JPH0124665Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention is an automatic scanning barcode that reads display barcodes printed or affixed to products for product identification or used in place of computer system keyboards. Regarding leaders.

[Prior art]

In product shipping departments of factories, supermarkets, department stores, etc., display barcodes are used to identify large quantities of products, and systems are used to grasp various information about products and carry out product loading/unloading and inventory management. .

Conventional devices for reading display barcodes of this type can be roughly divided into two types: a laser type that uses a gas laser as a projection light source, and a light emitting element type that uses an LED.
Because lasers are large, LEDs are used in fixed barcode readers and smaller ones such as pen-type barcode readers.

Examples of conventional light-emitting element type barcode readers are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 (in the figures, parts with the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts).

Light emitting element type barcode reader 1 shown in Fig. 2
A light emitting element 3 serving as a light source is provided inside a casing 2, and light from the light emitting element 3 is guided through an optical fiber 4 to a reading section 5 at the tip of the casing 2, and reflected light from a display barcode is passed through a reading hole 6 and a reading hole 6. A light receiving element 8 such as a phototransistor is passed through a condensing lens 7.
The output of the light-receiving element 8 is amplified by an amplifier 9 and is then led to a subsequent circuit. In the subsequent circuit, the output signal of the amplifier 9 is waveform-shaped into an accurate pulse signal, and then inputted into an electronic computer system, where the contents of the barcode are decoded.

Light emitting element type barcode reader 1 shown in Fig. 3
2, a reading unit 5 is provided with a ball lens 13, a light emitting element 3 disposed near the optical axis of the ball lens 13 projects light 14 onto a display barcode, and a reflected optical signal 15 is The light 14 of the spherical lens 13
The image is formed on the light receiving element 8 through the outside of the light receiving element 8.

In the case of the light-emitting element type barcode readers shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 above, the display barcode 113 shown in FIG. 4 is manually scanned in the direction of the arrow shown in the same figure. As a result, the bar spacing and bar thickness are read one after another, and the code content is decoded at the end of scanning.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, the conventional light-emitting element type barcode reader requires a person to manually scan the displayed barcode, and therefore requires a great deal of effort when reading a large number of displayed barcodes.

The object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting element type automatic scanning barcode reader that can read a barcode by simply placing the reading section of the barcode reader on a displayed barcode without manually scanning the barcode.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has a light emitting element made of a light emitting diode or the like, and a light receiving element made of a phototransistor or the like, and the light emitted from the light emitting element is condensed and projected near the display barcode, and the light reflected from the display barcode is reflected from the display barcode. In a barcode reader having a lens that focuses light on an aperture placed in front of a light receiving element, the projection light is placed in the light path of the projection light from the lens to the convergence point near the display barcode, and the projection light is placed in the path of the projection light. and a driving means for driving the reflecting member so that the projection light reflected by the reflecting member scans the bar code.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, by driving the reflecting member with the above-mentioned driving device, the display barcode can be automatically scanned with the projected light focused near the display barcode.

〔Example〕

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an automatic scanning barcode reader according to the present invention.

In the figure, 102 is a casing of the automatic scanning barcode reader 101;
has a shape that is easy to hold by hand. 1
03 is a light emitting element consisting of a light emitting diode or light bulb,
104 is a convex lens, 105 is a mirror that reflects the projected light from the light emitting element 103, and 106 is the mirror 1.
05 is a through hole formed in the center, 107 is an aperture, 108 is a light receiving element made of, for example, a phototransistor, and 109 is a convex lens 104 or a mirror 1.
This is a holding case that holds 05 etc. 110 is a rotating mirror. FIG. 5 is a view of the rotating mirror 110 viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is constructed by pasting a flat mirror 110a. Reference numeral 111 denotes a drive device, and the drive device 111 pivots the center of the base 110b of the rotating mirror 110 with its rotating shaft 11, and rotates the rotating mirror 110. When a switch (not shown) is turned on, the rotating mirror rotates. Rotate. Reference numeral 112 indicates the projection of light from the automatic scanning barcode reader 101 to the display barcode 113.
It is a reading section that receives light, and 114 is an amplifier that amplifies the electrical signal from the light receiving element 108.

The light emitting element 103 has its optical axis C2 inclined at a certain angle with respect to the optical axis C1 of the convex lens 104, and is arranged near the front side of the convex lens 104.
Further, the convex lens 104 has a convergence point of the projected light from the light emitting element 103 reflected by the mirror 105, which is (distance from the convex lens 104 to the surface of the rotating mirror 110) + (from the surface of the rotating mirror 110 to the reading unit 112).
distance). mirror 105
is arranged at an angle that allows the emitted light from the light emitting element 103 to pass through the convex lens 104 to be reflected in the direction of the optical axis C1 of the convex lens 104. The aperture 107 is located at the image point of the reflected light reflected by the display barcode 113 after passing through the convex lens 104, and the light receiving element 108 is located near the rear thereof.

Further, the direction of the rotation axis of the rotating mirror 110 is approximately perpendicular to the reading direction of the code contents of the display barcode 113 (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4).

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

The reading section 112 of the automatic scanning barcode reader 101 is pressed onto the displayed barcode 113.
At this time, projection light is emitted from the light emitting element 103, and this projection light once reaches the mirror 105 via the convex lens 104 with the optical axis C2 as the central axis, and is reflected by the mirror 105. The reflected projection light has its center axis aligned with the optical axis C due to the inclination of the mirror 105.
The light is corrected in one direction and passes through the convex lens 104 again to reach the rotating mirror 110. Further, the projected light reflected by the rotating mirror 110 is directed toward the reading section 112 and condensed onto the display barcode 113. When the drive device 111 is turned on, the rotating mirror 110 rotates, and the projected light on the display barcode 113 scans the display barcode shown in FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrow in the figure. and,
The reflected light reflected by the display barcode 113 passes through the rotating mirror 110 to the optical axis C1 of the convex lens 104.
, and then the through hole 10 of the mirror 105
6 and is imaged onto an aperture 107.
The light receiving element 108 which received this reflected light signal outputs an electric signal according to the amount of incident light, the electric signal is amplified by the amplifier 114, and the output signal of the amplifier 114 is shaped into an accurate pulse signal by waveform shaping. It is then sent to a computer system (not shown).
Therefore, by scanning the projected light on the displayed barcode 113 by the rotating mirror 110, signals corresponding to the barcode identified by the bar interval and bar thickness are read one after another, and the signals are scanned. The code contents are decoded at the end of the process. If you wish to continue reading other displayed barcodes,
When the automatic scanning barcode reader 101 is pressed onto the displayed barcode, the projected light is scanned over the displayed barcode by the mirror 110a of the rotating mirror 110, and the barcodes can be read one after another.

Note that since the through hole 106 functions as an aperture narrower, the depth of focus becomes deep, and accurate reading becomes possible with a simple structure.

Although the present invention has been described above in detail using one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. That is, the rotating mirror 110 may have a structure in which a flat mirror is attached to a prism other than a quadrangular prism, it may be a prism, or it may be a flat mirror.
Various reflective members can be applied.

In addition, this reflective member is not limited to one that rotates;
As shown in FIG. 6, a structure may be adopted in which the projection light scans the displayed barcode by swinging the flat mirror 120 as shown by the arrow E using the swinging mechanism 121.

[Effect of idea]

As explained in detail above, the automatic scanning barcode reader according to the present invention is provided with a reflecting member that is rotatable at least by a predetermined angle in the path of light from the convex lens to the barcode, so that the barcode reader can display barcodes like the conventional one. There is no need to manually scan the barcode, and by simply pressing the barcode reader onto the barcode, the code content of the displayed barcode can be easily decoded, reducing a lot of effort.

In addition, the automatic scanning barcode reader according to the present invention is a light emitting element type, small and lightweight, and has low power consumption.
Since the structure is simple, it is possible to provide an automatic scanning barcode reader that is inexpensive and easy to use.

Furthermore, in the automatic scanning barcode reader according to the present invention, both the light emitted by the light emitting element and the light reflected from the display barcode are focused by the same convex lens, so only one convex lens is required.
The automatic scanning barcode reader has a simple structure and can be miniaturized.

In addition, since the structure is such that both the light emitted by the light emitting element and the light reflected from the display barcode are reflected by a single reflective member, the structure of the automatic scanning barcode reader is simplified and miniaturized. can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of one embodiment of an automatic scanning barcode reader according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic sectional views showing an example of a conventional light emitting element type barcode reader, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display barcode, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display barcode.
10 as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing other mirrors and a swinging mechanism. 101... Barcode reader, 103... Light emitting element, 104... Convex lens, 108... Light receiving element, 110... Rotating mirror, 111... Drive device, 113... Display bar code, 120... Flat mirror, 121 ...Rocking mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] In a barcode reader that scans light onto a display barcode and uses the reflected light to read information on the display barcode, projection light emitted from a light emitting element is passed through a convex lens. The projected light is guided to a mirror disposed on the opposite side of the convex lens, and the projected light reflected by the mirror is again reflected via the convex lens by a reflecting member rotated by a driving means, and the reflected projected light is directed to a display bar. The light is focused near the code and scanned, and the reflected light reflected from the display barcode is reflected again by the reflective member and guided to the convex lens, and the reflected light transmitted through the convex lens is transmitted through a through hole provided in the mirror. An automatic scanning barcode reader characterized in that it is configured to form an image on an aperture placed in front of a light receiving element through the light receiving element.