JPH01129380A - Mark code and its reading input system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry much information in a small occupied area by defining one of code patterns to be a check digit and matching other four patterns to values '1', '2', '4', '8'. CONSTITUTION:The code pattern 7 is formed by arranging longitudinally the five measures of squares, the first measure 8m indicates the check digit and the second-the fifth measures respectively are columns 9 respectively indicating numeric characters '8', '4', '2', '1' from the upper part and the added value of the value column 9 painted out in black represent value information carried by the respective code patterns 7. The check digit 8 is used so as to have the number of the measures painted out of all the code patterns of an odd number and when the painted out value column 9 is the odd number, it is not painted out and when it is an even number, it is painted out to have the odd number as a whole. Thereby, when the painted out measures of the code pattern 7 indicate the even number, the code pattern 7 is recognized as an erroneous recording to prevent an erroneous reading due to the stain of the measures or a dislocation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is designed to efficiently process orders for products and articles, inventory management, etc. using a computer-based processing system. This article relates to the mark code attached to packaging and its reading/input method.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, systems have been widely put into practical use that efficiently process orders, inventory management, distribution management, etc. of products and articles using electronic computers. In such a processing system, product information such as product name, unit price, number of orders, etc. is coded and marked on the order sheet, the product or its packaging, etc., and this code mark is generally optically scanned. It is read and processed using means.

A typical example of such a code mark is a bar code consisting of a large number of parallel bar-shaped marks. Barcodes are difficult to create because numerical information is coded by the thickness of each bar mark and the spacing between bar codes, and it is inconvenient that simple methods such as handwriting cannot be used to create the code. Since a single number information is expressed by a plurality of bar-shaped marks, there is a problem in that the amount of information carried is small compared to the display area of the barcode. This means that when a person who manufactures and sells a wide variety of products, such as 3,000 products, wants to create order sheets for products for retail stores, the number of order sheets becomes large, making it difficult to create and use them. Moreover, it is extremely inconvenient and expensive, and if the order sheet needs to be updated in a relatively short period of several months, it can no longer be used in practice due to the cost of creating the order sheet. Ta.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, barcodes can only carry a small amount of information, so information such as product name, unit price, order unit quantity, etc. cannot be directly carried by barcodes; they must be encoded and carried. It won't happen. Therefore, when inputting information into a terminal at a retail store or the like, if you want to output and display this information on the terminal for confirmation, it is necessary to have the terminal hold a master file and compare the code with the master file. As a result, there was a drawback that the price of the terminal itself became high.

Therefore, as an alternative to such barcodes, 1.2
．． 4.4 squares for number mark 8, 2 rows horizontally, 2 vertically
A mark code has been proposed in which 16 kinds of numbers from 0 to 15 are expressed by arranging the squares in a column and filling the squares with black. Disclosed in the official gazette. Such an old character mark code has the advantage that the mark code occupies a small area compared to the amount of information it can carry, and is extremely useful as a mark code for the aforementioned wide variety of products.

However, even in such old glyph mark code,
It had the following drawbacks. In other words, since the mark code is structured in the form of letters, the length in the width direction becomes large, and when reading the mark code, the direction of movement of the code must be set accurately, making it difficult to read the mark code. There are disadvantages such as not being able to use a simple reading device, and outputting and displaying product names using mark codes requires a master file to search for coded product names. It was.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) This invention eliminates the drawbacks of conventional mark codes, can carry a large amount of information in a small footprint, and can be accurately read using a simple reading device such as a hand scanner. Not only can it be read, it can also display encoded information and image information at the same time, and display product names etc. as image information.
The present invention aims to provide a mark code that can be easily output and displayed, as well as a method for reading and inputting the mark code.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the first invention uses an image information pattern that displays the product name, etc. in characters, and the product name, order quantity, unit price, etc. The code information pattern consists of a mark code area in which a plurality of code patterns in which five square cells are vertically arranged are arranged in parallel, and a start mark and a stop mark located at the beginning and end of the mark code area. mark and one of the code patterns is a check digit,
The other four mark codes are characterized in that they correspond to the numerical values 'IJ r2' and '4J r8.'

Further, the means adopted in the second invention includes an optical hand scanner means for reading the image information pattern and the code information pattern at once, and a display for displaying the image information pattern read by the hand scanner means as image information. means for registering the data read in the code information pattern, and means for transmitting the registered data to the outside, the mark code is read by a hand scanner, and the image information is displayed on the display means. , the mark code reading/input method is characterized in that code information is registered and sent.

(Operation) While visually confirming the characters displaying the product name, etc. using the image information pattern of the mark code, read and input the required mark code with a hand scanner, display the product name, etc. as is from the image information pattern, Also, product order data etc. are registered from the code information pattern.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, it is possible to visually confirm information such as a product name in text using the image information pattern, reducing input errors, and the code information pattern has five squares arranged vertically. Composed of arranged code patterns, it takes up less space while carrying a sufficient amount of information, making it possible to display a wide variety of products on a small amount of paper, making it ideal for creating and updating order sheets, and making handling easier. It's extremely convenient. Furthermore, the beginning and end of the code information pattern can be confirmed by the start mark and stop mark, and one code pattern can be confirmed by the length or interval of the star 1 to mark, making it easy to read by hand-held like a hand scanner. The device can now be used. Furthermore, the code pattern has check digit squares, which can prevent misreading due to tampering or dirt.

(Embodiments) Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3, a mark code according to the present invention and an order sheet created using the mark code are illustrated.

As shown in Figure 1.2, the mark code (1) consists of an image information pattern (2) and a code information pattern (3), and both patterns (2) and (3) are displayed together in upper and lower rows. Become.

The image information pattern (2) displays the product name in readable characters, and the code information pattern (3) displays the product name,
Information such as order unit price and unit price is displayed in numerical code, and the start mark (4) and mark code area (5)
and a stop mark (6).

The mark code area (5) is formed by arranging the code pattern (7) shown in FIG. 3 into a plurality of products as shown in FIG. The code pattern (7) is a square with five squares arranged vertically.
” Column (9) means “4”, “2”, and “1” respectively, and the added value of the blacked-out numerical column (9) represents the numerical information carried by each code pattern (7). There is.

The check digit (8) is used so that the number of filled squares in the entire code pattern (7) is an odd number, and if the filled numerical column (9) is an odd number, it is not filled and is used as an even number. In some cases, it is filled out to make the whole number odd. Therefore, if the filled squares of the code pattern (7) are even numbers, the code pattern (7) is recognized as a typographical error, and misreading due to dirt on the squares or mischief is prevented.

The start mark (4) and stop mark (6) consist of continuous lines corresponding to the height of the code pattern (7) or point marks indicating the upper and lower ends of the code pattern (7), and the length or interval of the marks At step 115, one square of the code pattern (7) is recognized, and the start and stop positions of the mark code area (5) are recognized. Such start and stop marks (4) (
By displaying 6) before and after the mark code area (5), it becomes possible to use a handy reading device such as a hand scanner that can be held in the hand.

The mark code (1) consisting of the image information pattern (2) and the code information pattern (3) as described above is displayed in the order sheet by only the number of products as shown in Figure 1).
Create (10).

When ordering, read the mark code (1) of the product you want to order with the hand scanner (11), and then use the input terminal (1).
When inputting 0M in step 2), the predetermined product name can be easily read from the characters of image information pattern (2). The hand scanner (11) consists of an optical reader with a light sensor, and the mark code (1)
Read image information and code information at once. The image information data of the read image information data is displayed in characters on the LCD display (13) and used for confirmation, and the code information is registered in the terminal as order data. (14) is a printer, which is used for confirming and recording order data. After reading the required product group and registering the data, the registered order data is collectively input into the host computer using a communication means such as a telephone line.

In this way, according to this reading input method, the image information of the product name can be displayed on the terminal, the read product data can be easily confirmed, and the image information can be displayed as a character image. This reduces input errors when reading with a scanner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an order sheet created according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing a mark code according to this invention, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing an order sheet created according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a code pattern constituting a mark code according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an input terminal device. (1)...Mark code (2)...Image information pattern (3)...Code information pattern (4)...Start mark (5)...Mark code area (6)...Stop Mark (7)...Code pattern (8)...Check digit (9)...Numeric column (10)...Order sheet (11)...Hand scanner no (12)...Terminal (13)...LCD display (14)...Printer Figure 4

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) It consists of an image information pattern that displays the product name, etc. in characters, and a code information pattern that encodes the product name, order quantity, unit price, etc. The code information pattern is a code in which five square cells are arranged vertically. It includes a mark code area in which a plurality of patterns are arranged in parallel, a start mark and a stop mark located at the beginning and end of the mark code area, one of the code patterns is a check digit, and the other four are numerical values "1" and ". A mark code characterized by being compatible with 2, 4, and 8. (2) optical hand scanner means for reading the image information pattern and code information pattern at once; display means for displaying the image information pattern read by the hand scanner means as image information; an image information pattern that displays the product name, etc. in characters, and a code information pattern that encodes the product name, order quantity, unit price, etc.; The code information pattern includes a mark code area in which a plurality of code patterns in which five square cells are arranged vertically is arranged in parallel, and a start mark and a stop mark located at the beginning and end of the mark code area. One of the patterns is a check digit, and the other four are mark codes that correspond to the numbers "1,""2,""4," and "8." A hand scanner reads the mark code and displays image information. A mark code reading input method is characterized in that the mark code is displayed on the screen, the code information is registered, and the code information is transmitted.