital signal by an amplifier circuit and an A / D conversion circuit (not shown) to analyze the barcode 10.
The microphone 6 inputs the code information 11 printed on the label by voice, and the on / off of the microphone 6 is switched by pressing the changeover switch 7.
[0009]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the control unit 8 of the bar code reader 1 mainly according to the embodiment of FIG. The control unit 8 operates according to a predetermined control program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 20 and controls each unit, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 19 and a RAM (Random) for temporarily storing various information. (Access Memory) 21, LED control unit 22 that controls LED 2 that irradiates light to barcode 10, and analog electrical signals from CCD sensor 5 that reflects light reflected from barcode 10 by LED 2 are shown in the figure. A decoder 23 for converting the digital signal into a digital signal by an amplifier and an A / D conversion circuit, and analyzing the barcode information; a voice recognition circuit 24 for recognizing the voice input to the microphone 6; Control voice recognition switching It includes a switching control unit 25, a. These units are connected to the CPU 19 via the data bus 26, and transfer barcode information to an external device such as the POS register 30 via the managed interface 27 of the CPU 19.
[0010]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method of using the barcode reader 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the barcode 10 printed on the product label 9 is irradiated by the LED 2, and the reflected light is projected onto the CCD sensor 5 through the mirror 3 and the lens 4 and read (step S1), and the analog signal is converted into a digital signal. Then, decoding processing is performed by the decoder 23 (step S2).
[0011]
That is, the decoder 23 identifies a quiet zone, a start code and a stop code, a bar code type, and a bar code character, collates a check digit, and if there is no reading error (step S3), the data Is converted into an ASCII code or the like, written into the output signal buffer, and transferred to an external device such as the POS register 30 via the interface 27 (step S4).
[0012]
If the decoding process is not correctly performed in the decoding process in step S2, a reading error occurs in step S3, and the process proceeds to step S5.
In decoding processing, for example, if there are not enough quiet zones before and after the barcode, the start code and stop code cannot be recognized correctly, or the character configuration of the recognized barcode type is different, or the check digit result is incorrect. An error occurs.
Further, a reading error occurs when the camera shakes at the time of barcode reading or when the reading angle with respect to the barcode 10 is bad and the mirror is reflected.
[0013]
If it is determined in step S5 that the changeover switch 7 of the barcode reader 1 has not been pressed, the process returns to step 1 to read the barcode 10 again. If it is determined in step 5 that the changeover switch 7 of the barcode reader 1 has been pressed, the microphone 6 is activated (step S6).
[0014]
When the code information 11 including a bar code country code, a product manufacturer code, a product item code, a check digit, and the like is input to the microphone 6 (step S7), the voice is recognized by the voice recognition circuit 24 (step S8). As a result, when a voice recognition error occurs (step S9), the process returns to step S7. When voice input is performed again and voice recognition is possible, the process proceeds to step S10.
[0015]
The recognized audio signal is converted into a digital signal and decoded by the decoder 23 (step S10). The data is converted into an ASCII code or the like and written in the output signal buffer. To the external device (step S4).
[0016]
As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when a reading error occurs when the barcode 10 is optically read, the microphone 6 is activated by the changeover switch 7 and can be switched to voice recognition. Therefore, the troublesome work of manually inputting the code information 11 from the keyboard of the POS register 30 is eliminated, and the information of the barcode 10 is relatively easily input to the POS register 30 by inputting the code information 11 of the barcode 10 by voice. it can.
[0017]
Even if the barcode reading error is caused by the barcode reading device 1 or optical reading is impossible due to the printing failure of the barcode 10, the barcode is not displayed on the external device connected to the barcode reading device 1. Information can be entered.
[0018]
In the present invention, the optical reading or voice input switching of the bar code reader can be automatically switched without using the changeover switch.
[0019]
For example, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of using the barcode reading apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which will be described with reference to FIG. Moreover, the thing of the structure similar to 1st embodiment attaches | subjects the same code | symbol, and abbreviate | omits the description.
[0020]
First, the error count upper limit m is set in advance in the RAM 21 (step S21), the error count n is set to 0 (step S22), and the process proceeds to step S23 where the barcode 10 is optically read. The optically read barcode data is decoded (step S24), and if a reading error occurs (step S25), the process proceeds to step S27.
[0021]
The CPU 19 counts the number of errors n + 1 and counts the number of errors. The comparison unit compares whether the error count upper limit m set in step S21 matches the error count n. When n <m, the process returns to step S23 to optically read the barcode again.
[0022]
If it is determined in step S28 that the error count n is equal to the error count upper limit m, the microphone 6 is automatically activated to switch from optical reading to speech recognition (step S29). The code information 11 is input to the microphone 6 as a voice (step S30), and the voice is recognized by the voice recognition circuit 24 (step S31). As a result, when a voice recognition error occurs (step S32), the process returns to step S30 and the voice is again heard. Make input. If no recognition error has occurred in step S32, the process proceeds to step S33, where the recognized audio signal is converted into a digital signal and decoded by the decoder 23 (step S33), and the data is converted into an ASCII code or the like. The data is converted, written to the output signal buffer, and transferred to the external device such as the POS register 30 via the interface 27 (step S26).
[0023]
If no reading error occurs in step S25, the process proceeds to step S26, where the data is converted into an ASCII code or the like, written to the output signal buffer, and transferred to an external device such as the POS register 30 via the interface 27. .
[0024]
As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, when the number of reading errors occurring when the barcode 10 is optically read reaches a predetermined number, the microphone 6 is activated to automatically perform voice recognition. Can be switched, and switching work can be reduced.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
By providing the reading means for optically reading the barcode and the voice input means for inputting the product code by voice, even if the barcode cannot be optically read due to poor printing, the code information is simply read out. Thus, the barcode information can be transferred to an external device connected to the barcode reader. In addition, the user can save the trouble of manually inputting the product code using the POS register keyboard, and smooth accounting processing can be performed.
In addition, when the number of errors by the reading unit reaches a predetermined number, switching to the voice input unit is performed, so that switching work can be reduced and smoother accounting processing can be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a barcode reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a label on which a barcode and code information are printed.
3 is a block diagram showing a control unit of the barcode reading apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the barcode reading apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a barcode reading apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view showing a conventional barcode reader.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Bar code reader 2 LED
3 Mirror 4 Lens 5 CCD Sensor 6 Microphone 7 Changeover Switch 8 Control Unit 9 Label 10 Bar Code 11 Code Information 19 CPU
20 ROM
21 RAM
22 LED control unit 23 Decoder 24 Voice recognition circuit 25 Switching control unit 26 Data bus 27 Interface 30 POS register 50 Scanner 51 LED
52 Label 53 Mirror 54 Lens 55 CCD Sensor 56 Control Unit

Claims (1)

Reading means for optically reading a barcode;
Decoding means for decoding the barcode read by the reading means;
Voice input means for inputting barcode code information by voice;
Voice recognition means for recognizing the code information input by the voice input means;
Counting means for counting the number of reading errors by the reading means;
Storage means for storing a reading error upper limit;
A comparison means for comparing the number of reading errors counted by the counting means with a reading error upper limit value stored in the storage means;
Switching means for automatically switching from the reading means to the voice input means when the comparison means determines that the reading error upper limit value and the number of reading errors are equal;
A bar code reader characterized by comprising:

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